Network entity supporting analysis generation

Abstract

The invention relates to generating analytics information in a mobile network. To this end, the invention proposes a network entity supporting said analysis generation and a corresponding method. In particular, the network entities and methods facilitate collecting information required for the analysis generation. Specifically, for analyzing a generated network entity, for obtaining network slice association (NSA information and / or user plane association (UPA) information from one or more other network entities, where the NSA information represents a relationship between access network (AN) attributes and core network (CN) attributes, and the NSA information represents a relationship between the NAS attributes and the CN attributes, and the UPA information represents a relationship between the NAS attributes and the CN attributes, where the NSA information represents a relationship between the NAS attributes and the CN attributes, and where the NAS information represents a relationship between the NAS attributes and the CN attributes, and the UPA information represents a relationship between the NAS attributes and the CN attributes, and the UPA information represents a relationship between the NAS attributes and the CN attributes. The UPA information represents a network entity for transmitting data traffic to and / or from a user equipment in the network. Furthermore, the network entity is configured to provide analysis information, where the analysis information is based on the acquired NSA information and / or UPA information.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application. The application number of the original application is 201980102058.8, and the original application date is November 7, 2019. The entire contents of the original application are incorporated into this application by reference. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to a new generation of mobile networks, and in particular to the generation of analysis information in the network. To this end, the present invention proposes a network entity and a corresponding method that support the analysis generation. Specifically, the network entity and the method help to collect the information required for the analysis generation. Background Art

[0003] Figure 1 An example of a mobile network based on a 5G architecture according to the 3GPP TS23.501 specification is shown. Specifically, Figure 1 It shows the separation of the mobile network between the management plane, the control plane and the user plane, and the separation of the mobile network between the access network (Access Network, AN), the core network (Core Network, CN) and the data network (Data Network, DN).

[0004] Mobile network operators can deploy and manage different network slices through the management plane. The management plane configures and manages the resources and entities associated with the network slices in the AN and CN. Each network slice will have a control plane entity and a user plane entity associated with it, that is, they belong to the same network slice. For simplicity, Figure 1 Only one network slice identified by S-NSSAI#1 is shown, and the core plane and user plane entities associated with the network slice S-NSSAI#1 are shown. The control plane entity manages the connection of the user equipment (UE) of the user plane from N3 to DN (including the control of N9 connecting multiple user plane functions (UPF)). The user plane entity is the entity that actually transmits data traffic related to the UE and applies the control actions / policies defined by the control plane entity.

[0005] The Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) is a network function in the 5G System (5GS) that is capable of generating analysis information. In order to generate analysis information for a specific UE and / or a specific UE group, or a network function (NF) or application, etc., the NWDAF needs to collect data from the NF in the 5GS or from the external application function (AF) and the operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) / management plane. Examples of data that the NWDAF will collect include:

[0006] ●UE location information.

[0007] ●AN throughput per Tracking Area (TA), which consists of the set of cells in which the UE is located and each network slice used by the UE in such TA.

[0008] ●UPF performance measurements associated with the UE session, collected from OAM.

[0009] ● Service data (e.g., Mean Opinion Score (MOS) from the AF, collected through the Network Exposure Function (NEF), in the case of a third-party AF or directly from the AF.

[0010] In 5GS Release 16, NWDAF performs two different types of data collection:

[0011] ● Pre-data collection for determining the control plane NF and / or external AF serving the UE (see 3GPP TS 23.288 Section 6.2.2.1, Table 6.2.2.1-2: NF services used by NWDAF to determine which NF instances serve the UE). In this case, the NWDAF must first do the following:

[0012] ■Using the services of NFs such as Unified Data Management (UDM), Unified Data Repository (UDR) or Network Repository Function (NRF), determine the control plane NF serving the UE. Therefore, in the second step, the actual data collection from the serving control plane NF is triggered.

[0013] ●Original data collection is carried out through the following methods:

[0014] ■Subscribe to events from NF to collect raw data (e.g., events exposed by Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) or Session Management Function (SMF)).

[0015] ■ Use services related to Performance Management (PM) and / or Fault Management (FM) and / or Configuration Management from OAM to collect management data.

[0016] The mechanism defined in Release 16 focuses only on determining the control plane NFs serving a specific UE for discovering such NFs for pre-data collection. However, many issues have not been addressed, especially how NWDA can perform pre-data collection without high load. Summary of the invention

[0017] Specifically, the inventors realized that the following problems have not been solved:

[0018] 1. Certain Profiling IDs require specific information about NF and / or Application and / or Network measurements and may request an “Area of ​​Interest” (a geographical area defining the mobile network, e.g. in terms of TAI and / or Cell ID lists in that geographical area) and have no specific relationship to a specific UE.

[0019] For example, there are analysis IDs with filters subscribing to specific geographical areas, such as Analysis ID: Service Experience (3GPP TS 23.288 Section 6.4) and User Data Congestion in Geographic Area (3GPP TS 23.288 Section 6.8.1).

[0020] In this case, the NWDAF needs to have a mapping of the tuple "(TA, Cell ID, Network Slice, Network Slice Instance (NSI)") in order to correctly trigger data collection for a specific area of ​​interest. However, during pre-data collection, the NWDAF has no mechanism to determine the association of TA, and / or Cell ID, and / or S-NSSAI and / or NSI.

[0021] 2. Certain analysis IDs generated by NWDAF, such as service experience (3GPP TS23.288 Section 6.4), require information collection from UPF. However, there is no mechanism by which NWDAF can determine the UPF (and any other UP information) serving the UE during pre-data collection so that NWDAF can request data collection from these UPFs.

[0022] 3GPP TS 23.288 V16.0.0 specifies in section 6.2.2.1 a mechanism for defining control plane NF services that the NWDAF needs to use in order to determine which control plane NFs serve the UE. However, to date there has not been defined a mechanism whereby the NWDAF determines the mapping of core networks and access networks associated with an area of ​​interest, and / or the NWDAF determines the user plane entities and / or control plane entities associated with data traffic to and from the UE.

[0023] According to the inventors' analysis, current options for determining the association between TA, cell, network slice and NSI in an area of ​​interest with any existing mechanism are incomplete and / or result in a significant increase in the load of pre-data collection:

[0024] ● Option 1: NWDAF subscribes to location events from UDM or AMF, and AMF location information service (as defined in 3GPP TS23.502 V16.1.1).

[0025] ■UDM and AMF expose information about UE location through event exposure, AMF provides services to track UE location in terms of cell, TA, geodetic location, etc. as defined in TS 23.502 section 5.2.2.5. This information exposed by UDM / AMF allows mapping of single UE and / or UE groups to cells and / or TAs. However, for NWDAF to map all cell IDs to TAs, NWDAF has to subscribe to all events where UDM / AMF uses "Any UE". Therefore, the load for pre-data collection increases significantly. Furthermore, the information is incomplete, as NWDAF still does not have the information which cells, TAs are associated with which network slices and / or NSIs, this information is held by UDM / AMF with associated UE x S-NSSAI / NSI and is not explicitly connected to UE x Cell x TA.

[0026] ● Option 2: NWDAF's subscription to NRF status is updated in the NF profile.

[0027] ■ Certain NF profiles, such as AMF, SMF in NRF, include their associated TAI list, and S-NSSAI and NSI lists associated with these NFs. Therefore, NWDAF can subscribe to the NRF service to receive updates of NF profiles of these NF types.

[0028] ■However, the NF profile information is incomplete because:

[0029] – The TAI information does not include any information about the cells associated with the TAI (as described in 3GPP TS 29.571);

[0030] – There is no direct association with the TAI associated with each S-NSSAI and / or NSI.

[0031] ■ In addition, such use of NRF services will increase the load of data collection and waste resources because:

[0032] – NWDAF is informed of any updates to the NF profile (TS23.502 Section 5.2.7.2.5).

[0033] – Updates to load or capacity (both NF profile parameters of any NF) can change dynamically over time and can be used for NF selection (e.g., TS23.501 Sections 6.3.2 and 6.3.5). For changes in any of these parameters of a NF, the NWDAF subscribed at the NRF will be notified. However, as long as there is no change in the TAI of these NFs, this information is useless to the NWDAF.

[0034] ● Option 3: The NWDAF subscribes to the NSSF service for NSSAI availability as defined in 3GPP TS 23.502 section 5.2.16.3.

[0035] ■NWDAF can use NSSF service to obtain a mapping of S-NSSAI (i.e. allowed network slices and / or NSI) availability for each TA.

[0036] ■However, this service still cannot provide information about which cells are associated with which TAs. NWDAF can only obtain this information by subscribing to UE location events opened by AMF, which means that NWDAF needs to subscribe to two different information sources to obtain a complete mapping of cells x TAs.

[0037] In addition, according to the inventor's analysis, the existing mechanism for determining the UP NF serving the UE has the following limitations:

[0038] ● Option 1: The SMF does not expose any events with information about the UPF, only changes related to the DNN (TS23.502 Section 5.2.8.3.1), i.e., changes to the termination of interface N6 (connection interface between 5G mobile network and DNN / DNAI). The SMF does not expose changes to the N3 interface (connection between RAN and UPF) or the N9 interface (connection between UPF and UPF). N3 and N9 changes are important to the NWDAF because these changes define the UPF, and the NWDAF needs to collect raw data to generate certain analysis IDs.

[0039] ● Option 2: In NRF, both the UPF profile and the SMF profile have a list of strings to determine the "SMF service area" (TS29.510). However, if multiple UPFs are located in the same SMF service area of ​​an SMF instance, it is impossible to determine which UPF is exactly used for the UE's session (i.e., the UE's data traffic).

[0040] ● Option 3: The UDM or UDR data set (defined in 3GPP TS23.502) only has SMF x UE x PDU ID mapping, and the UPF information is not associated with the PDU ID.

[0041] ● Option 4: Another option could be OAM / Management Plane Configuration Services (3GPP TS 28.532) and Resource Model (3GPP TS 28.541) which can expose information of SMF associated with UPF. However, OAM cannot expose information at a finer granularity of SMF x UPF x UE mapping.

[0042] In view of the above options and their limitations, an object of embodiments of the present invention is to provide an improved mechanism for pre-data collection for generating analytical information.

[0043] The objective is to provide network entities and methods that can support analysis generation through enhanced pre-data collection. Specifically, all information required for analysis generation should be provided. In addition, the load of pre-data collection should be significantly reduced. Pre-data collection should include determining user plane association (UPA) information and / or network slice association (NSA) information. The term association information is also used to mean "user plane association (UPA) information and / or network slice association (NSA) information".

[0044] Said object is achieved by the embodiments of the invention described in the attached independent claims. Advantageous implementations of the embodiments of the invention are further defined in the dependent claims.

[0045] A first aspect of the present invention provides a network entity for analysis generation, wherein the network entity is used to: obtain NSA information and / or UPA information from one or more other network entities, wherein the NSA information represents the relationship between AN attributes and CN attributes, and the UPA information represents a network entity used to transmit data traffic to a user device in the network and / or transmit data traffic from a user device in the network; and provide analysis information, wherein the analysis information is based on the acquired NSA information and / or UPA information.

[0046] The network entity of the first aspect may obtain the NSA information and / or the UPA information required to generate the analysis information. Specifically, the network entity may obtain the association information with reduced signaling, thereby obtaining the association information with reduced load. Therefore, the network entity supports enhanced pre-data collection for the analysis generation.

[0047] In an implementation manner of the first aspect, the network entity is further used to: obtain the NSA information and / or the UPA information from a management plane entity through configuration.

[0048] This is a simple and direct way for the network entity to obtain the NSA information and / or the UPA information. For example, the network entity may be configured by OAM.

[0049] In an implementation of the first aspect, the network entity is further used to: send a request and / or subscribe to one or more NFs; and obtain the NSA information and / or the UPA information from the one or more NFs in response to the request and / or based on the subscription.

[0050] The network entity may directly use the association information required to generate the analysis information from the one or more NFs. The network entity may be used to contact different types of NFs to obtain the association information. Thus, the network entity has great flexibility and may obtain necessary information while keeping the network load low.

[0051] In an implementation manner of the first aspect, the request and / or the subscription respectively include a request and / or a subscription for NSA information and / or UPA information.

[0052] In an implementation of the first aspect, the network entity is also used to: send multiple requests and / or subscribe to multiple NFs; obtain the NSA information and / or the UPA information from the multiple NFs in response to the multiple requests and / or based on the subscription; merge the acquired NSA information and / or UPA information; and provide the analysis information, wherein the analysis information is based on the merged NSA information and / or UPA information.

[0053] In an implementation of the first aspect, the network entity is also used to: send a request and / or subscribe to a determined NF; obtain the NSA information and / or the UPA information from the determined NF in response to the request and / or based on the subscription; and provide the analysis information, wherein the analysis information is based on the obtained NSA information and / or UPA information.

[0054] Thus, the network entity can obtain the necessary information for generating the analysis information from a dedicated NF (also called intermediate NF or the determined NF) because it can collect this information from other NFs. For the network entity of the first aspect, this is a very efficient option to obtain the associated information it needs.

[0055] In an implementation manner of the first aspect, the network entity is a control plane entity, specifically including a NWDAF.

[0056] A second aspect of the present invention provides a network entity for supporting analysis generation, wherein the network entity is used to: provide NSA information and / or UPA information to another network entity in response to a request received from another network entity and / or based on a subscription to another network entity, wherein the NSA information represents a relationship between AN attributes and CN attributes, and the UPA information represents a network entity for transmitting data traffic to and / or from a user equipment in the network; and / or provide the NSA information and / or the UPA information to the other network entity when one or more target elements related to the NSA information and / or the UPA information change. The one or more target elements are related to the other network entity.

[0057] The network entity of the second aspect supports the analysis generation by, for example, providing the NSA information and / or the UPA information to the network entity of the first aspect. Specifically, the network entity of the second aspect supports pre-data collection for analysis generation, which information is currently not available for analysis generation.

[0058] In an implementation manner of the second aspect, the network entity is a control plane NF, specifically including SMF, and / or AMF and / or network slice selection function (Network Slice Selection Function, NSSF) and / or NEF and / or AF and / or network storage function (Network Repository Function, NRF).

[0059] A third aspect of the present invention provides a network entity for supporting analysis generation, wherein the network entity is used to: obtain NSA information and / or UPA information from another network entity in response to a first request sent to another network entity and / or according to a first subscription to another network entity, wherein the NSA information represents a relationship between an AN attribute and a CN attribute, and the UPA information represents a network entity for transmitting data traffic to and / or from a user equipment in the network; and / or obtain the NSA information and / or the UPA information from the other network entity when one or more target elements related to the NSA information and / or the UPA information change. The one or more target elements are related to the other network entity.

[0060] The network entity of the third aspect supports the analysis generation by collecting and maintaining the NSA information and / or the UPA information. It can then provide the network entity of the first aspect with the necessary association information for generating the analysis information. Specifically, the network entity of the third aspect supports pre-data collection for analysis generation, new information that was previously unavailable for analysis generation because the load is significantly reduced. When the network entity of the third aspect obtains the association information when one or more target elements related to the NSA information and / or the UPA information change, specifically, the load can be significantly reduced. This implicitly means that existing communications between the network entity of the third aspect and other network entities can be enhanced, reused, and carried to include association information, thereby eliminating the need for additional signaling in the system for collecting association information.

[0061] In an implementation manner of the third aspect, the network entity is also used to: obtain a second request and / or a second subscription for NSA information and / or UPA information from another network entity; and provide the obtained NSA information and / or UPA information and / or merged NSA information and / or UPA information to the other network entity in response to the second request and / or based on the second subscription.

[0062] Therefore, the network entity of the third aspect can provide NSA information and / or UPA information collected from one or more other network entities (e.g., NF) to the other network entity (e.g., the network entity of the first aspect). Therefore, the network entity of the third aspect can act as an intermediate network entity (e.g., an intermediate NF or a determined NF) between the network entity of the first aspect and other network entities (e.g., other NFs).

[0063] In an implementation manner of the third aspect, the network entity is further used to: merge the acquired NSA information and / or UPA information, and store the acquired NSA information and / or UPA information.

[0064] Therefore, the network entity that generates the analysis information can perform the generation more efficiently and faster based on the already pre-processed NSA and / or UPA information.

[0065] In an implementation manner of the third aspect, the network entity is a control plane entity, specifically including a unified data management (UDM) and / or a unified data repository (UDR) and / or NWDAF.

[0066] The fourth aspect of the present invention provides a network entity for supporting analysis and generation, specifically including a management plane entity, wherein the network entity is used to: configure another network entity using NSA information and / or UPA information, wherein the other network entity specifically includes NWDAF and / or UDM and / or UDR, wherein the NSA information represents the relationship between AN attributes and CN attributes, and the UPA information represents a network entity used to transmit data traffic to and / or from user equipment in the network.

[0067] The network entity of the fourth aspect supports the analysis generation by configuring the necessary association information on the responsible network entity. The necessary association information can be configured for the network entity of the first aspect for generating the analysis information. Specifically, the network entity of the fourth aspect supports pre-data collection for analysis generation with significantly reduced load. In particular, for the case of network slice association information, the configured network entity, such as the network entity of the first aspect, does not require control plane signaling to obtain the NSA information.

[0068] In an implementation of the first aspect to the fourth aspect or any implementation of the fourth aspect, the NSA information includes at least one of the following: cells associated with the TA, access type and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each PLMN of each related NF having one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs; cells associated with the TA, access type and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each PLMN of each related NF having one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs; cells associated with the cell list, supported access type and / or one or more allowed a TA associated with a list of cells, supported access types and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs for each PLMN and / or one or more NFs, each associated NF having one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs; a NF associated with a TA, for which one or more associated cells, one or more associated access types, one or more associated allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs; a NF associated with a TA, for which one or more associated cells, one or more associated access types, one or more associated restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs for each PLMN.

[0069] In an implementation manner of the first aspect to the fourth aspect or any implementation manner thereof, the network entity is further used for, wherein the UPA information includes one or more of the following: one or more user plane NFs, transmitting uplink (UL) and / or downlink (DL) data traffic related to one or more user equipment (UE), and / or one or more UE groups, and / or one or more UE sessions, and / or one or more data network identifiers (e.g., DNN or DNAI), and / or one or more network slice identifiers (e.g., S-NSSAI and / or NSI, and / or NSSAI) and / or one or more application identifiers (e.g., AF identifier); one or more control plane NFs, transmitting UL and / or DL ​​data traffic related to one or more UEs, and / or one or more UE groups, and / or one or more UE sessions, and / or one or more data network identifiers (e.g., DNN or DNAI), and / or one or more network slice identifiers (e.g., S-NSSAI and / or NSI, and / or NSSAI), and / or one or more application identifiers (e.g., AF identifier); one or more user plane interfaces; , and / or links, and / or reference points, and / or services, transmitting UL and / or DL ​​data traffic related to one or more UEs and / or one or more UE groups and / or one or more UE sessions, and / or one or more data network identifiers (e.g., DNN or DNAI), and / or one or more network slice identifiers (e.g., S-NSSAI and / or NSI, and / or NSSAI), and / or one or more application identifiers (e.g., AF identifier); one or more control plane interfaces, and / or links, and / or reference points, and / or services, transmitting UL and / or DL ​​data traffic related to one or more UEs, and / or one or more UE groups, and / or one or more UE sessions, and / or one or more data network identifiers (e.g., DNN or DNAI), and / or one or more network slice identifiers (e.g., S-NSSAI and / or NSI, and / or NSSAI) and / or one or more application identifiers (e.g., AF identifier).

[0070] A fifth aspect of the present invention provides a method for analysis generation, wherein the method comprises: obtaining NSA information and / or UPA information from one or more network entities, wherein the NSA information represents the relationship between AN attributes and CN attributes, and the UPA information represents a network entity used to transmit data traffic to a user device in the network and / or transmit data traffic from a user device in the network; and providing analysis information, wherein the analysis information is based on the acquired NSA information and / or UPA information.

[0071] The method of the fifth aspect may have an implementation manner corresponding to the implementation manner of the network entity of the first aspect. Therefore, the method described in the fifth aspect and its possible implementation manner achieves the same advantages and effects as the network entity described in the first aspect and its corresponding implementation manner.

[0072] A sixth aspect of the present invention provides a method for supporting analysis generation, wherein the method can be performed by a network entity, the method comprising: providing NSA information and / or UPA information to another network entity in response to a request received from another network entity and / or based on a subscription to another network entity, wherein the NSA information represents the relationship between AN attributes and CN attributes, and the UPA information represents a network entity used to transmit data traffic to and / or from user equipment in the network; and / or providing the NSA information and / or the UPA information to the other network entity when one or more target elements related to the NSA information and / or the UPA information change, wherein the one or more target elements may be related to the network entity executing the method.

[0073] The method of the sixth aspect may have an implementation method corresponding to the implementation method of the network entity of the second aspect. Therefore, the method described in the sixth aspect and its possible implementation methods achieves the same advantages and effects as the network entity described in the second aspect and its corresponding implementation methods.

[0074] The seventh aspect of the present invention provides a method for supporting analysis generation, wherein the method includes: in response to a first request sent to another network entity and / or based on a first subscription to another network entity, obtaining NSA information and / or UPA information from the other network entity, wherein the NSA information represents the relationship between AN attributes and CN attributes, and the UPA information represents a network entity used to transmit data traffic to a user device in the network and / or to transmit data traffic from a user device in the network; and / or when one or more target elements related to the NSA information and / or the UPA information change, obtaining the NSA information and / or the UPA information from the other network entity.

[0075] The method of the seventh aspect may have an implementation method corresponding to the implementation method of the network entity of the third aspect. Therefore, the method described in the seventh aspect and its possible implementation methods achieves the same advantages and effects as the network entity described in the third aspect and its corresponding implementation methods.

[0076] An eighth aspect of the present invention provides a method for supporting analysis generation, wherein the method comprises: configuring a network entity using NSA information and / or UPA information, wherein the other network entity specifically comprises NWDAF and / or UDM and / or UDR, wherein the NSA information represents the relationship between AN attributes and CN attributes, and the UPA information represents a network entity used to transmit data traffic to and / or from a user device in the network.

[0077] The method of the eighth aspect may have an implementation method corresponding to the implementation method of the network entity of the fourth aspect. Therefore, the method described in the eighth aspect and its possible implementation methods achieves the same advantages and effects as the network entity described in the fourth aspect and its corresponding implementation methods.

[0078] A ninth aspect of the present invention provides a computer program, comprising program code, for executing the method according to the fifth aspect, the sixth aspect, the seventh aspect or the eighth aspect when the program code is executed on a computer.

[0079] definition

[0080] The following provides general definitions of some terms used in this document.

[0081] Analysis function: may be an NF that receives analysis information requests and / or subscriptions from consumers and may perform analysis information generation. An example of an analysis function is the Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) of the 3GPP 5G architecture defined in TS23.501. The analysis function may be implemented by the network entity of the first aspect.

[0082] Analysis information: is the output of the analysis function, such as the analysis ID defined in 3GPP TS23.288, such as the analysis ID listed in Sections 6.4-6.9 of TS23.288V16.1.0.

[0083] Analysis information generation: is a process in which the analysis function can trigger raw data collection (if the data is not available) and / or select previously collected raw data (for example, the raw data is the throughput of the cell, the bit rate of the PDU session ID in the UPF) and use these raw data to perform calculations and / or apply statistical analysis, and / or apply ML / AI techniques (such as regression models, neural networks, etc.) to produce output, that is, generate analysis information.

[0084] User Plane Association (UPA) information: defines the 5GS entities used to transmit data traffic to and / or from the UE in the mobile network, i.e., UE communication. UPA information can also be defined as a mapping between one or more CN attributes (e.g., UE identity, NF instance identity, N3 / N6 / N9 interface identity, DNN identity, network slice identity, PDU session identity, UE traffic type - i.e., UP-based or CP-based), and the transmission data traffic to and from the UE. Some possible UE communication examples are listed below:

[0085] ■If UE communication is defined as a session between UE and DN, the 5GS entities and their attributes in the user plane for such UE communication may include: UE, cell, N3, UPF, N9 (if multiple UPFs are used), N6 and DNN / DNAI, as described in the overall architecture of 3GPPTS23.501.

[0086] ■If UE communication is defined as non-IP data transmission, the 5GS entities available for such UE communication may include: cell, NEF, SMF, AF (as defined in 3GPP TS23.501 and TS23.502).

[0087] ■For example, if the UE communication is Vehicle-to-Anything (V2X), the user plane entities used for such UE communication may include: UE, cell, Road Side Unit (RSU), UPF, etc.

[0088] The UPA information may include at least one of the following:

[0089] ■ one or more “user plane NFs”, transporting UL and / or DL ​​data traffic associated with one or more UEs, and / or one or more UE groups, and / or one or more UE session identifiers, and / or one or more data network identifiers (e.g., DNN or DNAI), and / or one or more network slice identifiers (e.g., S-NSSAI and / or NSI, and / or NSSAI), and / or one or more application identifiers (e.g., AF identifiers);

[0090] ■ one or more “core plane NFs”, transmitting UL and / or DL ​​data traffic associated with one or more UEs, and / or UE groups, and / or one or more UE session identifiers, and / or one or more data network identifiers (e.g., DNN or DNAI), and / or one or more network slice identifiers (e.g., S-NSSAI and / or NSI, and / or NSSAI), and / or one or more application identifiers (e.g., AF identifiers);

[0091] ■ one or more “user plane interfaces and / or links and / or reference points and / or services”, transporting UL and / or DL ​​data traffic associated with one or more UEs and / or UE groups, and / or one or more UE session identifiers, and / or one or more data network identifiers (e.g., DNN or DNAI), and / or one or more network slice identifiers (e.g., S-NSSAI and / or NSI, and / or NSSAI), and / or one or more application identifiers (e.g., AF identifiers);

[0092] ■One or more “core plane interfaces and / or links and / or reference points and / or services” that transmit UL and / or DL ​​data traffic associated with one or more UEs and / or UE groups, and / or one or more UE session identifiers, and / or one or more data network identifiers (e.g., DNN or DNAI), and / or one or more network slice identifiers (e.g., S-NSSAI and / or NSI, and / or NSSAI), and one or more application identifiers (e.g., AF identifiers).

[0093] Network Slice Association (NSA) information: Allowed or restricted S-NSSAI / NSI for AN attributes (e.g., cell ID, tracking area / access type, respectively) and CN attributes (e.g., NF ID, interface ID, network slice (e.g., S-NSSAI) and / or NSI, respectively) can be defined.

[0094] NSA information may include at least one of the following:

[0095] ■ a cell associated with a TA, an access type and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each PLMN of each associated NF having one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs;

[0096] ■ a cell associated with a TA, an access type and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each PLMN of each associated NF having one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs;

[0097] ■ a TA associated with a list of cells, supported access types and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each associated NF having one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs;

[0098] ■ a TA associated with a list of cells, supported access types and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs per PLMN and / or one or more NFs, each associated NF having one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs per PLMN;

[0099] ■ a NF associated with a TA, for which one or more associated cells, one or more associated access types, one or more associated allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs;

[0100] ■ A NF associated with a TA, for which one or more associated cells, one or more associated access types, one or more associated restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs for each PLMN.

[0101] Associated Information: Equivalent to the term "NSA information and / or UPA information".

[0102] Target elements related to UPA information: can be UE and / or UE group, and / or PDU session, and / or data network identifier, and / or network slice identifier.

[0103] Target elements related to NAS information: can be TA and / or cell identifier, and / or access type and / or network slice identifier, NF related to TA, and / or network slice identifier related to TA.

[0104] NF that detects and generates association information: It can be an NF that has NSA information and / or UPA information. For example, the NF that detects UPA information is an NF that can define the UPF and UP interface set for establishing a UE session in a mobile network (such as SMF in 5GS). An example of an NF that generates NSA information is the AMF, which controls which cell is associated with which TA, and which network slices (i.e., S-NSSAI) and / or NSI are allowed in the TA.

[0105] NF enhanced by association information: may be an NF that detects and / or generates association information and opens such association information, i.e., provides a method for obtaining such information to other network entities in the system. The association information opened by such NF may be individual, for example, the association information may be detected by a specific NF type and instance (or NF set), which defines the NF enhanced by association information (e.g., NF type SMF, NF type AMF, NF type SMF set A, etc.). The NF enhanced by association information may be implemented by the network entity of the second aspect.

[0106] NF enhanced by centralization of association information (i.e., determined NF): may be an NF capable of (for example) acquiring (for example, invoking a service) association information from one or more NFs enhanced by association information from the same NF type and / or NF set, storing and / or merging (and storing) the association information, and capable of providing query and / or search / and / or retrieval of association information to other entities in the network. Examples of information that may be exposed by a NF enhanced by centralization of association information may not be separate, i.e., for example, the association information that may be provided may be related to different types of NFs and / or NF sets. NF enhanced by centralization of association information may be implemented by a network entity of the third aspect.

[0107] The same network entity can play the role of an NF enhanced by association information and an NF enhanced by centralized association information. In this case, there is only one visible service between the NFs with two roles and analysis functions. That is, the network entity of the second aspect can also be the network entity of the third aspect.

[0108] The analysis function may also play the role of an NF enhanced by the centralization of association information. In this case, the interaction between the NF with enhanced association information and the analysis function will be visible to the 5GS. That is, the network entity of the first aspect may also be the network entity of the third aspect.

[0109] Generating analysis information based on association information: The analysis function that generates the analysis information may require data (i.e., raw data, such as the throughput of a cell). However, the collection of raw data for analysis generation may depend on the target of the analysis information. For example, one analysis information should be provided for a group of UE#1 or a group of NF{a,b,c}. Therefore, before triggering data collection or using the collected data, the analysis function may need to determine at a first moment which NF instances are serving the UE (which NF instances are the targets of the analysis information), as well as the AN and network slice and / or network slice instance (which are the targets of the analysis information), and in a second step trigger the collection of data and / or use the data that has been collected from the serving NF and / or cell and / or network slice and / or network slice instance. Therefore, the analysis function can use the association information as a filter to determine / select the entity that triggers the raw data collection and / or as a filter to select a subset of the data that has been collected originally.

[0110] Discover appropriate association information providers: The analysis function can obtain information such as the address and / or ID of the NF that can provide association information. For example, the acquisition can be based on checking the configuration that maps the UE to the NF, or interacting with the discovery repository (such as NRF in 5GS) to obtain the address of the NF serving the UE.

[0111] It should be noted that all devices, elements, units and modules described in this application can be implemented in software or hardware elements or any combination thereof. The steps performed by the various entities described in this application and the functions to be performed by the various entities described are intended to refer to the various entities for performing the various steps and functions. Even if in the description of the following specific embodiments, the specific functions or steps to be performed by the external entity are not reflected in the description of the specific detailed elements of the entity performing the specific steps or functions, the technician should be aware that these methods and functions can be implemented in the corresponding software or hardware elements, or in any combination of such elements. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0112] In conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the following description of specific embodiments will illustrate various aspects of the present invention and their implementation methods, wherein:

[0113] Figure 1 An example of a mobile network following the 5G architecture defined by 3GPP is shown.

[0114] Figure 2 The network entity generated by analysis provided by the embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0115] Figure 3 The network entity for supporting analysis generation provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0116] Figure 4 The network entity for supporting analysis generation provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0117] Figure 5 The network entity for supporting analysis generation provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0118] Figure 6 Various network entities implementing different operation modes 1 to 3 provided by the embodiments of the present invention are shown.

[0119] Figure 7 An exemplary embodiment of Operation Mode 1 is shown.

[0120] Figure 8 An exemplary embodiment of Operation Mode 2 is shown.

[0121] Fig. 9 An exemplary embodiment of Operation Mode 3 is shown.

[0122] Fig.10 The analysis generation method provided by the embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0123] Fig.11 Different methods for supporting analysis generation provided by embodiments of the present invention are shown in (a) to (c). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0124] Figure 2 The network entity 200 provided by the embodiment of the present invention is shown. The network entity 200 is used to generate analysis. The network entity 200 may be a control plane entity, and specifically may be or include NWDAF. The network entity 200 may implement the analysis function.

[0125] The network entity 200 is used to obtain NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202 from one or more other network entities 210. The one or more other network entities may include a network entity 310 (see Figure 3 ), which may be a control plane NF, specifically including SMF and / or AMF and / or NSSF and / or NEF and / or AF and / or NRF. One or more other network entities may also include a determined network entity 410 (see Figure 4 ), which may be a control plane entity, specifically including UDM and / or UDR and / or NWDAF. One or more other network entities may also include network entity 510 (see Figure 5 ), which can be a management plane entity.

[0126] The network entity 200 is further configured to provide analysis information 203, wherein the analysis information 203 is based on the acquired NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202. That is, the network entity may generate the analysis information according to the association information 201 / 202. The network entity 200 may also open and / or send the analysis information 203 and / or the association information 201 / 202 to other network entities.

[0127] Figure 3 The network entity 310 provided by the embodiment of the present invention is shown. The network entity 310 is used to support analysis generation, for example, by Figure 2 The network entity 200 and / or is executed by NWDAF. The network entity 310 may be a control plane NF, specifically including SMF and / or AMF and / or NSSF and / or NEF and / or AF and / or NRF.

[0128] The network entity 310 is configured to provide the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202 to the other network entity 300 in response to a request 301 received from the other network entity 300 and / or according to a subscription to the other network entity 300. Alternatively, or in addition, the network entity 310 may be configured to provide the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202 to the other network entity 300 when one or more target elements associated with the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202 change. The one or more target elements are associated with the network entity 310.

[0129] Another network entity 300 may be Figure 2The network entity 200 shown may be the network entity provided by the embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, another network entity 300 may be or include a NWDAF and / or may implement an analysis function.

[0130] Figure 4 The network entity 410 provided by the embodiment of the present invention is shown. The network entity 410 is used to support analysis generation, for example, by Figure 2 The network entity 200 and / or the NWDAF may be executed. The network entity 410 may be a control plane entity, specifically including a UDM and / or a UDR and / or a NWDAF.

[0131] The network entity 410 is configured to obtain the NSA information 201a and / or the UPA information 202a from the other network entity 420 in response to a first request 411 sent to the other network entity 420 and / or according to a first subscription to the other network entity 420. Alternatively, or in addition, the network entity 410 is configured to obtain the NSA information 201b and / or the UPA information 202b from the other network entity 420 when one or more target elements related to the NSA information 201b and / or the UPA information 202b change. The one or more target elements are related to the other network entity 420.

[0132] Another network entity 420 may be a control plane NF, specifically including SMF and / or AMF and / or NSSF and / or NEF and / or AF and / or NRF.

[0133] The network entity 410 may also be used (in Figure 4 The dashed line indicates optional): obtaining a second request 401 and / or a second subscription for NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202 from another network entity 400; in response to the second request 401 and / or based on the second subscription, providing the obtained NSA information 201a, 201b and / or UPA information 202a, 202b and / or merged NSA information 201a, 201b and / or UPA information 202a, 202b to another network entity 400.

[0134] Another network entity 400 may be Figure 2 The network entity 200 shown may be the network entity provided by the embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, another network entity 400 may be or include a NWDAF and / or may implement an analysis function.

[0135] Figure 5 The network entity 510 provided by the embodiment of the present invention is shown. The network entity 510 is used to support analysis generation, for example, by Figure 2 The network entity 510 may be a management plane entity, such as an OAM.

[0136] The network entity 510 is configured to configure another network entity 500 using the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202 .

[0137] Another network entity 500 specifically includes NWDAF and / or UDM and / or UDR. Another network entity 500 may be Figure 2 The network entity 200 shown may be the network entity provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

[0138] Specifically, Figure 2 The network entity 200 may be a NWDAF, which may obtain the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202 from the network entity 310 as an SMF / AMF; and / or may obtain the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202 from a determined network entity 410 as a UDM / UDR; and / or may be configured using the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202 by the network entity 510 as an OAM.

[0139] Figures 2 to 5 Each network entity shown in the may include a processing circuit (not shown) for performing, carrying out or initiating various operations of the network entity described herein. The processing circuit may include hardware and / or software. The hardware may include analog circuits or digital circuits, or both analog circuits and digital circuits. The digital circuit may include components such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP) or a multi-purpose processor. In one embodiment, the processing circuit includes one or more processors and a non-transitory memory connected to the one or more processors. The non-transitory memory may carry an executable program code, which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the network entity to perform, carry out or initiate the operations or methods described herein.

[0140] Provide as Figures 2 to 5 The main advantages of the network entity shown are:

[0141] ● Allows collection of association information 201 / 202 to generate analysis information 203, such as the association information 201 / 202 defined in TS23.288, not only for UP data traffic of UE-DNN / DNAI communication, but also helps to determine the entities (CP and UP) serving the UE in other types of UE data traffic communications (such as NIDD).

[0142] ● Reduce the signaling generated by the network entity 200 (e.g., NWDAF) responsible for analysis generation for determining the mapping of cells, TAs, NFs, S-NSSAIs, NSIs, because the network entity 200 does not need to use information from different sources (e.g., even for different service operations of the same NF) to identify the NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202 for raw data collection that triggers the generation of analysis information 203.

[0143] ● Clearly distinguish between the roles of different network entities such as NWDAF, UDM, NRF, etc. when it comes to managing NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202 between the UE and the network slice entity and internal network slice entities / configuration. The network entity 200 (e.g., NWDAF) does not have to assume the same role as (e.g.) UDM in tracking the NF serving the UE, nor does it have to assume the role of NRF in tracking the network slice entity associations.

[0144] Figure 6 It shows that according to Figures 2 to 5 The different operation modes implemented by the described network entities. Specifically, three operation modes 1, 2 and 3 are envisaged. In addition, Figure 6 Considered Figure 2 Network entity 200, Figure 3 The network entity 310 and Figure 4 The network entity 410.

[0145] Operation Mode 1 (Configuration-based): In this Operation Mode 1, the management (network) entity 510 (see Figure 5 ) configures the network entity 200 (here the analysis function; e.g., NWDAF) using the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202. Alternative solutions for performing the configuration include:

[0146] The management entity 510 may directly change the configuration of the NSA information 201 and / or UPA information stored in the analysis function 200. For example, the management entity 510 may have a definition in a data structure of the analysis function 200, and the data structure may be enhanced with the association information 201 / 202. Thus, when the analysis function 200 is deployed in a mobile network, the management entity 510 may configure (and update if changes occur) such a data structure with the appropriate association information 201 / 202.

[0147] ●The analysis function 200 may provide services and / or interfaces so that the management entity 510 may call / access such services and / or interfaces, and may provide (e.g., by sending) NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202 as input parameters for the service operation.

[0148] The steps in operation mode 1 may include:

[0149] 1. The management entity 510 configures the analysis function 200 using the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202.

[0150] 2. The analysis function 200 generates analysis information 203 based on the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202.

[0151] Operation Mode 2 (Distributed Collection of Context Information): In this Operation Mode 2, the network entity 200 (here the analysis function; e.g. NWDAF) can directly collect NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202 from one or more NFs 310 enhanced with context information (see Figure 3 ). The analysis function 200 may need to contact different types of NF 310 (e.g., SMF, AMF, NSSF, etc.) in order to collect NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202. Different options are discussed below on how the NF 310 enhanced by association information can expose NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202.

[0152] The steps in operation mode 2 may include:

[0153] 1. (a) The analysis function 200 may request and / or subscribe to the NF 310 enhanced by the association information of the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202. (b) The NF 310 enhanced by the association information may send (eventually periodically) notifications of the requested NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202.

[0154] Listed below are alternative examples of how the analysis function 200 may use (ie, obtain) the context information 201 / 202 from the NF 310 enhanced with the context information:

[0155] ■Following the network open model defined in 3GPP TS23.501: wherein NF 310 enhanced with association information extends its open event list to include events for association; if necessary, extension of appropriate service operations so that other entities can use such services, thereby including UP and / or network slice association events.

[0156] ■ Provide new dedicated service operations so that consumers can request and / or subscribe to the associated information 201 / 202 provided by the NF 310.

[0157] 2. (a) Optionally, the analysis function 200 may perform some processing (e.g., merging) of the NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202 acquired from different NFs 310 enhanced by the association information before storing and / or using such association information 201 / 202. (b) The analysis function 200 may generate analysis information 203 based on the merged and / or acquired NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202.

[0158] Operation Mode 3 (Centralized Collection of Context Information): In this Operation Mode 3, the network entity 200 (here the analysis function; e.g. NWDAF) can use NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202 from the NF 410 enhanced by the centralization of context information (see Figure 4 ).

[0159] The steps in operation mode 3 may include:

[0160] 1. In this step, there is an intermediate NF 410 enhanced by centralization of association information (eg, determined NF), which obtains NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202. Different options may be applied for this, such as the following options:

[0161] 1a. (Option 1: Configuration-centric): The management entity 510 can configure the NF 410 enhanced by the centralization of the association information. The same alternative for performing the configuration described in Operation Mode 1 applies to this case, but now, the entity that configures is not the analysis function 200, but the NF 410 enhanced by the centralization of the association information.

[0162] 1b-c. (Option 2: Detection NF-centric): The intermediate NF 410 enhanced by the centralization of association information can request and / or subscribe to the association information through NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202 (see Figure 3 ) enhanced NF 310, and can (eventually periodically in the case of subscription / notification) receive the requested association information 201a / 202a. The same alternative scheme for using / obtaining association information 201a / 202a from NF 310 discussed in Operation Mode 2 can be applied to this case.

[0163] 1d. (Option 3: Intermediate NF-centric): The NF 310 enhanced by association information may provide NSA information 201b and / or UPA information 202b to the intermediate NF 410 enhanced by centralization of association information when the target element of the association information changes, wherein the one or more target elements are related to the NF 310 enhanced by association information. For example, one possible alternative for the NF 310 enhanced by association to provide such information is by using an interface and / or service operation from the intermediate NF 410 enhanced by centralization of association information. An example of a change in UPA information 202 is that a session of the UE (e.g., a target element of UPA information) is rerouted to a different UPF, which means that the UP association information related to such target element has changed. An example of a change in NSA information 201 is that a new cell is included in the TA of the S-NSSAI, which means that the target element (e.g., TA) of the network slice association information has changed.

[0164] 2. (a) Optionally, the intermediate NF 410 enhanced by the centralization of association information may perform some processing (e.g., merging) of the association information 201a / 201b / 202a / 202b acquired from the different NFs 310 enhanced by the association information before storing and / or using such association information. (b) The intermediate NF 410 enhanced by the centralization of association information may also store the acquired and / or merged NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202.

[0165] 3. The (ab) analysis function 200 may request and / or subscribe to and / or search for the correlation information 201 / 202 from the intermediate NF 410 enhanced by centralization, and may receive the required correlation information 201 / 202.

[0166] 4. The analysis function 200 may generate analysis information 203 based on the associated information 201 / 202 .

[0167] The following details are common to all operating modes 1 to 3:

[0168] For example, possible examples of processing (e.g., merging) performed on the correlation information 201 / 202 by the analysis function 200 and / or by the intermediate NF 410 enhanced by centralization of the correlation information are:

[0169] ● When the association information 201 / 202 acquired by a network entity (i.e., the analysis function 200 and / or the intermediate NF 410 enhanced by the centralization of the association information) is provided by another entity (e.g., the NF 310 enhanced by the association information) having a dedicated service and / or providing a specific data structure for organizing the association information (i.e., the NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202), the merging may simply include organizing the association information 201 / 202 in a manner of adding, connecting, grouping the acquired association information 201 / 202 according to a dataset keyword (e.g., a database keyword of the dataset) used by the network entity. Examples of dataset keywords include: S-NSSAI and / or TA for NSA information, and an example of UPA is UE identity (e.g., SUPI).

[0170] ● When the association information 201 / 202 obtained by the network entity (i.e., the analysis function 200 and / or the intermediate NF 410 enhanced by the centralization of the association information) is obtained by another entity (e.g., the NF 310 enhanced by the association information), wherein the other entity does not have a dedicated service for providing the association information 201 / 202 and / or a data structure that directly reflects the association information 201 / 202 (i.e., the parameters of the service operation are not directly mapped to the fields of the data structure of the association information), the association information 201 / 202 may be mixed with other types of information (e.g., the UE context managed by the AMF and / or SMF network functions in the 5GS, wherein in the UE context, some NSA information such as cell ID x TAx access technology can be extracted from the overall data structure of the UE context). In this case, when the network entity 200 / 410 can obtain the information from another entity 310, the network entity 200 / 410 may first need to process the received information and extract the association information 201 / 202 from all the received information. Therefore, the merging performed by the network entity 200 / 410 may include a series of processing steps. Examples of these processing steps include: the network entity 200 / 410 identifies that a portion of the received information is the associated information 201 / 202; based on the identified portion, the network entity 200 / 410 may extract the associated information 201 / 202; based on the extracted associated information 201 / 202, the network entity 200 / 410 may identify a data set keyword related to the extracted associated information 201 / 202; based on the identified data set keyword, the network entity 200 / 410 may be able to add, merge, group the associated information 201 / 202 obtained from another entity, and the network entity 200 / 410 may store the merged, grouped associated information 201 / 202.

[0171] Another issue that the analysis function 200 may consider is how the analysis function 200 actually performs the generation (and / or update) of the analysis information 203 based on the association information 201 / 202. There are different possibilities for performing the generation (and / or update) of the analysis information 203 based on the association information 201 / 202, which are applicable to all operation modes 1 to 3. For example, the analysis function 200 may use one or more of the following alternatives:

[0172] • The analysis function 200 may be used to trigger and / or perform an update to the generation of the analysis information 203 when the acquired association information 201 / 202 is updated and / or changed.

[0173] • The analysis function 200 may be used to periodically trigger and / or perform updates in analysis generation. Thus, all changes to the associated information 201 / 202 acquired by the analysis function 200 may be queued and used only when a new generation (and / or update) period of the analysis is due.

[0174] ●The analysis function 200 can be configured with a queue, which stores changes in the associated information 201 / 202 over a period of time, or when the queue is full and / or the time period is about to arrive, the analysis function 200 triggers and / or executes the generation and / or update of the analysis information 203.

[0175] The analysis function 200 may be configured with different urgency levels for triggering the generation and / or updating of the analysis information 203 based on the association information 201 / 202. For example, a change in a particular association information 201 / 202 may immediately trigger and / or perform the generation and / or updating of the analysis information 203 based on the changed association information 201 / 202, while the analysis function 200 may work using the queue scheme described above with respect to other association information 201 / 202.

[0176] ●When the analysis function 200 receives a request and / or subscription for analysis information 203, the analysis function 200 can trigger and / or execute the generation of analysis information 203 based on the association information 201 / 202 (for example, the analysis ID defined in TS23.288), requiring the analysis function 200 to identify which are 5GS entities and their attributes (i.e., network slice association information and / or user plane association information), thereby determining the entities for which data is to be collected and / or used for analysis calculations (i.e., generation).

[0177] The analysis function 200 may also use a combination of any two of the operation modes 1 to 3 to obtain the associated information 201 / 202. For example,

[0178] • The analysis function 200 may use operation mode 3 to obtain UPA information 202 and operation mode 1 to obtain NSA information 201; or,

[0179] • The analysis function 200 can use operation mode 3 to obtain UPA information 202 and use operation mode 2 to obtain NSA information 201.

[0180] Next, a more specific embodiment of the network entity provided by the embodiment of the present invention is described according to a 5G mobile network that complies with the architecture defined in 3GPP TS23.501 (see Figures 2 to 5 ). Different alternatives of embodiments are possible, even in 5GS.

[0181] The following table summarizes the possible mappings between network entities provided by embodiments of the present invention, and how these mappings are implemented by 5G entities. This table is not comprehensive, and further combinations of extensions in 5GS entities are possible.

[0182]

[0183]

[0184] From the possible implementations listed in the table above, select the following method for detailed description:

[0185] ● Embodiment 1 - Operation Mode 1 involving the following entities: Figure 5 The network entity 510 (management plane entity; for example, OAM) and Figure 2 A network entity 200 (analysis function; eg NWDAF).

[0186] ● Embodiment 2—Operation Mode 2 involving the following entities: Figure 3 network entity 310 (NF enhanced by association information; e.g. SMF, AMF) and Figure 2 A network entity 200 (analysis function; eg NWDAF).

[0187] ■ Extensions to SMF and AMF to consider event exposure; and NSSF to expose network slice association information instead of a variant of AMF

[0188] ■NWDAF directly subscribes to events opened by SMF and AMF.

[0189] ● Embodiment 3 - Operation Mode 3 involving the following entities: Determined Figure 4 The network entity 410 (NF enhanced by centralization of association information) and Figure 2 A network entity 200 (analysis function; eg NWDAF).

[0190] ■SMF opens UP association information through enhanced UDM UE context registration

[0191] ■NSSF has been enhanced with new services for event opening to provide NSA Information 201.

[0192] ■UDM is enhanced with extended UE context registration, new data types reflecting the context information 201 / 202, and new services that expose the context information 201 / 202.

[0193] ■ NWDAF 200 uses the new service from UDM to determine the associated information 201 / 202.

[0194] Figure 7 Embodiment 1 of operation mode 1 is shown, in which NWDAF service configuration association information is called based on OAM.

[0195] In this embodiment 1, for example, the network entity 200 may be NWDAF, a new service extension called Nnwdaf_AssociationInfo, which enables other entities (e.g., the management entity 510 (herein, for example, OAM) or the network entity 310 (herein, for example, NSSF) to provide association information 201 / 202. The new service may open the following operations:

[0196] • Create: may allow the creation of association information 201 / 202 on the NWDAF 200. The input parameters of this operation may include the fields of the association information 201 / 202 to be stored in the NWDAF 200, and the output of this operation may be an identifier of the stored association information 201 / 202.

[0197] - Update: The consumer of this service operation may be allowed to change the content of the stored association information 201 / 202. The input parameters may be the identifier of the stored association information 201 / 202, and the association information 201 / 202 with modified fields and / or values.

[0198] Delete: The consumer of this service operation may be allowed to delete the content of the stored association information 201 / 202. The input parameter may be the identifier of the stored association information 201 / 202 to be deleted.

[0199] exist Figure 7 , the following steps are shown:

[0200] 1a. NSSF 310 or OAM 510 invokes the Nnwdaf_AssociationInfo service operation from NWDAF 200 with appropriate parameters.

[0201] 1b. NWDAF 200 processes the information received from NSSF 310 or OAM 510.

[0202] 2. The NWDAF 200 generates analysis information 203 according to the received correlation information 201 / 202. According to the vendor policy, the NWDAF 200 may trigger the generation and / or update of the analysis information 203 according to the received correlation information 201 / 202. For example, the NWDAF 200 may use a queue system to trigger the generation and / or update of the analysis according to the received correlation information 201 / 202.

[0203] Figure 8 Example 2 of operation mode 2 is shown, based on NWDAF using an extension of the existing event open service. In this example 2, the proposed entity and concept mapping is as follows:

[0204] • For example, the network entity 200 may be a NWDAF for implementing the analysis function.

[0205] ●For example, NSSF, AMF and SMF may be the network entity 310 that implements NF enhanced by association information.

[0206] The AMF is a NF 310 that detects NSA information 201 enhanced by association information, including at least one of the following:

[0207] ■TA list, for each TA, a list of cell identities and their associated access types (e.g., eNB or 5G NR or non-3GPP, etc.), a list of allowed S-NSSAIs and / or a list of allowed NSIs that the AMF instance can support,

[0208] ■TA list, for each TA, a list of cell identifiers and their associated access types, a restricted S-NSSAI list and / or a restricted NSI list for each PLMN of the AMF instance.

[0209] NSSF is a NF 310 that detects NSA information 201 enhanced by association information, including at least one of the following:

[0210] ■TA list, for each TA, a list of cell identities and their associated access types, a list of allowed S-NSSAIs and / or a list of allowed NSIs,

[0211] ■TA list, for each TA, a list of cell identities and their associated access types, a restricted S-NSSAI list and / or a restricted NSI list for each PLMN.

[0212] The SMF is a NF 310 that detects the UPA information 202 enhanced by the associated information, including:

[0213] ■ a list of UEs (e.g. identified by SUPI), and for each UE, a list of UE PDU Session Identities (UL and / or DL), and for each UE PDU Session Identifier, a list of UPFs and their N3 and N9 interfaces, or

[0214] ■ a list of UEs (e.g. identified by SUPI), and for each UE, a list of UPFs that transmit UE data traffic, and for each UPF, a list of N3 and / or N9 and / or N6 interfaces, or

[0215] ■ A list of UEs (eg, identified by user identity), a list of each UE for which the NEF ID for UL and / or DL ​​is transmitted.

[0216] exist Figure 8 , the following steps are shown:

[0217] 1. The NWDAF 200 may obtain the NSA information 201 according to different possible alternatives. Step 1a is related to the first alternative, where the NSA information 201 is obtained by interacting with the AMF 310; step 1b is related to the second alternative, where the NSA information 201 is obtained from the NSSF 310.

[0218] 1a. (Option 1) The NWDAF 200 may call the Namf_EventExposure_Subscribe request method from the AMF 310 and subscribe to receive a new type of event called NSA event opened by the AMF 310. In the subscription, the NWDAF 200 may indicate whether the NSA information 201 is focused on a specific TA or on any TA supported by the AMF instance. The new NSA event includes information about the TA and / or TA list requested by the NWDAF 200, and for each TA, a list of cell identities and their associated access types (e.g., eNB or 5G NR or non-3GPP, etc.), a list of allowed S-NSSAIs and / or a list of allowed NSIs that the AMF 310 instance can support. If any changes in the information related to the TA for such AMF 310 change (e.g., a certain S-NSSAI becomes limited to the AMF), the AMF 310 shall notify the NWDAF 200 with the updated NSA.

[0219] Since AMF 310 interacts with NSSF 310 through Nnssf_NSSAIAvailability service, AMF 310 may be able to store and maintain NSA events to obtain the mapping between TA and the allowed x-restricted S-NSSAI and / or NSI that AMF 310 can handle, and AMF 310 may combine this information from NSSF 310 with its own configured information about TA-related cell mapping. Combined with these 2 pieces of information, AMF 310 may be able to provide NSA events to NWDAF 200.

[0220] 1b. (Option 2) The NWDAF 200 may call the newly defined Nnssf_EventExposure_Subscribe request method from the NSSF 310 and subscribe to receive a new type of event called NSA event opened by the SMF 310. In the subscription, the NWDAF 200 indicates whether the NSA information 201 related to the NSA event (i.e., the event filter information of the NSA event) is focused on a specific TA or any supported TA, AMF 310 list or any AMF 310; cell list or any cell, S-NSSAI and / or NSI list or any S-NSSAI and / or NSI. The new NSA event may include the TA and / or TA list requested by the NWDAF, for each TA, a list of cell identities and their associated access types (e.g., eNB or 5G NR or non-3GPP, etc.), a list of allowed S-NSSAIs and / or a list of allowed NSIs that the AMF 310 instance can support. If any change in information related to an NSA event requires a change (eg, a certain S-NSSAI becomes restricted to a certain AMF), the NSSF 310 should notify the NWDAF 200 with the updated NSA.

[0221] Since NSSF 310 interacts with AMF 310 through Nnssf_NSSAIAvailability service, NSSF 310 may be able to store and maintain NSA events to obtain mapping between TA and cells associated with AMF instance (i.e., can be processed / serviced by AMF instance). NSSF 310 may combine such information obtained from AMF 310 with its own configuration information about TA mapping associated with restricted and / or allowed S-NSSAI and / or NSI. In combination with these 2 information, NSSF 310 may be able to provide NSA events to NWDAF 200.

[0222] 2. NWDAF can obtain UPA information 200 according to different alternatives. NWDAF 200 can call Namf_EventExposure_Subscribe request method from SMF 310 and subscribe to receive a new type of event called UPA event opened by SMF. UPA event can include two parts: event filter information, which defines the parameter types and values ​​related to the required UPA information to be compared with the actual UPA information; event output data, which is the actual UPA information 200 that SMF 310 will provide based on the requested UPA event with the indicated event filter information.

[0223] In the subscription, the NWDAF 200 may indicate event filter information that defines the focus of the UPA information 202 provided to the NWDAF 200 by the SMF 310 in the UPA event. The event filter information for requesting a UPA event includes information of the requesting UE and / or any UE, and / or a list of UEs, and / or a group of UEs, and / or DNN and / or DNAI information (so that the SMF can determine which N6 interfaces are relevant to the UPA event, and therefore N3, N9 and UPF instances), and / or S-NSSAI and / or NSI.

[0224] The SMF 310 may provide the UPA information 202 matching the requested event filter information to the NWDAF 200. If any changes occur in the mapping of CN attributes associated with data traffic transmitted to and / or from the UE (e.g., target element of the UPA information); the SMF 310 triggers notification of the changed values ​​to the NWDAF 200. For example, if a modification of a PDU session associated with the UE and / or DNN and / or S-NSSAI (e.g., target element of the UPA information) (as defined in Section 4.3.3 of 3GPP TS 23.502) is included in the event filter information of the NWDAF 200's subscription to the UPA event at the SMF 310, then the SMF 310 provides the NWDAF 200 with updates in the subscription to the UPA event, including the changes in the UPA information 202. For example, if a new UPF NF instance is selected to transmit the data traffic of the UE (included in the event filter information), the SMF updates the UPA information 202 mapping the new UPF NF instance ID as another CN attribute related to the data traffic of such UE, and provides the updated UPA information 202 to the NWDAF 200 through notification.

[0225] 3. The NWDAF 200 may update its internal data structure upon receiving the associated information 201 / 202, which retains the associated information 201 / 202. In the case of the present embodiment, the acquired information is structured data that has been organized as NSA 201 and / or UPA information 201, so in this case, the processing (e.g., merging) is simply to store the received information according to the index for the NSA and / or UP information 201 / 202. For example, the NWDAF 200 may have a data structure of NSA information 201 indexed per TA, wherein, for each TA, the NWDAF maintains a list of cell IDs, allowed S-NSSAIs and / or NSIs, and a list of restricted S-NSSAIs and / or NSIs; in addition, for each allowed and / or restricted S-NSSAI and / or NSI, the NWDAF retains a list of related AMFs.

[0226] 4. Based on the acquired association information, the NWDAF 200 generates analysis information 203. The actual process of analysis generation involves the NWDAF 200 triggering data collection of raw data (if the data is not available) (e.g., throughput of a cell, bit rate of a PDU session ID in a UPF) and / or using such data and / or previously collected raw data to perform calculations and / or apply statistical analysis, and / or apply ML / AI techniques (e.g., regression models, neural networks, etc.) to generate the analysis information 203.

[0227] In order to trigger raw data collection from a data collection source and / or use available collected raw data from a data collection source, the NWDAF 200 must determine the associated information 201 / 202 (e.g., the target of the analysis information and / or analysis filter information) that matches the request analysis information 203. The request analysis information 203 may be related to a specific UE and / or UE group, and / or an area of ​​interest (e.g., a TA list, a cell). For example, there is analysis information 203 with filters that are subscribed to a specific geographic area, such as analysis ID: Service Experience (3GPP TS23.288 Section 6.4) and User Data Congestion in a Geographic Area (3GPP TS23.288 Section 6.8.1). In this case, the NWDAF 200 must identify the network slice associated information 201 / 202 of the tuple "(TA, cell ID, network slice and / or network slice instance)" so that the cell ID and / or TA that needs to be used in the performance information request is correctly identified when the NWDAF 200 interacts with the OAM to collect such data for a specific area of ​​interest. Therefore, in this example, NWDAF 200 generates analysis information based on network slice association information, otherwise NWDAF 200 will not be able to determine the cell ID and / or TA that is the data source for requesting analysis information 203.

[0228] Fig. 9 Embodiment 3 of operation mode 3 is shown, and according to NWDAF, the existing service of UDM for collecting association information and the new service for opening association information to NWDAF are used:

[0229] In this embodiment 3, the proposed entity and concept mapping is as follows:

[0230] • For example, the network entity 200 may be a NWDAF 200 for implementing an analysis function.

[0231] ●For example, AMF and SMF may be the network entity 300 that implements NF enhanced by association information.

[0232] • For example, the UDM may be a network entity 410 that implements a NF enhanced by centralization of associated information (ie, the determined NF 410).

[0233] AMF 310 is a NF that detects NSA information 202 enhanced by association information, including at least one of the following:

[0234] ■TA list, for each TA, a list of cell identities and their associated access types (e.g., eNB or 5G NR or non-3GPP, etc.), a list of allowed S-NSSAIs and / or a list of allowed NSIs that the AMF instance can support,

[0235] ■TA list, for each TA, a list of cell identifiers and their associated access types, a restricted S-NSSAI list and / or a restricted NSI list for each PLMN of the AMF instance.

[0236] The SMF 310 is a NF that detects the UPA information 202 enhanced by the associated information, including at least one of the following:

[0237] ■ a list of UEs (e.g. identified by SUPI), and for each UE, a list of UE PDU Session Identities (UL and / or DL), and for each UE PDU Session Identifier, a list of UPFs and their N3 and N9 interfaces, or

[0238] ■ A list of UEs (e.g. identified by SUPI), and for each UE, a list of UPFs that transmit UE data traffic, and for each UPF, a list of N3 and / or N9 and / or N6 interfaces,

[0239] ■ A list of UEs (eg, identified by user identity), a list of each UE for which the NEF ID for UL and / or DL ​​is transmitted.

[0240] • UDM 410 is a NF enhanced by centralization of association information and extended by new data structures to store and maintain NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202.

[0241] ■The data structure of NSA information 201 can be indexed according to the following conditions:

[0242] – S-NSSAI and / or NSI, where for each S-NSSAI and / or NSI there is a list of TAs, and for each TA there is a list of associated cell IDs, and the allowed AMFs and restricted AMFs, or

[0243] –TA, where for each TA, there is a cell list, an S-NSSAI and / or NSI list, and for each S-NSSAI and / or NSI, there is an allowed AMF list and a restricted AMF list.

[0244] ■The data structure of the UPA information 202 can be indexed in different ways, for example:

[0245] – UE identity (e.g. SUPI) and / or UE group identity (e.g. internal group identifier), where for each UE and / or UE group there is a list of PDU sessions, for each PDU session there is a DNN and / or DNAI associated with the PDU session, and a list of NF instance identities associated with the data traffic transport of the PDU session, if the NF instance is of UP NF type, e.g. UPF NF type, for each UPF NF ID there is a list of N3 and / or N9 and / or N6 interfaces associated with that UPF NF ID,

[0246] –DN (i.e. DNN and / or DNAI), for each data network, there is a list of UE identities (e.g. SUPI) and / or UE group identities (e.g. internal group identifier), wherein for each UE and / or UE group, there is a list of PDU sessions, for each PDU session, there is a list of NF instance identities related to the data traffic transmission of the PDU session, if the NF instance is of UPNF type, such as UPF NF type, for each UPF NF ID, there is a list of N3 and / or N9 and / or N6 interfaces associated with this UPF NF ID.

[0247] exist Fig. 9 , the following steps are shown:

[0248] The UDM 410 may centrally associate information (e.g., determined NF) 201 / 202 by acquiring NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202 from a plurality of NFs 310. In the present embodiment, an option is considered in which the UDM 410 acquires the NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202 by extending the existing service of the UDM to acquire the UE context information from the AMF 310 and the SMF 310. The UDM service for managing the UE context information is extended together with the NSA 201 and the UPA information 202. Therefore, whenever the SMF 310 and the AMF 310 update and / or create and / or deregister the UE context information, the UDM 410 extracts (e.g., processes, merges) the NSA and UPA information 201 / 202 from the enhanced UE context information. In this case, the UDM 410 obtains NSA and UPA information 201 / 202 from the AMF 310 and SMF 310 when there is a UE context change (e.g., a TA change or a cell ID change), where the UE context change is related to the UE changing its location in the network, or the UE being served by a different AMF 310; or the establishment or modification of the UE's PDU session; or the change of the SMF 310 serving the UE; or the change of the UPF serving the PDU session (which is a new type of change that we introduce through the present invention).

[0249] 1. AMF 310 calls Nudm_UECM_Deregistration when it is necessary to delete the information that the AMF 310 instance is serving a certain UE in the network from UDM 410 because the S-NSSAI associated with the UE's TA has changed from allowed to restricted. In this case, the Nudm_UECM_Deregistration service operation is extended with NSA information 310, which may include at least one of the following input parameters: List S-NSSAI, for each S-NSSAI, a list of TAs whose TA status has changed (i.e., the TA has become restricted / unrestricted in the S-NSSAI).

[0250] Another example of extension is in the Nudm_UECM_Registration service operation. In this case, the AMF 310 calls Nudm_UECM_Registration when it needs to include information about a new NF in the TA of the serving UE, which means that from the perspective of the UDM 410, the NFs related to the TA and S-NSSAI have changed. In this case, the input parameters of the Nudm_UECM_Registration service operation are extended to include NSA information 210, which may include at least one of the following: when the NF type is AMF 310, for each S-NSSAI allowed by the UE in the registration, a TA list; for each TA, a cell ID list.

[0251] 2. The SMF 310 invokes the Nudm_UECM_Registration service operation when it needs to register a new PDU session being established for the UE, which means that the overall mapping of the core network attributes and the data traffic to and from the UE has changed. For NF type SMF 310, the input parameters are extended to reflect the UPA information 202, which may include at least one of the following: a list of NF instance IDs related to the transmission of data traffic for the UE, and for each NF instance, a list of interfaces and / or reference points for transmitting data traffic to and / or from the UE indicated in the Nudm_UECM_Registration service operation.

[0252] The SMF 310 may also call the Nudm_UECM_Update service operation when the mapping of NF instances and / or interfaces and / or reference points used to transport UE data traffic changes. In this case, the input parameters of the Nudm_UECM_Update service operation are extended to include UPA information 202 in the case of SMF 310 type, and the UPA information 202 includes at least one of the following: a list of UEs with some changes in the session, for each UE, a list of PDU sessions that have changed, for each PDU session, a list of NF instance IDs of data traffic with changed transmission status (included, deleted, updated), and for each NF instance ID of the status update, a list of interfaces and / or reference points of the respective status changes (deleted, included) for transmitting data traffic to and / or from the UE.

[0253] 3. The UDM 410, upon receiving the NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202 from the AMF 310 and the SMF 310, respectively, extracts the relevant NSA and UPA information 201 / 202 from the input parameters received by the interface Nudm_UECM in the service operation. Based on the information received through the Nudm_UECM service interface, the UDM 410 is also able to identify the association of the received NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202 with an index of a data structure used by the UDM 410 to control the NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202. By extracting the index and the NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202 from the input parameters of the Nudm_UECM service operation, the UDM 410 can combine, synthesize (e.g., merge) the NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202 of the index value, and update an existing entry or create a new entry in the data structure of the NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202.

[0254] 4. UDM 410 stores the extracted NSA and / or UPA information.

[0255] 5. The UDM 410 may be enhanced by a new service Nudm_AssociationInformation, wherein one of the possible embodiments of the UDM 410 providing the NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202 to the NWDAF 200 is as follows.

[0256] The NWDAF 200 calls the Nudm_AssociationInformation_Get request service operation from the UDM 410 (i.e., the determined NF). The NWDAF 200 may query the NRF to identify the correct UDM instance to call, or may configure the correct UDM instance. The NWDAF 200 includes the following information as input parameters: the type of association information 201 / 202 required (i.e., NSI and / or UPA), the association filter information of the corresponding type of the association information 201 / 202 required (i.e., requesting NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202). The association filter information may be any field of the NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202, and includes the values ​​of these fields.

[0257] For example, the NWDAF 200 may include at least one of the following association filter information when calling Nudm_AssociationInformation_Get:

[0258] ■For UPA information 202, the associated filter information may be at least one of: a UE list, or an indication of "any UE", and / or a UE group, and / or at least one of DNN and / or DNAI information, and / or S-NSSAI and / or NSI.

[0259] ■For NSA information 201, the associated filter information may be at least one of: AMF 310 list or any AMF 310; cell list or any cell, S-NSSAI and / or NSI list or any S-NSSAI and / or NSI.

[0260] This associated filter information is represented by the NWDAF 200 in a request for NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202 to the UDM 410 and is used by the UDM 410 to search its internal NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202 data structures to retrieve (i.e., select) entries that match the fields and values ​​represented in the associated filter information.

[0261] The entries of the NSA and / or UPA information 201 / 202 data structure are included in the Nudm_AssociationInformation_Get response sent (ie, provided) to the NWDAF by the UDM 410. Possible output parameters include at least one of the following:

[0262] ■ When NSA information 201 is provided: S-NSSAI and / or NSI list, where for each S-NSSAI and / or NSI, there is a TA list, and for each TA, there is a list of related cell IDs, as well as allowed AMFs and restricted AMFs.

[0263] ■When UPA information 202 is provided: a list of UE identities (e.g. SUPI) and / or UE group identities (e.g. internal group identifier), wherein for each UE identity and / or UE group identity, there is a list of PDU sessions, for each PDU session, there is a DNN and / or DNAI associated with the PDU session, and a list of NF instance identities associated with the data traffic transmission of the PDU session, if the NF instance is of UP NF type, such as UPF NF type, for each UPF NF ID, there is a list of N3 and / or N9 and / or N6 interfaces associated with the UPF NF ID.

[0264] It should be noted that the same type of implementation of the service following the request-response method defined in Nudm_AssociationInformation_Get can be a possible implementation of the extension of AMF 310 (or NSSF 310) and SMF 310 in operation mode 2.

[0265] Fig.10 1 shows a method 1000 provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The method 1000 can be used to generate an analysis. The method 1000 can be Figure 2 The network entity 200 executes.

[0266] Method 1000 includes receiving from one or more network entities 210, 310, 410, 510 (eg, see Figures 2 to 5 ) Step 1001 of acquiring NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202. In addition, the method 1000 comprises a step 1002 of providing analysis information 203, wherein the analysis information 203 is based on the acquired NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202.

[0267] Fig.11 Three methods provided by the embodiments of the present invention are shown in (a), (b) and (c) respectively.

[0268] In (a), a method for supporting Figure 2 The method 1100 is generated by the analysis performed by the network entity 200. The method 1100 may be Figure 3 The method 1100 comprises the following steps: providing NSA information 201 and / or UPA information 202 to another network entity 300, 400 in response to a request 301, 401 received from another network entity 300, 400 and / or according to a subscription to another network entity 300, 400 (see Figure 3 or Figure 4 ). Optionally, or in addition, the method 1100 includes the following steps: providing the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202 to another network entity 300, 400 when one or more target elements related to the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202 change, wherein the one or more target elements are related to the network entity 200 or 310. The other network entity 300, 400 may be Figure 2 network entity.

[0269] In (b), a method for supporting Figure 2 The method 1101 is generated by the analysis performed by the network entity 200. The method 1101 can be Figure 4 The method 1101 includes the following steps: in response to a first request 411 sent to another network entity 420 and / or according to a first subscription to another network entity 420, from another network entity 420 (for example, see Figure 4 ) obtain NSA information 201a and / or UPA information 202a. Optionally, or in addition, the method 1100 includes the following steps: when one or more target elements related to the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202 change, obtain NSA information 201b and / or UPA information 202b from another network entity 420, wherein the one or more target elements are related to the another network entity 420.

[0270] In (c), a method for supporting Figure 2 The method 1102 is generated by the analysis performed by the network entity 200. The method 1102 can be Figure 5 The method comprises the following steps: configuring the network entity 500 using the NSA information 201 and / or the UPA information 202, wherein the other network entity 500 specifically comprises a network data analysis function (Network Data Analytics Function, NWDAF) and / or a unified data management (Unified Data Management, UDM) and / or a unified data storage (Unified Data Repository, UDR), for example, Figure 2 The network entity 200 in.

[0271] The invention has been described in conjunction with various embodiments and implementations as examples. However, those skilled in the art will be able to understand and arrive at other variations by practicing the invention, studying the drawings, the invention and the appended claims. In the claims and in the specification, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and "a" does not exclude a plurality of elements or steps. A single element or other unit may fulfil the functions of several entities or items described in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not mean that a combination of these measures cannot be effectively used.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The network entities used for analysis include: Obtaining network slice associated NSA information from one or more other network entities, Wherein, the NSA information represents the relationship between the access network attributes and the core network attributes; providing analysis information, wherein the analysis information is based on the obtained NSA information; The NSA information includes at least one of the following: a cell associated with a tracking area TA, an access type and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed network slice instances NSIs and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs and / or one or more network functions NF, each associated NF having one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs per PLMN; a cell associated with a TA, an access type and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each PLMN of each associated NF having one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs; a TA associated with a list of cells, supported access types and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each associated NF having one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs; a TA associated with a list of cells, supported access types and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs per PLMN and / or one or more NFs, each associated NF having one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs per PLMN; a NF associated with a TA, one or more associated cells, one or more associated access types, one or more associated allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs of the TA; The NF associated with the TA, one or more associated cells of each PLMN of the TA, one or more associated access types, one or more associated restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The obtaining of network slice associated NSA information from one or more other network entities includes: The NSA information is obtained from the management plane entity through configuration.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send requests and / or subscribe to one or more NFs; In response to the request and / or based on the subscription, the NSA information is obtained from the one or more.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The request and / or the subscription comprises a request and / or a subscription for NSA information, respectively.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send multiple requests and / or subscribe to multiple NFs; Responding to the plurality of requests and / or according to the subscription, obtaining the NSA information from the plurality of NFs; Merging the obtained NSA information; The analysis information is provided, wherein the analysis information is based on the merged NSA information.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending requests and / or subscribing to identified NFs; Responding to the request and / or according to the subscription, obtaining the NSA information from the determined NF; The analysis information is provided, wherein the analysis information is based on the obtained NSA information.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The network entity is a control plane entity, including a network data analysis function NWDAF.

8. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to network entities that support analysis generation, including: In response to a request received from another network entity and / or based on a subscription to another network entity, providing network slice associated NSA information to the other network entity, The NSA information indicates the relationship between access network attributes and core network attributes; and / or providing the NSA information to the other network entity when one or more target elements associated with the NSA information change, wherein the one or more target elements are associated with the network entity; The one or more target elements are a tracking area TA and / or a cell identifier, and / or an access type and / or a network slice identifier, a network function NF associated with the TA, and / or a network slice identifier associated with the TA; The NSA information includes at least one of the following: a cell associated with a TA, an access type and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed network slice instances NSIs and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each PLMN of each associated NF having one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs; a cell associated with a TA, an access type and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each PLMN of each associated NF having one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs; a TA associated with a list of cells, supported access types and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each associated NF having one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs; a TA associated with a list of cells, supported access types and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs per PLMN and / or one or more NFs, each associated NF having one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs per PLMN; a NF associated with a TA, one or more associated cells, one or more associated access types, one or more associated allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs of the TA; The NF associated with the TA, one or more associated cells of each PLMN of the TA, one or more associated access types, one or more associated restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The network entity is a control plane NF, including a session management function SMF and / or an access and mobility management function AMF and / or a network slice selection function NSSF and / or a network exposure function NEF and / or an application function AF and / or a network storage function NRF.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to network entities that support analysis generation, including: In response to a first request sent to another network entity and / or according to a first subscription to another network entity, obtaining network slice associated NSA information from the other network entity, The NSA information indicates the relationship between access network attributes and core network attributes; and / or acquiring the NSA information from the other network entity when one or more target elements associated with the NSA information change, wherein the one or more target elements are associated with the other network entity; The one or more target elements are a tracking area TA and / or a cell identifier, and / or an access type and / or a network slice identifier, a network function NF associated with the TA, and / or a network slice identifier associated with the TA; The NSA information includes at least one of the following: a cell associated with a TA, an access type and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed network slice instances NSIs and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each PLMN of each associated NF having one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs; a cell associated with a TA, an access type and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each PLMN of each associated NF having one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs; a TA associated with a list of cells, supported access types and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each associated NF having one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs; a TA associated with a list of cells, supported access types and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs per PLMN and / or one or more NFs, each associated NF having one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs per PLMN; a NF associated with a TA, one or more associated cells, one or more associated access types, one or more associated allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs of the TA; The NF associated with the TA, one or more associated cells of each PLMN of the TA, one or more associated access types, one or more associated restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: obtaining a second request and / or a second subscription for NSA information from another network entity; In response to the second request and / or according to the second subscription, providing the acquired NSA information and / or the merged NSA information to the other network entity.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Merging said acquired NSA information; and / or The obtained NSA information is stored.

13. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that: The network entity is a control plane entity, including a unified data management UDM and / or a unified data storage UDR and / or a network data analysis function NWDAF.

14. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to network entities that support analysis generation, including: Use the network slice to associate NSA information to configure another network entity, Wherein, the NSA information represents the relationship between the access network attributes and the core network attributes; The NSA information includes at least one of the following: a cell associated with a tracking area TA, an access type and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed network slice instances NSIs and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs and / or one or more network functions NF, each associated NF having one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs per PLMN; a cell associated with a TA, an access type and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each PLMN of each associated NF having one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs; a TA associated with a list of cells, supported access types and / or one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs and / or one or more NFs, each associated NF having one or more allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs; a TA associated with a list of cells, supported access types and / or one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs per PLMN and / or one or more NFs, each associated NF having one or more restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs per PLMN; a NF associated with a TA, one or more associated cells, one or more associated access types, one or more associated allowed S-NSSAIs and / or allowed NSIs of the TA; The NF associated with the TA, one or more associated cells of each PLMN of the TA, one or more associated access types, one or more associated restricted S-NSSAIs and / or restricted NSIs.

15. A communication system, characterized in that: The system comprises: A network entity for analysis and generation as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 or 10 to 13, and a network entity for supporting analysis and generation as claimed in any one of claims 8, 9 or 14.

16. A computer storage medium, characterized in that: Used to store a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

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