Method for providing remote services from one user equipment to another user equipment and user equipment

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for providing remote services from one user equipment, UE, to another UE. According to the method, a connection between a remote UE (1) and a relay UE (2) is initialized using a first communication channel (3) and the remote services are provided by the relay UE (2) to the remote UE (1) using a second communication channel (4). The invention further relates to a corresponding remote UE (1) and a relay UE (2).

Description

[0001] METHOD FOR PROVIDING REMOTE SERVICES FROM ONE USER EQUIPMENT TO ANOTHER USER EQUIPMENT AND USER EQUIPMENT

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The invention relates to a method for providing remote services from one user equipment to another user equipment. The invention further relates to a corresponding remote user equipment and a corresponding relay user equipment.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Many user equipments regularly use remote services and this use is expected to increase in the future. If, however, the user equipment is located in or operates in an area that is underserved and / or poorly covered in terms of network access, using the remote services turns out to be difficult or impossible.

[0006] SUMMARY

[0007] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for providing remote services that overcomes the above mentioned problems, i.e. , that offers remote services to user equipments even in underserved and / or poorly covered areas. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a corresponding remote user equipment and a corresponding relay user equipment.

[0008] The object of the present invention is solved by the subject matter of the independent claims, wherein further embodiments are incorporated in the dependent claims.

[0009] According to an aspect of the invention, a method for providing remote services from one user equipment (UE) to another UE is provided. In this context, the user equipment may be any kind of user equipment, such as a vehicle, a mobile device, a drone, a robot, a high-altitude platform, an unmanned vehicle, a road side unit and / or a smart infrastructure unit.

[0010] According to the method, a connection between a remote UE and a relay UE is initialized using a first communication channel. In this context, the remote UE may be any kind of UE and the relay UE is a UE that is configured to relay remote services, in particular, to forward data allocated to the remote services from and to the remote UE to and from another device. In some cases, it is also possible that the relay UE is enabled to offer the remote services itself, e.g., when the relay UE has sufficient computing and / or energy resources. When the connection has been initialized, the remote services are provided by the relay UE to the remote UE using a second communication channel.

[0011] This way, even if the remote UE does not have network access or only weak network access, it is enabled to receive remote services via the relay UE. Hence, the relay UEs increase the area in which remote services may be offered to the remote UE.

[0012] According to an embodiment, the remote services comprise computing, artificial intelligence, storage, caching, infotainment, map data, software updates, streaming, gaming, augmented reality and / or extended reality. In this context, the software updates may comprise software updates for applications, function, middleware, operating system and / or firmware. Hence, a wide range of remote services may be provided to the user equipment.

[0013] According to an embodiment, the relay UE is a vehicle, a mobile device, a drone, a robot (e.g., agriculture, logistics, transportation), a high-altitude platform, an unmanned vehicle, a road side unit and / or a smart infrastructure unit. Smart infrastructure units may be smart traffic lights and / or in tunnels, street lights, electronically controlled road signage, guide posts, construction site surveillance units, or industrial facilities. According to an embodiment, the step of initializing a connection comprises receiving, by the relay UE, service catalogues from network remote service providers, RSPs, and / or UE RSPs. These service catalogues may have to be requested by the relay UE before they are sent by the network RSP and / or UE RSP and can then be received by the relay UE. The requesting and / or sending of the service catalogues may be performed via a service advertisement / discovery channel. The service catalogues comprise a list of offered remote services and, in particular, quality of service characteristics of the offered remote services. An example in which the offered remote services may differ from one another in their quality of service characteristics are map data: the quality of this data may differ, e.g., with respect to the resolution and / or with respect to the up-to-dateness of the maps. Other examples for quality of service characteristics are a guaranteed bit rate and / or a delay tolerance.

[0014] Then, the relay UE indicates the offered remote services via the first communication channel. In this context, “indicating” may refer to broadcasting and / or to sending. In particular, the remote services may be indicated as a consolidated service catalogue. In said consolidated service catalogue, the services offered by a plurality of network RSPs and / or UE RSPs may be combined.

[0015] Further, the remote UE replies to the relay UE that a remote service or a set of remote services is requested, via the first communication channel.

[0016] Also, the relay UE indicates to the remote UE the second communication channel that will be used for the remote services.

[0017] Since the available set of RSPs may change over time, and even the services offered by the respective RSPs may change over time, the relay UE may keep receiving service catalogues from the RSPs, and update the consolidated service catalogue, if the offered remote services have changed. In this case, the relay UE will indicate the updated offered remote services. According to an embodiment, the step of initializing a connection comprises requesting, by the remote UE, a UE-to-UE remote service or a set of remote services via the first communication channel. In particular, this request may be sent to a plurality of relay UEs, or the request may be posted in a request database that can be accessed by a plurality of relay UEs.

[0018] The relay UEs receive service catalogues from network RSPs and / or UE RSPs. These service catalogues may have to be requested by the relay UE before they are sent by the network RSP and / or UE RSP and can then be received by the relay UE. The requesting and / or sending of the service catalogues may be performed via a service advertisement / discovery channel. The service catalogues comprise a list of offered remote services and, in particular, quality of service characteristics of the offered remote services. An example in which the offered remote services may differ from one another in their quality of service characteristics are map data: the quality of this data may differ, e.g., with respect to the resolution and / or with respect to the up-to-dateness of the maps. Other examples for quality of service characteristics are a guaranteed bit rate and / or a delay tolerance.

[0019] If a relay UE can offer the requested remote service, it replies to the remote UE that the requested remote service can be provided, via the first communication channel.

[0020] Also, the relay UE indicates to the remote UE the second communication channel that will be used for the remote services.

[0021] According to an embodiment, the second communication channel is different from the first communication channel. For example, a communication channel that provides a long range but only a limited data rate may be used as the first communication channel, whereas a communication channel that provides a good data rate, but may only allow for a limited communication range, may be used as the second communication channel. One advantage of using two different communication channels as the first communication channel and the second communication channel is that the information sent via the first communication channel does not lead to congestion of the second communication channel. According to an embodiment, the second communication channel being different from the first communication channel comprises that the first communication channel and the second communication channel use a different radio technology, different radio resources, different spectrum, different carrier, and / or different operator.

[0022] Alternatively, the first communication channel and the second communication channel may be the same. This is particularly useful when only one communication channel for the communication between the relay UE and the remote UE is available.

[0023] According to an embodiment, the second communication channel is a communication channel of one UE to another UE, in particular a sidelink channel in a mobile network, more particularly, but not limited to, a 5G or a 6G network, WiFi, Bluetooth, non-terrestrial, and / or low power wide area networks. While these networks are frequently used, it is emphasized that the method is not restricted to a particular network.

[0024] According to an embodiment, the communication channel of one UE to another UE uses a frequency range or parts of a frequency range that are allocated to a mobile network operator (MNO) of the remote UE and / or of the relay UE. Alternatively, in particular, if there is no frequency range or parts of a frequency range allocated to either the remote UE or the relay UE available, the communication channel of one UE to another UE may use a frequency range or parts of a frequency range that is allocated to an MNO other than then MNO of the remote UE and the relay UE. In the latter case, the relay UE may act as a middleman to handle local resource management and to ensure quality of service. Further alternatively, in particular, if there is no frequency range or parts of a frequency range allocated to an MNO available, an unlicensed frequency range or parts of an unlicensed frequency range may be used for the communication channel of one UE to another UE. According to an embodiment, when the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used by the communication channel of one UE to another UE is not allocated to the MNO of the remote UE and the MNO of the relay UE, spectrum sharing, leasing and / or roaming agreements are used. This is necessary to allow the remote UE and / or the relay UE to operate in said frequency range or parts of the frequency range. The spectrum sharing, leasing and / or roaming agreements enable the relay UE to change and / or extend the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used by the communication channel of one UE to another UE.

[0025] Further, a resource usage policy and configurations for using additional radio resources are derived from the spectrum sharing, leasing and / or roaming agreements. The relay UE is provided by MNO, and thus, configured with such resource usage policy and configurations for using additional radio resources when operating out of network coverage.

[0026] According to an embodiment, radio resource between one UE and another UE and service usage are regularly monitored and recorded and load of the second communication channel is determined by the relay UE. Further, the relay UE regularly estimates future service demands based on service usage records. This may be performed, in particular, using smart algorithms and / or artificial intelligence.

[0027] It is further determined, by the relay UE, based on the determined load of the second communication channel and / or the estimated future service demands, whether the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used by the communication channel of one UE to another UE meets a congestion criterion. Said congestion criterion may be that a predetermined fraction of available radio resources is occupied, or that it is predicted that a predetermined fraction of the available radio resources will be occupied in the future. If it is determined that the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used by the communication channel of one UE to another UE meets the congestion criterion, the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used for the communication of one UE to another UE is changed. In this context, “changing” may mean entirely changing but also, preferably, extending. When the frequency range or parts of the frequency range are extended, the previous frequency range or parts of the frequency range may be kept for remote UEs already connected to the relay UE, while the new frequency range or parts of the frequency range may be used for new remote UEs. Changing the frequency range or parts of the frequency range may be performed, by triggering a request for additional radio resources between one UE and another UE to the MNO of the relay UE. This triggering may be dynamic triggering such that a first trigger results in subsequent triggers, in particular between MNOs.

[0028] In certain situations, such as operating out of network coverage or when the request to the MNO fails or no additional resources are granted, and it is determined that the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used by the communication channel of one UE to another UE meets the congestion criterion, the relay UE may determine, based on current and estimated service demand, to change the communication channel of one UE to another UE to an unlicensed frequency range or parts of an unlicensed frequency range, or to an alternative radio technology.

[0029] Further, the relay UE receives a reply from the MNO indicating resource usage policy and configuration for using additional radio resources. It is then determined, by the relay UE, based on the received reply from the MNO, whether these additional radio resources between one UE and another UE are sufficient based on current and estimated service demand. If the additional radio resources between one UE and another UE are insufficient based on current and estimated service demand, the relay UE indicates to selected UEs, via the first communication channel that the remote services will be offered via another second communication channel. The selected UEs are, in particular, grouped based on the used remote services.

[0030] With the above management of resources, the remote services can be optimally provided to a large number of remote UEs.

[0031] According to an embodiment, communication resources of one UE to another UE, quality of service (QoS) requirements and / or data flows of the remote services are locally managed by the relay UE. In this context, the QoS requirements may be requirements of application layer services and may be related to bandwidth, latency and / or priority. Managing the communication resources comprises, inter alia, data prioritization, resource allocation, scheduling and mapping of the application layer services to the communication resources.

[0032] According to another aspect of the invention, a remote user equipment (UE) is provided. In this context, the remote UE may be any kind of user equipment, such as a vehicle, a mobile device, a drone, a robot, a high-altitude platform, an unmanned vehicle, a road side unit and / or a smart infrastructure unit.

[0033] The remote UE is configured to initialize a connection to a relay UE using a first communication channel; and receive remote services from the relay UE using a second communication channel.

[0034] This way, even if the remote UE does not have network access or only weak network access, it is enabled to receive remote services via the relay UE. Hence, the relay UEs increase the area in which remote services may be offered to the remote UE.

[0035] Further embodiments and advantages correspond to those given in the above description.

[0036] According to yet another aspect of the invention, a relay user equipment (UE) is provided. In this context, the relay UE may be any UE that is configured to relay remote services, in particular, to forward data allocated to the remote services from and to a remote UE to and from another device. In some cases, it is also possible that the relay UE is enabled to offer the remote services itself, e.g., when the relay UE has sufficient computing and / or energy resources.

[0037] The relay UE is configured to initialize a connection to the remote UE using a first communication channel and provide remote services to the remote UE using a second communication channel. This way, even if the remote UE does not have network access or only weak network access, it is enabled to receive remote services via the relay UE. Hence, the relay UE increases the area in which remote services may be offered to the remote UE.

[0038] Further embodiments and advantages correspond to those given in the above description.

[0039] According to an embodiment, the relay UE regularly monitors and records radio resource between one UE and another UE and service usage and determines load of the second communication channel. The relay UE further regularly estimates future service demands based on service usage records. This estimation may be made using smart algorithms or artificial intelligence. Then, the relay UE determines, based on the determined load of the second communication channel and / or the estimated future service demands, whether a frequency range or parts of a frequency range used by the second communication channel meets a congestion criterion. Said congestion criterion may be that a predetermined fraction of available radio resources is occupied, or that it is predicted that a predetermined fraction of the available radio resources will be occupied in the future.

[0040] If the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used by the second communication channel meets the congestion criterion, the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used for the second communication channel are changed, in particular by triggering a request for additional radio resources between one UE and another UE to a mobile network operator (MNO) of the relay UE. The relay UE then receives a reply from the MNO indicating resource usage policy and configuration for using additional radio resources. It is then determined, based on the received reply from the MNO, whether these additional radio resources between one UE and another UE are sufficient based on current and estimated service demand. If the additional radio resources between one UE and another UE are insufficient based on current and estimated service demand, the relay UE indicates to selected UEs via the first communication channel that the remote services will be offered via another second communication channel. Said selected UEs are, in particular, grouped based on the used remote services.

[0041] Further, the relay UE manages the radio resources between one UE and another UE and data flows based on the quality of service and service characteristics.

[0042] With the above management of resources, the remote services can be optimally provided to a large number of remote UEs.

[0043] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated further with reference to the embodiments described by way of examples in the following description and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

[0045] Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of an architecture for remote services;

[0046] Fig. 2 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for providing remote services; and

[0047] Fig. 3 shows a flowchart of another embodiment of a method for providing remote services.

[0048] In the figures, elements which correspond to elements already described may have the same reference numerals. Examples, embodiments or optional features, whether indicated as non-limiting or not, are not to be understood as limiting the invention as claimed.

[0049] DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0050] Figure 1 shows an architecture for remote services. A remote user equipment (UE) 1 communicates with a relay UE 2 via a first communication channel 3 and a second communication channel 4. Here, the first communication channel 3 is used for the initialization of a connection between the remote UE 1 and the relay UE 2, and the second communication channel 4 is used for providing remote services by the relay UE 2 to the remote UE 1 .

[0051] The remote UE 1 may be any kind of user equipment, such as a vehicle, a mobile device, a drone, a robot, a high-altitude platform, an unmanned vehicle, a road side unit and / or a smart infrastructure unit. The relay UE 2 may also be any kind of user equipment, as long as it is configured to relay remote services, in particular, to forward data allocated to the remote services from and to the remote UE 1 to and from another device.

[0052] The second communication channel 4 may be different from the first communication channel 3. For example, a communication channel that provides a long communication range but only a limited data rate may be used as the first communication channel 3, whereas a communication channel that provides a good data rate, but may only allow for a limited communication range, may be used as the second communication channel 4. One advantage of using two different communication channels as the first communication channel 3 and the second communication channel 4 is that the information sent via the first communication 3 channel does not lead to congestion of the second communication channel 4. The second communication channel 4 being different from the first communication channel 3 comprises that the first communication channel 3 and the second communication channel 4 use a different radio technology, different radio resources, different spectrum, different carrier, and / or different operator.

[0053] Alternatively, the first communication channel 3 and the second communication channel 4 may be the same. This is particularly useful when only one communication channel for the communication between the relay UE 2 and the remote UE 1 is available.

[0054] Further, the relay UE 2 communicates with remote service providers (RSPs) 5. These RSPs may be network RSPs 5.1 and / or UE RSPs 5.2 and provide the remote services, via the relay UE 2, to the remote UE 1 . Figure 2 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for providing remote services. RSPs 5 send 10, to the relay UE 2, service catalogues comprising a list of offered remote services and quality of service characteristics of the offered remote services. The relay UE 2 receives 11 said service catalogues, combines 12 the offered services into a consolidated service catalogue and indicates 13, via the first communication channel 3, the offered remote services to the remote UE 1 . The remote UE 1 receives 14 the consolidated service catalogue, and replies 15 to the relay UE 2 that a remote service is requested. The relay UE 2 receives 16 this request and indicates 17, to the remote UE 1 , the second communication channel 4. The remote UE 1 receives 18 said indication. Then, the remote services are offered 19 via the second communication channel 4.

[0055] Figure 3 shows a flowchart of another embodiment of a method for providing remote services. The remote UE 1 requests 20, via the first communication channel 3, a remote service. The relay UE 2 receives 21 said request. Further, RSPs 5 send 10, to the relay UE 2, service catalogues comprising a list of offered remote services and quality of service characteristics of the offered remote services. The relay UE 2 receives 11 said service catalogues. The relay UE 2 then determines 22 whether the requested remote services can be provided by the RSPs 5. Further, the relay UE 2 replies 23 to the remote UE 1 that the services can be provided and indicates the second communication channel 4. The remote UE 1 receives 24 said reply and the indication of the second communication channel 4.

[0056] Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from the study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claims. List of reference signs

[0057] 1 remote UE

[0058] 2 relay UE

[0059] 3 first communication channel

[0060] 4 second communication channel

[0061] 5 RSP

[0062] 5.1 network RSP

[0063] 5.2 UE RSP

[0064] 10 sending

[0065] 11 receiving

[0066] 12 combining

[0067] 13 indicating

[0068] 14 receiving

[0069] 15 replying

[0070] 16 receiving

[0071] 17 indicating

[0072] 18 receiving

[0073] 19 offering remote services

[0074] 20 requesting

[0075] 21 receiving

[0076] 22 determining

[0077] 23 replying

[0078] 24 receiving

Claims

Patent claims1 . Method for providing remote services from one user equipment, UE, to another UE, comprising: initializing a connection between a remote UE (1 ) and a relay UE (2) using a first communication channel (3); and providing the remote services by the relay UE (2) to the remote UE (1 ) using a second communication channel (4).

2. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the remote services comprise computing, artificial intelligence, storage, caching, infotainment, map data, software updates, streaming, gaming, augmented reality and / or extended reality.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the relay UE (2) is a vehicle, a mobile device, a drone, a robot, a high-altitude platform, an unmanned vehicle, a road side unit and / or a smart infrastructure unit.

4. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of initializing a connection comprises: receiving, by the relay UE (2), service catalogues from network remote service providers, RSPs (5.1 ), and / or UE RSPs (5.2), the service catalogues comprising a list of offered remote services and, in particular, quality of service characteristics of the offered remote services; indicating, by the relay UE (2), the offered remote services via the first communication channel (3), in particular as a consolidated service catalogue; replying, by the remote UE (1 ), to the relay UE (2) that a remote service is requested, via the first communication channel (3); and indicating, by the relay UE (2), to the remote UE (1 ) the second communication channel (4).

5. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of initializing a connection comprises:requesting, by the remote UE (1 ), a remote service via the first communication channel (3); receiving, by the relay UE (2), service catalogues from network remote service providers, RSPs (5.1 ), and / or UE RSPs (5.2), the service catalogues comprising a list of offered remote services and, in particular, quality of service characteristics of the offered remote services; replying, by the relay UE (2), to the remote UE (1 ) that the requested remote service can be provided, via the first communication channel (3); and indicating, by the relay UE (2), to the remote UE (1 ) the second communication channel (4).

6. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the second communication channel (4) is different from the first communication channel (3).

7. Method according to claim 6, wherein the second communication channel (4) being different from the first communication channel (3) comprises that the first communication channel (3) and the second communication channel (4) use a different radio technology, different radio resources, different spectrum, different carrier, and / or different operator.

8. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the second communication channel (4) is a communication channel of one UE to another UE, in particular a sidelink channel in a mobile network, more particularly, but not limited to, a 5G or a 6G network, WiFi, Bluetooth, non-terrestrial and / or low power wide area networks.

9. Method according to claim 8, wherein the communication channel of one UE to another UE uses a frequency range or parts of a frequency range allocated to a mobile network operator, MNO, of the remote UE (1 ) and / or of the relay UE (2), a frequency range or parts of a frequency range allocated to an MNO other than the MNO of the remote UE (1 ) and the relay UE (2), or an unlicensed frequency range or parts of an unlicensed frequency range.

10. Method according to claim 9, wherein, when the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used by the communication channel of one UE to another UE is not allocated to the MNO of the remote UE (1 ) and the MNO of the relay UE (2), spectrum sharing, leasing and / or roaming agreements are used.11 . Method according to claim 9 or 10, further comprising: regularly monitoring and recording, by the relay UE (2), radio resource between one UE and another UE and service usage and determining load of the second communication channel (4); regularly estimating, by the relay UE (2), future service demands based on service usage records; determining, by the relay UE (2), based on the determined load of the second communication channel (4) and / or the estimated future service demands, whether the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used by the communication channel of one UE to another UE meets a congestion criterion; and in response to determining that the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used by the communication channel of one UE to another UE meets the congestion criterion: changing the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used for the communication of one UE to another UE, in particular by triggering a request for additional radio resources between one UE and another UE to the MNO of the relay UE (2); receiving, by the relay UE (2), a reply from the MNO indicating resource usage policy and configuration for using additional radio resources; determining, by the relay UE (2), based on the received reply from the MNO, whether these additional radio resources between one UE and another UE are sufficient based on current and estimated service demand; and in response to determining that the additional radio resources between one UE and another UE are insufficient based on current and estimated service demand, indicating to selected UEs, which are, in particular, grouped based on the used remote services, via the first communication channel (3) that the remote services will be offered via another second communication channel (4).

12. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 , wherein communication resources of one UE to another UE, quality of service, QoS, requirements and / or data flows of the remote services are locally managed by the relay UE (2).

13. Remote user equipment, UE (1 ), configured to: initialize a connection to a relay UE (2) using a first communication channel(3); and receive remote services from the relay UE (2) using a second communication channel (4).

14. Relay user equipment, UE (2), configured to: initialize a connection to a remote UE (1 ) using a first communication channel (3); and provide remote services to the remote UE (1 ) using a second communication channel (4).

15. Relay UE (2) according to claim 14, further configured to: regularly monitor and record radio resources between one UE and another UE and service usage and determine load of the second communication channel(4); regularly estimate future service demands based on service usage records; and determine, based on the determined load of the second communication channel (4) and / or the estimated future service demands, whether a frequency range or parts of a frequency range used by the second communication channel (4) meets a congestion criterion; and in response to determining that the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used by the second communication channel (4) meets the congestion criterion: change the frequency range or the parts of the frequency range used for the second communication channel (4), in particular by triggering a requestfor additional radio resources between one UE and another UE to a mobile network operator, MNO, of the relay UE (2); receive a reply from the MNO indicating resource usage policy and configuration for using additional radio resources; determine, based on the received reply from the MNO, whether these additional radio resources between one UE and another UE are sufficient based on current and estimated service demand; and in response to determining that the additional radio resources between one UE and another UE are insufficient based on current and estimated service demand, indicate to selected UEs, which are, in particular, grouped based on the used remote services, via the first communication channel (3) that the remote services will be offered via another second communication channel (4); and manage the radio resources between one UE and another UE and data flows based on the quality of service and service characteristics.

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