PROCEDURES, ENTITIES AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA FOR ERRORS HANDLING

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the technical field of communication technologies, and particularly to methods, entities, and computer readable media for error handling.BACKGROUND

[0002] This section is intended to provide a background to the various embodiments of the technology described in this disclosure. The description in this section may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and / or claims of this disclosure and is not admitted to be prior art by the mere inclusion in this section. 3GPP TS 29.512 v17.0.0 has several chapters for an error report to Policy Control Function (PCF), in which Chapter 4.2.3.16 describes a Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rule error report for Npcf_SMPolicyControl_UpdateNotify Service Operation; Chapter 4.2.3.20 describes a Session Rule Error Report for Npcf_SMPolicyControl_UpdateNotify Service Operation; Chapter 4.2.3.26 describes Policy decision and condition data error handling for Npcf_SMPolicyControl_UpdateNotify Service Operation; Chapter 4.2.4.15 describes PCC rule error report for Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update and Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Create Service Operation; Chapter 4.2.4.21 describes a Session Rule Error Report for Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update and Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Create Service Operation. Chapter 4.2.4.26 describes Policy decision and condition data error handling for Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update and Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Create Service Operation.

[0003] These chapters describes the error happens in rule or policy decision. However, since the policy decision and condition data are referred by rule, the reference may be wrongly provisioned or updated by the PCF. Or, the error may happen in attributes in SmPolicyDecision other than sessRules, pccRules, qosDecs, chgDecs, traffContDecs, umDecs, qosMonDecs and conds, such as the attributes reflectiveQoSTimer, policyCtrlReqTriggers, lastReqUsageData, pralnfos etc.

[0004] The current 3GPP specifications don't have the option for the Session Management Function (SMF) to report the policy decision and condition data with session rule / PCC rule reference error and error in attributes in SmPolicyDecision other than sessRules, pccRules, qosDecs, chgDecs, traffContDecs, umDecs, qosMonDecs and conds.

[0005] There are generally three types of error cases: Case 1: Session rule and / or PCC rule refer to one or more empty policy decisions and / or condition data, e.g., a dynamic PCC rule with refUmData pointing to non-exist umData; Case 2: SM policy decision and session rule / PCC rule are provisioned with inconsistency, e.g., UsageMonitoringData instance is referred by both session rule and PCC rule. Case 3: an error in attributes in SmPolicyDecision other than sessRules, pccRules, qosDecs, chgDecs, traffContDecs, umDecs, qosMonDecs and conds, such as reflectiveQoSTimer, policyCtrlReqTriggers, lastReqUsageData, pralnfos etc. in Table 5.6.2.4-1 of 3GPP TS 29.512 v17.0.0, which is excerpted below as Table 1. For example, an error in pralnfos may be pralnfos validation / enforcement error, an error in policyCtrlReqTriggers may be e.g., the PCF removing the "US_RE" policy control request trigger while usage monitoring is still active in the SMF. Table 1: Definition of type SmPolicyDecision Attribute name Data type P Cardinality Description Applica bility sessRule smap(SessionRule)O1..NA map of Sessionrules with the content being the SessionRule as described in subclause 5.6.2.7. The key used in this map for each entry is the sessRuleld attribute of the corresponding SessionRule.(NOTE 2)pccRulesmap(PccRule)O1..NA map of PCC rules with the content being the PCCRule as described in subclause 5.6.2.6. The key used in this map for each entry is the pccRuleld attribute of the corresponding PccRule.qosDecsmap(QosData)O1..NMap of QoS data policy decisions.The key used in this map for each entry is the qosld attribute of the corresponding QosData. (NOTE 2)chgDecsmap(ChargingData)O1..NMap of Charging data policy decisions. The key used in this map for each entry is the chgld attribute of the corresponding ChargingData.chargingI nfoCharginglnformationC1Contains the CHF addresses and possible associated CHF instance Ids and CHF set IDs of the PDU session. (NOTE 3)traffCont Decsmap(TrafficControlDa ta)O1..NMap of Traffic Control data policy decisions. The key used in this map for each entry is the tcId attribute of the corresponding TrafficControlData. (NOTE 2)umDecsmap(UsageMonitorin gData)O1..NMap of Usage Monitoring data policy decisions. The key used in this map for each entry is the umld attribute of the corresponding UsageMonitoringData.qosCharsmap(QosCharacterist ics)O1..NMap of QoS characteristics for non-standard 5QIs and non-preconfigured 5QIs. This map uses the 5QI values as keys.(NOTE 2)qosMonD ecsmap(QosMonitoringD ata)O1..NMap of QoS Monitoring data policy decision. The key used in this map for each entry is the qmld attribute of the corresponding QosMonitoringData.QoSMo nitoringreflective QoSTime rDurationSecO0..1Defines the lifetime of a UE derived QoS rule belonging to the PDU Session for reflective QoS.(NOTE 2)offlinebooleanO0..1Indicates the offline charging is applicable to the PDU session when it is included and set to true.(NOTE 3) (NOTE 4)onlinebooleanO0..1Indicates the online charging is applicable to the PDU session when it is included and set to true.(NOTE 3) (NOTE 4)condsmap(ConditionData)O1..NA map of condition data with the content being as described in subclause 5.6.2.9. The key used in this map for each entry is the condld attribute of the corresponding ConditionData.revalidati onTimeDateTimeO0..1Defines the time before which the SMF shall have to re-request PCC rules.pcscfRest IndicationbooleanO0..1If this attribute is included and set to true, it indicates that the P-CSCF Restoration is requested. The default value "FALSE" applies, if the attribute is not present and has not been supplied previously.PCSCF-Restorat ion-Enh anceme ntpolicyCtrl ReqTrigg ersarray(PolicyControlR equestTrigger)O1..NDefines the policy control request triggers subscribed by the PCF.lastReqR uleDataarray(RequestedRule Data)O1..NDefines the last list of rule control data requested by the PCF.lastReqU sageDataRequestedUsageDat aO0..1Defines the last requested usage data by the PCF.pralnfosmap(PresencelnfoR m)O1..NDefines the PRA information provisioned by the PCF. The "prald" attribute within the Presencelnfo data type shall also be the key of the map. The "presenceState" attribute within the Presencelnfo data type shall not be supplied.PRAipv4IndexIpIndexC0..1Information that identifies the IP address allocation method for IPv4 address allocation. (NOTE 3)ipv6lndexIpIndexC0..1Information that identifies the IP address allocation method for IPv6 address allocation. (NOTE 3)qosFlowU sageQosFlowUsageO0..1Indicates the required usage for default QoS flow.relCauseSmPolicyAssociation ReleaseCauseO0..1The cause for which the PCF requests the termination of the policy association.RespBa sedSess ionRelsuppFeatSupported FeaturesC0..1Indicates the list of negotiated supported features.This parameter shall be supplied by the PCF in the response to the POST request that requested the creation of an individual SM policy resource.tsnBridge ManContBridgeManagementC ontainerO0..1Transports TSN bridge management informationTimeSe nsitiveN etworkin gtsnPortM anContDs ttPortManagementCon tainerO0..1Transports TSN port management information for the DS-TT port.TimeSe nsitiveN etworkin gtsnPortM anContN wttsarray(PortManageme ntContainer)O1..NTransports TSN port management information for one or more NW-TT ports.TimeSe nsitiveN etworkin gNOTE 1: For IPv4v6 PDU session, both the "ipv4Index" attribute and "ipv6Index" attribute may be provisioned by the PCF.NOTE 2: This attribute shall not be removed if it was provisioned.NOTE 3: This attribute may only be supplied by the PCF in the response to the POST request that requested the creation of an individual SM policy resource.NOTE 4: If both the "offline" attribute and the "online" attribute is omitted by the PCF, the default charging method pre-configured at the SMF if available shall be applied to the PDU session.If both offline and online charging methods are pre-configured at the SMF, the SMF shall determine either of them to be applied to the PDU session based on local policy. The "offline" attribute and the "online" attribute shall not be simultaneously present with the same value, i.e., both set to true or both set to false.NOTE 5: If the "charginglnfo" attribute is not supplied by the PCF, the charging information configured at the SMF shall be applied to the PDU session.

[0006] When such an error happens, there is no description about how to handle it.

[0007] For case 1 and case 2, currently, if the error information is provisioned from a UpdateNotify message (e.g., the Npcf_SMPolicyControl_UpdateNotify Request message), the SMF may reject the message with error status code. If the error applies to one or more PCC / session rule, it may also be with a rule error report. However, there is no appropriate FailureCode / SessionRuleFailureCode with current specification. Using incorrect failure code may lead to wrong decision on the PCF for the existing session; and

[0008] For case 1 and case 2, if the error information is provisioned from a Create / Update Response message (e.g., the Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Create / UpdateResponse message), there is no mechanism to report the error back to the PCF. The SMF may ignore the error which leads to unspecified behaviors and inconsistent interactions between the SMF and the PCF. The SMF may terminate user session, which leads bad end user experience;

[0009] For case 3, if the error happens in attributes in SmPolicyDecision other than sessRules, pccRules, qosDecs, chgDecs, traffContDecs, umDecs, qosMonDecs and conds, e.g., pralnfos validation / enforcement error, or the PCF removing the "US_RE" policy control request trigger while usage monitoring is still active in the SMF, the current 3GPP specifications don't have the option for the SMF to report such errors.

[0010] In view of the foregoing, in the current 3GPP specifications, if the error information is provisioned from the UpdateNotify message (e.g., the Npcf_SMPolicyControl_UpdateNotify Request message), the SMF may reject the message with error status code; and if the error information is provisioned from the Create / Update Response message (e.g., the Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Create / UpdateResponse message), there is no mechanism for the SMF to report the error to the PCF. In addition, if the error happens in attributes in SmPolicyDecision other than sessRules, pccRules, qosDecs, chgDecs, traffContDecs, umDecs, qosMonDecs and conds, e.g., pralnfos validation / enforcement error, policyCtrlReqTriggers, there is also no mechanism for the SMF to report the error.

[0011] Therefore, an effective error handling mechanism is thus desired.SUMMARY

[0012] In order to achieve at least the above purpose, the present disclosure introduces an option for the SMF to notify the PCF about: 1) error in reference of a session rule and / or a PCC rule to the policy decision, which includes at least one of: the session rule and / or the PCC rule referring to an empty policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and / or the PCC rule, which includes at least one of: -- inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both the session rule and the PCC rule in the same policy decision, or -- inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both a session rule and a PCC rule in an updated policy decision; or 2) error in an attribute in at least one attribute in SmPolicyDecision other than sessRules, pccRules, qosDecs, chgDecs, traffContDecs, umDecs, qosMonDecs and conds, such as reflectiveQoSTimer, policyCtrlReqTriggers, lastReqUsageData, pralnfos etc.

[0013] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method at a first entity is provided. The method includes: determining, based on a policy decision provisioned by a second entity, an error in at least one of: a reference of a session rule and / or a Policy and Charging Control, PCC, rule to the policy decision, wherein the error in reference of the session rule and / or the PCC rule to the policy decision further includes at least one of: the session rule and / or the PCC rule referring to an empty policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and / or the PCC rule, or an attribute in the policy decision; and transmitting, to the second entity, a notification of the error.

[0014] In an exemplary embodiment, the method further includes: receiving, from the second entity, an updated policy decision.

[0015] In an exemplary embodiment, the inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and the PCC rule further includes at least one of: inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both the session rule and the PCC rule in the same policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both a session rule and a PCC rule in an updated policy decision.

[0016] In an exemplary embodiment, the notification of the error is carried in a first request message for policy control update.

[0017] In an exemplary embodiment, the updated policy decision is carried in a first response message corresponding to the first request message for policy control update.

[0018] In an exemplary embodiment, the method further includes: transmitting, to the second entity, a second request message for policy control create / update; and receiving, from the second entity, a second response message corresponding to the second request message for policy control create / update, which includes the policy decision provisioned by the second entity.

[0019] In an exemplary embodiment, the notification of the error is carried in a first response message for policy control update notification.

[0020] In an exemplary embodiment, the method further includes: receiving, from the second entity, a first request message corresponding to the first response message for policy control update notification, which includes the policy decision provisioned by the second entity.

[0021] In an exemplary embodiment, the updated policy decision is carried in a second request message for policy control update notification.

[0022] In an exemplary embodiment, the first entity is an SMF, entity, and the second entity is a PCF entity.

[0023] In an exemplary embodiment, the policy decision includes a Session Management (SM) policy decision represented by SmPolicyDecision.

[0024] In an exemplary embodiment, the error in the attribute in the policy decision includes an error in at least one attribute in SmPolicyDecision other than sessRules, pccRules, qosDecs, chgDecs, traffContDecs, umDecs, qosMonDecs and conds.

[0025] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method at a second entity is provided. The method includes: receiving, from a first entity, a notification of an error in at least one of: reference of a session rule and / or a PCC rule to a policy decision, wherein the error in reference of the session rule and / or the PCC rule to the policy decision further includes at least one of: the session rule and / or the PCC rule referring to an empty policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and / or the PCC rule, or an attribute in a policy decision; and updating the policy decision.

[0026] In an exemplary embodiment, the method further includes: transmitting, to the first entity, the updated policy decision.

[0027] In an exemplary embodiment, the inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and the PCC rule further includes at least one of: inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both the session rule and the PCC rule in the same policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both a session rule and a PCC rule in an updated policy decision.

[0028] In an exemplary embodiment, the notification of the error is carried in a first request message for policy control update.

[0029] In an exemplary embodiment, the updated policy decision is carried in a first response message corresponding to the first request message for policy control update.

[0030] In an exemplary embodiment, the method further includes: receiving, from the first entity, a second request message for policy control create / update; and transmitting, to the first entity, a second response message corresponding to the second request message for policy control create / update, which includes the Policy decision provisioned by the second entity.

[0031] In an exemplary embodiment, the notification of the error is carried in a first response message for policy control update notification.

[0032] In an exemplary embodiment, the method further includes: transmitting, to the first entity, a first request message corresponding to the first response message for policy control update notification, which includes the policy decision provisioned by the second entity.

[0033] In an exemplary embodiment, the updated policy decision is carried in a second request message for policy control update notification.

[0034] In an exemplary embodiment, the first entity is an SMF entity, and the second entity is a PCF entity.

[0035] In an exemplary embodiment, the policy decision includes an SM policy decision represented by SmPolicyDecision.

[0036] In an exemplary embodiment, the error in the attribute in the policy decision includes an error in at least one attribute in SmPolicyDecision other than sessRules, pccRules, qosDecs, chgDecs, traffContDecs, umDecs, qosMonDecs and conds.

[0037] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a first entity configured to perform any of the methods according to the first aspect of the present disclosure is provided.

[0038] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a second entity configured to perform any of the methods according to the second aspect of the present disclosure is provided.

[0039] According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium is provided. The computer readable storage medium has computer program instructions stored thereon, the computer program instructions, when executed by at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method according to any of the first and second aspects of the present disclosure.

[0040] According to the above technical solutions of the present disclosure, for the scenarios when the policy decision with session rule / PCC rule reference error happens; or the error in at least one attribute in SmPolicyDecision other than sessRules, pccRules, qosDecs, chgDecs, traffContDecs, umDecs, qosMonDecs and conds happens, e.g., the Presence Reporting Area (PRA) information validation / enforcement error happens, the SMF may notify the PCF about the error for the PCF decision of updating the provision according to valid information. Otherwise, the SMF may ignore the error which may cause the information inconsistency between the SMF and the PCF, or the SMF may terminate the PDU session which may lower the user experience.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] The objects, advantages and characteristics of the present disclosure will be more apparent, according to descriptions of preferred embodiments in connection with the drawings, in which: FIG. 1 schematically shows a method at a first entity for error handling according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 schematically shows a method at a second entity for error handling according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B schematically show exemplary signaling sequence diagrams of error handling in different scenarios according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 4 schematically shows a structural block diagram of a first entity according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 5 schematically shows a structural block diagram of a first entity according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 6 schematically shows a structural block diagram of a second entity according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and FIG. 7 schematically shows a structural block diagram of a second entity according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] It should be noted that throughout the drawings, same or similar reference numbers are used for indicating same or similar elements; various parts in the drawings are not drawn to scale, but only for an illustrative purpose, and thus should not be understood as any limitations and constraints on the scope of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] Hereinafter, the principle of the present disclosure will be described with reference to illustrative embodiments. Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0044] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the term "exemplary" is used herein to mean "illustrative," or "serving as an example," and is not intended to imply that a particular embodiment is preferred over another or that a particular feature is essential. Likewise, the terms "first", "second", "third", and similar terms, are used simply to distinguish one particular instance of an item or feature from another, and do not indicate a particular order or arrangement, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Further, the term "step," as used herein, is meant to be synonymous with "operation" or "action." Any description herein of a sequence of steps does not imply that these operations must be carried out in a particular order, or even that these operations are carried out in any order at all, unless the context or the details of the described operation clearly indicates otherwise.

[0045] References in the specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc. indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0046] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be liming of exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises", "comprising", "has", "having", "includes" and / or "including", when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0047] As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms.

[0048] 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 skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0049] As used herein, the term "network" refers to a network following any suitable (wireless or wired) communication standards. For example, the wireless communication standards may comprise new radio (NR), long term evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), high-speed packet access (HSPA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Address (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) and other wireless networks. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc. UTRA includes WCDMA and other variants of CDMA. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, Ad-hoc network, wireless sensor network, etc. In the following description, the terms "network" and "system" can be used interchangeably.

[0050] Furthermore, the communications between two devices in the network may be performed according to any suitable communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the wireless communication protocols as defined by a standard organization such as 3GPP or the wired communication protocols. For example, the wireless communication protocols may comprise the first generation (1G), 2G, 3G, 4G, 4.5G, 5G communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0051] The term "entity" or "network entity" used herein refers to a network device or network node or network function in a communication network, and may also refer to a virtualized entity that may be implemented on cloud. For example, in a wireless communication network such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, a core network device may offer numerous services to customers who are interconnected by an access network device. Each access network device is connectable to the core network device over a wired or wireless connection.

[0052] The basic ideas of the present disclosure mainly consist in that an NRF may obtain aggregated routing related information according to registration of domain information and / or update of the registration from SCPs to the NRF and possibly, other NRF(s); and an SCP requesting routing path discovery may retrieve the aggregated routing related information from the NRF, and subscribe to the NRF for change of the aggregated routing related information. Therefore, a routing path may be found by the SCP based on the retrieved aggregated routing related information without the need of finding the interconnected SCP domain(s) and the intermediate SCP(s) from the NRF hop by hop.

[0053] Hereinafter, a method 100 at a first entity for error handling according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

[0054] In an exemplary embodiment, the first entity may be an SMF entity, also called SMF for simplicity, and the second entity may be a PCF entity also called PCF for simplicity. However, it should be understood that the first entity may be any node that can be configured to perform the method 100 as described below, including a virtualized entity that may be implemented on cloud. It should also be understood that the method 100 may be appropriately applied in 5GS, or other future developments.

[0055] In step S101, the first entity may determine, based on a policy decision provisioned by a second entity, that an error in at least one of: reference of a session rule and / or a PCC rule to the policy decision, or an attribute in the policy decision.

[0056] In an exemplary embodiment, the error in reference of the session rule and / or the PCC rule to the policy decision may include at least one of: the session rule and / or the PCC rule referring to an empty policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and / or the PCC rule.

[0057] In an exemplary embodiment, the inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and the PCC rule may include at least one of: inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both the session rule and the PCC rule in the same policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both a session rule and a PCC rule in an updated policy decision.

[0058] In an exemplary embodiment, the policy decision may include an SM policy decision represented by SmPolicyDecision.

[0059] Preferably, the error in the attribute in the policy decision may include an error in at least one attribute in SmPolicyDecision other than sessRules, pccRules, qosDecs, chgDecs, traffContDecs, umDecs, qosMonDecs and conds, such as the attribute reflectiveQoSTimer, policyCtrlReqTriggers, lastReqUsageData, pralnfos etc. For example, an error in pralnfos may be pralnfos validation / enforcement error, an error in policyCtrlReqTriggers may be e.g., the PCF removing the "US_RE" policy control request trigger while usage monitoring is still active in the SMF.

[0060] In Step S103, the first entity may transmit, to the second entity, a notification of the error.

[0061] In an exemplary embodiment, the notification of the error may be carried in a first request message for policy control update, e.g., Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update Request message including ruleReports / sessRuleReports / policyDecFailureReports.

[0062] In an exemplary embodiment, regarding the policy decision with session rule / PCC rule reference error, the FailureCode for PCC rule error report may be extended:

[0063] In Chapter 5.6.3.9 of 3GPP TS 29.512 v17.0.0, Data Types in Table 5.6.3.9-1 (shown as Table 2 below): Enumeration FailureCode may be added. Table 2Enumeration value Description Applicability UNKNOWN_REF_ IDIndicates that the dynamic PCC rule could not be successfully provisioned because the reference identifier to a Policy Decision Data or to a Condition Data is unknown to the SMF.INCORRECT_RE F_DATAIndicates that the dynamic PCC rule could not be successfully provisioned because the referred Policy Decision or Condition data are incorrect (e.g. "activationTime" attribute value in a ConditionData instance indicates a time value that occurs after the "deactivationTime" attribute indicated time value.)REF_ID_COLLISI ONIndicates that the dynamic PCC rule could not be successfully provisioned because the same Policy Decision is referred by a session rule.

[0064] In an exemplary embodiment, regarding the policy decision with session rule reference error, the SessionRuleFailureCode for session rule error report may be extended:

[0065] In Chapter 5.6.3.17 of 3GPP TS 29.512 v17.0.0, data types in Table 5.6.3.17-1 (shown as Table 3 below): Enumeration SessionRuleFailureCode may be added. Table 3Enumeration value Description Applicability UNKNOWN_REF_ IDIndicates that the session rule could not be successfully provisioned because the reference identifier to a Policy Decision Data or to a Condition Data is unknown to the SMF.INCORRECT_RE F_DATAIndicates that the session rule could not be successfully provisioned because the referred Policy Decision or Condition data are incorrect (e.g. "activationTime" attribute value in a ConditionData instance indicates a time value that occurs after the "deactivationTime" attribute indicated time value.).REF_ID_COLLISI ONIndicates that the session rule could not be successfully provisioned because the same Policy Decision is referred by a PCC rule.

[0066] In an exemplary embodiment, regarding e.g., the pralnfos and policyCtrlReqTriggers error, the PolicyDecisionFailureCode for PolicyDecisionErrorHandling may be extended.

[0067] In Chapter Table 5.6.2.19-1, and Table 5.6.2.33-1 (shown as Table 4 below), the following may be added: Table 4Attrib ute name Data type P Cardinality Description Applicability invalid Policy Decsarray(InvalidPara m)O1..NIndicates the invalid parameters for the reported type(s) of the failed policy decision and / or condition data.ExtPolicyDecis ionErrorHandli ng

[0068] In Chapter 5.6.3.28 of 3GPP TS 29.512 v17.0.0, data types in Table 5.6.3.28-1 (shown as Table 5 below): PolicyDecisionFailureCode may be added. Table 5Enumeration value Description Applicability POLICY_PARA M_ERRIndicates the information related to the provisioned policy parameter(s) is incorrect, incomplete or inconsistent.

[0069] After the second entity receives the notification of the error, the second entity updates the policy decision, and transmits the updated policy decision to the first entity.

[0070] Thus, the method 100 further includes: the first entity receiving, from the second entity, the updated policy decision.

[0071] In an exemplary embodiment, the updated policy decision is carried in a first response message corresponding to the first request message for policy control update, e.g., an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update Response message.

[0072] In an exemplary embodiment, the method may further include: the first entity transmitting, to the second entity, a second request message for policy control create / update, e.g., an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Create / Update Request message; and receiving, from the second entity, a second response message corresponding to the second request message for policy control create / update, which comprises the policy decision provisioned by the second entity, e.g., an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Create / Update Response message.

[0073] In another exemplary embodiment, the notification of the error may be carried in a first response message for policy control update notification, e.g., an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_ UpdateNotify Response message including ruleReports / sessRuleReports / policyDecFailureReports.

[0074] In this exemplary embodiment, the method 100 may further include: receiving, from the second entity, a first request message corresponding to the first response message for policy control update notification, e.g., an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_ UpdateNotify Request message which comprises the policy decision provisioned by the second entity.

[0075] In this exemplary embodiment, the updated policy decision is carried in a second request message for policy control update notification, e.g., an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_ UpdateNotify Response message.

[0076] The first entity may be an SMF entity, and the second entity may be a PCF entity.

[0077] Hereinafter, a method 200 at a second entity for error handling according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 2. It should be understood that the method 200 at the second entity is corresponding to the method 100 at the first entity. Thus, some description thereof may refer to those of the method 100 and will be omitted for simplicity.

[0078] In an exemplary embodiment, the first entity may be an SMF entity, also called SMF for simplicity, and the second entity may be a PCF entity also called PCF for simplicity. However, it should be understood that the second entity may be any node that can be configured to perform the method 200 as described below, including a virtualized entity that may be implemented on cloud. It should also be understood that the method 200 may be appropriately applied in 5GS, or other future developments.

[0079] In step S201, the second entity may receive, from the first entity, a notification of an error in at least one of: reference of a session rule and / or a PCC rule to the policy decision, or an attribute in the policy decision.

[0080] In an exemplary embodiment, the notification of the error may be carried in a first request message for policy control update, e.g., Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update Request message including ruleReports / sessRuleReports / policyDecFailureReports.

[0081] In step S203, the second entity may update the policy decision based on the received notification of the error.

[0082] The method further include: the second entity transmitting, to the first entity, the updated policy decision.

[0083] In an exemplary embodiment, the updated policy decision is carried in a first response message corresponding to the first request message for policy control update, e.g., an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update Response message.

[0084] In an exemplary embodiment, the method 200 may further include: the second entity receiving, from the first entity, a second request message for policy control create / update, e.g., an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Create / Update Request message; and transmitting, to the first entity, a second response message corresponding to the second request message for policy control create / update, which comprises the policy decision provisioned by the second entity, e.g., an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Create / Update Response message.

[0085] In another exemplary embodiment, the notification of the error may be carried in a first response message for policy control update notification, e.g., an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_ UpdateNotify Response message including ruleReports / sessRuleReports / policyDecFailureReports.

[0086] In this exemplary embodiment, the method 200 may further include: transmitting, to the first entity, a first request message corresponding to the first response message for policy control update notification, e.g., an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_ UpdateNotify Request message which comprises the policy decision provisioned by the second entity.

[0087] In this exemplary embodiment, the updated policy decision is carried in a second request message for policy control update notification, e.g., an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_ UpdateNotify Response message.

[0088] Hereinafter, an exemplary signaling sequence diagrams related to error handling according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described respectively with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, in which the method 100 at the first entity and the method 200 at the second entity for error handling according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0089] In the exemplary signaling sequence diagrams of FIGS. 3A and 3B, an SMF is shown as an example of the first entity, an PCF is shown as an example of the second entity.

[0090] It should be noted that the description below mainly focuses on signaling related to the methods 100 and 200, and some other signaling is not described in detail to avoid obscuring the principle of the present disclosure.

[0091] In the scenario of FIG. 3A, signaling shown in Italics is novel, wherein Signaling S3A_3~S3A_4 are involved.

[0092] In S3A_1, the SMF sends e.g., SmPolicyControl_Create / Update Request to the PCF;

[0093] In S3A_2, the PCF provisions, to the SMF, new policy decision and / or condition data, as well as session rules and PCC rules with reference to policy decision and / or condition data if applicable via e.g., SmPolicyControl_Create / Update Response;

[0094] The SMF validates the PCF provisioned SM policy decisions / condition data as well as session and PCC rules, and finds errors as described previously. That is, 1) error in reference of a session rule and / or a PCC rule to the policy decision, which includes at least one of: the session rule and / or the PCC rule referring to an empty policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and / or the PCC rule, which includes at least one of: -- inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both the session rule and the PCC rule in the same policy decision, or -- inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both a session rule and a PCC rule in an updated policy decision; or 2) error in an attribute in at least one attribute in SmPolicyDecision other than sessRules, pccRules, qosDecs, chgDecs, traffContDecs, umDecs, qosMonDecs and conds, such as reflectiveQoSTimer, policyCtrlReqTriggers, lastReqUsageData, pralnfos etc.

[0095] Then, in S3A_3, the SMF reports the error to the PCF using e.g., SmPolicyControl_Update Request including error reports to indicate the error;

[0096] In S3A_4, the PCF provisions updated new decision to the SMF via e.g., SmPolicyControl_Update Response based on the report error.

[0097] In the scenario of FIG. 3B, signaling shown in Italics is novel, wherein Signaling S3B_2~S3B_4 are involved.

[0098] In S3B_1: the PCF provisions policy decision and / or condition data, as well as session rules and PCC rules with reference to policy decision and / or condition data using e.g., SmPolicyControl_UpdateNotify Request; The SMF validates the PCF provisioned SM policy decisions / condition data as well as session and PCC rules.

[0099] Then, in S3B_2, the SMF reports the error to PCF using e.g., SmPolicyControl_UpdateNotify Response including error reports to indicate the error; In S3B_3, the PCF provisions updated new decision to the SMF via e.g., SmPolicyControl_UpdateNotify Request based on the report error.

[0100] In S3B_4, the SMF responds with e.g., SmPolicyControl_UpdateNotify Response.

[0101] Hereinafter, a structure of a first entity according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 schematically shows a block diagram of a first entity 400 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The first entity 400 in FIG. 4 may perform the method 100 as described previously with reference to FIG. 1. Accordingly, some detailed description on the first entity 400 may refer to the corresponding description of the method 100 in FIG. 1 and the signaling sequence diagrams of FIGS. 3A and 3B as previously discussed, and thus will be omitted here for simplicity.

[0102] As shown in FIG. 4, the first entity 400 may include a determination unit 401 and a transmitting unit 403.

[0103] The determination unit 401 may determine, based on a policy decision provisioned by a second entity, that an error in at least one of: reference of a session rule and / or a PCC rule to the policy decision, or an attribute in the policy decision.

[0104] The transmitting unit 403 may transmit, to the second entity, a notification of the error.

[0105] In an exemplary embodiment, the first entity 400 may also include a receiving unit (not shown), which may be configured to receive, from the second entity, an updated policy decision.

[0106] In an exemplary embodiment, the transmitting unit 403 may be further configured to transmit, to the second entity, a second request message for policy control create / update.

[0107] In an exemplary embodiment, the receiving unit may be further configured to receive, from the second entity, a second response message corresponding to the second request message for policy control create / update, which comprises the policy decision provisioned by the second entity.

[0108] In an exemplary embodiment, the receiving unit may be further configured to receive, from the second entity, a first request message corresponding to the first response message for policy control update notification, which comprises the policy decision provisioned by the second entity.

[0109] Hereinafter, a structure of a first entity according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 schematically shows a block diagram of a first entity 500 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The first entity 500 in FIG. 5 may perform the method 100 as described previously with reference to FIG. 1. Accordingly, some detailed description on the first entity 500 may refer to the corresponding description of the method 100 in FIG. 1 and the signaling sequence diagrams of FIGS. 3A and 3B as previously discussed, and thus will be omitted here for simplicity.

[0110] As shown in FIG. 5, the first entity 500 includes at least one processor 501 and at least one memory 503. The at least one processor 501 includes e.g., any suitable CPU (Central Processing Unit), microcontroller, DSP (Digital Signal Processor), etc., capable of executing computer program instructions. The at least one memory 503 may be any combination of a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory). The at least one processor memory 503 may also include persistent storage, which, for example, can be any single one or combination of magnetic memory, optical memory, or solid state memory or even remotely mounted memory.

[0111] The at least one memory 503 stores instructions executable by the at least one processor 501. The instructions, when loaded from the at least one memory 503 and executed on the at least one processor 501, may cause the first entity 500 to perform the actions, e.g., of the procedures as described earlier respectively in conjunction with FIG. 1 with reference to the signaling sequence diagrams of FIGS. 3A and 3B as previously discussed, and thus will be omitted here for simplicity.

[0112] Hereinafter, a structure of a second entity according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 schematically shows a block diagram of a second entity 600 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The second entity 600 in FIG. 6 may perform the method 200 as described previously with reference to FIG. 2. Accordingly, some detailed description on the second entity 600 may refer to the corresponding description of the method 200 in FIG. 2 and the signaling sequence diagrams of FIGS. 3A and 3B as previously discussed, and thus will be omitted here for simplicity.

[0113] As shown in FIG. 6, the second entity 600 may include a receiving unit 601 and an updating unit 603.

[0114] The receiving unit 601 may receive, from a first entity, a notification of an error in at least one of: reference of a session rule and / or a Policy and Charging Control, PCC, rule to the policy decision, or an attribute in the policy decision.

[0115] The updating unit 603 may update the policy decision based on the received notification of the error.

[0116] In an exemplary embodiment, the second entity 600 may further include a transmitting unit, which may be configured to transmit, to the first entity, the updated policy decision.

[0117] In an exemplary embodiment, the receiving unit 601 may be further configured to receive, from the first entity, a second request message for policy control create / update, and the transmitting unit may be further configured to transmit, to the first entity, a second response message corresponding to the second request message for policy control create / update, which comprises the Policy decision provisioned by the second entity

[0118] In an exemplary embodiment, the transmitting unit may be further configured to transmit, to the first entity, a first request message corresponding to the first response message for policy control update notification, which comprises the policy decision provisioned by the second entity.

[0119] Hereinafter, a structure of a second entity according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 schematically shows a block diagram of a second entity 700 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The second entity 700 in FIG. 7 may perform the method 200 as described previously with reference to FIG. 2. Accordingly, some detailed description on the second entity 700 may refer to the corresponding description of the method 200 in FIG. 2 and the signaling sequence diagrams of FIGS. 3A and 3B as previously discussed, and thus will be omitted here for simplicity.

[0120] As shown in FIG. 7, the second entity 700 includes at least one processor 701 and at least one memory 703. The at least one processor 1101 includes e.g., any suitable CPU (Central Processing Unit), microcontroller, DSP (Digital Signal Processor), etc., capable of executing computer program instructions. The at least one memory 703 may be any combination of a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory). The at least one processor memory 703 may also include persistent storage, which, for example, can be any single one or combination of magnetic memory, optical memory, or solid state memory or even remotely mounted memory.

[0121] The at least one memory 703 stores instructions executable by the at least one processor 701. The instructions, when loaded from the at least one memory 703 and executed on the at least one processor 1101, may cause the executing entity 700 to perform the actions, e.g., of the procedures as described earlier respectively in conjunction with FIG. 2 with reference to the signaling sequence diagrams of FIGS. 3A and 3B as previously discussed, and thus will be omitted here for simplicity.

[0122] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product in the form of a non-volatile or volatile memory, e.g., a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a flash memory and a hard drive. The computer program product includes a computer program.

[0123] The computer program includes: code / computer readable instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor 501 causes the first entity 500 to perform the actions, e.g., of the procedure described earlier in conjunction with FIG. 1; or code / computer readable instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor 701 causes the second entity 700 to perform the actions, e.g., of the procedures described earlier respectively in conjunction with FIG. 2.

[0124] The computer program product may be configured as a computer program code structured in computer program modules. The computer program modules could essentially perform the actions of the flow illustrated in any of FIGS. 1~3B.

[0125] The processor may be a single CPU (Central processing unit), but could also include two or more processing units. For example, the processor may include general purpose microprocessors; instruction set processors and / or related chips sets and / or special purpose microprocessors such as Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASICs). The processor may also include board memory for caching purposes. The computer program may be carried by a computer program product connected to the processor. The computer program product may include a non-transitory computer readable storage medium on which the computer program is stored. For example, the computer program product may be a flash memory, a Random-access memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), or an EEPROM, and the computer program modules described above could in alternative embodiments be distributed on different computer program products in the form of memories.

[0126] The present disclosure has been described above with reference to embodiments thereof. It should be understood that various modifications, alternations and additions can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the above particular embodiments but only defined by the claims as attached.

[0127] The present disclosure further comprises the following embodiments based on the 3GPP TS 29.512 v17.0.0.5.6.3.9 Enumeration: FailureCode

[0128] Table 5.6.3.9-1: Enumeration FailureCode Enumeration value Description Applicability UNK_RULE_IDIndicates that the pre-provisioned PCC rule could not be successfully activated because the PCC rule identifier is unknown to the SMF.RA_GR_ERRIndicates that the PCC rule could not be successfully installed or enforced because the Rating Group specified within the Charging Data policy decision which the PCC rule refers to is unknown or, invalid.SER_ID_ERRIndicates that the PCC rule could not be successfully installed or enforced because the Service Identifier specified within the Charging Data policy decision which the PCC rule refers to is invalid, unknown, or not applicable to the service being charged.NF_MALIndicates that the PCC rule could not be successfully installed (for those provisioned from the PCF) or activated (for those pre-defined in SMF) or enforced (for those already successfully installed) due to SMF / UPF malfunction.RES_LIMIndicates that the PCC rule could not be successfully installed (for those provisioned from PCF) or activated (for those pre-defined in SMF) or enforced (for those already successfully installed) due to a limitation of resources at the SMF / UPF.MAX_NR_QoS_FL OWIndicates that the PCC rule could not be successfully installed (for those provisioned from PCF) or activated (for those pre-defined in SMF) or enforced (for those already successfully installed) due to the fact that the maximum number of QoS flows has been reached for the PDU session.MISS_FLOW_INF OIndicates that the PCC rule could not be successfully installed or enforced because neither the "flowinfos" attribute nor "appld" attribute is specified within the "pccRule" attribute by the PCF during the first install request of the PCC rule.RES_ALLO_FAILIndicates that the PCC rule could not be successfully installed or maintained since the QoS flow establishment / modification failed, or the QoS flow was released.UNSUCC_QOS_V ALThis value is used to:- indicate that the QoS validation has failed or,- Indicate when Guaranteed Bandwidth >Max-Requested-Bandwidth.INCOR_FLOW_IN FOIndicates that the PCC rule could not be successfully installed or modified at the SMF because the provided flow information is not supported by the network (e.g. the provided IP address(es) or Ipv6 prefix(es) do not correspond to an IP version applicable for the PDU session).PS_TO_CS_HANIndicates that the PCC rule could not be maintained because of PS to CS handover.APP_ID_ERRIndicates that the PCC rule could not be successfully installed or enforced because the Application Identifier is invalid, unknown, or not applicable to the application required for detection.ADCNO_QOS_FLOW_ BOUNDIndicates that there is no QoS flow which the SMF can bind the PCC rule(s) to.FILTER_RESIndicates that the Flow Information within the "flowinfos" attribute cannot be handled by the SMF because any of the restrictions defined in subclause 5.4.2 of 3GPP TS 29.212

[23] was not met.MISS_REDI_SER_ ADDRIndicates that the PCC rule could not be successfully installed or enforced at the SMF because there is no valid Redirect Server Address within the Traffic Control Data policy decision which the PCC rule refers to, provided by the PCF, and no preconfigured redirection address for this PCC rule at the SMF / UPF.ADCCM_END_USER_ SER_DENIEDIndicates that the charging system denied the service request due to service restrictions (e.g. terminate rating group) or limitations related to the end-user, for example the end-user's account could not cover the requested service.CM_CREDIT_CO N_NOT_APPIndicates that the charging system determined that the service can be granted to the end user but no further credit control is needed for the service (e.g. service is free of charge or is treated for offline charging).CM_AUTH_REJIndicates that the charging system denied the service request in order to terminate the service for which credit is requested.CM_USER_UNKIndicates that the specified end user could not be found in the charging system.CM_RAT_FAILEDIndicates that the charging system cannot rate the service request due to insufficient rating input, incorrect AVP combination or due to an attribute or an attribute value that is not recognized or supported in the rating.UE_STA_SUSPIndicates that the UE is in suspend state. Only applicable to the interworking scenario as defined in Annex B.PolicyUpdateWhen UESuspendsUNKNOWN_REF_ IDIndicates that the dynamic PCC rule could not be successfully installed / modified because the referenced identifier to a Policy Decision Data or to a Condition Data is unknown to the SMF.INCORRECT_REF _DATAIndicates that the dynamic PCC rule could not be successfully installed / modified because the referenced Policy Decision or Condition data are incorrect (e.g. "activationTime" attribute value in a ConditionData instance indicates a time value that occurs after the "deactivationTime" attribute indicated time value.)REF_ID_COLLISI ONIndicates that the dynamic PCC rule could not be successfully installed / modified because the same Policy Decision is referenced by a session rule. *** Next Change *** 5.6.3.17 Enumeration: SessionRuleFailureCode

[0129] Table 5.6.3.17-1: Enumeration SessionRuleFailureCode Enumeration value Description Applicability NF_MALIndicates that the session rule could not be successfully installed) or enforced (for those already successfully installed) due to SMF / UPF malfunction.RES_LIMIndicates that the session rule could not be successfully installed or enforced (for those already successfully installed) due to a limitation of resources at the SMF / UPF.UNSUCC_QOS_VALIndicate that the QoS validation has failed.UE_STA_SUSPIndicates that the UE is in suspend state. Only applicable to the interworking scenario as defined in Annex B.PolicyUpdateWhen UESuspendsUNKNOWN_REF_IDIndicates that the session rule could not be successfully installed / modified because the reference identifier to a Policy Decision Data or to a Condition Data is unknown to the SMF.INCORRECT_REF_DATAIndicates that the session rule could not be successfully installed / modified because the referenced Policy Decision or Condition data are incorrect (e.g. "activationTime" attribute value in a ConditionData instance indicates a time value that occurs after the "deactivationTime" attribute indicated time value.).REF_ID_COLLISIONIndicates that the session rule could not be successfully installed / modified because the same Policy Decision is referenced by a PCC rule. *** Next Change *** 4.2.3.26 Policy decision error handling 4.2.3.26.x1 Policy decision types and condition data error handling

[0130] If the "PolicyDecisionErrorHandling" feature is supported and if the SMF receives one or more policy decision types (as defined in subclause 4.1.4.4) and / or condition data (as defined in subclause 4.1.8) which are not referred by any PCC rules or session rules as defined in subclause 4.2.3.1 but the storage of the policy decision types and / or condition data was unsuccessful (e.g. the policy decision could not be successfully stored due to a limitation of resources at the SMF), or because there are semantical inconsistencies in the provided data, the SMF shall behave as follows: If the "ExtPolicyDecisionErrorHandling" feature is not supported, include an HTTP "200 OK" status code and one or more PolicyDecisionFailureCode data types to indicate the type(s) of the failed policy decisions and / or condition data in the response message if the SMF does not need to report any other information (e.g. the failure report of the PCC rule or session rule which are provisioned in the same message are not needed). Include an HTTP "200 OK" status code and the "policyDecFailureReports" attribute to indicate the type(s) of the failed policy decisions and / or condition data within the PartialSuccessReport data structure in the response message if: a. the SMF needs to report partial success (e.g. some of the PCC rules and / or session rules provisioned by the PCF in the same message are not installed / activated successfully); or b. the "ExtPolicyDecisionErrorHandling" feature is supported, and the SMF does not need to report any other information (e.g. the failure report of the PCC rule or session rule which are provisioned in the same message are not needed). In this case, the SMF may also encode within the "invalidPolicyDecs" attribute the failed policy decisions. Include an HTTP "400 Bad Request" status code and the "policyDecFailureReports" attribute to indicate the type(s) of the failed policy decisions and / or condition data within the ErrorReport data structure in the response message if the SMF needs to reject the request (e.g. all the PCC rules and / or session rules provisioned by the PCF in the same message are not installed / activated successfully).

[0131] When the PCF receives the above reports, the PCF shall consider all the instances of the policy decsions and / or condition data which are provisioned in the request message and indicated by the PolicyDecisionFailureCode data type are removed from the SMF. When the PCF receives the response with HTTP "400 Bad Request" status code but the "policyDecFailureReports" attribute is not included, the PCF shall consider all the provisioned instances of the policy decsions and / or condition data in the request message are removed from the SMF.

[0132] The removal of a policy decision type and / or condition data shall not fail.4.2.3.26.x2 Other policy decision data error handling

[0133] If the "ExtPolicyDecisionErrorHandling" feature is supported and if the SMF receives other SM policy decisions than PCC rules, session rules, policy decision types or condition data (e.g. the SMF receives policy control request triggers and applicable additional information), and the SMF detects the received policy decision cannot be enforced (e.g., because semantical inconsistencies in the provided data): If the SMF does not need to reject the request (e.g. none, or only some but not all of the PCC rules and / or session rules provisioned by the PCF in the same message are not installed / activated successfully), the SMF shall include an HTTP "200 OK" status code and the "policyDecFailureReports" attribute within the PartialSuccessReport data structure in the response message to indicate a failure in the provided policy decision parameters. The SMF may also encode within the "invalidPolicyDecs" attribute the failed policy decisions. If the SMF needs to reject the request (e.g. all the PCC rules and / or session rules provisioned by the PCF in the same message are not installed / activated successfully), the SMF shall include an HTTP "400 Bad Request" status code and the "policyDecFailureReports" attribute in the response message to indicate a failure in the provided policy decision parameters.

[0134] When the PCF receives the above reports, the PCF shall consider: a. All the new failed policy decisions provisioned in the request message and indicated by the PolicyDecisionFailureCode data type are not installed in the SMF. b. All the modified policy decisions provisioned in the request message and indicated by the PolicyDecisionFailureCode data type remain unmodified in the SMF. c. All the removed policy decisions provided in the request message are deleted in the SMF. NOTE: The removal of a policy decision does not fail. Even if there is an inconsistency e.g. between the deletion of a policy control request trigger and the deletion of the applicable additional information, the whole related policy decision is removed. *** Next Change *** 4.2.4.26 Policy decision error handling 4.2.4.26.x1 Policy decision types and condition data error handling

[0135] If the "PolicyDecisionErrorHandling" feature is supported and one or more policy decision types (as defined in subclause 4.1.4.4) and / or condition data (as defined in subclause 4.1.8) which are not referred by any PCC rules or session rules is provisioned using the procedure as defined in subclauses 4.2.2.1, 4.2.3.1 or 4.2.4.1 but the storage was unsuccessful (e.g. the policy decision could not be successfully stored due to a limitation of resources at the SMF), or because there are semantical inconsistencies in the provided data, the SMF shall include the "policyDecFailureReports" attribute to indicate the type(s) of the failed policy decisions and / or condition data within the SmPolicyUpdateContextData data structure. When the PCF receives the above reports, the PCF shall consider all the instances of the policy decsions and / or condition data which are not referred by any PCC rule and / or session stored at the SMF and indicated by the PolicyDecisionFailureCode data type are removed from the SMF. If the "ExtPolicyDecisionErrorHandling" feature is supported, the SMF may also encode within the "invalidPolicyDecs" attribute the failed policy decisions.4.2.4.26.x2 Other policy decision data error handling

[0136] If the "ExtPolicyDecisionErrorHandling" feature is supported and one or more SM Policy decisions other than PCC rules, session rules policy decision types or condition data are provisioned using the procedure as defined in subclauses 4.2.2.1, 4.2.3.1 or 4.2.4.1 but the SMF detects the received policy decision cannot be enforced (e.g. because semantical inconsistencies in the provided data), and the SMF determines that the PDU session can be kept, the SMF shall include the "policyDecFailureReports" attribute within the SmPolicyUpdateContextData data structure to indicate a failure in the provided policy decision parameters. The SMF may also encode within the "invalidPolicyDecs" attribute the failed policy decisions.

[0137] When the PCF receives the above report, the PCF shall consider: a. All the new failed policy decisions provisioned are not installed in the SMF. b. All the modified policy decisions shall remain unmodified in the SMF. c. All the removed policy decisions provided in the request message are deleted in the SMF. NOTE: The removal of a policy decision does not fail. Even if there is an inconsistency e.g. between the deletion of a policy control request trigger and the deletion of the applicable additional information, the whole related policy decision is removed. *** Next Change *** 5.6.1 General

[0138] This subclause specifies the application data model supported by the API.

[0139] The Npcf_SMPolicyControl API allows the SMF to retrieve the session management related policy from the PCF as defined in 3GPP TS 23.503 [6].

[0140] Table 5.6.1-1 specifies the data types defined for the Npcf_SMPolicyControl service based interface protocol. Table 5.6.1-1: Npcf_SMPolicyControl specific Data Types Data type Section defined Description Applicability 5GSmCause5.6.3.2Indicates the 5GSM cause code value.RAN-NAS-Cau seAdditionalAcce ssinfo5.6.2.43Indicates the combination of additional Access Type and RAT Type for MA PDU sessionATSSSAccNetChargin gAddress5.6.2.35Identifies the address of the network node performing charging and used for charging applications.AccNetChld5.6.2.23Contains the access network charging identifier for the PCC rule(s) or whole PDU session.AccuUsageRe port5.6.2.18Contains the accumulated usage report information.UMCAfSigProtocol5.6.3.10Indicates the protocol used for signalling between the UE and the AF.ProvAFsignalFl owAppDetectionln fo5.6.2.22Contains the detected application's traffic information.ADCApplicationDes criptor5.6.3.2Defines the Application Descriptor for an ATSSS rule.ATSSSAtsssCapability5.6.3.26Contains the ATSSS capability supported for the MA PDU Session.ATSSSAuthorizedDef aultQos5.6.2.34Authorized Default QoS.BridgeManage mentContainer5.6.2.47Contains the TSN BMIC.TimeSensitive NetworkingChargingData5.6.2.11Contains charging related parameters.Charginglnfor mation5.6.2.17Contains the addresses of the charging functions.ConditionData5.6.2.9Contains conditions for applicability of a rule.CreditManage mentStatus5.6.3.16Indicates the reason of the credit management session failure.EpsRanNasRel Cause5.6.3.2Indicates the RAN or NAS release cause code information in 3GPP-EPS access type or indicates the TWAN or untrusted WLAN release cause code information in Non-3GPP-EPS access type.RAN-NAS-Cau seErrorReport5.6.2.36Contains the rule reports.FailureCause5.6.3.14Indicates the cause of the failure in a Partial Success Report.FailureCode5.6.3.9Indicates the reason of the PCC rule failure.FlowDescriptio n5.6.3.2Defines a packet filter for an IP flow.FlowDirection5.6.3.3Indicates the direction of the service data flow.FlowDirectionR m5.6.3.15This data type is defined in the same way as the "FlowDirection" data type, but allows null value.Flowlnformatio n5.6.2.14Contains the flow information.IpMulticastAdd ressinfo5.6.2.46Contains the IP multicast addressing informationWWCMaPdulndicati on5.6.3.25Contains the MA PDU session indication, i.e., MA PDU Request or MA PDU Network-Upgrade Allowed.ATSSSMeteringMetho d5.6.3.5Indicates the metering method.MulticastAcces sControl5.6.3.20Indicates whether the service data flow, corresponding to the service data flow template, is allowed or not allowed.WWCNetLocAccess Support5.6.3.27Indicates the access network support of the report of the requested access network information.NetLocPacketFilterCo ntent5.6.3.2Defines a packet filter for an IP flow.PacketFilterlnf o5.6.2.30Contains the information from a single packet filter sent from the SMF to the PCF.PartialSuccess Report5.6.2.33Includes the information reported by the SMF when some of the PCC rules and / or session rules are not successfully installed / activated.PccRule5.6.2.6Contains the PCC rule information.PduSessionRel Cause5.6.3.24Contains the SMF PDU Session release cause.PDUSessionR elCausePolicyControlR equestTrigger5.6.3.6Contains the policy control request trigger(s).PolicyDecision FailureCode5.6.3.28Indicates the type of the failed policy decision and / or condition data.PolicyDecision ErrorHandlingPortManageme ntContainer5.6.2.45Contains the TSN port management information container for a TSN port.TimeSensitive NetworkingQosCharacteri stics5.6.2.16Contains QoS characteristics for a non-standardized or non-configured 5QI.QosData5.6.2.8Contains the QoS parameters.QosFlowUsage5.6.3.13Indicates a QoS flow usage information.QosMonitoring Data5.6.2.40Contains QoS monitoring related control information.QosMonitoringQosMonitoring Report5.6.2.42Contains QoS monitoring reporting information.QosMonitoringQosNotification Controllnfo5.6.2.32Contains the QoS Notification Control Information.RanNasRelCa use5.6.2.28Contains the RAN / NAS release cause.RAN-NAS-Cau seRedirectAddre ssType5.6.3.12Indicates the redirect address type.ADCRedirectInform ation5.6.2.13Contains the redirect information.ADCReportingFreq uency5.6.3.22Indicates the frequency for the reportingQosMonitoringReportingLevel5.6.3.4Indicates the reporting level.RequestedQos5.6.2.31Contains the QoS information requested by the UE.RequestedQos MonitoringPara meter5.6.3.21Indicates the requested QoS monitoring parameters to be measured.QosMonitoringRequestedRul eData5.6.2.24Contains rule data requested by the PCF to receive information associated with PCC rules.RequestedRul eDataType5.6.3.7Contains the type of rule data requested by the PCF.RequestedUsa geData5.6.2.25Contains usage data requested by the PCF requesting usage reports for the corresponding usage monitoring data instances.RuleOperation5.6.3.11Indicates a UE initiated resource operation that causes a request for PCC rules.RuleReport5.6.2.27Reports the status of PCC.RuleStatus5.6.3.8Indicates the status of PCC or session rule.ServingNfIdent y5.6.2.38Contains the serving Network Function identity.SessionRule5.6.2.7Contains session level policy information.SessionRuleFa ilureCode5.6.3.17Indicates the reason of the session rule failure.SessionRuleR eport5.6.2.37Reports the status of session rule.SmPolicyAsso ciationRelease Cause5.6.3.23Represents the cause why the PCF requests the termination of the SM policy association.SmPolicyContr ol5.6.2.2Contains the parameters to request the SM policies and the SM policies authorized by the PCF.SmPolicyConte xtData5.6.2.3Contains the parameters to create individual SM policy resource.SmPolicyDecis ion5.6.2.4Contains the SM policies authorized by the PCF.SmPolicyNotifi cation5.6.2.5Contains the update of the SM policies.SmPolicyDelet eData5.6.2.15Contains the parameters to be sent to the PCF when the individual SM policy is deleted.SmPolicyUpdat eContextData5.6.2.19Contains the met policy control request trigger(s) and corresponding new value(s) or the error report of the policy enforcement.SteeringFuncti onality5.6.3.18Indicates functionality to support traffic steering, switching and splitting determined by the PCF.ATSSSSteeringMode5.6.2.39Contains the steering mode value and parameters determined by the PCF.ATSSSSteeringMode Value5.6.3.19Indicates the steering mode value determined by the PCF.ATSSSTerminationNot ification5.6.2.21Termination Notification.TrafficControlD ata5.6.2.10Contains parameters determining how flows associated with a PCCRule are treated (blocked, redirected, etc).TsnBridgeInfo5.6.2.41Contains parameters that describe and identify the TSN bridge.TimeSensitive NetworkingTsnPortNumbe r5.6.3.2Contains a TSN port number.TimeSensitive NetworkingUeCampingRe p5.6.2.26Contains the current applicable values corresponding to the policy control request triggers.UelnitiatedRes ourceRequest5.6.2.29Indicates a UE requests specific QoS handling for selected SDF.UpPathChgEv ent5.6.2.20Contains the UP path change event subscription from the AF.TSCUsageMonitori ngData5.6.2.12Contains usage monitoring related control information.UMC

[0141] Table 5.6.1-2 specifies data types re-used by the Npcf_SMPolicyControl service based interface protocol from other specifications, including a reference to their respective specifications and when needed, a short description of their use within the Npcf_SMPolicyControl service based interface. Table 5.6.1-2: Npcf_SMPolicyControl re-used Data Types Data type Reference Comments Applicability 5GMmCaus e3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Contains the cause value of 5GMM protocol.RAN-NAS-Cau se5Qi3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Unsigned integer representing a 5G QoS Identifier (see subclause 5.7.2.1 of 3GPP TS 23.501 [2]), within the range 0 to 255.5QiPriorityLe vel3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Unsigned integer indicating the 5QI Priority Level (see subclauses 5.7.3.3 and 5.7.4 of 3GPP TS 23.501 [2]), within the range 1 to 127.Values are ordered in decreasing order of priority, i.e. with 1 as the highest priority and 127 as the lowest priority.5QiPriorityLe velRm3GPP TS 29.571

[11] This data type is defined in the same way as the "5QiPriorityLevel" data type, but with the OpenAPI "nullable: true" property.AccessType3GPP TS 29.571

[11] The identification of the type of access network.AccessType Rm3GPP TS 29.571

[11] This data type is defined in the same way as the "AccessType" data type, but with the OpenAPI "nullable: true" property.Ambr3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Session AMBR.AnGwAddre ss3GPP TS 29.514

[17] Carries the control plane address of the access network gateway. (NOTE 1)ApplicationC hargingld3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Application provided charging identifier allowing correlation of charging information.AF_Charging_ IdentifierArp3GPP TS 29.571

[11] ARP.AverWindow3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Averaging Window.AverWindow Rm3GPP TS 29.571

[11] This data type is defined in the same way as the "AverWindow" data type, but with the OpenAPI "nullable: true" property.Bytes3GPP TS 29.571

[11] String with format "byte".TimeSensitive NetworkingBitRate3GPP TS 29.571

[11] String representing a bit rate that shall be formatted as follows:pattern: "^\d+(\.\d+)?(bps|Kbps|Mbps|Gbps|Tbps)$"Examples:"125 Mbps", "0.125 Gbps", "125000 Kbps".BitRateRm3GPP TS 29.571

[11] This data type is defined in the same way as the "BitRate" data type, but with the OpenAPI "nullable: true" property.Chargingld3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Charging identifier allowing correlation of charging information.ContentVersi on3GPP TS 29.514

[17] Indicates the content version of a PCC rule. It uniquely identifies a version of the PCC rule as defined in subclause 4.2.6.2.14.RuleVersionin gDateTime3GPP TS 29.571

[11] String with format "date-time" as defined in OpenAPI Specification

[10] .DateTimeR m3GPP TS 29.571

[11] This data type is defined in the same way as the "DateTime" data type, but with the OpenAPI "nullable: true" property.DddTrafficD escriptor3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Traffic DescriptorDDNEventPoli cyControlDnaiChange Type3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Describes the types of DNAI change.Dnn3GPP TS 29.571

[11] The DNN the user is connected to.DnnSelectio nMode3GPP TS 29.502

[22] DNN selection mode.DNNSelection ModeDurationSec3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Identifies a period of time in units of seconds.DurationSec Rm3GPP TS 29.571

[11] This data type is defined in the same way as the "DurationSec" data type, but with the OpenAPI "nullable: true" property.EthFlowDes cription3GPP TS 29.514

[17] Defines a packet filter for an Ethernet flow. (NOTE 2)ExtMaxData BurstVol3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Maximum Data Burst Volume.EMDBVExtMaxData BurstVolRm3GPP TS 29.571

[11] This data type is defined in the same way as the "ExtMaxDataBurstVol" data type, but with the OpenAPI "nullable: true" property.EMDBVFinalUnitActi on3GPP TS 32.291

[19] Indicates the action to be taken when the user's account cannot cover the service cost.FlowStatus3GPP TS 29.514

[17] Describes whether the IP flow(s) are enabled or disabled. The value "REMOVED" is not applicable to Npcf_SMPolicyControl service.Gpsi3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Identifies a GPSI.Groupld3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Identifies a group of internal globally unique ID.Guami3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Globally Unique AMF Identifier.InvalidParam3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Invalid Parameters for the reported failed policy decisionsExtPolicyDecis ionErrorHandli ngIplndex3GPP TS 29.519

[15] Information that identifies which IP pool or external server is used to allocate the IP address.Ipv4Addr3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Identifies an Ipv4 address.Ipv4AddrMa sk3GPP TS 29.571

[11] String identifying an IPv4 address mask.Ipv6Addr3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Identifies an IPv6 address.Ipv6Prefix3GPP TS 29.571

[11] The Ipv6 prefix allocated for the user.MacAddr483GPP TS 29.571

[11] MAC Address.MaxDataBur stVol3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Maximum Data Burst Volume.MaxDataBur stVolRm3GPP TS 29.571

[11] This data type is defined in the same way as the "MaxDataBurstVol" data type, but with the OpenAPI "nullable: true" property.Nflnstanceld3GPP TS 29.571

[11] The NF instance identifier.NfSetld3GPP TS 29.571

[11] The NF set identifier.NgApCause3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Contains the cause value of NgAP protocol.RAN-NAS-Cau seNullValue3GPP TS 29.571

[11] JSON's null value, used as an explicit value of an enumeration.PacketDelBu dget3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Packet Delay Budget.PacketErrRa te3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Packet Error Rate.PacketLoss RateRm3GPP TS 29.571

[11] This data type is defined in the same way as the "PacketLossRate" data type, but with the OpenAPI "nullable: true" property.PduSessionI d3GPP TS 29.571

[11] The identification of the PDU session.PduSession Type3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Indicate the type of a PDU session.Pei3GPP TS 29.571

[11] The Identification of a Permanent Equipment.PlmnldNid3GPP TS 29.571

[11] The identification of the Network. PLMN Identity, and for SNPN NID.Presencelnf o3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Contains the information which describes a Presence Reporting Area.PRAPresencelnf oRm3GPP TS 29.571

[11] This data type is defined in the same way as the "Presencelnfo" data type, but with the OpenAPI "nullable: true" property.PRAProblemDeta ils3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Contains a detailed information about an error.QosNotifTyp e3GPP TS 29.514

[17] Indicates whether the GBR targets for the indicated SDFs are "NOT_GUARANTEED" or "GUARANTEED" again.QosResourc eType3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Indicates whether the resource type is GBR, delay critical GBR, or non-GBR.RatingGroup3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Identifier of a rating group.RatType3GPP TS 29.571

[11] The identification of the RAT type.RouteToLoc ation3GPP TS 29.571

[11] A traffic routes to applications location.TSCServiceld3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Identifier of a service.Snssai3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Identifies the S-NSSAI.SubscribedD efaultQos3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Subscribed Default QoS.Supi3GPP TS 29.571

[11] The identification of the user (i.e. IMSI, NAI).SupportedFe atures3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Used to negotiate the applicability of the optional features defined in table 5.8-1.TraceData3GPP TS 29.571

[11] TimeZone3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Contains the user time zone information.TscailnputC ontainer3GPP TS 29.514

[17] TSCAI Input information.TimeSensitive NetworkingUinteger3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Unsigned Integer.TimeSensitive NetworkingUint643GPP TS 29.571

[11] Unsigned 64-bit integers.TimeSensitive NetworkingUri3GPP TS 29.571

[11] URI.UserLocatio n3GPP TS 29.571

[11] Contains the user location.Volume3GPP TS 29.122

[32] Unsigned integer identifying a volume in units of bytes.VolumeRm3GPP TS 29.122

[32] This data type is defined in the same way as the "Volume" data type, but with the OpenAPI "nullable: true" property.NOTE 1: "AnGwAddr" data structure is only applicable to the 5GS and EPC / E-UTRAN interworking scenario as defined in Annex B.NOTE 2: In order to support a set of MAC addresses with a specific range in the traffic filter, feature MacAddressRange as specified in subclause 5.8 shall be supported. *** Next Change *** 5.6.2.19 Type SmPolicyUpdateContextData

[0142] Table 5.6.2.19-1: Definition of type SmPolicyUpdateContextData Attribute nameData type P Cardinality Description Applicability repPolicyCt rlReqTrigg ersarray(PolicyContr olRequestTrigger)C1..NThe policy control request triggers which are met. It is omitted if no triggers are met such as in subclauses 4.2.4.7 and 4.2.4.15.accNetChl dsarray(AccNetChId )O1..NIndicates the access network charging identifier for the PCC rule(s) or whole PDU session.accessTyp eAccessTypeO0..1The Access Type where the served UE is camping.ratTypeRatTypeO0..1The RAT Type where the served UE is camping.addAccess InfoAdditionalAccessl nfoO0..1Indicates the combination of added Access Type and RAT Type for MA PDU session.ATSSSrelAccessl nfoAdditionalAccessl nfoO0..1Indicates the combination of released Access Type and RAT Type for MA PDU session.ATSSSservingNet workPlmnIdNidO0..1The serving network where the served UE is camping. For an SNPN the NID together with the PLMN ID identifies the SNPN.userLocati onlnfoUserLocationO0..1The location of the served UE is camping.ueTimeZon eTimeZoneO0..1The time zone where the served UE is camping.ipv4Addres sIpv4AddrO0..1The IPv4 Address of the served UE.ipDomainstringO0..1IPv4 address domain identifier. (NOTE 2)rellpv4Addr essIpv4AddrO0..1Indicates the released IPv4 Address of the served UE.ipv6Addres sPrefixIpv6PrefixO0..1The Ipv6 Address Prefix of the served UE.rellpv6Addr essPrefixIpv6PrefixO0..1Indicates the released IPv6 Address Prefix of the served UE in multi-homing case.relUeMacMacAddr48O0..1Indicates the released MAC Address of the served UE.ueMacMacAddr48O0..1The MAC Address of the served UE.subsSessA mbrAmbrO0..1UDM subscribed or DN-AAA authorized Session-AMBR.authProfln dexstringO0..1DN-AAA authorization profile index.DN-Authorizati onsubsDefQo sSubscribed Default QosO0..1Subscribed Default QoS Information.numOfPac kFilterintegerO0..1Contains the number of supported packet filter for signalled QoS rules. (NOTE 1)accuUsage Reportsarray(AccuUsage Report)O1..NAccumulate usage report.3gppPsDat aOffStatusbooleanO0..1If it is included and set to true, the 3GPP PS Data Off is activated by the UE.appDetecti onlnfosarray(AppDetectio nInfo)O1..NReports the start / stop of the application traffic and detected SDF descriptions if applicable.ADCruleReport sarray(RuleReport)O1..NUsed to report the PCC rule failure.sessRuleR eportsarray(SessionRul eReport)O1..NUsed to report the session rule failure.SessionRuleEr rorHandlingqncReportsarray(QosNotificat ionControllnfo)O1..NQoS Notification Control information.qosMonRe portsarray(QosMonitori ngReport)O1..NQoS Monitoring reporting information.QosMonitoringuserLocati onlnfoTimeDateTimeO0..1Contains the NTP time at which the UE was last known to be in the location.repPraInfo smap(PresenceInfo )O1..NReports the changes of presence reporting area. The "prald" attribute within the Presencelnfo data type shall also be the key of the map. The "presenceState" attribute within the Presencelnfo data type shall be supplied.PRAuelnitResR eqUelnitiatedResour ceRequestO0..1Indicates a UE requests specific QoS handling for selected SDF.refQosindic ationbooleanO0..1If it is included and set to true, the reflective QoS is supported by the UE. If it is included and set to false, the reflective QoS is revoked by the UE.qosFlowUs ageQosFlowUsageO0..1Indicates the required usage for default QoS flow.creditMana geStatusCreditManageme ntStatusO0..1Indicates the reason of the credit management session failure.servNfIdServingNfldentityO0..1Contains the serving network function identity.traceReqTraceDataC0..1It shall be included if trace is required to be activated, modified or deactivated (see 3GPP TS 32.422

[24] ). For trace modification, it shall contain a complete replacement of trace data.For trace deactivation, it shall contain the Null value.addlpv6Ad drPrefixesarray(lpv6Prefix)O1..NThe Ipv6 Address Prefixes of the served UE.Multilpv6AddrP refixaddRellpv6 AddrPrefix esarray(lpv6Prefix)O1..NIndicates the released IPv6 Address Prefixes of the served UE in multi-homing case.Multilpv6AddrP refixtsnBridgeln foTsnBridgelnfoO0..1Transports TSN bridge information.TimeSensitive NetworkingtsnBridgeM anContBridgeManageme ntContainerO0..1Transports TSN bridge management information.TimeSensitive NetworkingtsnPortMan ContDsttPortManagement ContainerO0..1Transports TSN port management information for the DS-TT port.TimeSensitive NetworkingtsnPortMan ContNwttsarray(PortManage mentContainer)O1..NTransports TSN port management information for one or more NW-TT ports.TimeSensitive NetworkingmaPdulndMaPdulndicationO0..1Contains the MA PDU session indication, i.e., MA PDU Request or MA PDU Network-Upgrade Allowed. (NOTE 1)ATSSSatsssCapa bAtsssCapabilityO0..1Contains the ATSSS capability supported for the MA PDU session. (NOTE 1)ATSSSmulAddrInf osarray(lpMulticastA ddressInfo)O1..NContains the IP multicast address information.WWCpolicyDecF ailureRepo rtsarray(PolicyDecisi onFailureCode)O1..NIndicates the type(s) of the failed policy decision and / or condition data.PolicyDecision ErrorHandlinginvalidPolic yDecsarray(InvalidPara m)O1..NIndicates the invalid parameters for the reported type(s) of the failed policy decision and / or condition data.ExtPolicyDecis ionErrorHandli ngtrafficDescr iptorsarray(DddTrafficD escriptor)O1..NContains the traffic descriptor(s)DDNEventPoli cyControlNOTE 1: This attribute is only applicable to the 5GS and EPC / E-UTRAN interworking scenario as defined in Annex B.NOTE 2: The value provided in this attribute is implementation specific. The only constraint is that the SMF shall supply a different identifier for each overlapping address domain (e.g. the SMF NF instance identifier). *** Next Change *** 5.6.2.33 Type PartialSuccessReport

[0143] Table 5.6.2.33-1: Definition of type PartialSuccessReport Attribute name Data type P Cardinality Description Applicability failureCa useFailureCauseM1Application error cause specific to this report.ruleRepo rtsarray(RuleReport)C1..NInformation about the PCC rules provisioned by the PCF not successfully installed / activated.sessRule Reportsarray(SessionRule Report)O1..NInformation about the session rules provisioned by the PCF not successfully installed.SessionRuleEr rorHandlingueCampi ngRepUeCampingRepO0..1Includes the current applicable values corresponding to the provisioned policy control request triggers.policyDe cFailure Reportsarray(PolicyDecisio nFailureCode)O1..NUsed to report the failure of the policy decision and / or condition data.PolicyDecision ErrorHandlinginvalidPo licyDecsarray(InvalidParam )O1..NIndicates the invalid parameters for the reported type(s) of the failed policy decision and / or condition data.ExtPolicyDecis ionErrorHandli ngNOTE: The "ruleReports" shall be included if the SessionRuleErrorHandling feature is not supported. *** Next Change *** 5.6.3.28 Enumeration: PolicyDecisionFailureCode

[0144] Table 5.6.3.28-1: PolicyDecisionFailureCode Enumeration value Description Applicability TRA_CTRL_DE CS_ERRIndicates failure in the provisioning of traffic control decisiondata.QOS DECS_ERRIndicates failure in the provisioning of QoS decision data.CHG DECS_ERRIndicates failure in the provisioning of charing decision data.USA_MON_DE CS_ERRIndicates failure in the provisioning of usage monitoring decision data.QOS_MON_DE CS_ERRIndicates failure in the provisioning of QoS monitoring decision data.CON_DATA_E RRIndicates failure in the provisioning of condition data.POLICY_PARA M_ERRIndicates the information related to the provisioned policy parameter(s) is incorrect, incomplete or inconsistent.ExtPolicyDecision Error Handling *** Next Change *** 5.8 Feature negotiation

[0145] The optional features in table 5.8-1 are defined for the Npcf_SMPolicyControl API. They shall be negotiated using the extensibility mechanism defined in subclause 6.6 of 3GPP TS 29.500 [4]. Table 5.8-1: Supported Features Feature number Feature Name Description 1TSCThis feature indicates support for traffic steering control in the (S)Gi-LAN or routing of the user traffic to a local Data Network identified by the DNAI per AF request. If the SMF supports this feature, the PCF shall behave as described in subclause 4.2.6.2.6.2ResShareThis feature indicates the support of service data flows that share resources. If the SMF supports this feature, the PCF shall behave as described in subclause 4.2.6.2.8.33GPP-PS-Data-OffThis feature indicates the support of 3GPP PS Data off status change reporting.4ADCThis feature indicates the support of application detection and control.5UMCIndicates that the usage monitoring control is supported.6NetLocThis feature indicates the support of the Access Network Information Reporting for 5GS.7RAN-NAS-CauseThis feature indicates the support for the detailed release cause code information from the access network. (NOTE)8ProvAFsignalFlowThis feature indicates support for the feature of IMS Restoration as described in subclause 4.2.3.17. If SMF supports this feature the PCF may provision AF signalling IP flow information.9PCSCF-Restoration-EnhancementThis feature indicates support of P-CSCF Restoration Enhancement. It is used for the SMF to indicate if it supports P-CSCF Restoration Enhancement.10PRAThis feature indicates the support of presence reporting area change reporting.11RuleVersioningThis feature indicates the support of PCC rule versioning as defined in subclause 4.2.6.7.12SponsoredConnectivityThis feature indicates support for sponsored data connectivity feature. If the SMF supports this feature, the PCF may authorize sponsored data connectivity to the subscriber.13RAN-Support-InfoThis feature indicates the support of maximum packet loss rate value(s) for uplink and / or downlink voice service data flow(s).14PolicyU pdateWhen U ESuspendsThis feature indicates the support of report when the UE is suspended and then resumed from suspend state.Only applicable to the interworking scenario as defined in Annex B.15AccessTypeConditionThis feature indicates the support of access type conditioned authorized session AMBR as defined in subclause 4.2.6.3.2.4.16MultiIpv6AddrPrefixThis feature indicates the support of multiple Ipv6 address prefixes reporting.17SessionRuleErrorHandlingThis feature indicates the support of session rule error handling.18AF_Charging_ldentifierThis feature indicates the support of long character strings as charging identifiers.19ATSSSThis feature indicates the support of the access traffic switching, steering and splitting functionality as defined in subclauses 4.2.6.2.17 and 4.2.6.3.4.20PendingTransactionThis feature indicates support for the race condition handling as defined in 3GPP TS 29.513 [7].21URLLCThis feature indicates support of Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) requirements, i.e. AF application relocation acknowledgement requirement and UE address(es) preservation. The TSC feature shall be supported in order to support this feature.22MacAddressRangeIndicates the support of a set of MAC addresses with a specific range in the traffic filter.23WWCIndicates support of wireless and wireline convergence access as defined in annex C.24QosMonitoringIndicates support of QoS monitoring as defined in subclause 4.2.3.25 and 4.2.4.24.25AuthorizationWithRequiredQoSIndicates support of policy authorization for the AF session with required QoS as defined in subclause 4.2.3.22.26EnhancedBackgroundDataTransferIndicates the support of applying the Background Data Transfer Policy to a future PDU session.27DN-AuthorizationThis feature indicates the support of DN-AAA authorization data for policy control.28PDUSessionRelCauseIndicates the support of PDU session release cause.29SamePcfThis feature indicates the support of same PCF selection for the parameter's combination.30ADCmultiRedirectionThis feature indicates support for multiple redirection information in application detection and control. It requires the support of ADC feature.31RespBasedSessionRelIndicates support of handling PDU session termination functionality as defined in subclause 4.2.4.22.32TimeSensitiveNetworkingIndicates that the 5G System is integrated within the external network as a TSN bridge.33EMDBVThis feature indicates the support of the ExtMaxDataBurstVol data type defined in 3GPP TS 29.571

[11] . The use of this data type is specified in subclause 4.2.2.1.34DNNSelectionModeThis feature indicates the support of DNN selection mode.35EPSFallbackReportThis feature indicates the support of the report of EPS Fallback as defined in subclauses B.3.3.2 and B.3.4.6.36PolicyDecisionErrorHandlingThis feature indicates the support of the error report of the policy decision and / or condition data which is not referred by any PCC rule or session rule as defined in subclause 4.2.3.26 and 4.2.4.26.37DDNEventPolicyControlThis feature indicates the support for policy control in the case of DDN Failure and Delivery Status events as defined in subclause 4.2.4.27.38ReallocationOfCreditThis feature indicates the support of notifications of reallocation of credit.x2ExtPolicyDecisionErrorHandlingThis feature indicates the support of the error report of a faulty SM policy decision parameter as defined in subclause 4.2.3.26 and 4.2.4.26. It requires the support of PolicyDecisionErrorHandling feature.NOTE:5GS and EPS release cause code information is supported. The EPS release cause code information from the access network is only applicable to EPS interworking scenarios as specified in Annex B. *** Next Change ***

Claims

1. A method (100) at a first entity, comprising: determining (S101), based on a policy decision provisioned by a second entity, an error in at least one of: a reference of a session rule and / or a Policy and Charging Control, PCC, rule to the policy decision, the error in the reference of the session rule and / or the PCC rule comprising at least one of: the session rule and / or the PCC rule referring to an empty policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and / or the PCC rule; or an attribute in the policy decision; and transmitting (S103), to the second entity, a notification of the error.

2. The method (100) of claim 1, wherein the inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and / or the PCC rule further comprises at least one of: inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both the session rule and the PCC rule in the same policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both a session rule and a PCC rule in an updated policy decision.

3. The method (100) of claim 1 or 2, wherein the notification of the error is carried in a first request message for policy control update, the first request message particularly comprising an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update Request message.

4. The method (100) of any of claims 1 to 3, comprising receiving, from the second entity, an updated policy decision, particularly wherein the updated policy decision is carried in a first response message corresponding to the / a first request message for policy control update, more particularly wherein the first response message corresponding to the first request message for policy control update comprises an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update Response message.

5. The method (100) of any of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: transmitting, to the second entity, a second request message for policy control create / update; and receiving, from the second entity, a second response message corresponding to the second request message for policy control create / update, which comprises the policy decision provisioned by the second entity.

6. The method (100) of claim 1 or 2, wherein the notification of the error is carried in a first response message for policy control update notification, particularly wherein the first response message for policy control update notification comprises an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_ UpdateNotify Response message.

7. The method (100) of claim 6, further comprising: receiving, from the second entity, a first request message corresponding to the first response message for policy control update notification, which comprises the policy decision provisioned by the second entity.

8. A method (200) at a second entity, comprising: receiving (S201), from a first entity, a notification of an error in at least one of: reference of a session rule and / or a Policy and Charging Control, PCC, rule to a policy decision, wherein the error in reference of the session rule and / or the PCC rule to the policy decision further comprises at least one of: the session rule and / or the PCC rule referring to an empty policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and / or the PCC rule, or an attribute in a policy decision; and updating (5203) the policy decision.

9. The method (200) of claim 8, further comprising: transmitting, to the first entity, the updated policy decision.

10. The method (200) of claim 8 or 9, wherein the inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and / or the PCC rule further comprises at least one of: inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both the session rule and the PCC rule in the same policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision that is provisioned by the second entity with both a session rule and a PCC rule in an updated policy decision.

11. The method (200) of any of claims 8 to 10, wherein the notification of the error is carried in a first request message for policy control update, particularly wherein the first request message for policy control update comprises an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update Request message, and wherein the updated policy decision is carried in a first response message corresponding to the first request message for policy control update, particularly wherein the first response message corresponding to the first request message for policy control update comprises an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Update Response message.

12. The method (200) of any of claims 8 to 11, further comprising: receiving, from the first entity, a second request message for policy control create / update; and transmitting, to the first entity, a second response message corresponding to the second request message for policy control create / update, which comprises the Policy decision provisioned by the second entity.

13. The method (200) of any of claims 8 to 12, wherein the notification of the error is carried in a first response message for policy control update notification, particularly wherein the first response message for policy control update notification comprises an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_ UpdateNotify Response message, the method (200) further comprising: transmitting, to the first entity, a first request message corresponding to the first response message for policy control update notification, which comprises the policy decision provisioned by the second entity.

14. The method (200) of any of claims 9, 10 and 13, wherein the updated policy decision is carried in a second request message for policy control update notification, particularlywherein the second request message for policy control update notification comprises an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_ UpdateNotify Request message.

15. The method (200) of any of claims 1 to 14, wherein the first entity is a Session Management Function, SMF, entity, and the second entity is a Policy Control Function, PCF, entity.

16. The method (200) of any of claims 1 to 14, wherein the policy decision comprises a Session Management, SM, policy decision represented by SmPolicyDecision, particularly wherein the error in the attribute in the policy decision comprises an error in at least one attribute in SmPolicyDecision other than sessRules, pccRules, qosDecs, chgDecs, traffContDecs, umDecs, qosMonDecs and conds.

17. A first entity, configured to: determine, based on a policy decision provisioned by a second entity, an error in at least one of: a reference of a session rule and / or a Policy and Charging Control, PCC, rule to the policy decision, the error in the reference of the session rule and / or the PCC rule comprising at least one of: the session rule and / or the PCC rule referring to an empty policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and / or the PCC rule; or an attribute in the policy decision; and transmit, to the second entity, a notification of the error.

18. The first entity (500) of claim 17, being configured to perform the method according to any of claims 2 to 7 or 15 and 16 when being dependent on any of claims 1 to 7.

19. A second entity, configured to: receive, from a first entity, a notification of an error in at least one of: reference of a session rule and / or a Policy and Charging Control, PCC, rule to a policy decision, wherein the error in reference of the session rule and / or the PCC rule to the policy decision further comprises at least one of: the session rule and / or the PCC rule referring to an empty policy decision, or inconsistency of the policy decision with the session rule and / or the PCC rule, or an attribute in a policy decision; and update the policy decision.

20. The second entity (700) of claim 19, being configured to perform the method according to any of claims 9 to 14 or 15 and 16 when being dependent on any of claims 8 to 14.