System and method for communicating between network functions

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention disclose a system, a method, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium for storing a network function (NF) configuration file of a radio access network (RAN), where the NF configuration file includes a callback link, where the callback link corresponds to at least one service provided by the RAN, and for storing a network function (NF) configuration file of the RAN, where the callback link corresponds to the at least one service provided by the RAN, where the callback link corresponds to the at least one service provided by the RAN. And communicating, by the RAN and the NF, information of the at least one service of the RAN with the NF using a callback link.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to a Network Framework (NF). Background Art

[0002] In the fifth generation mobile network system (5 th In the 5GC (5th Generation Mobile Network System), NF improves the flexibility and scalability of operators' mobile networks. NF can provide more than one service, such as registration, communication, etc. Summary of the invention

[0003] The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are intended to solve one or more problems existing in the related art and to provide additional features, which will be readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when combined with the accompanying drawings. According to various embodiments, example systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are disclosed herein. However, it should be understood that these embodiments are given as examples rather than limitations, and it is obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art who has read this disclosure that various modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments, but these modifications are still within the scope of this disclosure.

[0004] In some embodiments, a network function (NF) profile of a radio access network (RAN) is stored, wherein the NF profile includes a callback link, wherein the callback link corresponds to at least one service provided by the RAN; the RAN can use the callback link to communicate with the NF about information of the above-mentioned at least one service of the RAN.

[0005] The above and other aspects and embodiments thereof are described in more detail in the drawings, the description and the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Various exemplary embodiments of the present solution are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings. The drawings or diagrams are provided for illustrative purposes only and depict only exemplary embodiments of the present solution to facilitate the reader's understanding of the present solution. Therefore, the drawings should not be considered as limiting the breadth, scope or applicability of the present solution. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration, these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0007] Figure 1 An example cellular communication system is shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0008] Figure 2 Block diagrams of example base stations and example user equipment devices are shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0009] Figure 3 The 5GS architecture according to some embodiments is shown.

[0010] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example communication method between two NFs according to various embodiments.

[0011] Figure 5 is an example registration method for registering for RAN services according to various embodiments.

[0012] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an example method of an access procedure according to various embodiments.

[0013] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an example method of a PDU session establishment procedure according to various embodiments.

[0014] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating an example method for releasing a callback URI according to various embodiments.

[0015] Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example method for deactivating a UP connection according to various embodiments.

[0016] Fig.10 is a diagram illustrating an example method for a paging procedure according to various embodiments.

[0017] Fig.11 An example method for a notification process according to some embodiments is shown.

[0018] Fig.12 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of using a NF profile of a RAN according to various embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] Various example embodiments of the present solution are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present solution. It is apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art that, after reading this disclosure, various changes or modifications may be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of the present solution. Therefore, the present solution is not limited to the example embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. In addition, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely example methods. Based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes may be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the present solution. Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or actions in a sample order, and unless otherwise expressly stated, the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0020] NF service is a capability displayed by NF (e.g., NF service provider) to authorized NF service consumers through a service-based interface. NF can provide different functions and different NF services to different consumers. Therefore, NF communication based on service interface is more flexible and scalable. The interface N2 between the Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) and the Mobility Management Function (AMF) is not a service-based interface. The embodiments disclosed in this article provide a service-based interface for the interface N2 between AMF and NG-RAN.

[0021] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system 100 is shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented in the wireless communication system 100. In the following discussion, the wireless communication system 100 may implement any wireless network, such as a cellular network or a narrowband Internet of things (NB-IoT) network, and is referred to herein as "system 100". Such an example system 100 includes a BS 102 and a UE 104 that may communicate with each other via a communication link 110 (e.g., a wireless communication channel), and a cluster of cells 126, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 covering a geographic area 101. In Figure 1 1, BS 102 and UE 104 are contained within the respective geographic boundaries of cell 126. Each of the other cells 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 may contain at least one BS operating on its allocated bandwidth to provide adequate wireless coverage to its intended users.

[0022] For example, BS 102 may operate on a channel transmission bandwidth allocated thereto to provide adequate coverage to UE 104. BS 102 and UE 104 may communicate via downlink radio frames 118 and uplink radio frames 124, respectively. Each radio frame 118 / 124 may be further divided into subframes 120 / 127, which may include data symbols 122 / 128. In the present disclosure, BS 102 and UE 104 described herein are non-limiting examples of "communication nodes", which may generally be used to implement the methods disclosed herein. According to various embodiments of the present solution, such communication nodes may be capable of wireless and / or wired communications.

[0023] Figure 2A block diagram of an example wireless communication system 200 for sending and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., OFDM / OFDMA signals) according to some embodiments of the present solution is shown. The system 200 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that need not be described in detail herein. In one illustrative embodiment, as described above, the system 200 may be used in applications such as Figure 1 The wireless communication environment 100 may be used to communicate (eg, transmit and receive) data symbols.

[0024] System 200 generally includes BS 202 and UE 204. BS 202 includes a base station (BS) transceiver module 210, a BS antenna 212, a BS processor module 214, a BS memory module 216, and a network communication module 218, each of which is coupled and interconnected to each other via a data communication bus 220 as needed. UE 204 includes a UE (User Equipment) transceiver module 230, a UE antenna 232, a UE memory module 234, and a UE processor module 236, each of which is coupled and interconnected to each other via a data communication bus 240 as needed. BS 202 communicates with UE 204 via a communication channel 250, which may be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for data transmission as described herein.

[0025] System 200 may also include Figure 2 Any number of modules outside the modules shown. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in hardware, computer-readable software, firmware, or any actual combination thereof. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are generally described according to their functions. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware, firmware, or software depends on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the entire system. People familiar with the concepts described herein can implement such functions in a manner suitable for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

[0026] According to some embodiments, the UE transceiver 230 may be referred to herein as an "uplink" transceiver 230, which includes a Radio Frequency (RF) transmitter and an RF receiver, each of which includes circuits coupled to an antenna 232. As an optional embodiment, a duplex switch (not shown) couples the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in a time duplex manner. Similarly, according to some embodiments, the BS transceiver 210 may be referred to herein as a "downlink" transceiver 210, which includes an RF transmitter and an RF receiver, each of which includes circuits coupled to an antenna 212. As an optional embodiment, the downlink duplex switch couples the downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna 212 in a time duplex manner. The operation of the two transceiver modules 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time so that the uplink receiver circuit is coupled to the downlink antenna 232 to receive transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250 while the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna 212. In some implementations, tight time synchronization with minimum guard time between changes in duplex direction.

[0027] The UE transceiver 230 and the BS transceiver 210 are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication link 250 and cooperate with an appropriately configured RF antenna arrangement 212 / 232 that can support a specific wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some illustrative embodiments, the UE transceiver 210 and the BS transceiver 210 are configured to support industry standards such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G and 6G standards. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to application to specific standards and related protocols. Instead, the UE transceiver 230 and the BS transceiver 210 can be configured to support alternative or additional wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

[0028] According to various embodiments, for example, BS202 can be an evolved Node B (eNB), a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femtocell or a microcell. In some embodiments, UE 204 can be various types of user equipment, such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a wearable computing device, etc. Processor modules 214 and 236 can be implemented or completed with a general-purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof for performing the functions described herein. In this way, the processor can be implemented as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, etc. The processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

[0029] In addition, the methods described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented directly in hardware, in firmware, in software modules executed by processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. Memory modules 216 and 234 may be implemented as random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable disks, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, memory modules 216 and 234 may be coupled to processor modules 210 and 230, respectively, so that processor modules 210 and 230 may read information from and write information to memory modules 216 and 234, respectively. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 210 and 230. In some implementations, memory modules 216 and 234 may each include cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions executed by respective processor modules 210 and 230. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by respective processor modules 210 and 230.

[0030] The network communication module 218 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic and / or other components of BS202, which enable two-way communication between the BS transceiver 210 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communicate with the BS202. For example, the network communication module 218 can be configured to support Internet or WiMAX services. In a typical deployment, but not limited to, the network communication module 218 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface so that the BS transceiver 210 can communicate with a traditional Ethernet-based computer network. In this way, the network communication module 218 can include a physical interface for connecting to a computer network (e.g., a Mobile Switching Center (MSC)). The terms "configured for", "configured to" and their conjugates used herein for a specific operation or function refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc. that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted and / or arranged to perform a specific operation or function.

[0031] Figure 3 5GS architecture 300 according to some embodiments is shown. 5GS architecture 300 includes various NFs, including UE 302, Radio Access Network (RAN) 304 (e.g., 5G-RAN), and Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 306. Examples of UE 302 include UE 104 and 204. RAN 304 includes, for example, BS 102 or 202. As used herein, "network" may be used to refer to Figure 3 As used herein, "core network" or "CN (Core Network)" may be used to refer to the blocks in the core network except for UE 302. Figure 3 Blocks other than UE 302 and RAN 304.

[0032] UE 302 and AMF 306 are connected via Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) interface N1. UE 302 and RAN 304 are connected via a suitable network connection (e.g., communication link or channel 110 or 250). AMF 306 includes functions such as UE mobility management, reachability management, connection management, and registration management. AMF 306 terminates RAN control plane (CP) interface N2 and NAS interface N1, NAS encryption and integrity protection. AMF 306 also distributes Session Management (SM) NAS to a suitable Session Management Function (SMF) 308 via N11 interface.

[0033] During the registration process, AMF 306 determines the allowed NSSAI, the rejected NSSAI with the cause value based on the requested Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI) received from UE 302. AMF 306 further determines the registration area within which UE 302 can use all single NSSAIs (S-NSSAI) of the allowed NSSAI. AMF 306 sends the allowed NSSAI, the rejected NSSAI with the cause value, and the registration area to UE 302.

[0034] Unified Data Management (UDM) 310 is the NF that manages the subscription profile of UE 302. The subscription data is stored in the Unified Data Repository (UDR). The subscription information contains network slice related subscription data for mobility management and session management. AMF 306 and SMF 308 obtain subscription data from UDM 310.

[0035] The Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) 314 is a NF that supports the following functions: selecting a set of network slice instances to serve the UE 302, determining the allowed NSSAIs and, if needed, determining the mapping to the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) S-NSSAI, determining the configured NSSAI and, if needed, determining the mapping to the HPLMN S-NSSAI, determining the set of AMFs to be used to serve the UE 302, or based on the configuration, possibly determining a list of candidate AMFs by querying the Network Repository Function (NRF) 324. The AMF 306 and the UDM 310 are connected via interface N8. The AMF 306 and the Authentication Server Function (AUSF) 312 are connected via interface N12. The AMF 306 and the NSSF 314 are connected via interface N22.

[0036] The SMF 308 is a NF configured for session establishment, modification and release, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of User Plane (UP) functions, etc. The SMF 308 and the UDM 310 are connected via the interface N10.

[0037] The User Plane Function (UPF) 316 is a NF that acts as an anchor point for intra / inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) mobility and an external Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session point interconnected with the Data Network (DN) 318. When the UE 302 is in idle mode, the UPF 316 also routes and forwards data packets according to instructions from the SMF 308 and caches downlink (DL) data. The SMF 308 and the UPF 316 are connected via the interface N4.

[0038] The Policy Control Function (PCF) 320 is a NF that supports a unified policy framework to manage network behavior. The PCF 320 provides access management policies to the AMF 306, or provides session management policies to the SMF 308, or provides UE policies to the UE 302. The PCF 320 can access the UDR to obtain subscription information related to policy decisions. The PCF 320 and the SMF 308 are connected via an interface N7. The PCF 320 is communicatively coupled to the Application Function (AF) 322.

[0039] Interfaces N7, N8, N12, N10, N11, N12 and N22 are service-based interfaces. Interfaces N1 and N2 are not service-based interfaces. In current deployments, NG-RAN is always deployed statically. That is, the location of NG-RAN does not change frequently. The current embodiment provides service-based interfaces at N1 and N2 to improve the flexibility and scalability of dynamic deployment.

[0040] Figure 44 is a diagram illustrating an example communication method 400 between two NFs 402 and 404 according to various embodiments. Method 400 outlines a communication (request-response) protocol between NF 402 and NF 404. NF 402 is a CP NF service consumer. NF 404 is a CP NF service provider. NF 402 requests NF 404 to provide NF services. As shown, NF 403 sends a request 410 to NF 404 to request NF services from NF 404. NF 404 provides services in a response 420, wherein the services include performing actions and / or providing information. Different NFs may provide different functions and different NF services for different consumers. Before NF 402 invokes a service of NF 404, NF 402 may perform a discovery process to obtain an NF instance for providing the desired NF service provided by NF 404.

[0041] In some examples, the N2 interface between the RAN 304 (e.g., NG-RAN) and the AMF 306 is implemented as a service-based interface. The RAN 304 is considered to be a NF with the following characteristics: it can provide different NF services and can also consume services of other NFs. Before the NG-RAN service is consumed by other NFs, the NG-RAN service is registered with the NRF 324 through a profile. Other NFs can discover NG-RAN services by obtaining the NG-RAN profile from the NRF 324. Figure 5 is an example registration method 500 for registering for RAN services (eg, NG-RAN services) according to various embodiments.

[0042] In step 510, the RAN 304 (e.g., NG-RAN, including, for example, BS 102 or 202) sends an NF registration request message to the NRF 324 to inform the NRF 324 of the NF profile of the RAN 304. The NF registration request message may be a Nnrf_NFManagement_NFRegister request. The NF registration request message includes the NF profile. The registration request message may be triggered when an NF service consumer of the NF service corresponding to the NF profile starts working for the first time.

[0043] The NF profile of RAN 304 includes one or more of the following: at least one Tracking Area Identity (TAI), a RAN identifier (ID) (e.g., Global NG-RAN ID), a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) list, a supported S-NSSAI list, a TAI Network Slice AS Group (NSAG) support list, a supported function list, paging Discontinuous Reception (DRX), a callback Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), etc. In some examples, the supported S-NSSAI list may include a pair consisting of a TAI and an S-NSSAI supported in such a TAI. The supported function list may indicate whether RAN 304 supports more than one feature. Other NFs that obtain the profile of RAN 304 from NRF 324 may use a callback link (e.g., a callback URI) to send a notification to RAN 304. The callback URI may be stored in a configuration file of the RAN 304 in the NRF 324 or sent from the RAN 304 to the AMF 306 during the access procedure (e.g., Figure 6 ).

[0044] In the example where the RAN 304 provides two or more services, there may be multiple callback URIs, one for each service provided by the RAN 304. In some embodiments, the access procedure (e.g., Figure 6 ) is only used for UE access service operations. In response to such NF starting to call other service operations of RAN 304, other NFs can obtain other callback URIs from NRF 324. In some embodiments, RAN 304 provides all callback URIs of different service operations to AMF 306. AMF 306 decides the callback URI to be sent to other NFs based on the information contained in the NAS message.

[0045] In an example where the RAN 304 provides multiple services, a common callback URI corresponding to two or more services may be assigned. When another NF sends a first notification with a common callback URI to the RAN 304, the RAN 304 may update the callback URI in a subsequent message.

[0046] In step 520, the NRF 324 stores the NF profile of the RAN 304. The NRF 324 may mark the service consumer of the RAN 304 as available. In step 530, the NRF 324 confirms the acceptance of the registration via a response (e.g., Nnrf_NFManagement_NFRegister response).

[0047] Figure 6 6 is a diagram illustrating an example method 600 of an access procedure according to various embodiments. Execution of the method 600 may enable a UE 302 to access a wireless or cellular network via a RAN 304 (e.g., NG-RAN) supporting a service-based interface N2. When the UE 302 is in an idle mode and initiates a registration or service request procedure to the network, the communication between the UE 302, the RAN 304, the AMF 306, and the NRF 324 may be as follows: Figure 6 shown.

[0048] In step 602, the UE initiates a registration or service request to the network, for example, by performing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) establishment procedure with the RAN 304 (e.g., one or more base stations). The UE 302 initiates the RRC establishment procedure (e.g., by sending an RRC Setup Request to the RAN 304) before sending a NAS message. When the RRC establishment is successful, in step 604, the UE 302 includes the NAS message in an RRC Setup Complete message. The UE 302 may include a Globally Unique AMF Identifier (GUAMI) in the RRC Setup Complete message to ensure that the RAN 304 can select an appropriate AMF (e.g., AMF 306).

[0049] In step 606, the RAN 304 selects an AMF based on the GUAMI or TAI. For example, in response to determining that the RAN 304 does not have information of the GUAMI provided by the UE 302, the RAN 304 may perform an AMF discovery procedure for the NRF 324 using the TAI where the UE 302 resides. The AMF discovery procedure may include steps 608 and 610. In step 608, the RAN 304 sends a NF discovery request to the NRF 324. For example, the RAN 304 calls Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request (AMF, GUAMI or TAI) from an appropriately configured NRF 324 in the same PLMN. The RAN 304 may also provide other parameters, such as S-NSSAI or Network Slice Instance (NSI) ID (if available) to obtain a suitable AMF (e.g., AMF 306) from the NRF 324. The NRF 324 authorizes the Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request. Based on the NF profile of the desired NF / NF service and the type of RAN 304, the NRF 324 determines whether the RAN 304 is allowed to discover the AMF 306. For example, the AMF 306 may only be discoverable by NFs in the same network slice identified by the NSI ID. In step 610, if discovery is allowed, the NRF 324 determines a set of at least one AMF instance that matches the information contained in the Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request of the NRF 324 and the internal policy. The NRF 324 sends the NF profile of at least one AMF 306 to the RAN 304 via the Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request response message.

[0050] In response to determining that the RAN 304 has information of the GUAMI provided by the UE 302, the RAN 304 may select the AMF 306 from the stored information based on the GUAMI provided by the UE 302. In such an example, steps 608 and 610 may be omitted.

[0051] In step 612, the RAN 304 sends an access request, for example, Namf_UEaccess_request (N2 parameter, NAS message) to the selected AMF 306. The NAS message is transparent from the UE 302 to the AMF 306. The N2 parameter contains at least one of the following: the selected PLMN ID, TAI, cell ID, establishment cause, and callback URI. The callback URI is used by the AMF 306 to send a notification to the RAN 304. The RAN 304 can assign a UE-RAN ID to the UE 302 and include it in the Namf_UEaccess_request. The AMF 306 stores the RAN ID of the RAN 304 and the UE-RAN ID (if received). The UE-RAN ID can be used by other CN NFs to identify the UE 302 in the RAN 304.

[0052] In relation to Figure 5 During the RAN service registration process described above, the callback URI may be stored in the NF profile of the RAN 304 in the NRF 324 or transmitted to the AMF 306. In the example where the RAN 304 provides two or more services, there may be multiple callback URIs, one for each service provided by the RAN 304. In some embodiments, the callback URI provided by the RAN 304 to the AMF 306 in step 612 is only used for UE access service operations (e.g., method 600). In response to such NF starting to invoke other service operations of the RAN 304, other NFs may obtain other callback URIs from the NRF 324. In some embodiments, in step 612, the RAN 304 provides all callback URIs for different service operations to the AMF 306. The AMF 306 may decide the callback URI to be sent to other NFs based on the information contained in the NAS message. For example, in step 620, the RAN 304 may provide callback URIs for other services, for example, when access control to the UE is successful.

[0053] In some embodiments where the RAN 304 provides multiple services, the RAN 304 may allocate a common callback URI corresponding to the multiple services. In response to receiving a first notification with a common callback URI from another NF, the RAN 304 may update the callback URI corresponding to the notification or the service of the NF (i.e., the aforementioned "another NF") in a subsequent message from the RAN 304 to the other NF.

[0054] In step 614, the AMF returns a response (e.g., Namf_UEaccess response) to the RAN 304. In step 616, the AMF 306 performs access control on the UE 302. The AMF 306 may communicate with other NFs, such as the NSSF 314, the UDM 310, the Network Slice-Specific Authentication and Authorization Function (NSSAAF), etc., for access control.

[0055] In step 618, in response to determining that the UE is allowed to access the network, the AMF 306 sends a Nngran_UEmanagement request (UE context, NAS message) to the RAN 304. The UE context may include allowed NSSAI, Quality of Service (QoS) profile, security context, etc. The NAS message is transparently transmitted to the UE 302. In step 620, the RAN 304 returns a Nngran_UEmanagement response to the AMF 306. In step 622, the RAN 304 allocates radio resources to the UE 302 and sends the NAS message to the UE 302.

[0056] When UE 302 is in connected mode, UE 302 may initiate a NAS procedure. Considering integrity protection, all NAS messages are sent to AMF 306. AMF 306 decides which service of other CN NF to invoke. As the N2 interface changes to a service-based interface and RAN 304 is enhanced as a NF that provides at least one service, other CN NFs may communicate directly with RAN 304 (e.g., not via AMF 306). PDU session establishment, modification, and deactivation procedures are example communications that may be performed directly between another CN NF and RAN 304.

[0057] Figure 7 700 is a diagram illustrating an example method 700 of a PDU session establishment process according to various embodiments. When the UE is in a connected mode (established using method 600), method 700 is performed for UE 302 to establish a PDU session, Figure 7 The communication between UE 302, RAN 304, AMF 306, SMF 308 and NRF 324 is shown in FIG.

[0058] In step 702, UE 302 initiates a PDU session establishment process and sends a NAS transfer message (e.g., UL NAS transfer message) to RAN 304. The NAS transfer message includes a PDU session ID, a request type, a UE requested data network name (DNN), an N1 session management (SM) container (PDU session establishment request), etc. In step 704, RAN 304 sends a Namf_UL NAS transfer message to AMF 306, and in 706, AMF 306 sends a Namf_UL NAS transfer response to RAN 304. In steps 704 and 706, RAN 304 calls Namf_UL NAS transfer to transparently transfer the NAS message to AMF 306.

[0059] The callback URI transmission may be performed using process 708a or process 708b. Process 708a may be used in an example where the RAN 304 has provided the callback URI to the AMF 306 during the access process 600. In step 710, the AMF 306 sends a PDU session creation request (e.g., an Nsmf_PDUsession_CreateSMContext request or an Nsmf_pdusessioncreate request) to the SMF 308, the PDU session creation request including the callback URI of the RAN 304. In step 712, the SMF 308 establishes a PDU session, and the callback URI is used for the PDU session establishment. In response to determining in method 600 that the RAN 304 has provided two or more callback URIs to the AMF 306 for the service of the RAN 304, the AMF 306 may select one of the two or more callback URIs for the PDU service. For example, the RAN 304 may indicate a first callback URI for handling the PDU session and a second callback URI for handling the policy. The AMF 306 may determine to use the first callback URI in the method 700 based on the information of the NAS message indicating the PDU session processing.

[0060] Process 708b may be used in an example where the RAN 304 has provided the callback URI to the NRF 324 and stored in the NF configuration file of the RAN 304 in the NRF 324 (e.g., as shown in FIG. Figure 5). In step 714, AMF 306 sends a PDU session creation request (e.g., Nsmf_PDUsession_CreateSMContext request or Nsmf_pdusessioncreate request) to SMF 308, the PDU session creation request including the ID of RAN 304 serving SMF 308 (e.g., NG-RAN ID). SMF 308 uses the ID of RAN 304 to obtain the NF profile of RAN 304 stored in NRF 324 and associated with the ID of RAN 304. For example, in step 716, SMF 308 sends a discovery request (e.g., Nnrf_NFDiscovery request) to NRF 324, the discovery request including the ID of RAN 304. In step 718, NRF 324 looks up the ID of RAN 304 and sends a response (e.g., Nnrf_NFDiscovery response) including the callback URI. SMF 308 establishes a PDU session and the callback URI is used for PDU session processing.

[0061] In an example where the RAN 304 has provided the NRF with two or more callback URIs for each service of the RAN 304, such as Figure 5 As shown, SMF 308 selects a suitable callback URI for PDU session processing. For example, RAN 304 may indicate a first callback URI for PDU session processing and a second callback URI for policy processing. Then, SMF 308 selects the first callback URI to send the message.

[0062] In process 708a and process 708b, in the example where AMF 306 receives the UE-RAN ID, such as Figure 6 As shown, AMF 306 includes the UE-RAN ID in a PDU session creation request (eg, Nsmf_PDUsession_CreateSMContext request or Nsmf_pdusessioncreate request) to SMF 308.

[0063] In step 720, after completing the resource reservation in the CN (e.g., completed by the UPF 316), the SMF 308 sends a PDU session creation request (e.g., Nngran_PDUsession_Create request) to the RAN 304. The PDU session creation request contains CN tunnel information, one or more QoS profiles and corresponding QoS flow IDs (QoS Flow IDs, QFIs), PDU session IDs and related S-NSSAI, user plane security implementation information, etc. Based on the request, the RAN 304 reserves radio resources for the PDU session of the UE 302. In step 722, the RAN 304 sends a PDU session creation response (e.g., Nngran_PDUsession_Create response) to the SMF 308.

[0064] In the example of receiving the UE-RAN ID in the Nsmf_PDUsession_CreateSMContext request, the SMF 308 includes the UE-RAN ID in the Nngran_PDUsession_Create request. The RAN 304 uses the UE-RAN ID to determine the UE 302 for which the PDU session is established (i.e., the UE 302 is determined using the UE-RAN ID, and the PDU session is established for the UE 302). In the example of allocating a callback URI to each UE without allocating a UE-RAN ID, the SMF 308 can use the callback URI to indicate the UE 302 for which the PDU session is established (i.e., the callback URI is used to indicate the UE 302, and the PDU session is established for the UE 302). In the example of not allocating a callback URI to each UE, the RAN 304 allocates the UE-RAN ID.

[0065] In step 724, UE 302 and SMF 308 perform NAS transfer via AMF 306. For example, SMF 308 sends a Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message to AMF 306 to send an N1 PDU Session Establishment Accept message to UE 302. This message does not contain any N2 information.

[0066] When UE 302 enters an idle mode, the callback URI may be released. Figure 8 8 is a diagram illustrating an example method 800 for releasing a callback URI according to various embodiments. The method 800 is performed by UE 302, RAN 304, AMF 306, and SMF 308.

[0067] In step 802, UE 302 is in connected mode. According to method 700, UE 302 has established one or more PDU sessions. The release process in method 800 may be triggered by RAN 304 (e.g., NG-RAN) or AMF 306. The release of the callback URI may be performed via process 804a or process 804b.

[0068] In process 804a, the release of the callback URI is triggered by the RAN 304. In step 806, the RAN 304 sends a UE access release request (e.g., Namf_UEaccess_release request) to the AMF 306. The UE access release request may contain a UE-RAN ID, a cause, and a list of at least one PDU session ID. The cause indicates the reason for the release, such as an access network (AN) link failure, operations and maintenance (O&M) indication / operation, an unspecified failure, etc. The list of PDU session IDs indicates the PDU sessions served by the RAN 304 (e.g., (R)AN) of the UE 302. In step 808, the AMF 808 returns a UE access release response (e.g., Namf_UEaccess_release response) to the RAN 304. After releasing the radio resources, in step 810, the RAN 304 confirms the UE access release by sending a UE access release notification (e.g., Namf_UEaccess_release notification) to the AMF 306.

[0069] In process 804b, the release of the callback URI is triggered by AMF 306. In step 812, AMF 306 sends a UE access release request (e.g., Nngran_UEaccess_release request) to RAN 304. In step 814, RAN 304 returns a UE access release response (e.g., Nngran_UEaccess_release response), which includes a cause and a list of at least one PDU session ID. The cause indicates the reason for the release (e.g., AN link failure, O&M indication / operation, unspecified failure, etc.). The list of at least one PDU session ID indicates the PDU sessions served by RAN 304 (e.g., (R)AN) of UE 302.

[0070] In step 816, for each of the at least one PDU session indicated in the list of at least one PDU session ID in step 806 or step 814, the AMF 306 sends a PDU session update request (e.g., Nsmf_PDUsession_UpdateSMContext request or Nsmf_pdusessionupdate), the PDU session update request including at least one PDU session ID, PDU session deactivation, cause, operation type, etc. The cause is the same as the cause specified in step 806 or step 814. In the example where the UE-RAN ID is included in step 806 or step 814, the UE-RAN ID (e.g., an ID identifying the UE 302) may be included in the PDU session update request message. The SMF 308 deletes the callback URI of the NG-RAN service related to the UE 302. SMF 308 may identify UE 302 by UE-RAN ID or Subscriber Permanent Identifier (SUPI) / Subscription Concealed Identifier (SUCI) received from AMF 306. If applicable, SMF 308 may delete UE-RAN ID. In step 818, SMF 308 initiates PDU session release to UPF 316 to release N3 resources.

[0071] For step 804, step 816 may be optional. Fig. 9 Instead of deactivating the UP connection of the PDU session directly via AMF 306 in step 816, the UP connection of the PDU session is deactivated by performing process 904a in the process 904a (e.g., RAN 304 directly notifies SMF 308).

[0072] RAN 304 or SMF 308 may deactivate the UP connection (eg, data radio bearer and N3 tunnel) of the established PDU session of UE 302 in the Connection Management (CM)-CONNECTED state, such as Fig. 9 as shown in . Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example method 900 for deactivating a UP connection according to various embodiments.

[0073] In step 902, UP of a PDU session is activated. UE 302 is in connected mode. UE 302 has established one or more PDU sessions. At least one of the PDU sessions has a UP connection. RAN 304 (e.g., process 904a) or SMF 308 (e.g., process 904b) may determine to deactivate the UP connection.

[0074] In process 904a, the UP connection deactivation process is triggered by RAN 304. For example, in step 906, RAN 304 initiates UP connection deactivation (e.g., due to limited resources, inactivity) by sending a PDU resource release request (e.g., Nsmf_PDUresource_release request) containing UE-RAN ID, PDU session ID and cause to SMF 308. The cause indicates the reason for the release, such as AN link failure, O&M indication / operation, unspecified failure, etc. The UE-RAN ID and PDU session ID indicate the UP connection of the PDU session to be deactivated. SMF 308 may also determine the UP connection deactivation process based on, for example, Figure 7 The binding associations exchanged as shown determine the relevant PDU sessions of the UE 302. In the example where the binding association between the RAN 304 and the SMF 308 is on a per UE per PDU session basis, the binding association may be included in place of the UE-RAN ID and the PDU session ID. In step 908, the SMF 308 sends a PDU resource release response (e.g., Nsmf_PDUresource_release response) to the RAN 304.

[0075] In process 904b, SMF 308 triggers a UP connection deactivation process. At 308, SMF 308 determines to deactivate the UP connection of the PDU session, for example, in response to UPF 316 detecting that the PDU session has no data transmission during an inactive period, or in response to determining that UE 302 has moved out of the service area of ​​RAN 304. In step 912, SMF 308 sends a PDU resource release request (e.g., Nngran_PDUresource_release request) to RAN 304, and the PDU resource release request includes UE-RAN ID, PDU session ID, and cause. The cause indicates the reason for the release. The UE-RAN ID and PDU session ID indicate the UP connection of the PDU session to be deactivated. RAN 304 may also determine to deactivate the UP connection of the PDU session based on the following information: Figure 7 The binding associations exchanged as shown determine the relevant PDU sessions of the UE 302. In the example where the binding association between the RAN 304 and the SMF 308 is per UE per PDU session, the binding association may be included in place of the UE-RAN ID and the PDU session ID. In step 914, the RAN 304 sends a PDU resource release response (e.g., Nngran_PDUresource_release response) to the RAN SMF 308.

[0076] The SMF 308 deletes the callback URI of the NG-RAN service related to the UE 302. The SMF 308 may identify the UE 302 by the UE-RAN ID or SUPI / SUCI received from the AMF 306. The SMF 308 may delete the UE-RAN ID if applicable. In step 916, the SMF 308 initiates a PDU session release to the UPF 316 to release N3 resources.

[0077] In some embodiments, when the UE 302 is in an idle state and there is data to be transmitted or SM signaling in the network, the SMF 308 may notify the AMF 306 to trigger the reference Fig.10 Describes the paging process. Fig.10 is a diagram illustrating an example method 1000 for a paging procedure in accordance with various embodiments.

[0078] When UPF 316 receives downlink data of a PDU session and AN tunnel information of the PDU session is not stored in UPF 316, UPF 316 may notify SMF 308 or forward the downlink data to SMF 308. When SMF 308 invokes a service of RAN 304 or receives notification of downlink data or buffered downlink data, SMF 308 checks whether there is binding information or callback URI of RAN 304. If there is no binding information or callback URI, in step 1002, SMF 308 sends a message transfer request (e.g., Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer) to AMF 306, and the message transfer request includes SUPI and PDU session ID. PDU session ID indicates a PDU session related to signaling or data.

[0079] In the example where there is no NG-RAN information for the TAI, the AMF 306 may perform the NG-RAN discovery procedure with the NRF 324 using the TAI contained in the registration area. For example, in step 1004, the AMF 306 may send a RAN discovery request (e.g., Nnrf_NG-RANDiscovery request). In step 1005, the NRF 324 may provide the NF profile of the RAN 304 in a RAN discovery response (e.g., Nnrf_NG-RANDiscovery response), including a callback URI corresponding to the paging to the AMF 306. The AMF 306 may invoke the discovery procedure for each TAI contained in the registration area. In the example where the AMF 306 has already acquired the NG-RAN based on the same TAI, the AMF 306 may not acquire the NG-RAN for each UE.

[0080] In step 1006, the AMF 306 sends a paging trigger (e.g., Nngran_paging) containing a global unique temporary identifier (GUTI) to the RAN 304 to trigger the paging process. In step 1004, in an example where the AMF 306 obtains two or more RANs 304, the AMF 306 may send a paging for each of the two or more Nngran_pagings to these RANs 304. Upon receiving the paging, the UE 302 initiates a paging process. Figure 6 In step 1008, UE 302 may perform a UE access procedure.

[0081] For example, Fig.11 As shown, when UE 302 is in a connected mode and there is data to be transmitted or SM signaling in the network, SMF 308 can interact with AMF 306 to obtain information of RAN 304 (e.g., callback URI). Fig.11 is an example method 1100 for a notification process according to some embodiments.

[0082] When UPF 316 receives downlink data of a PDU session and AN tunnel information of the PDU session is not stored in UPF 316, UPF 316 may notify SMF 308 or forward the downlink data to SMF 308. When SMF 308 invokes a service of RAN 304 or receives notification of downlink data or buffered downlink data, SMF 308 checks whether there is binding information or callback URI of RAN 304. If there is no binding information or callback URI, in step 1102, SMF 308 sends a message transfer request (e.g., Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer) to AMF 306, and the message transfer request includes SUPI and PDU session ID. PDU session ID indicates a PDU session related to signaling or data.

[0083] Assuming that UE 302 is in connected mode, AMF 306 may provide information of RAN 304 (eg, NG-RAN information) to SMF 308. Two options may be implemented based on different options for callback URI transmission.

[0084] In RAN 304, Figure 6In some examples where a callback URI is provided during the access procedure defined in , in step 1103, the AMF 306 returns a message transfer response (e.g., Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer response) including the callback URI and the UE-RAN ID. In response to determining in method 600 that the RAN 304 has provided two or more callback URIs to the AMF 306 for the service of the RAN 304, the AMF 306 may select one of the two or more callback URIs for the PDU service. For example, the RAN 304 may indicate a first callback URI for processing a PDU session and a second callback URI for processing a policy. The AMF 306 may determine to use the first callback URI in method 1100 based on information of the NAS message indicating the PDU session. In such an example, steps 1104 and 1106 may be omitted.

[0085] In some examples where the RAN 304 provides a callback URI to the NRF 324 and stores the NF profile of the RAN 304 in the NRF 324, in step 1103, the AMF 306 returns a Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer response containing the ID of the RAN 304 (e.g., NG-RAN ID) and the UE-RAN ID. The SMF 308 uses the ID of the RAN 304 to obtain the NF profile of the RAN 304 (e.g., NG-RAN profile) stored in the NRF 324. For example, in step 1104, the SMF 308 sends a NF discovery request (e.g., Nnrf_NFDiscovery request) to the NRF 324, which NF discovery request contains the ID of the RAN 304. In step 1106, the NRF 324 uses the ID of the RAN 304 to determine the corresponding NF profile of the RAN 304 and provides it to the SMF 308 in the NF discovery response (e.g., Nnrf_NFDiscovery response).

[0086] In response to determining in method 500 that RAN 304 has provided two or more callback URIs to NRF 324 for the service of RAN 304, SMF 308 can select one of the two or more callback URIs for the PDU service. For example, RAN 304 can indicate a first callback URI for handling PDU sessions and a second callback URI for handling policies. SMF 308 can determine that the first callback URI is used in method 1100.

[0087] In step 1108, when resource reservation is completed in the CN (e.g., UPF 316), the SMF 308 sends a PDU session creation request (e.g., Nngran_PDUsession_Create request) to the RAN 304. The PDU session creation request contains CN tunnel information, one or more QoS profiles and corresponding QFIs, PDU session ID and related S-NSSAI, UP security implementation information, etc. In the example of receiving the UE-RAN ID in the Nsmf_PDUsession_CreateSMContext request, the SMF 308 includes the UE-RAN ID in the Nngran_PDUsession_Create request. The UE-RAN ID is used by the RAN 304 to determine the UE 302 for which the PDU session is to be established (i.e., the UE-RAN ID is used by the RAN 304 to determine the UE 302 for which the PDU session is to be established). In an example where a callback URI is allocated to each UE without allocating a UE-RAN ID, the SMF 308 can use the callback URI to indicate the UE 302 for which the PDU session is established (i.e., the callback URI indicates the UE 302, and the PDU session is established for the UE 302). In an example where a callback URI is not allocated to each UE, the RAN 304 allocates a UE-RAN ID.

[0088] In the example where the AMF 306 or NRF 324 has returned a public callback URI, the RAN 304 may update the callback URI for the service corresponding to the request from the SMF 308.

[0089] According to the request, RAN 304 reserves radio resources for the PDU session of UE 302. In step 1110, RAN 304 sends a PDU session creation response (eg, RAN_PDUsession_Create response) to SMF 308.

[0090] Fig.12 1 is a flow chart illustrating an example method 1200 of using a NF profile of a RAN according to various embodiments. In step 1210, a NF profile of the RAN is stored. The NF profile includes a callback link (e.g., a callback URI). The callback link corresponds to at least one service provided by the RAN. In some examples, the NF (e.g., AMF or NRF) stores the NF profile of the RAN, the NF profile including the callback link.

[0091] In step 1220, the RAN may communicate (i.e., send) information (e.g., notification) of the at least one service of the RAN using the callback link. For example, a NF (e.g., AMF, NRF, etc.) storing a NF profile containing a callback link may send a callback URI to another NF that wants to communicate with the RAN.

[0092] In some examples, storing the NF profile of the RAN includes sending, by the RAN to the NRF, a NF registration request message including the NF profile of the RAN, the NF profile including a callback link, and storing, by the NRF, the NF profile of the RAN.

[0093] In some examples, the NF profile includes one or more of the following: at least one TAI, RAN ID (e.g., global NG-RAN ID), PLMN list; supported S-NSSAI list, TAI NSAG support list, supported function list or paging DRX, one or more callback links, wherein the callback link includes a callback URI.

[0094] Regarding UE registration, at least one service includes multiple services. In some examples, the callback link includes multiple callback links, and each callback link in the multiple callback links corresponds to a corresponding one of the multiple services. The first callback link in the multiple callback links corresponds to an access service operation of the multiple services, wherein the UE attempts to access the network via the RAN. The second callback link in the multiple callback links corresponds to another service in the multiple services. In some examples, the callback link includes a common callback link corresponding to the multiple services, and the common callback link corresponds to the access service operation and another service. In some examples, method 1200 includes sending only the first callback link from the RAN to the AMF during the access service operation. In some examples, method 1200 includes sending multiple callback links from the RAN to the AMF during the access service operation, and the AMF determines to send the second callback link in response to determining that the access service operation of the wireless communication device is successful, and sends the second callback link to a NF other than the RAN or NRF.

[0095] In some examples, method 1200 includes at least one service including a plurality of services. In some examples, the callback link includes a common callback link corresponding to the plurality of services, and in response to receiving a request from the NF including a common callback link associated with one of the plurality of services, the RAN sends an updated callback link corresponding to one of the plurality of services to the NF, the updated callback link being different from the common callback link. In some examples, the callback link includes a plurality of callback links, each of the plurality of callback links corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of services.

[0096] In some examples, method 1200 includes performing an RRC establishment procedure by the RAN through the UE. In response to completing the RRC establishment procedure, the RAN selects an AMF based on an identifier (GUAMI) provided by the UE. In response to determining that the RAN has information about the identifier, the AMF is selected. In response to determining that the RAN lacks information about the identifier, an NF profile of the AMF is obtained from the NRF.

[0097] Regarding PDU session establishment, during the PDU session establishment process, AMF sends a PDU session creation request (e.g., Nsmf_PDUsession_CreateSMContext request or Nsmf_pdusessioncreate request) to SMF, and the PDU session creation request includes a callback link. SMF establishes a PDU session corresponding to the callback link. AMF selects a callback link from multiple callback links corresponding to the PDU session establishment process.

[0098] In some examples, during the PDU session establishment process, the AMF sends a PDU session creation request (e.g., a Nsmf_PDUsession_CreateSMContext request or a Nsmf_pdusessioncreate request) to the SMF. The PDU session creation request includes an ID of the RAN. The SMF obtains a callback link of the RAN from the NRF based on the ID of the RAN. The SMF establishes a PDU session corresponding to the callback link. In some examples, obtaining the callback link includes obtaining multiple callback links corresponding to the ID of the RAN. The SMF selects a callback link from the multiple callback links corresponding to the PDU session establishment process.

[0099] In some examples, during the PDU session establishment process, the SMF sends a PDU session creation request to the RAN. The PDU session creation request includes: a UE-RAN ID that identifies the UE for which the PDU session is established (i.e., the UE-RAN ID is used to identify the UE, and the PDU session is established for the UE); or a PDU session identifier for establishing a PDU session for its RAN.

[0100] In some examples, a callback link is not allocated to each UE, but a UE-RAN ID is allocated. In some examples, a callback link is allocated to each UE, but a UE-RAN ID is not allocated, and the callback link is used to identify the RAN that establishes a PDU session for the UE.

[0101] In some embodiments related to releasing the callback URI, the RAN sends a UE access release request (e.g., Namf_UEaccess_release request) to the AMF, and the UE access release request includes at least one PDU session ID of the UE. The AMF sends a PDU session update request to the SMF, and the PDU session update request includes the ID of the UE (e.g., UE-RAN ID, SUPI, SUCI) and at least one PDU session ID. The SMF deletes the callback link of the service associated with the ID of the UE. The SMF releases the resources of the at least one PDU session ID.

[0102] In some examples, method 1200 includes: receiving, by the RAN, a UE access release request (e.g., Nngran_UEaccess_release request) from the AMF; sending, by the RAN, a UE access release response (e.g., Nngran_UEaccess_release response) to the AMF, the UE access release response including at least one PDU session ID of the UE; sending, by the AMF, a PDU session update request to the SMF, the PDU session update request including the UE's ID (e.g., UE-RAN ID, SUPI, SUCI) and at least one PDU session ID; deleting, by the SMF, a callback link for a service associated with the UE's ID; and releasing, by the SMF, resources for at least one PDU session ID.

[0103] In some embodiments related to deactivating a UP connection, method 1200 includes: the RAN sends a PDU resource release request (e.g., an Nsmf_PDUresource_release request) to the SMF, the PDU resource release request including the UE ID and the PDU session ID for the UE; the SMF deletes the callback link for the service associated with the UE ID; and the SMF releases the resources of the PDU session ID.

[0104] In some examples, method 1200 includes: receiving, by the RAN, a PDU resource release request (e.g., an Nsmf_PDUresource_release request) from the SMF, the PDU resource release request including the ID of the UE and the PDU session ID for the UE; deleting, by the SMF, a callback link for a service associated with the ID of the UE; and releasing, by the SMF, resources for the PDU session ID.

[0105] In some embodiments related to paging, the method 1200 includes receiving, by the AMF from the SMF, a notification indicating that there is data or signaling to be transmitted for the NG-RAN. The notification includes an ID of the UE (e.g., SUPI) and a PDU session ID of the UE. The AMF sends a paging message to the RAN.

[0106] In some embodiments related to notification, method 1200 includes sending a message transfer request by the SMF to the AMF, the message transfer request including the UE's ID (e.g., SUPI) and the PDU session ID; receiving, by the SMF from the AMF, a callback link corresponding to the PDU session ID and the UE's ID; and sending, by the SMF to the RAN, a PDU session creation request that identifies the UE using the UE-RAN ID or the callback URI.

[0107] In some examples, method 1200 includes: the SMF sending an NF discovery request including an ID of the RAN (e.g., SUPI, RAN ID, etc.) to the NRF; the SMF receiving a callback link from the NRF; and the SMF sending a PDU session creation request identifying the UE to the RAN.

[0108] Although various embodiments of the present solution have been described above, it should be understood that they are given only by way of example and not by way of limitation. Similarly, various figures may depict example architectures or configurations, which are provided to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the exemplary features and functions of the present solution. However, these personnel will understand that the present solution is not limited to the example architectures or configurations shown, but may be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. In addition, as will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, one or more features of an embodiment may be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Therefore, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-mentioned illustrative embodiments.

[0109] It should also be understood that any reference to an element herein using names such as "first," "second," etc. does not generally limit the number or order of those elements. Rather, these names may be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not mean that only two elements can be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.

[0110] In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, and symbols that may be referenced in the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0111] Those of ordinary skill in the art will further understand that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, devices, circuits, methods, and functions described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementation, analog implementation, or a combination of both), firmware, various forms of programs or design codes containing instructions (for convenience, referred to herein as "software" or "software modules"), or any combination of these technologies. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functions. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination of these technologies, depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. A skilled person may implement the described functionality in various ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions will not cause a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0112] In addition, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein may be implemented or performed within an integrated circuit (IC) including a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logic blocks, modules, and circuits may further include antennas and / or transceivers to communicate with various components within a network or within a device. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration to perform the functions described herein.

[0113] If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Therefore, the steps of the method or algorithm disclosed herein may be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, and communication media include any media that enables a computer program or code to be transferred from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, and any other medium that can be used to store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0114] As used herein, the term "module" refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements to perform the relevant functions described herein. In addition, for the purpose of discussion, various modules are described as discrete modules; however, it is obvious to a person skilled in the art that two or more modules can be combined to form a single module that performs the relevant functions of an embodiment of the present solution.

[0115] In addition, memory or other storage and communication components may be used in embodiments of the present solution. It should be understood that, for clarity, the above description has described embodiments of the present solution with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functions between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without departing from the present solution. For example, functions illustrated as being performed by separate processing logic elements or controllers may be performed by the same processing logic elements or controllers. Therefore, references to specific functional units are only references to suitable devices for providing the described functions, rather than indicating a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

[0116] Various modifications to the embodiments described in this disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Therefore, this disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as described in the following claims.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method, comprising: storing a network function NF profile of a radio access network RAN, wherein the NF profile includes a callback link, wherein the callback link corresponds to at least one service provided by the RAN; and The RAN communicates information of the at least one service of the RAN with the NF using the callback link.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Storing the NF configuration file of the RAN includes: The RAN sends the NF registration request message to a network repository function NRF, wherein the NF registration request message includes the NF profile of the RAN, wherein the NF profile includes the callback link; and The NF configuration file of the RAN is stored by the NRF.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The NF configuration file includes one or more of the following: at least one tracking area identity TAI; RAN identifier ID; List of Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMN); A list of single allowed Network Slice Selection Assistance Information S-NSSAI supported; TAI network slice AS group NSAG support list; List of supported functions; or Paging discontinuous reception DRX, The callback link includes one or more callback links, and each of the one or more callback links includes a callback uniform resource identifier (URI).

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one service comprises a plurality of services; and The method comprises one of the following: The callback link includes a plurality of callback links, each callback link in the plurality of callback links corresponds to a corresponding one of the plurality of services, a first callback link in the plurality of callback links corresponds to an access service operation of the plurality of services, wherein in the access service operation, the wireless communication device attempts to access a network via the RAN, and a second callback link in the plurality of callback links corresponds to another service in the plurality of services; or The callback links include a common callback link corresponding to the plurality of services, the common callback link corresponding to the access service operation and the another service.

5. The method according to claim 4, comprising: During the access service operation, the first callback link is sent by the RAN to a mobility management function AMF.

6. The method according to claim 4, comprising: During the access service operation, the multiple callback links are sent by the RAN to a mobility management function AMF, wherein the AMF determines to send the second callback link in response to determining that the access service operation of the wireless communication device is successful and sends the second callback link to a NF other than the RAN or the NRF.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one service comprises a plurality of services; and The method is one of the following: The callback link includes a common callback link corresponding to the plurality of services, and the RAN sends an updated callback link corresponding to one of the plurality of services to the NF in response to receiving a request including the common callback link related to one of the plurality of services from the NF, wherein the updated callback link is different from the common callback link; or The callback link includes multiple callback links, and each callback link in the multiple callback links corresponds to a corresponding one of the multiple services.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The RAN and the wireless communication device perform a radio resource control RRC establishment process; In response to completing the RRC establishment procedure, selecting, by the RAN, a mobility management function (AMF) based on an identifier provided by the wireless communication device; In response to determining that the RAN has information about the identifier, selecting the AMF; and In response to determining that the RAN lacks the information about the identifier, obtaining the NF profile of the AMF from the NRF.

9. The method according to claim 1, comprising: In the process of establishing a protocol data unit PDU session, the mobility management function AMF sends a PDU session creation request to the session management function SMF, wherein the PDU session creation request includes the callback link; and The SMF establishes a PDU session corresponding to the callback link.

10. The method according to claim 9, comprising: The AMF selects the callback link from the multiple callback links corresponding to the PDU session establishment process.

11. The method according to claim 1, comprising: In the process of establishing a protocol data unit PDU session, the mobility management function AMF sends a PDU session creation request to the session management function SMF, wherein the PDU session creation request includes an identifier ID of the RAN; The SMF obtains the callback link of the RAN from a network repository function NRF based on the ID of the RAN; and The SMF establishes a PDU session corresponding to the callback link.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein: Acquiring the callback link includes: acquiring multiple callback links corresponding to the ID of the RAN; the method includes: selecting, by the SMF, the callback link from the multiple callback links corresponding to the PDU session establishment process.

13. The method according to claim 1, comprising: In the process of establishing a protocol data unit PDU session, the session management function SMF sends a PDU session creation request to the RAN, wherein the PDU session creation request includes: A user equipment UE-RAN identifier ID, wherein the UE-RAN ID is used to identify a wireless communication device for which a PDU session is established; or The PDU session, wherein the PDU session is used to identify the RAN for which the PDU session is established.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Instead of allocating the callback link to each wireless communication device, the UE-RAN ID is allocated; or The callback link is allocated to each wireless communication device instead of the UE-RAN ID, and the callback link is used to identify the RAN that establishes the PDU session for the wireless communication device.

15. The method according to claim 1, comprising: The RAN sends a user equipment UE access release request to a mobility management function AMF, wherein the UE access release request includes at least one protocol data unit PDU session identifier ID of a wireless communication device; The AMF sends a PDU session update request to the session management function SMF, wherein the PDU session update request includes the ID of the wireless communication device and the at least one PDU session ID; deleting, by the SMF, the callback link of the service associated with the ID of the wireless communication device; and The SMF releases the resources of the at least one PDU session ID.

16. The method according to claim 1, comprising: The RAN receives a user equipment UE access release request from a mobility management function AMF; The RAN sends a UE access release response to the AMF, wherein the UE access release response includes at least one protocol data unit (PDU) session identifier (ID) of the wireless communication device; The AMF sends a PDU session update request to the session management function SMF, wherein the PDU session update request includes the ID of the wireless communication device and the at least one PDU session ID; deleting, by the SMF, the callback link of the service associated with the ID of the wireless communication device; and The SMF releases the resources of the at least one PDU session ID.

17. The method according to claim 1, comprising: The RAN sends a protocol data unit PDU resource release request to a session management function SMF, wherein the PDU resource release request includes an ID of the wireless communication device and a PDU session identifier ID of the wireless communication device; deleting, by the SMF, the callback link of the service associated with the ID of the wireless communication device; and The SMF releases the resources of the PDU session ID.

18. The method according to claim 1, comprising: The RAN receives a protocol data unit (PDU) resource release request from a session management function (SMF), wherein the PDU resource release request includes an ID of the wireless communication device and a PDU session identifier (ID) of the wireless communication device; deleting, by the SMF, the callback link of the service associated with the ID of the wireless communication device; and The SMF releases the resources of the PDU session ID.

19. The method according to claim 1, comprising: receiving, by the mobility management function AMF, a notification from the session management function SMF indicating that there is data or signaling to be transmitted for the NG-RAN, wherein the notification includes an identifier ID of the wireless communication device and a protocol data unit PDU session ID of the wireless communication device; and The AMF sends a paging message to the RAN.

20. The method according to claim 1, comprising: The session management function SMF sends a message transmission request to the mobility management function AMF, wherein the message transmission request includes an identifier ID of the wireless communication device and a protocol data unit PDU session ID; receiving, by the SMF from the AMF, the callback link corresponding to the PDU session ID and the ID of the wireless communication device; and The SMF sends a PDU session creation request identifying the wireless communication device to the RAN.

21. The method according to claim 1, comprising: The session management function SMF sends a NF discovery request including the identifier ID of the RAN to the network repository function NRF; The callback link is received by the SMF from the NRF; and The SMF sends a PDU session creation request identifying the wireless communication device to the RAN.

22. A wireless communication device comprising at least one processor and a memory, wherein: The at least one processor is configured to read code from the memory and implement the method according to claim 1.

23. A computer program product comprising computer readable program medium code stored thereon, which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to implement the method according to claim 1.

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