Configuration of time sensitive networks

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention relates to a method, equipment, a device and a computer readable medium for macro diversity transmission in a sub-network. The method includes, in response to receiving a first header identification associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow, the first device sending a first flow requirement comprising two or more second identifications to a configuration entity of the transport network. Each of the two or more second identifications is associated with a corresponding second device configured for an interface end station in the first protocol plane. The first device receives communication configuration information indicating the second header information from the configuration entity. The first device then sends the first header identification and third header information indicating at least the second header information to a second device operating as a source interface end station. The second device is associated with a second identifier of the two or more second identifiers.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and in particular to devices, methods, apparatuses, computer-readable storage media, and systems for time-sensitive network (TSN) configuration. Background Art

[0002] With the development of technology, the application scenarios of communication have become more and more diversified and customized. For example, the timing requirements may be specific to the type of service, and the timing requirements may vary with different types of services accordingly. In some example situations, such as emergency communications, vehicle-mounted subnets, production subnets, etc., higher requirements for delay and reliability should be met. Furthermore, communication service types that can provide the required low latency and reliability, such as ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC) services, have also been introduced. However, the configuration of the data network (also referred to as TSN in this disclosure) for sending these time-sensitive services (also referred to as time-sensitive communication (TSC) flows) can be further optimized. In addition, uniquely identifying data packets or data frames belonging to a specific TSC flow in multiple service flows is also a key aspect. Summary of the invention

[0003] In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions for configuration of TSN.

[0004] In a first aspect, a first device is provided. The first device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, enable the first device to: in response to receiving a first header identifier associated with a time-sensitive communication (TSC) flow, send a first flow requirement including two or more second identifiers to a configuration entity of a transport network, wherein each of the two or more second identifiers is associated with a corresponding second device configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; receive communication configuration information indicating the second header information from the configuration entity; and send the first header identifier and at least third header information indicating the second header information to a second device operating as a source interface end station, the second device being associated with a second identifier of the two or more second identifiers.

[0005] In a second aspect, a second device is provided. The second device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the second device to: receive third header information and a first header identifier associated with a time-sensitive communication (TSC) flow from a first device, wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; and in response to detecting that a fifth header of a received data frame matches the first header identifier, send a received data frame having a sixth header based on the third header information, the sixth header including the third header information.

[0006] In a third aspect, a second device is provided. The second device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the second device to: receive fourth header information from a first device, wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; and in response to detecting that at least one of the local configuration and the fourth header information matches a sixth header of the received data frame, remove the sixth header and process the frame.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a third device is provided. The third device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the third device to: derive a first header identifier associated with a time-sensitive communication (TSC) flow from a first configuration of the TSC flow; and send the first header identifier to the first device.

[0008] In a fifth aspect, a method implemented at a first device is provided. The method includes: in response to receiving a first header identifier associated with a time-sensitive communication (TSC) flow, sending a first flow requirement including two or more second identifiers to a configuration entity of a transport network, wherein each of the two or more second identifiers is associated with a corresponding second device configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; receiving communication configuration information indicating the second header information from the configuration entity; and sending the first header identifier and at least third header information indicating the second header information to a second device operating as a source interface end station, the second device being associated with a second identifier of the two or more second identifiers.

[0009] In a sixth aspect, a method implemented at a second device is provided. The method includes: receiving third header information and a first header identifier associated with a time-sensitive communication (TSC) flow from a first device, wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; and in response to detecting that a fifth header of a received data frame matches the first header identifier, sending the received data frame with a sixth header based on the third header information, the sixth header including the third header information.

[0010] In a seventh aspect, a method implemented at a second device is provided. The method includes: receiving fourth header information from a first device, wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; and in response to detecting that the local configuration and / or the fourth header information matches a sixth header of the received data frame, removing an Ethernet header and processing the frame.

[0011] In an eighth aspect, a method implemented at a third device is provided, comprising: deriving a first header identifier associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow from a first configuration of the TSC flow; and sending the first header identifier to a first device.

[0012] In a ninth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises: a component for sending a first flow requirement including two or more second identifiers to a configuration entity of a transport network in response to receiving a first header identifier associated with a time-sensitive communication (TSC) flow, wherein each of the two or more second identifiers is associated with a corresponding second device configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; a component for receiving communication configuration information indicating the second header information from the configuration entity; and a component for sending the first header identifier and at least third header information indicating the second header information to a second device operating as a source interface end station, the second device being associated with a second identifier of the two or more second identifiers.

[0013] In a tenth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: a component for receiving third header information and a first header identifier associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow from a first device, wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; and a component for sending a received data frame with a sixth header based on the third header information in response to detecting that a fifth header of the received data frame matches the first header identifier, the sixth header including the third header information.

[0014] In an eleventh aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: a component for receiving fourth header information from a first device, wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; and a component for removing an Ethernet header and processing the frame in response to detecting that a local configuration or the fourth header information matches a sixth header of a received data frame.

[0015] In a twelfth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: a component for deriving a first header identifier associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow from a first configuration of the TSC flow; and a component for sending the first header identifier to a first device.

[0016] In a thirteenth aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprises program instructions for causing an apparatus to execute the method according to any one of the fifth aspect to the eighth aspect.

[0017] It should be understood that the abstract is not intended to identify the key or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0019] Figure 1 illustrates an example network environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0020] Figure 2 illustrates a signaling process for configuration of TSN according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 3 illustrates a data frame having a TSN transport stream header according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 4 A flowchart illustrating an example method for configuration of a TSN implemented at a first device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0023] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating an example method for configuration of TSN implemented at a second device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0024] Figure 6 A flowchart illustrating an example method for configuration of TSN implemented at another second device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0025] Figure 7 A flowchart illustrating an example method for configuration of TSN implemented at a third device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0026] Figure 8 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing an example embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0027] Fig. 9A block diagram of an example computer-readable medium is illustrated according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are only for illustrative purposes, and contribute to those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without implying any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The present disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways except the way described below.

[0030] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0031] References in the disclosure to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc. indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, these phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in conjunction with an embodiment, it should be considered that it is within the knowledge of a person skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in conjunction with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0032] It should be understood that although the terms "first" and "second" etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0033] The terms used herein are only used for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "one", "an" and "the" also include plural forms. It should also be understood that the terms "including", "having" and / or "comprising" when used herein specify the existence of stated features, elements and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the existence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0034] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

[0035] (a) pure hardware circuit implementation (such as implementation in analog and / or digital circuitry only) and

[0036] (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software such as (where applicable):

[0037] (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and

[0038] (ii) any portion of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s), software and memory(s) that work together to enable a device (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions) and

[0039] (c) Hardware circuit(s) and / or processor(s) that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, such as microprocessor(s) or portion(s) of microprocessor(s), but where the software is not required for operation, the software may not be present.

[0040] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term herein, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" also covers an implementation of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. By way of example and where applicable to a particular claim element, the term "circuitry" also covers a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0041] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that follows any appropriate communication standard, such as wireless local area network (WLAN), long term evolution (LTE), advanced LTE (LTE-A), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), high speed packet access (HSPA), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. In addition, the communication between the terminal device and the network device in the communication network can be performed according to any appropriate generation of communication protocol, including but not limited to the first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G), sixth generation (6G) communication protocol, and / or any other currently known or future to be developed protocol. The embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. In view of the rapid development of communication, there will certainly be communication technologies and systems that can embody future types of the present disclosure. It should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to the above-mentioned system.

[0042] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. A network device may refer to a base station (BS) or access point (AP), such as a NodeB (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a NR next generation NodeB (gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a relay, a low power node (such as femto, pico, etc.), depending on the terminology and technology applied. It is allowed to define a network device as part of a gNB, such as, for example, in a CU / DU split, in which case the network device is defined as a gNB-CU or a gNB-DU.

[0043] The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. As an example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station, a mobile station (MS), or an access terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a tablet computer, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a desktop computer, an image capture terminal device such as a digital camera, a game terminal device, a music storage and playback device, a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a laptop embedded device (LEE), a laptop mounted device (LME), a USB dongle, a smart device, a wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable device, a head mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, medical equipment and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial equipment and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices running in industrial and / or automated processing chain environments), consumer electronic devices, equipment running on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0044] As described above, the configuration of the TSN for transmitting the TSC stream can be further optimized.

[0045] In one solution, TSC is introduced as an important part of URLLC. TSC utilizes TSN features in a fully centralized model specified in the IEEE Standard 802.1 standard. The 5G System (5GS) acts as a Layer 2 bridge in the TSN network and supports TSN flows as periodic deterministic time-sensitive Ethernet service flows. Specifically, the centralized network configuration (CNC) collects TSN flow requirements from the centralized user configuration (CUC), schedules TSN flows, and configures each transport network bridge, including the 5GS bridge, along the determined path. For the 5GS bridge, the TSN application function (TSN AF) receives the TSN flow configuration from the CNC. The corresponding per-flow filtering and supervision (PSFP) information is used to derive the TSC auxiliary container (TSCAC), which contains the flow direction, periodicity, and burst arrival time (BAT).

[0046] In another solution, a local TSC is introduced to provide deterministic transmission capabilities without relying on TSN specific functions. Because of this, 5GS has defined generic enablers for local TSC and TSN. Exposure for TSC services can support Ethernet and IP services. TSC AF can request services with specific quality of service (QoS) requirements and specific time synchronization options. A new network function (NF) time-sensitive communication and time synchronization function (TSCTSF) is introduced to handle time synchronization, various QoS parameters and TSC auxiliary information (TSCAI) determination. TSCAI is extended with optional lifetime parameters.

[0047] In yet another solution, a TSN transport network is used for N3 data exchange between a radio access network RAN ​​node and a user plane function (UPF) to support better end-to-end deterministic and low-latency communication.

[0048] In other solutions, for each TSC flow, a separate quality of service (QoS) flow is established, and for each QoS flow, an individual GTP tunnel is set up. This may lead to a sharp increase in the number of GTP tunnels for each PDU session. In addition, in order to identify data packets belonging to a specific TSC flow, the user network interface (UNI) can be extended to use a tunnel endpoint identifier (TEID) and a QoS flow identifier (QFI) as additional information to identify the data packets. This may require additional modifications to the current architecture.

[0049] However, in a 5GS operating as a TSN bridge, there is no suitable solution to uniquely identify data packets or data frames belonging to a specific TSC stream among multiple parallel TSC streams. In addition, the session management function (SMF) for the protocol data unit (PDU) session does not know which end stations, ports, and media access control (MAC) addresses are used to transmit PDU packets via the N3 interface in the layer 2 plane and can be used to send TSC streams.

[0050] In order to solve the above and other potential problems, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides an improved mechanism for the configuration of TSN to achieve deterministic configuration of the TSN transmission network and uniquely identify data frames or data packets belonging to a specific TSC flow. According to the mechanism for the configuration of TSN, a first device configured for at least one of the SMF and the centralized user configuration (CUC) sends a first flow requirement including two or more second identifiers to a configuration entity of the transmission network in response to receiving a first header identifier associated with the TSC flow. Each of the two or more second identifiers is associated with a corresponding second device configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane. The first device receives communication configuration information indicating the second header information from the configuration entity. Then, the first device sends the first header identifier and at least the third header information indicating the second header information to the second device operating as a source interface end station. The second device is associated with a second identifier of the two or more second identifiers.

[0051] In this way, for SMF, a deterministic user plane TSN transport network for TSC flows is configured without significantly increasing the number of GTP tunnels, and data frames or data packets belonging to a specific TSC flow can be uniquely identified or recognized in the transport network.

[0052] Figure 1 An example network environment 100 is illustrated in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Figure 1 As shown in , the network environment 100 can be part of a communication network, which includes a user plane and a control plane. In the example shown in the network environment 100, the TSN network 101, which can be configured to transmit TSC streams, includes a session management function (SMF) and / or a centralized user configuration (CUC) 110 (which may also be referred to as a first device 110 in this disclosure). The TSN network 101 also includes one or more user plane functions (UPF) 120-1 (which may also be referred to as a second device 120-1 in this disclosure), operating as an interface end station in the first protocol layer. The TSN network 101 also includes a (radio) access network (R)AN, such as Figure 1As shown in . (R)AN is composed of at least one RAN node (exemplarily illustrated by the circle in the RAN), one of which may have one or more ports. The RAN node 120-2 having at least one port may be selected to operate as another interface end station in the first protocol layer, for example, a source interface end station or a sink interface end station in the TSN transmission network 101. Each of the UPF 120-1 and the RAN node 120-2 may be operated as an N3 interface in layer 2, and they may be collectively referred to as second devices accordingly. For example, the UPF 120-1 may be referred to as the second device 120-1, and the (R)AN node 120-2 may be referred to as the second device 120-2. In addition, in the present disclosure, without any limitation, the second device, the N3 interface in layer 2, and the interface end station may be used interchangeably. In some embodiments, in uplink data transmission, the RAN node 120-2 may be operated as a source interface end station in the TSN network 101. The RAN node 120-2 operating as a source interface end station sends uplink data packets to the UPF 120-1 via at least one TSN bridge in the TSN transport network, which is configured by a central network controller (CNC) of the TSN transport network. Accordingly, the UPF 120-1 operates as a sink interface end station in the TSN network 101 in uplink data transmission.

[0053] Conversely, in downlink data transmission, the RAN node 120-2 may operate as a sink interface end station in the TSN network 101. In this case, the RAN node 120-2 operating as a sink interface end station may receive downlink data packets from the UPF 120-1 via at least one TSN bridge in the TSN transport network, which is configured by a central network controller (CNC) of the TSN transport network. Accordingly, the UPF 120-1 operates as a source interface end station in the TSN network 101 in downlink data transmission.

[0054] Additionally or alternatively, without any limitation, the source interface end station may also be referred to as the talking party interface end station, and the sink interface end station may also be referred to as the listening party interface end station. In some embodiments, the first protocol plane includes a user plane. As discussed above, the interface end station includes an N3 interface in a layer 2 plane. In the present disclosure, a TSC stream is a stream sent over a TSN, and the device 170 may operate as a central network controller (CNC) in a TSN transmission network.

[0055] like Figure 1As shown in FIG, SMF / CUC 110 and TSN application function (AF) 130 form part of the 5GS control plane for a 5GS bridge that connects to an external data network ( Figure 1In addition or alternatively, the block indicated by reference numeral 130 may also be a time-sensitive communication time synchronization function (TSC TSF). In the present disclosure, TSN AF or TSC TSF 130 may also be referred to as a third device 130. In this architecture, the TSC stream is configured at the TSN AF 130 (or TSC TSF 130) by a CNC (or AF 140) outside the TSN transmission network 101 (e.g., an external CNC 140). According to an example embodiment of the present disclosure, the TSN AF 130 sends TSC stream configuration information adapted to 5GS and a header identifier associated with the TSC stream to the SMF / CUC 110 for configuring a data link for the TSC stream in the TSN transmission network 101. For example, the external CNC 140 configures a TSC stream that needs to be sent from the network entity 150 to the network entity 160 at the third device 130. The third device 130 sends the TSC flow configuration information adapted to 5GS and the header identifier containing the target address (e.g., the address of the network entity 160) derived based on the TSC flow configuration to the SMF / CUC 110 for configuring the data link in the TSN transport network 101. In the present disclosure, the above-mentioned target address (the address of the network entity 160) outside the TSN transport network 101 may also be referred to as a second destination MAC address (DMAC). Then, the SMF / CUC 110 may request the configuration entity (e.g., CNC 170) of the TSN transport network 101 to merge the end station communication configuration, which is used to transmit the TSC flow in the TSN transport network 101. In one example, the SMF / CUC 110 sends the merged flow requirement to the CNC 170 based on the TSC flow configuration information adapted to 5GS and the header identifier associated with the TSC flow. In turn, the CNC 170 feeds back the merged end station communication configuration of the source and sink interface end stations in the TSN transmission network 101 to the SMF / CUC 110 in response to the request. The merged end station communication configuration indicates at least the source interface end station address, the target interface end station address, and the target address of the TSC stream in the TSN transmission network (which may also be referred to as the first DMAC in the TSN transmission network 101 in the present disclosure) of the data link in the TSN transmission network 101 for the TSC stream. Based on the merged end station communication configuration indicated by the SMF / CUC, the source interface end station derives and adds a unique TSN transport stream header to the packet of the TSC stream. Then, the source interface end station and the sink interface end station use the unique TSN transport stream header to exchange the packets of the TSC stream. In this way, the second device 120-1 or 120-2 operating as a source interface end station or a sink interface end station can uniquely identify the data frame / data packet belonging to the TSC stream and perform corresponding operations.

[0056] It should be understood that the above steps are only discussed for the purpose of generally illustrating the solution and are not intended to be limiting. Figure 2 and Figure 3 Detailed implementations of the present disclosure are discussed in further detail.

[0057] It should also be understood that Figure 1 The number of devices shown in is for illustration purposes only and does not imply any limitation.For example, UPF 120-1 may include any UPF suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0058] Communications in network environment 100 may conform to any suitable standard, including but not limited to LTE, LTE Evolution, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), etc. In addition, communications may be performed according to any generation of communications protocols currently known or developed in the future. Examples of communications protocols include but are not limited to first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G), and / or any additional communications protocols.

[0059] The following will refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3 The principles and implementations of the present disclosure are described in detail.

[0060] Figure 2 The signaling process 200 of the configuration of the illustrated TSN according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated. For ease of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1 A signaling process 200 is described.

[0061] In the signaling process 200, a PDU session establishment process, a PDU session modification process and a TSC stream transmission process are shown. Figure 2 In the present disclosure, without any limitation, some embodiments of the present disclosure are discussed in the context of downlink transmission. Based on the reciprocity of the data link, uplink configuration and uplink transmission for TSC flow can be performed in a similar manner.

[0062] During the PDU session establishment process, multiple second devices (e.g., second devices 120-1 and 120-2) that can be used to transmit the TSC flow report their identities and / or port identities to the SMF / CUC 110. In the present disclosure, the reported identity may also be referred to as a second identity associated with the second device, such as 120-1 and 120-2. In some embodiments, the second identity includes a MAC address in the TSN transport network 101. In this way, the control plane network function can directly know the second device or its port that can be used for the TSC flow in the user plane.

[0063] In some embodiments, for the second device 120-1 corresponding to the UPF, the second identifier associated with the second device is reported from the UPF to the first device 110 in the N4 establishment / modification response of the PDU session establishment process. The report from the UPF to the first device 110 can be initiated by the first device via a request of N4 signaling. In one example, a new service element for establishment / modification response is added, and the service element allows the second identifier associated with the second device to be reported from the UPF to the SMF. In addition, the N4 establishment / modification request can be initiated by the corresponding layer 2 information request. For example, in step 201, the first device 110 can send an N4 session establishment / modification request to the second device 120-1. In one example, the N4 session establishment / modification request also includes a TSN N3 interface identification request. In step 203, in response to the N4 session establishment / modification request, the second device 120-1 sends an N4 session establishment / modification response to the first device 110. The N4 session establishment / modification response further includes at least one of the following: a second identifier of the second device 120 - 1 , and a second identifier of a port on the second device 120 - 1 that can transmit the TSC stream.

[0064] For the second device 120-1 corresponding to the RAN node, the second identifier associated with the second device is reported from the RAN node to the first device 110 in the N2 message and the Nsmf service message of the PDU session establishment process. The report from the RAN node to the first device 110 can be initiated by the first device 110 via the request of the Namf service and the N2 message. In addition, the Namf service from the SMF and the N2 message from the AMF can be initiated by the corresponding layer 2 information request. For example, the second identifier is integrated into the N2 PDU session response and the Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext request message of the PDU session establishment process. In one example, in step 205, the first device 110 sends a Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message including a TSNN3 identifier request to the access and mobility management function (AMF). In response to the Namf service message, in step 207, the AMF sends an N2 PDU session request including a TSN N3 identifier request to the second device 120-2. In step 209, the second device 120-2 feeds back an N2 PDU session response to the AMF, which indicates at least one of the following: a second identifier of the second device 120-1, and a second identifier of a port on the second device 120-1 that can transmit the TSC stream. In step 211, the AMF sends an Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext message to the first device 110, which indicates the second identifier associated with the second device 120-1.

[0065] Additionally or alternatively, if the second devices 120 - 1 and 120 - 2 each include a single port, the second device may only report the second identification of the second device.

[0066] In this way, the control plane network function of the TSN transport network 101 directly obtains information of the second identification associated with the N3 interface in the layer 2 supporting the TSN transport network.

[0067] In response to detecting a TSC flow to be performed during the PDU session modification process, the control plane network function configures or adapts a communication configuration for the TSN transport network 101 to transmit the TSC flow.

[0068] In step 213, the external CNC 140 detects the TSC flow to be sent. Then, the external CNC 140 calculates or schedules the network path for the TSC flow. For example, the external CNC 140 determines that the TSC flow should be sent along the network path from the network entity N150 to the network entity M160. Then, in step 215, the external CNC 140 configures the static filter entry (SFE) and the corresponding per-flow filtering and supervision (PSFP) and the corresponding empty flow identification flow for the TSN flow at the TSN AF 130 of the 5GS bridge.

[0069] In step 217, for each TSC stream, the third device 130 configured for the TSN AF 130 or the TSC TSF 130 derives a TSC stream header identifier for transmitting the TSC stream in the TSN transmission network 101 based on the TSN stream configuration information provided by the external CNC 140. In the present disclosure, the TSC stream header identifier may also be referred to as a first header identifier. In some embodiments, the first header identifier can uniquely identify the TSC stream to be executed.

[0070] In some embodiments, the TSC stream configuration information provided by the external CNC 140 includes a bridge configuration. Additionally or alternatively, the TSC stream configuration information provided by the application function includes a 5GS configuration for the native TSC stream.

[0071] In some embodiments, if the TSC stream is an Ethernet or IP type TSN stream, the first header identifier can be constructed by using the VLAN identifier and DMAC (which can also be referred to as the second DMAC) of the TSC stream. IEEE 802.1TSN The IEEE802.1 standard ensures that this information is unique for each TSN stream transmitted in the TSN domain via the 5GS bridge. In one example, the first DMAC can include the MAC address of the network entity M 160. In some other embodiments, the first DMAC can include other MAC addresses of other network entities.

[0072] Additionally or alternatively, if the TSC stream is a native TSC stream of Ethernet or IP type, the first header identification can be constructed by using the second DMAC and virtual LAN ID (VID) of the TSC stream. In addition, the local TSC stream may also need to use the source MAC address (SMAC) of the TSC stream (which may also be referred to as the second SMAC) to uniquely identify the Ethernet stream. In one example, the second SMAC may include the MAC address of the network entity N 150. In some other embodiments, the second SMAC may include other MAC addresses of other or the same network entity.

[0073] Additionally or alternatively, if the TSC stream is of IP type, the first header identifier may be constructed using an IPv4, IPv6 tuple containing the source IP address (SourceIpAddress), destination IP address (DestinationIpAddress), Dscp, protocol (Protocol), source port (SourcePort) and destination port (DestinationPort) of the TSC stream.

[0074] Additionally or alternatively, the first header identifier of the TSC stream can be constructed by using any of the following parts of the TSC stream packet: DMAC (which can also be referred to as a second DMAC), source MAC address (SMAC) (which can also be referred to as a second SMAC), VID (which can also be referred to as a second VID), priority code point (PCP) (which can also be referred to as a second PCP), Ethernet type value (which can also be referred to as a second Ethernet type value) and mac_service_data_unit (which can also be referred to as a second mac_service_data_unit).

[0075] After deriving the first header identifier associated with the TSC stream, at step 219 , the third device 130 sends the first header identifier 110 to the first device.

[0076] In some embodiments, in steps 219 and 221, the third device 130 sends a first header identifier associated with the TSC stream to the first device 110 via a policy control function (PCF). In one example, the first header identifier is carried in a TSC assistance container (TSCAC). In another example, the first header identifier is carried in an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Update service.

[0077] In step 223, after receiving the first header identifier associated with the TSC stream, the first device 110, which also acts as an N3 interface end station, may derive or construct a corresponding TSN transport stream requirement, which may be sent to the CNC 170 for obtaining a corresponding communication configuration of the TSN transport network 101. In the present disclosure, the TSN transport stream requirement may also be referred to as a first stream requirement.

[0078] In some embodiments, the first device 110 derives the source interface end station and the sink interface end station in the TSN transport network 101 based on the 3GPP information. In one example, the first device 110 may identify a PDU session that transmits the TSC stream, and use the PDU session information (e.g., a tunnel endpoint identifier TEID of a GPRS tunneling protocol GTP tunnel) to derive the interface end station pair and stream direction information of the TSC stream, as well as additional source interface end station and sink interface end station identifiers within the TSN transport network 101. If multiple source interface end station identifiers and multiple sink interface end station identifiers are provided within the TSN transport network 101, the first device 110 may select at least one interface source interface end station identifier, at least one sink interface end station identifier (both of which may also be referred to as (multiple) second identifiers), and merge the derived second identifiers associated with the source end station and the sink end station into the first flow requirement (which may also be referred to as a merged flow requirement for the TSN transport stream).

[0079] In some embodiments, as discussed above, the first device 110 can use the PDU session information to derive a pair of source interface end stations and sink interface end stations. Then, based on the second identifier provided by the second device at steps 203 and 211, the first device 110 can derive at least two second identifiers, and each of the at least two second identifiers is associated with one of the derived source interface end stations and sink interface end stations. In one example, if each of the two interface end stations only supports a single port, the first device 110 can derive only two second identifiers, each of which corresponds one-to-one to one of the source and sink pairs. In another example, if the source interface end station or the sink interface end station has multiple ports available for the TSN transport network 101, the first device 110 can merge at least one of the associated second identifiers into the first flow requirement (or the merged flow requirement for the TSN transport flow).

[0080] In yet another example, the first plurality of interface end stations in the UPF may be selected to operate as a source interface end station or a sink interface end station for an external TSC stream. Accordingly, the second plurality of interface end stations in the (R)AN may also be selected to operate as a receiving or source interface end station for an external TSC stream. In some embodiments, one of the first plurality of interface end stations may have only a single port, while another of the first plurality of interface end stations may have multiple ports. In addition, the second plurality of interface end stations may have a similar configuration. In this case, the first device 110 may merge at least one second identifier of each of the first and second plurality of interface end stations into the first flow requirement. For example, for a certain interface end station having multiple ports, the first device 110 may merge the station identifier of the interface end station and at least one port identifier of the interface end station into the first flow requirement. In another example, for another specific interface end station having a single port, the first device 110 may merge only the station identifier of the specific interface end station into the first flow requirement.

[0081] It should be understood that regardless of the number of selected interface end stations for transmitting external TSC streams and the number of ports of the interface end stations, any method for incorporating second identifiers associated with these selected interface end stations into the first stream requirement can be envisioned based on the embodiments discussed above.

[0082] For clarity of discussion, the following embodiments are discussed based on that only one interface end station with a single port is selected as a source interface end station and only one interface end station with a single port is selected as a sink interface end station.

[0083] like Figure 2 In the example shown in , the flow direction of the TSC flow is the downlink direction, the resulting source interface end station is the second device 120-1, and the resulting sink interface end station is the second device 120-2. In this example, the first device 110 incorporates at least one of the second identifiers provided by the second devices 120-1 and 120-2 into the first flow requirement. In some embodiments, the first device 110 incorporates at least one of the MAC addresses provided by the second devices 120-1 and 120-2 into the first flow requirement. It should be understood that the second devices 120-1 and 120-2 are in Figure 2 In some other embodiments, another second device configured for the RAN may be selected as a sink interface end station, and / or another second device configured for the UPF may be selected as a source interface end station.

[0084] Additionally or alternatively, the second identifier of the second device available for the TSN transmission network 101 is preconfigured at the first device 110. In this way, the first device 110 can directly derive the second identifier for the TSC stream without receiving the second identifier from the second device. In some other embodiments, the first device 110 can obtain the second identifier of the second device available for the TSN in any other manner (e.g., a MAC address).

[0085] In addition, the first device 110 may generate a unique stream identifier (ID) for the TSC stream to transmit the TSN stream in the TSN transmission network 101 , and also incorporate the unique stream ID into the first stream requirement to identify the TSC stream.

[0086] In some embodiments, the first device 110 may generate a unique flow ID for a TSC flow in the TSN network 101 based at least on a second identifier associated with the second device 120-1 operating as a source interface end station. In addition, the first device 110 may select a free unique ID for the TSC flow. The first device 110 then generates a unique flow ID based on the second identifier associated with the second device 120-1 and the selected free unique ID.

[0087] After determining the associated second identifier and the unique stream ID, the first device 110 may store the first header identifier, the associated second identifier, and the unique stream ID. Then, at step 225, the first device 110 sends a first stream requirement (or a merged stream requirement for a TSN transport stream) including the associated second identifier, the unique stream ID, and the first header identifier for the source interface end station and the sink interface end station to the CNC 170.

[0088] According to the first stream requirement, the CNC 170 determines a network path, schedules resources for the TSC stream in the TSN transmission network 101, and feeds back the merged end station communication configuration to the first device 110 as a response. Hereinafter, the merged end station communication configuration may be referred to as the communication configuration. In step 227, the first device 110 receives communication configuration information from the CNC 170, the communication configuration information indicating additional header information of the TSC stream transmitted in the TSN transmission 101. In the present disclosure, the additional header information may also be referred to as second header information.

[0089] In some embodiments, the second header information may indicate a destination address of the TSN stream to transmit the TSC stream in the TSN transmission network 101. In some embodiments, the destination address of the TSN stream may include a multicast address. In another embodiment, the address of the TSN stream may include only the second identifier of the second device 120-2. In the present disclosure, the above-mentioned destination MAC address of the TSN stream in the TSN transmission network 101 is also referred to as the first DMAC in the TSN network 101 as mentioned above.

[0090] Additionally or alternatively, the second header information may also indicate at least one of a virtual LAN ID (VID) in the TSN network 101 (which may also be referred to as a first VID in the TSN network 101) and a priority code point (PCP) in the TSN network 101 (which may also be referred to as a second PCP in the TSN transport network).

[0091] In some embodiments, the first device 110 sends the first flow requirement to the CNC 170 or receives communication configuration information from the CNC 170 via a user network interface (UNI).

[0092] In step 229, after receiving the communication configuration information, the first device 110 can update the stored first header identifier, second identifier and unique stream ID by adding the second header information (which can also be referred to as the first DMAC, the first SMAC, the first VID, the first PCP and the first mac_service_data_unit) and modifying the second identifier indicated in the communication configuration information. For example, if the CNC 170 selects the second identifier of the sink interface end station, the first device 110 can update the second identifier associated with the sink interface end station accordingly. In another example, as discussed above, the first device 110 can merge multiple identifiers (port identifiers) into the first stream requirement. In this case, the CNC 170 can select a second identifier of the second device for transmitting the TSC stream and indicate the one second identifier in the communication configuration information. In addition, the first device 110 can use the second header information to construct individual third header information and individual fourth header information. The third header information is provided to the source interface end station, and the fourth header information is provided to the sink interface end station.

[0093] In some embodiments, the CNC 170 in the TSN transport network 101 may not include the VID parameter in the merged end-station communication configuration because the TSN transport stream fits into the existing VLAN configuration. In this case, the control plane network function (e.g., SMF / CUC 110) acting on behalf of the N3 interface endpoint already knows the VLAN configuration of the second devices 120-1 and 120-2 via local configuration. By adding the locally configured VID to the DMAC and PCP received from the CNC 170, the SMF / CUC 110 uses the local configuration (existing VLAN configuration) and the received second header information to generate the third header information, which can be sent to the second device 120-1 for adding the TSN transport stream header to the external TSC stream. Additionally or alternatively, the first device 110 may send the third information without the VID, and the second device 120-1 may add the sixth header (discussed in detail below) with the VID to the external TSC stream based on the local configuration of the VLAN.

[0094] Additionally or alternatively, there may be a TSN transport network deployment where, for example, there is only a default stream reservation (SR) class A for TSN flows, and only one PCP value is mapped to the SR class. This mapping is typically done by an OAM system (e.g., a network management system) that manages the TSN transport network. In such a deployment, the CNC 170 may decide not to provide a PCP value. The SMF / CUC 110 or even the second device 120-1 may then derive a PCP value based on a local configuration (e.g., the second device 120-1 may be configured using an SR class to priority mapping table) and combine the PCP with the received DMAC and VID.

[0095] In step 231, based on the update information associated with the TSC stream, the first device 110 sends the first header identifier and the third header information to the second device 120-1 operating as a source interface end station of the TSC stream in the TSN network 101, and the third header information at least indicates the second header information. In some embodiments, the third header information indicates at least one of the following: a first DMAC, a first SMAC, a first VID, a first PCP, and a first mac_service_data_unit. The second device 120-1 stores the association between the first header identifier and the third header information.

[0096] Additionally or alternatively, when the second device 120 - 1 has multiple TSN available ports, the third header information may further indicate a second identifier associated with a certain port of the second device 120 - 1 .

[0097] In some embodiments, at step 231, the first device 110 sends the first header identifier and the third header information in the N4 session modification request. Conversely, at step 233, the second device 120-1 may feed back an N4 session modification response.

[0098] In step 235, in order to accept and process the data frame / packet belonging to the TSN stream, the first device 110 may also send fourth header information to the second device 120-2 operating as a sink interface end station. The fourth header information may indicate at least a portion of the second header information. In some embodiments, the fourth header information may indicate at least one of the following: a first DMAC, a first SMAC, a first VID, a first PCP, and a first mac_service_data_unit. Additionally or alternatively, when the second device 120-2 has multiple TSN available ports, the fourth header information may also indicate a second identifier associated with a port of a second device 120-2. In some embodiments, the first device 110 sends the fourth header information to the second device 120-2 via the AMF. Accordingly, in response to receiving the fourth header information, in step 236, the second device 120-2 sends a response signaling (e.g., ACK and / or NACK signaling) to the first device 110 via the AMF. The second device 120-2 stores the fourth header information and the associated second identifier (if available).

[0099] Additionally or alternatively, when, for example, the first DMAC is a multicast address and the VLAN is accepted by the second device 120 - 2 , the first device 110 may not send the TSN flow information to the second device 120 - 2 .

[0100] At step 237, the second device 120-1 may receive a data frame including a fifth header. After receiving the data frame, the second device 120-1 uses the first header identifier received from the first device 110 to check whether the fifth header identifies whether the data frame belongs to a TSC stream associated with the first header identifier. In some embodiments, the associated first header identifier refers to a first header identifier generated by the third device 130 based on the configuration information of the TSC stream. For clarity of discussion, reference may be made to Figure 3 Discuss steps 237 and 239.

[0101] Figure 3 A TSN transport frame 300 having a TSN transport header 330 , a TSN transport payload 310 , and a TSN transport cyclic redundancy check (CRC) 340 is illustrated according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0102] In the TSN transport payload 310 of the TSN transport frame 300, a packet header 320 (which may also be referred to as a fifth header) and an additional TSN transport header 330 (which may also be referred to as a TSN transport header when the TSN transport frame is a TSN transport stream frame or a sixth header) before the payload part are shown.

[0103] Upon receiving a packet of a TSC stream frame including at least a TSC header, in step 239, the second device 120-1 operating as a source interface end station checks whether the fifth header 320 matches the first header identifier. In some embodiments, the fifth header 320 includes a DMAC (e.g., a second DMAC) of the TSC stream. If the DMAC in the fifth header 320 is the same as the second DMAC in any of the stored first header identifiers, it is determined that the fifth header matches the stored first header identifier. In some embodiments, the fifth header may include other information elements. In this case, if the parameters indicated by any of the stored first header identifiers match the corresponding elements in the fifth header, it is determined that the fifth header matches the first header identifier.

[0104] Once it is determined that the fifth header matches the first header identifier, the device 120-1 operating as a source interface end station may add a sixth header to the received data frame so that the data frame can be uniquely identified by the N3 interface in layer 2 as belonging to a certain TSN stream in the TSN transport network 101. In this example, the sixth header includes a TSN transport stream header as a TSN transport header 330. In some embodiments, when the source and sink interface end stations are based on a TSN transport network, the sixth header may include an Ethernet header.

[0105] In some embodiments, based on the third header information received from the first device 110, the second device 120-1 cascades the TSN transport stream header 330 in front of the TSN transport payload 310 containing the received TSC stream frame. The TSN transport stream header 330 includes at least one of the following: a first DMAC, a first SMAC, a first VID, a first PCP, which can be indicated in the third header information. In some other embodiments, the TSN transport stream header 330 also includes a second identifier of a second device 120-1 or a second identifier of a port of a second device 120-1 added in the sixth header. In the present disclosure, the second identifier added to the sixth header may also be referred to as a first SMAC.

[0106] In addition, as mentioned above, if the current VLAN or PCP parameters are suitable for the TSN transport stream, the SMF / CUC 110 or even the second device 120-1 can adopt a local configuration, such as an existing RAN node and UPF configuration. In this case, the second header information may not include PCP parameters or VID, which may implicitly indicate that the local configuration is adopted. Finally, the second device 120-1 may construct a TSN transport stream header 330 based on at least one of the stored information related to the first header identifier and the local configuration. In addition, the second device 120-1 will add a GTP-U header for the PDU session used to exchange packets between the UPF and the UE.

[0107] Additionally or alternatively, if it is determined that the fifth header does not match, the second device 110 derives another Ethernet header based on the existing RAN node and UPF configuration. The original Ethernet header will not be used for the TSN flow in the TSN transport network 101 .

[0108] Return to Figure 2 , in step 241, if it is determined that the fifth header matches the first header identifier, the second device 120-1 uses the third header information to derive a sixth header used to send the TSN transmission frame to the second device 120-2.

[0109] In step 243, when a TSN transmission frame (e.g., an Ethernet frame) is received, the second device 120-2 checks whether the Ethernet header of the TSN transmission frame addresses the second device 120-2. For example, if the second device 120-2 checks whether the Ethernet header matches at least one of the fourth header information and the local configuration. For another example, if the DMAC and VID of the TSN transmission frame match the first DMAC and the first VID indicated in the fourth header information, it can be determined that the Ethernet header (or the sixth header) matches.

[0110] In step 245, when detecting that the sixth header addresses the second device 120-2, the second device 120-2 removes the sixth header added by the source interface end station 120-1 and processes the frame. For example, the second device 120.2 removes the GTP-U header information. In addition, the second device 120-2 sends the processed TSN transmission frame to the UE 190.

[0111] Additionally or alternatively, the network entity M160 or the network entity N150 may decide to terminate the TSC flow. Then, the external CNC140 or AF (not shown in the figure) may initiate the termination of the TSC flow. When the TSN AF 130 or the TSC TSF (not shown in the figure) receives the TSC flow configuration information for terminating the TSC flow, the following operations may be performed. The third device 130 may generate a first header identifier associated with the TSC flow that needs to be terminated, and provide the first header identifier as a termination request to the first device 110.

[0112] At the first device 110, when information about terminating a TSC stream is received, the first device 110 uses the received first header identifier to derive the corresponding StreamID of the TSN transport stream from the stored data and constructs a TSN transport stream requirement to terminate the TSN transport stream addressed by the StreamID.

[0113] The stream request may then initiate the CNC 170 to terminate the TSN transport stream addressed by the StreamID in the TSN transport network. Accordingly, the CNC 170 may respond to the first device 110 with communication configuration information including the successful termination of the TSN transport stream addressed by the StreamID.

[0114] In addition, the first device 110 notifies the second devices 120-1 and 120-2 to remove the stored data assigned to the first header identifier. In addition, the first device 110 deletes its stored information associated with the stream ID and the first header identifier.

[0115] It should be understood that the present disclosure can also be used in the case where at least one of the N3 interface endpoints does not support VLAN or stream conversion. As defined in IEEE Standard 802.1Qcc-2018, the VLAN or stream conversion processing can then be performed by an edge bridge in the TSN transport network connecting the N3 interface endpoints. The corresponding VLAN or stream conversion information exchange between the first device 110 and the second device 120-1 and / or 120-2 can be omitted.

[0116] It should also be understood that the above step sequence is illustrated for presenting the present disclosure, and there is no limitation on the time sequence of the related steps.

[0117] Figure 4 A flowchart 400 of an example method for configuration of TSN implemented at a network device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated. The method 400 may be implemented at Figure 1 For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1Method 400 is described. It should be understood that method 400 may also include additional blocks not shown and / or omit some of the blocks shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0118] like Figure 4 As shown in , in response to receiving a first header identifier associated with a time-sensitive communication (TSC) flow, the first device 110 sends a first flow requirement including two or more second identifiers to the configuration entity 170 of the transport network at 410. Each of the two or more second identifiers is associated with a corresponding second device 120 configured for an interface end station in the first protocol plane.

[0119] At 420 , the first device 110 receives communication configuration information indicating the second header information from the configuration entity.

[0120] At 430, the first device 110 sends a first header identifier and third header information indicating at least second header information to the second device 120-1 operating as a source interface end station. The second device is associated with a second identifier of the two or more second identifiers.

[0121] In some embodiments, the first device 110 sends TSN stream information indicating fourth header information to another second device 120-2 operating as a sink interface end station, the fourth header information indicating at least a portion of the second header information, and the another second device is associated with another second identifier among the two or more second identifiers.

[0122] In some embodiments, the first device 110 receives at least one corresponding second identification from each of a plurality of second devices configured for the interface end station, wherein the plurality of second devices support time sensitive networking (TSN).

[0123] In some embodiments, the first device 110 obtains source interface end stations and sink interface end stations for the TSC stream in the transport network from a plurality of second devices, wherein each of the two or more second identifiers is associated with at least one of the source interface end stations and the sink interface end stations.

[0124] In some embodiments, the first flow requirement further includes a unique flow identifier (ID) for the TSC flow, wherein the unique flow ID is generated by the first device based on at least a second identification associated with the source interface end station.

[0125] In some embodiments, the at least one second identification includes at least one of the following: a device identification of the second device; one or more port identifications of the second device.

[0126] In some embodiments, receiving the second identifier includes: receiving the second identifier through at least one of an N4 session establishment response and an N4 session modification response; and / or receiving the second identifier through at least one of an N2 PDU session response and an Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSM context request.

[0127] In some embodiments, receiving the first header identifier includes receiving the first header identifier from a third device configured for at least one of a TSN application function (TSN AF) and a time sensitive communication time synchronization function (TSCTSF).

[0128] In some embodiments, the second header information indicates at least one of: a first DMAC in the transport network; a first DMAC in the transport network; a first virtual LAN ID (VID) in the transport network; a first priority code point (PCP) value in the transport network; and a first mac_service_data_unit in the transport network.

[0129] In some embodiments, the first header identifier uniquely identifies the TSC stream, wherein the first header identifier is derived based on at least one of: a second DMAC of the TSC stream; a second VID of the TSC stream; a second priority code point (PCP); a second Ethernet type value; a second mac_service_data_unit; a second source SMAC of the TSC stream; an Internet Protocol (IP) version 4 tuple of the TSC stream; and an IP version 6 tuple of the TSC stream.

[0130] In some embodiments, the first device is configured for at least one of a session management function (SMF) and a centralized user configuration (CUC), wherein the second device is configured for at least one of a radio access network (RAN) node and a user plane function (UPF), wherein the configuration entity includes a centralized network configuration (CNC).

[0131] In some embodiments, the first protocol plane comprises a user plane, and wherein the interface end station comprises an N3 interface using a layer 2 plane.

[0132] In some embodiments, the TSC stream comprises a stream sent over a time sensitive network (TSN), and wherein the first device comprises a control node in a TSN transport network, and wherein the TSN transport network operates as part of a TSN bridge in the TSN network.

[0133] In some embodiments, the second header information indicates a second stream requirement for the TSC stream sent over the transport network.

[0134] Figure 5A flowchart of an example method 500 for configuring TSN implemented at a network device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated. The method 500 may be implemented at Figure 1 For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1 Method 500 is described. It should be understood that method 500 may also include additional blocks not shown and / or omit some of the blocks shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0135] At 510 , the second device 120 - 1 receives third header information and a first header identification associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow from the first device 110 , wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane.

[0136] At 520, in response to detecting that the fifth header of the received data frame matches the first header identifier, the second device 120-1 sends the received data frame with a sixth header based on the third header information. The sixth header includes the third header information.

[0137] In some embodiments, the second device supports time sensitive networking (TSN).

[0138] In some embodiments, the second device 120 - 1 sends at least one second identification associated with the second device to the first device.

[0139] In some embodiments, the at least one second identification includes at least one of: a device identification of the second device; and one or more port identifications of the second device.

[0140] In some embodiments, the third header information also indicates at least one of: a first DMAC in the transport network; a first SMAC in the transport network; a first virtual LAN ID (VID) in the transport network; a first priority code point (PCP) value in the transport network and a first mac_service_data_unit in the transport network.

[0141] In some embodiments, the first header identifier uniquely identifies the TSC stream, wherein the first header identifier is derived based on at least one of: a second DMAC of the TSC stream; a second VID of the TSC stream; a second priority code point (PCP); a second EtherType value; a second mac_service_data_unit; a second SMAC of the TSC stream; an Internet Protocol (IP) version 4 tuple of the TSC stream; and an IP version 6 tuple of the TSC stream.

[0142] In some embodiments, the sixth header further includes at least one of: a first DMAC; a first SMAC; a first VID; a first PCP; and a second identification associated with the second device.

[0143] In some embodiments, the first device is configured for at least one of a session management function and a centralized user configuration (CUC), and wherein the second device is configured for at least one of a radio access network (RAN) node and a user plane function (UPF).

[0144] In some embodiments, the first protocol plane comprises at least one of a user plane, and wherein the interface comprises an N3 interface using layer 2.

[0145] Figure 6 A flowchart of an example method 600 for configuring TSN implemented at a network device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated. The method 600 may be implemented at Figure 1 For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1 Method 600 is described. It should be understood that method 600 may also include additional blocks not shown and / or omit some of the blocks shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0146] At block 610 , the second device 120 - 2 receives fourth header information from the first device 110 , wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane.

[0147] At block 620 , in response to detecting that at least one of the local configuration and the fourth header information matches the sixth header of the received data frame, the second device 120 - 2 removes the sixth header and processes the frame.

[0148] In some embodiments, the second device supports time sensitive networking (TSN).

[0149] In some embodiments, the second device 120 - 2 sends at least one second identifier associated with the second device to the first device.

[0150] In some embodiments, the at least one second identification includes at least one of the following: a device identification of the second device; one or more port identifications of the second device.

[0151] In some embodiments, the fourth header also indicates at least one of: a first DMAC in the transport network; a first SMAC in the transport network; a first VID in the transport network; a first PCP value in the transport network; and a second identifier associated with the second device; and a first mac_service_data_unit in the transport network.

[0152] In some embodiments, the first device is configured for at least one of a session management function and a centralized user configuration (CUC), and wherein the second device is configured for at least one of a radio access network (RAN) node and a user plane function (UPF).

[0153] In some embodiments, the first protocol plane comprises at least one user plane, and wherein the interface comprises an N3 interface using a layer 2 plane.

[0154] Figure 7 A flowchart of an example method 700 for configuring TSN implemented at a network device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated. The method 700 may be implemented at Figure 1 For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1 Method 700 is described. It should be understood that method 700 may also include additional blocks not shown and / or omit some of the blocks shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0155] At 710 , the third device 130 derives a first header identification associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow from a first configuration of the time sensitive communication (TSC) flow.

[0156] At 720 , the third device 130 sends a first header identifier to the first device.

[0157] In some embodiments, the first header identifier uniquely identifies the TSC stream, and wherein the first header identifier is derived based on at least one of: a second DMAC of the TSC stream; a second VID of the TSC stream; a second priority code point (PCP); a second Ethernet type value; a second mac_service_data_unit; a second SMAC of the TSC stream; an Internet Protocol (IP) version 4 tuple of the TSC stream; and an IP version 6 tuple of the TSC stream.

[0158] In some embodiments, the first configuration is received from at least one of a centralized network configuration (CNC) and an application function (AF) external to a transport network associated with the third device.

[0159] Figure 8 800 is a simplified block diagram of a device 800 suitable for implementing an embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 800 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as Figure 1 800 includes one or more processors 810, one or more memories 820 coupled to the processors 810, and one or more transmitters and / or receivers (TX / RX) 840 coupled to the processors 810.

[0160] TX / RX 840 may be configured for bidirectional communication. TX / RX 840 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface required to communicate with other network elements.

[0161] Processor 810 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network and may include, as non-limiting examples, one or more of: a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 800 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips that are time slaved to a clock that synchronizes a main processor.

[0162] The memory 820 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 824, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, compact disk (CD), digital video disk (DVD), and other magnetic storage devices and / or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 822 and other volatile memories that do not persist during the duration of a power outage.

[0163] The computer program 830 includes computer executable instructions executed by the associated processor 810. The program 830 may be stored in the ROM 824. The processor 810 may perform any appropriate actions and processes by loading the program 830 into the RAM 822.

[0164] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by a program 830 so that the device 800 may execute the Figure 2 Any process of the present disclosure discussed. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0165] In some embodiments, the program 830 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device 800 (e.g., in the memory 820) or in other storage devices accessible by the device 800. The device 800 may load the program 830 from the computer-readable medium to the RAM 822 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Fig. 9 An example of a computer readable medium 900 in the form of a CD or DVD is shown. The computer readable medium has a program 830 stored thereon.

[0166] Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software, which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other graphical representations, it should be understood that, as non-limiting examples, the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0167] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer executable instructions, such as those included in a program module, which are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the above-referenced Figure 4-Figure 7 Any one of the described methods 400 to 700. Typically, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules can be combined or split between program modules as desired. The machine executable instructions of the program modules can be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules can be located in local and remote storage media.

[0168] The program code for executing the disclosed method can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes can be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer or other programmable data processing device so that when the processor or controller executes the program code, the functions / operations specified in the flow chart and / or block diagram are implemented. The program code can be executed completely on the machine, partially on the machine, as an independent software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or completely on a remote machine or server.

[0169] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer readable media, etc.

[0170] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared or semiconductor system, device or apparatus, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of computer readable storage media include: an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0171] In addition, although each operation is depicted in a specific order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the specific order shown or in sequence, or requiring the execution of all illustrated operations to achieve the desired result. In some scenarios, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but should be interpreted as descriptions of features that may be specific to a particular embodiment. Certain features described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. On the contrary, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented separately in multiple embodiments or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0172] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it should be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A first device, comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory including computer program code; The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to at least: In response to receiving a first header identifier associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow, sending a first flow requirement including two or more second identifiers to a configuration entity of a transport network, wherein each of the two or more second identifiers is associated with a corresponding second device configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; receiving, from the configuration entity, communication configuration information indicating second header information; as well as The first header identifier and third header information indicating at least the second header information are sent to a second device operating as a source interface end station, the second device being associated with a second identifier of the two or more second identifiers.

2. The first device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to: Sending TSN stream information indicating fourth header information to another second device operating as a sink interface end station, wherein the fourth header information indicates at least a portion of the second header information, the another second device being associated with another second identifier among the two or more second identifiers.

3. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to: At least one corresponding second identification is received from each of a plurality of second devices configured for the interface end station, and wherein the plurality of second devices support time sensitive networking (TSN).

4. The first device according to claim 3, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to: The source interface end station and the sink interface end station for the TSC flow in the transport network are derived from the plurality of second devices, and wherein each of the two or more second identifications is associated with at least one of the source interface end station and the sink interface end station.

5. The first device of claim 4, wherein the first flow requirement further comprises a unique flow identifier (ID) for the TSC flow, and wherein the unique flow ID is generated by the first device based at least on the second identification associated with the source interface end station.

6. The first device according to claim 3, wherein the at least one second identifier comprises at least one of the following: a device identifier of the second device; and One or more port identifiers of the second device.

7. The first device according to claim 3, wherein receiving the second identification comprises: Receiving the second identifier through at least one of an N4 session establishment response and an N4 session modification response; and / or The second identifier is received through at least one of an N2 PDU session response and an Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMC context request.

8. The first device of claim 1, wherein receiving the first header identification comprises: The first header identification is received from a third device configured for at least one of a TSN application function (TSN AF) and a time sensitive communication time synchronization function (TSC TSF).

9. The first device according to claim 1, wherein the second header information indicates at least one of the following: a first destination MAC address (DMAC) in the transport network; a first source MAC address (SMAC) in the transport network; A first virtual local area network ID (VID) in the transmission network; a first priority code point (PCP) value in the transport network; and The first mac_service_data_unit in the transport network.

10. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first header identifier uniquely identifies the TSC stream, and wherein the first header identifier is derived based on at least one of: a second DMAC for the TSC stream; A second VID of the TSC stream; Second PCP; Second EtherType value; Second mac_service_data_unit; A second SMAC for the TSC flow; an Internet Protocol (IP) version 4-tuple of the TSC stream; and The IP version 6-tuple of the TSC stream.

11. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the first device is configured for at least one of a session management function (SMF) and a centralized user configuration (CUC), and wherein the second device is configured for at least one of a radio access network (RAN) node and a user plane function (UPF), and wherein the configuration entity comprises a centralized network configuration (CNC).

12. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first protocol plane comprises a user plane, and wherein the interface end station comprises an N3 interface using a layer 2 plane.

13. The first device of claim 1, wherein the TSC stream comprises a stream sent over a time sensitive network (TSN), and wherein the first device comprises a control node in a TSN transport network, and wherein the TSN transport network operates as part of a TSN bridge in the TSN network. 14 . The first device according to claim 13 , wherein the second header information indicates a second stream requirement of the TSC stream to be transmitted through the transport network.

15. A second device, comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory including computer program code; The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second device to at least: receiving third header information and a first header identification associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow from a first device, wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; as well as In response to detecting that a fifth header of the received data frame matches the first header identifier, the received data frame is sent with a sixth header based on the third header information, the sixth header including the third header information. The second device of claim 15 , wherein the second device supports time-sensitive networking (TSN).

17. The second device of claim 15, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the second device to: At least one second identifier associated with the second device is sent to the first device.

18. The second device according to claim 17, wherein the at least one second identifier comprises at least one of the following: a device identifier of the second device; and One or more port identifiers of the second device.

19. The second device according to claim 15, wherein the third header information further indicates at least one of the following: a first destination MAC address (DMAC) in the transport network; a first source MAC address (SMAC) in the transport network; A first virtual local area network ID (VID) in the transmission network; a first priority code point (PCP) value in the transport network; and The first mac_service_data_unit in the transport network.

20. The second device of claim 15, wherein the first header identifier uniquely identifies the TSC stream, and wherein the first header identifier is derived based on at least one of: a second DMAC for the TSC stream; A second VID of the TSC stream; Second PCP; Secondary EtherType Value Second mac_service_data_unit A second SMAC for the TSC flow; an Internet Protocol (IP) version 4-tuple of the TSC stream; and The Internet IP version 6 tuple of the TSC stream.

21. The second device according to claim 15, wherein the sixth header further comprises at least one of the following: First DMAC; First SMAC a first VID; and First PCP.

22. The second device of claim 15, wherein the first device is configured for at least one of a session management function and a centralized user configuration (CUC), and wherein the second device is configured for at least one of a radio access network (RAN) node and a user plane function (UPF).

23. The second device of claim 15, wherein the first protocol plane comprises at least one of a user plane, and wherein the interface comprises an N3 interface using a layer 2 plane.

24. A second device, comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory including computer program code; The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second device to at least: receiving fourth header information from a first device, wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; as well as In response to detecting that at least one of the local configuration and the fourth header information matches a sixth header of the received data frame, removing the sixth header and processing the frame.

25. The second device of claim 24, wherein the second device supports time sensitive networking (TSN).

26. The second device of claim 24, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the second device to: At least one second identifier associated with the second device is sent to the first device.

27. The second device according to claim 24, wherein the at least one second identifier comprises at least one of the following: a device identifier of the second device; and One or more port identifiers of the second device.

28. The second device according to claim 24, wherein the fourth header information further indicates at least one of the following: a first destination MAC address (DMAC) in the transport network; a first source MAC address (SMAC) in the transport network; A first virtual local area network ID (VID) in the transmission network; a first priority code point (PCP) value in the transport network; and The first mac_service_data_unit in the transport network.

29. The second device of claim 24, wherein the first device is configured for at least one of a session management function and a centralized user configuration (CUC), and wherein the second device is configured for at least one of a radio access network (RAN) node and a user plane function (UPF).

30. The second device of claim 24, wherein the first protocol plane comprises at least one of a user plane, and wherein the interface comprises an N3 interface using a layer 2 plane.

31. A third device, comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory including computer program code; The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the third device to at least: deriving a first header identification associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow from a first configuration of the TSC flow; as well as The first header identifier is sent to the first device.

32. The third device of claim 31 , wherein the first header identifier uniquely identifies the TSC stream, and wherein the first header identifier is derived based on at least one of: a second destination MAC address (DMAC) of the TSC flow; A second virtual local area network ID (VID) of the TSC stream; Second Priority Code Point (PCP) Secondary EtherType Value Second mac_service_data_unit A second source MAC address (SMAC) of the TSC flow; an Internet Protocol (IP) version 4-tuple of the TSC stream; and The IP version 6-tuple of the TSC stream.

33. The third device of claim 31, wherein the first configuration is received from a centralized network configuration (CNC) and application function (AF) external to a transport network associated with the third device.

34. A method implemented at a first device, comprising: In response to receiving a first header identifier associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow, sending a first flow requirement including two or more second identifiers to a configuration entity of a transport network, wherein each of the two or more second identifiers is associated with a corresponding second device configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; receiving, from the configuration entity, communication configuration information indicating second header information; as well as The first header identifier and third header information indicating at least the second header information are sent to a second device operating as a source interface end station, the second device being associated with a second identifier of the two or more second identifiers.

35. A method implemented at a second device, comprising: receiving third header information and a first header identification associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow from a first device, wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; as well as In response to detecting that a fifth header of the received data frame matches the first header identifier, the received data frame is sent with a sixth header based on the third header information, the sixth header including the third header information.

36. A method implemented at a second device, comprising: receiving fourth header information from a first device, wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; as well as In response to detecting that the local configuration or the fourth header information matches a sixth header of the received data frame, the sixth header is removed and the frame is processed.

37. A method implemented at a third device, comprising: deriving a first header identification associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow from a first configuration of the TSC flow; as well as The first header identifier is sent to the first device.

38. An apparatus comprising: means for sending, in response to receiving a first header identifier associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow, a first flow requirement including two or more second identifiers to a configuration entity of a transport network, wherein each of the two or more second identifiers is associated with a corresponding second device configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; means for receiving, from the configuration entity, communication configuration information indicating second header information; as well as A component for sending the first header identifier and third header information at least indicating the second header information to a second device operating as a source interface end station, the second device being associated with a second identifier of the two or more second identifiers.

39. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving third header information and a first header identification associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow from a first device, wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; as well as Means for transmitting the received data frame with a sixth header including the third header information based on the third header information in response to detecting that a fifth header of the received data frame matches the first header identification.

40. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving fourth header information from a first device, wherein the second device is configured for an interface end station in a first protocol plane; as well as Means for removing the sixth header of the received data frame and processing the frame in response to detecting that the local configuration or the fourth header information matches the sixth header of the received data frame.

41. An apparatus comprising: means for deriving a first header identification associated with a time sensitive communication (TSC) flow from a first configuration of the TSC flow; as well as A component configured to send the first header identifier to a first device.

42. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least perform the method of claim 34, 35, 36 or 37.

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