Edge service configuration

Abstract

To provide a method for notifying monitoring reports from an access and mobility management function (AMF) or other network functions (NFs) in a centralized core network by an application function (AF) from user equipment (EP), without waiting for AF actions or commands, such as monitoring of quality of service.SOLUTION: UE includes a processor, communication circuitry connected to a network, and a memory. The processor performs such that the UE receives a monitoring report from an AMF, sends an UP message indicating that the monitoring report can be sent to an AF to user plane functions (UPFs), receives, from the AMF, a non-access layer (NAS) message including the monitoring report and information to send the monitoring report to the AF, and sends, to the AF, information including the monitoring report using a protocol data unit (PDU) session.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] (CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS) This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 62 / 955,506, filed Dec. 31, 2019, entitled "Edge Services Configuration," and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 63 / 018,582, filed May 1, 2020, entitled "Edge Services Configuration," the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties herein. [Background technology]

[0002] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) develops technical standards for cellular telecommunications network technologies, including radio access, core transport networks, and service capabilities, including work on codecs, security, and quality of service. Recent radio access technology (RAT) standards include WCDMA (commonly referred to as 3G), LTE (commonly referred to as 4G), LTE-Advanced standards, and New Radio (NR), also referred to as "5G". Development of the 3GPP NR standard is expected to continue and include the definition of next-generation radio access technologies (new RATs), which are expected to include new flexible radio access provisions below 7 GHz, and new ultra-mobile broadband radio access provisions above 7 GHz. Flexible radio access is expected to consist of new non-backward compatible radio access in new spectrum below 7 GHz, and is expected to include different operating modes that can be multiplexed together in the same spectrum to address a broad set of 3GPP NR use cases with divergent requirements. Ultra Mobile Broadband is expected to include centimeter wave and mm wave spectrum, providing opportunities for ultra mobile broadband access, for example, for indoor applications and hotspots. In particular, Ultra Mobile Broadband is expected to share a common design framework with sub-7 GHz Flexible Wireless Access, with centimeter wave and mm wave specific design optimizations.

[0003] 3GPP has identified a variety of use cases that NR is expected to support, resulting in a wide variety of user experience requirements for data rates, latency, and mobility. Use cases include the following general categories: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency Communication (URLLC), massive machine type communications (mMTC), network operations (e.g., network slicing, routing, migration, and interworking, energy conservation), and enhanced vehicle-to-everything (eV2X) communications, which may include any of Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), Vehicle-to-Network Communication (V2N), Vehicle-to-Pedestrian Communication (V2P), and vehicle communications with other entities. Specific services and applications in these categories include, for example, surveillance and sensor networks, device remote control, two-way remote control, personal cloud computing, video streaming, wireless cloud-based office, first responder connectivity, e-call for automobiles, disaster alerts, real-time gaming, multi-party video calling, autonomous driving, augmented reality, haptic internet, virtual reality, home automation, robotics, and aerial drones, to name a few. All of these use cases and more are contemplated herein. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Aspects disclosed herein describe methods that allow an external AF / AS to provide information to a 5GC regarding edge data network configuration. Further aspects disclosed herein describe mechanisms that address UE provisioning for edge service activation, such as: 1) a mechanism that allows a UE not hosting an EEC to request provisioning of EDN information to enable edge services for non-edge-aware application clients, where such mechanism may be based on UE registration procedures and provisioning and use of URSP rules; 2) a mechanism that allows a UE hosted EEC to obtain edge configuration information by using URSP rules to establish IP connectivity with a configuration server; and 3) a mechanism that allows a UE hosted EEC to obtain edge data network configuration information during registration.

[0005] Additional aspects disclosed herein describe methods for enabling low latency exposure of network information at the edge, such as: 1) mechanisms that enable an AF to subscribe to event monitoring exposure via a NEF and request a preference for reporting optimized reporting (e.g., low latency) or distribution via the UE; 2) mechanisms that enable subscriptions and policies from a centralized NF to be distributed via the UE to edge or local deployments along the UE's path; and 3) mechanisms that enable low latency exposure of event monitoring from a centralized NF to an edge server via the UE. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0006] A more detailed understanding may be had from the following description, taken by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: [Figure 1A] 1 illustrates an exemplary communication system. [Figure 1B] FIG. 1 is a system diagram of an example RAN and core network. [Figure 1C]FIG. 1 is a system diagram of an example RAN and core network. [Figure 1D] FIG. 1 is a system diagram of an example RAN and core network. [Figure 1E] 2 illustrates another exemplary communication system. [Figure 1F] 1 is a block diagram of an example apparatus or device, such as a WTRU. [Figure 1G] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system. [Diagram 2] 1 illustrates the use of edge and cloud V2X application servers by a V2X AC on a UE. [Diagram 3] Illustrates a 3GPP-defined architecture for enabling edge applications (see 3GPP TR 23.758 Study on Application Architectures for Enabling Edge Applications v1.0.0 (2019-09)). [Figure 4A] 1 illustrates a call flow for an exemplary enhanced registration procedure (without EEC case). [Figure 4B] 1 illustrates a call flow for an exemplary enhanced registration procedure (without EEC case). [Figure 4C] 1 illustrates a call flow for an exemplary enhanced registration procedure (without EEC case). [Figure 5A] 1 illustrates an example enhanced UE request PDU session establishment call flow. [Figure 5B] 1 illustrates an example enhanced UE request PDU session establishment call flow. [Figure 6A] 1 illustrates a call flow of an exemplary enhanced registration procedure (EEC-based case). [Figure 6B] 1 illustrates a call flow of an exemplary enhanced registration procedure (EEC-based case). [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a system diagram of an example core network architecture with network functions. [Figure 8] 1 is an example of an exemplary non-optimized network exposure reporting path for edge deployments. [Figure 9] 1 is an example of an exemplary optimized reporting path from a centralized network function. [Figure 10] 13 is a call flow of an example of a transfer of an edge reporting subscription from a centralized network exposure function. [Figure 11] 1 is an example routing / distribution call flow of edge monitoring policies via a UE. [Figure 12] 1 is a call flow of an example report routing from a centralized NF via a UE. [Figure 13A] 1 illustrates a call flow of an example enhanced registration procedure that enables a UE to communicate its support for routing monitoring reports. [Figure 13B] 1 illustrates a call flow of an example enhanced registration procedure that enables a UE to communicate its support for routing monitoring reports. [Figure 13C] 1 illustrates a call flow of an example enhanced registration procedure that enables a UE to communicate its support for routing monitoring reports. [Figure 13D] 1 illustrates a call flow of an example enhanced registration procedure that enables a UE to communicate its support for routing monitoring reports. [Figure 13E] 1 illustrates a call flow of an example enhanced registration procedure that enables a UE to communicate its support for routing monitoring reports. [Figure 14] 1 illustrates an example of an optimized reporting path from a locally deployed NF. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0007] 1A illustrates an example communication system 100 in which the systems, methods, and apparatus described and claimed herein may be used. The communication system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, 102f, and / or 102g, which may be referred to generally or collectively as a WTRU 102 or multiple WTRUs 102. The communication system 100 may include a radio access network (RAN) 103 / 104 / 105 / 103b / 104b / 105b, a core network 106 / 107 / 109, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, other networks 112, and network services 113. The network services 113 may include, for example, a V2X server, a V2X function, a ProSe server, a ProSe function, an IoT service, video streaming, and / or edge computing.

[0008] It will be appreciated that the concepts disclosed herein may be used with any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102 may be any type of apparatus or device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. In the example of FIG. 1A, each of the WTRUs 102 is illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1E as a handheld wireless communication device. In the wide variety of use cases contemplated for wireless communication, it will be appreciated that each WTRU may include or be included in any type of apparatus or device configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals, including, by way of example only, user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a pager, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop computer, a tablet, a netbook, a notebook computer, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a household appliance, a wearable device such as a smart watch or smart clothing, a medical or e-health device, a robot, an industrial device, a drone, a vehicle such as an automobile, a bus, or a truck, or an airplane, etc.

[0009] The communications system 100 may also include a base station 114a and a base station 114b. In the example of FIG. 1A, each base station 114a and 114b is illustrated as a single element. In practice, the base stations 114a and 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements. The base station 114a may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c to facilitate access to one or more communications networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, the network services 113, and / or other networks 112. Similarly, the base station 114b may be any type of device configured to interface wired and / or wirelessly with at least one of the Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) 118a, 118b, the Transmission and Reception Points (TRPs) 119a, 119b, and / or the Roadside Units (RSUs) 120a and 120b to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, the other networks 112, and / or the network server 113. The RRHs 118a, 118b may be any type of device configured to interface wirelessly with at least one of the WTRUs 102, e.g., the WTRU 102c, to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, the network services 113, and / or the other networks 112.

[0010] The TRPs 119a, 119b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, the network services 113, and / or other networks 112. The RSUs 120a and 120b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102e or 102f to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, the other networks 112, and / or the network services 113. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node B, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a Next Generation Node-B (gNode B), a satellite, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, etc.

[0011] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 103 / 104 / 105, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a Base Station Controller (BSC), a Radio Network Controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. Similarly, the base station 114b may be part of the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a BSC, an RNC, relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals within a particular geographical area, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). Similarly, the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wired and / or wireless signals within a particular geographical area, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). The cells may be further divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, for example, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, e.g., one transceiver for each sector of the cell. The base station 114a may employ Multiple-Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology and thus may utilize multiple transceivers, for example, for each sector of the cell.

[0012] The base station 114a may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102g over air interfaces 115 / 116 / 117, which may be any suitable wireless communication links (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, centimeter wave, millimeter wave, etc.). The air interfaces 115 / 116 / 117 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0013] The base station 114b may communicate with one or more of the RRHs 118a and 118b, the TRPs 119a and 119b, and / or the RSUs 120a and 120b via a wired or air interface 115b / 116b / 117b, which may be any suitable wired (e.g., cable, optical fiber, etc.) or wireless communication link (e.g., RF, microwave, IR, UV, visible light, centimeter wave, millimeter wave, etc.). The air interface 115b / 116b / 117b may be established using any suitable RAT.

[0014] The RRHs 118a, 118b, the TRPs 119a, 119b, and / or the RSUs 120a, 120b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102c, 102d, 102e, 102f over the air interface 115c / 116c / 117c, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., RF, microwave, IR, ultraviolet UV, visible light, centimeter wave, millimeter wave, etc.). The air interface 115c / 116c / 117c may be established using any suitable RAT.

[0015] The WTRUs 102 may communicate with each other over a direct air interface 115d / 116d / 117d, such as sidelink communications, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., RF, microwave, IR, ultraviolet UV, visible light, centimeter wave, millimeter wave, etc.). The air interface 115d / 116d / 117d may be established using any suitable RAT.

[0016] The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may use one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and so on. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and the RRHs 118a, 118b, TRPs 119a, 119b, and / or RSUs 120a, 120b, and WTRUs 102c, 102d, 102e, and 102f in the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc., which may establish the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 or 115c / 116c / 117c, respectively, using Wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0017] The base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102g in the RAN 103 / 104 / 105, or the RRHs 118a and 118b, TRPs 119a and 119b, and / or the RSUs 120b and 120b in the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b, and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 or 115c / 116c / 117c, respectively, using, for example, Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A). The air interface 115 / 116 / 117 or 115c / 116c / 117c may implement 3GPP NR technology. LTE and LTE-A technologies may include LTE D2D and / or V2X technologies and interfaces (such as sidelink communications). Similarly, 3GPP NR technologies may include NR V2X technologies and interfaces (such as sidelink communications).

[0018] The base station 114a in the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102g, or the RRHs 118a and 118b, the TRPs 119a and 119b, and / or the RSUs 120a and 120b, and the WTRUs 102c, 102d, 102e, and 102f in the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b may be compliant with any of the following standards: IEEE 802.16 (e.g., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1x, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard (IS-2000), Interim Standard (IS-95), Interim Standard (IS-856), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), etc.) The present invention may implement radio technologies such as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), and GSM EDGE (GERAN).

[0019] 1A may be, for example, a wireless router, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, or an access point, and may utilize any suitable RAT to facilitate wireless connectivity in a local area, such as an office, a home, a vehicle, a train, an airborne, a satellite, a factory, a campus, etc. The base station 114c and the WTRU 102, e.g., the WTRU 102e, may implement a radio technology, such as IEEE 802.11, to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). Similarly, the base station 114c and the WTRU 102, e.g., the WTRU 102d, may implement a radio technology, such as IEEE 802.15, to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). The base station 114c and the WTRU 102, e.g., the WTRU 102e, may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, NR, etc.) to establish a picocell or a femtocell. 1A, the base station 114c may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114c may not need to access the Internet 110 through the core network 106 / 107 / 109.

[0020] The RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and / or RAN 103b / 104b / 105b may communicate with a core network 106 / 107 / 109, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, messaging, authorization and authentication, application, and / or Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102. For example, the core network 106 / 107 / 109 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, prepaid calling, Internet connectivity, packet data network connectivity, Ethernet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication.

[0021] 1A, it will be understood that the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and / or RAN 103b / 104b / 105b and / or the core network 106 / 107 / 109 may communicate directly or indirectly with other RANs employing the same RAT as the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and / or RAN 103b / 104b / 105b, or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and / or RAN 103b / 104b / 105b, which may utilize E-UTRA radio technology, the core network 106 / 107 / 109 may also communicate with another RAN (not shown) using GSM or NR radio technology.

[0022] The core network 106 / 107 / 109 may also act as a gateway for the WTRU 102 to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include a circuit-switched telephone network providing Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communications protocols such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and internet protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP Internet protocol suite. The other networks 112 may include wired and / or wireless communication networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the network 112 may include any type of packet data network (e.g., an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet network) or another core network connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RANs 103 / 104 / 105 and / or RANs 103b / 104b / 105b, or a different RAT.

[0023] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, and 102f in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities, e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, and 102f may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links. For example, the WTRU 102g shown in FIG. 1A may be configured to communicate with a base station 114a, which may use a cellular-based wireless technology, and a base station 114c, which may use an IEEE 802 wireless technology.

[0024] Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that the user equipment may have a wired connection to a gateway. The gateway may be a Residential Gateway (RG). The RG may provide connectivity to the core network 106 / 107 / 109. It will be appreciated that many of the ideas contained herein may be equally applicable to UEs, WTRUs and UEs that use a wired connection to connect to a network. For example, ideas applied to the air interfaces 115, 116, 117, and 115c / 116c / 117c may be equally applicable to a wired connection.

[0025] 1B is a system diagram of an example RAN 103 and core network 106. As described above, the RAN 103 may communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 115 using UTRA radio technology. The RAN 103 may also communicate with the core network 106. As shown in FIG. 1B, the RAN 103 may include Node Bs 140a, 140b, and 140c, each of which may include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 115. The Node Bs 140a, 140b, and 140c may each be associated with a particular cell (not shown) within the RAN 103. The RAN 103 may also include RNCs 142a, 142b. It will be appreciated that the RAN 103 may include any number of Node Bs and radio network controllers (RNCs).

[0026] 1B, Node Bs 140a, 140b may communicate with RNC 142a. Additionally, Node B 140c may communicate with RNC 142b. Node Bs 140a, 140b, and 140c may communicate with their respective RNCs 142a and 142b via an Iub interface. RNCs 142a and 142b may communicate with each other via an Iur interface. Each of RNCs 142a and 142b may be configured to control the respective Node Bs 140a, 140b, and 140c to which it is connected. Additionally, each of RNCs 142a and 142b may be configured to perform or support other functions such as outer loop power control, load control, admission control, packet scheduling, handover control, macro diversity, security functions, data encryption, etc.

[0027] 1B may include a media gateway (MGW) 144, a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 146, a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 148, and / or a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) 150. Although each of the foregoing elements is illustrated as part of the core network 106, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the core network operator.

[0028] The RNC 142a in the RAN 103 may be connected to an MSC 146 in the core network 106 via an IuCS interface. The MSC 146 may be connected to the MGW 144. The MSC 146 and MGW 144 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c and traditional land-line communication devices.

[0029] The RNC 142a in the RAN 103 may also be connected to an SGSN 148 in the core network 106 via an IuPS interface. The SGSN 148 may be connected to a GGSN 150. The SGSN 148 and GGSN 150 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0030] The core network 106 may also be connected to other networks 112, which may include other wired or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0031] 1C is a system diagram of an example RAN 104 and core network 107. As described above, the RAN 104 may communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116 using E-UTRA radio technology. The RAN 104 may also communicate with the core network 107.

[0032] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c, although it will be understood that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. For example, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a may transmit wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a, for example, using multiple antennas.

[0033] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, user scheduling, etc. on the uplink and / or downlink. As shown in FIG 1C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may communicate with one another via an X2 interface.

[0034] The core network 107 shown in Figure 1C may include a Mobility Management Gateway (MME) 162, a Serving Gateway 164, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 166. Although each of the foregoing elements is illustrated as part of the core network 107, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the core network operator.

[0035] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may function as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, bearer activation / deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, etc. The MME 162 may also provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM or WCDMA.

[0036] The serving gateway 164 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface. The serving gateway 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c. The serving gateway 164 may also perform other functions, such as anchoring the user plane during inter-eNode B handover, triggering paging when downlink data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, managing and storing the context of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, etc.

[0037] The serving gateway 164 may also be connected to a PDN gateway 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0038] The core network 107 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the core network 107 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c and traditional landline communications devices. For example, the core network 107 may include or communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the core network 107 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the core network 107 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to the network 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0039] 1D is a system diagram of an example RAN 105 and core network 109. The RAN 105 may communicate with the WTRUs 102a and 102b over an air interface 117 using a NR radio technology. The RAN 105 may also communicate with the core network 109. A Non-3GPP Interworking Function (N3IWF) 199 may communicate with the WTRU 102c over an air interface 198 using a non-3GPP radio technology. The N3IWF 199 may also communicate with the core network 109.

[0040] The RAN 105 may include gNode-Bs 180a and 180b. It will be appreciated that the RAN 105 may include any number of gNode-Bs. The gNode-Bs 180a and 180b may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a and 102b over the air interface 117. When an integrated access and backhaul connection is used, the same air interface may be used between the WTRUs and the gNode-Bs, which may be the core network 109 via one or more gNBs. The gNode-Bs 180a and 180b may implement MIMO, MU-MIMO, and / or digital beamforming techniques. Thus, the gNode-B 180a may, for example, use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to and receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a. It will be appreciated that the RAN 105 may use other types of base stations, such as eNode-Bs. It should also be appreciated that the RAN 105 may employ more than one type of base station. For example, the RAN may use eNode-Bs and gNode-Bs.

[0041] The N3IWF 199 may include a non-3GPP access point 180c. It will be appreciated that the N3IWF 199 may include any number of non-3GPP access points. The non-3GPP access point 180c may include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRU 102c over the air interface 198. The non-3GPP access point 180c may communicate with the WTRU 102c over the air interface 198 using an 802.11 protocol.

[0042] Each of the eNode-Bs 180a and 180b may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, user scheduling, etc. on the uplink and / or downlink. As shown in FIG. 1D, the gNode-Bs 180a and 180b may communicate with one another over, for example, an Xn interface.

[0043] The core network 109 shown in FIG. 1D may be a 5G core network (5GC). The core network 109 may provide multiple communication services to customers interconnected by a radio access network. The core network 109 includes several entities that perform the functionality of a core network. As used herein, the term "core network entity" or "network function" refers to any entity that performs one or more functions of a core network. It is understood that such a core network entity may be a device configured for wireless and / or network communication, or a logical entity implemented in the form of computer-executable instructions (software) stored in a memory of, and executed by, a processor of a computer system, such as the system 90 illustrated in FIG. 1G.

[0044] In the example of Figure 1D, the 5G core network 109 may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) 172, a Session Management Function (SMF) 174, a User Plane Function (UPF) 176a and 176b, a User Data Management Function (UDM) 197, an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) 190, a Network Exposure Function (NEF) 196, a Policy Control Function (PCF) 184, a Non-3GPP Interworking Function (N3IWF) 199, and a User Data Repository (UDR) 178. Although each of the foregoing elements is illustrated as part of the 5G core network 109, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the core network operator. It will also be understood that the 5G core network may consist of additional elements rather than all of these elements, and may consist of multiple instances of each of these elements. Although Figure 1D shows the network functions connecting directly to each other, it will be understood that they may communicate through a routing agent, such as a diameter routing agent or a message bus.

[0045] In the example of Figure 1D, connectivity between network functions is achieved through a set of interfaces or reference points. It will be appreciated that network functions may be modeled, described, or implemented as a set of services that are invoked or called by other network functions or services. Invocation of network function services may be achieved through direct connections between network functions, messaging exchanges on a message bus, software function invocations, etc.

[0046] The AMF 172 may be connected to the RAN 105 via an N2 interface and may function as a control node. For example, the AMF 172 may be responsible for registration management, connection management, reachability management, access authentication, and access authorization. The AMF may be responsible for forwarding user plane tunnel configuration information to the RAN 105 via the N2 interface. The AMF 172 may receive user plane tunnel configuration information from the SMF via the N11 interface. The AMF 172 may generally route and forward NAS packets to and from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c via the N1 interface. The N1 interface is not shown in FIG. 1D.

[0047] The SMF 174 may be connected to the AMF 172 via an N11 interface. Similarly, the SMF may be connected to the PCF 184 via an N7 interface and to the UPFs 176a and 176b via an N4 interface. The SMF 174 may function as a control node. For example, the SMF 174 may be responsible for session management, IP address allocation for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, management and configuration of traffic steering rules in the UPFs 176a and 176b, and generation of downlink data notifications to the AMF 172.

[0048] The UPF 176a and UPF 176b may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to a packet data network (PDN), such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communication between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c and other devices. The UPF 176a and UPF 176b may also provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to other types of packet data networks. For example, the other network 112 may be an Ethernet network or any type of network that exchanges packets of data. The UPF 176a and UPF 176b may receive traffic steering rules from the SMF 174 via the N4 interface. The UPF 176a and UPF 176b may provide access to a packet data network by connecting the packet data network with an N6 interface or by connecting to each other or other UPFs via an N9 interface. In addition to providing access to the packet data network, the UPF 176 may be responsible for packet routing and forwarding, enforcement of policy rules, quality of service handling for user plane traffic, and downlink packet buffering.

[0049] The AMF 172 may also be connected to the N3IWF 199, for example, via an N2 interface. The N3IWF facilitates connectivity between the WTRU 102c and the 5G core network 170, for example, via an air interface technology not defined by 3GPP. The AMF may interact with the N3IWF 199 in the same or similar manner as it interacts with the RAN 105.

[0050] The PCF 184 may be connected to the SMF 174 via an N7 interface, to the AMF 172 via an N15 interface, and to an Application Function (AF) 188 via an N5 interface. The N15 and N5 interfaces are not shown in FIG. 1D . The PCF 184 may provide policy rules to control plane nodes, such as the AMF 172 and the SMF 174, allowing the control plane nodes to enforce these rules. The PCF 184 may send policies to the AMF 172 for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, such that the AMF can deliver the policies to the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c via the N1 interface. The policies may then be enforced or applied at the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c.

[0051] The UDR 178 may act as a repository for authentication credentials and subscription information. The UDR may connect to a network function so that the network function can add to, read, and modify the data in the repository. For example, the UDR 178 may connect to the PCF 184 via an N36 interface. Similarly, the UDR 178 may connect to the NEF 196 via an N37 interface, and the UDR 178 may connect to the UDM 197 via an N35 interface.

[0052] The UDM 197 may act as an interface between the UDR 178 and other network functions. The UDM 197 may authorize the network functions for access of the UDR 178. For example, the UDM 197 may connect to the AMF 172 via an N8 interface, and the UDM 197 may connect to the SMF 174 via an N10 interface. Similarly, the UDM 197 may connect to the AUSF 190 via an N13 interface. The UDR 178 and the UDM 197 may be tightly integrated.

[0053] The AUSF 190 performs authentication related operations and connects to the UDM 178 via the N13 interface and to the AMF 172 via the N12 interface.

[0054] The NEF 196 exposes capabilities and services in the 5G core network 109 to an Application Function (AF) 188. The exposure may occur over an N33 API interface. The NEF may connect to the AF 188 via the N33 interface and may connect to other network functions to expose capabilities and services of the 5G core network 109.

[0055] The application functions 188 may interact with network functions in the 5G core network 109. The interaction between the application functions 188 and the network functions may be via a direct interface or may occur via the NEF 196. The application functions 188 may be considered part of the 5G core network 109 or may be external to the 5G core network 109 and deployed by companies that have business relationships with the mobile network operators.

[0056] Network slicing is a mechanism that mobile network operators can use to support one or more "virtual" core networks behind the operator's air interface. This involves "slicing" the core network into one or more virtual networks to support different RANs or different service types running across a single RAN. Network slicing allows operators to create customized networks to provide optimized solutions for different market scenarios that require diverse requirements, for example in the areas of functionality, performance, and isolation.

[0057] 3GPP is designing the 5G core network to support network slicing. Network slicing is a good tool that network operators can use to support a diverse set of 5G use cases (e.g., massive IoT, critical communications, V2X, and enhanced mobile broadband) that have very diverse and sometimes extreme requirements. Without the use of network slicing technology, the network architecture is likely not flexible and scalable enough to efficiently support a wider range of use cases, which is necessary when each use case has its own specific set of performance, scalability, and availability requirements. In addition, it should make the introduction of new network services more efficient.

[0058] Referring again to FIG. 1D , in a network slicing scenario, the WTRU 102a, 102b, or 102c may connect to the AMF 172 via an N1 interface. The AMF may be logically part of one or more slices. The AMF may coordinate the connection or communication of the WTRU 102a, 102b, or 102c with one or more UPFs 176a and 176b, the SMF 174, and other network functions. Each of the UPFs 176a and 176b, the SMF 174, and other network functions may be part of the same slice or different slices. When they are part of different slices, they may be isolated from each other in the sense that they may utilize different computing resources, security credentials, etc.

[0059] The core network 109 may facilitate communication with other networks. For example, the core network 109 may include or communicate with an IP gateway, such as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server that serves as an interface between the 5G core network 109 and the PSTN 108. For example, the core network 109 may include or communicate with a short message service (SMS) service center that facilitates communication via short message service. For example, the 5G core network 109 may facilitate the exchange of non-IP data packets between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c and the server or application function 188. In addition, the core network 170 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to the network 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0060] The core network entities described herein and illustrated in Figures 1A, 1C, 1D, and 1E are identified by the names given to those entities in certain existing 3GPP specifications, it being understood that future such entities and functions may be identified by other names and that certain entities or functions may be combined in future specifications published by 3GPP, including future 3GPP NR specifications. Thus, it is understood that the specific network entities and functions described and illustrated in Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E are provided by way of example only, and that the subject matter disclosed and claimed herein may be embodied or implemented in any similar communications system, whether currently defined or defined in the future.

[0061] 1E illustrates an example communication system 111 in which the systems, methods, and apparatus described herein may be used. The communication system 111 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) A, B, C, D, E, F, a base station gNB 121, a V2X server 124, and roadside units (RSUs) 123a and 123b. In practice, the concepts presented herein may be applied to any number of WTRUs, base stations gNBs, V2X networks, and / or other network elements. One or more, or all, of WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, and F may be outside the coverage 131 of an access network. WTRUs A, B, and C form a V2X group, where WTRU A is the group lead and WTRUs B and C are group members.

[0062] WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, and F may communicate with each other over Uu interface 129 via gNB 121 when they are within the coverage of the access network 131. In the example of FIG. 1E, WTRUs B and F are shown within the coverage of the access network 131. WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, and F may communicate with each other directly over a sidelink interface (e.g., PC5 or NR PC5), such as interface 125a, 125b, or 128, regardless of whether they are under or outside the coverage of the access network 131. For example, in the example of FIG. 1E, WRTU D, which is outside the coverage of the access network 131, communicates with WTRU F, which is within the coverage 131.

[0063] WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, and F may communicate with RSUs 123a or 123b via a vehicle-to-network communications (V2N) 133 or sidelink interface 125b. WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, and F may communicate to a V2X server 124 via a vehicle-to-infrastructure communications (V2I) interface 127. WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, and F may communicate to another UE via a vehicle-to-person communications (V2P) interface 128.

[0064] FIGURE 1F is a block diagram of an example apparatus or device WTRU 102 that may be configured for wireless communication and operation with the systems, methods, and apparatus described herein, such as the WTRU 102 of FIGURE 1A, FIGURE 1B, FIGURE 1C, FIGURE 1D, or FIGURE 1E. As shown in FIGURE 1F, the example WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad / indicators 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and other peripherals 138. It will be understood that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements. Additionally, the base stations 114a and 114b and / or the base stations 114a and 114b may represent, but are not limited to, a transceiver station (BTS), a Node B, a site controller, an access point (AP), a home Node B, evolved home node-B (eNodeB), home evolved node-B (HeNB), a home evolved node-B gateway, next generation node B (gNode-B), a proxy node, etc., and may include some or all of the elements illustrated in FIG. 1F and described herein, among others.

[0065] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) circuit, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, etc. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. Although FIG. 1F illustrates the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be understood that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0066] The transmit / receive element 122 of the UE may be configured to transmit signals to or receive signals from a base station (e.g., the base station 114a of FIG. 1A) via the air interface 115 / 116 / 117, or to transmit signals to or receive signals from another UE via the air interface 115d / 116d / 117d. For example, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. The transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless or wired signals.

[0067] 1F as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may use MIMO technology. Thus, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 115 / 116 / 117.

[0068] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate signals transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and demodulate signals received by the transmit / receive element 122. As mentioned above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers to enable the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, e.g., NR and IEEE 802.11 or NR and E-UTRA, or to communicate with the same RAT via multiple beams to different RRHs, TRPs, RSUs, or nodes.

[0069] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to and may receive user input data from a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, and / or a display / touchpad / indicator 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad / indicator 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from and store data in any type of suitable memory, such as non-removable memory 130 and / or removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may be a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) card, a hard disk, a hard disk drive ... The processor 118 may include a USB (SSD) memory card, a USB flash drive ...

[0070] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134 and may be configured to distribute and / or control the power to other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for providing power to the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries, solar cells, fuel cells, etc.

[0071] The processor 118 may also be coupled to a GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to or in lieu of information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) over the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 and / or determine its location based on the timing of signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may obtain location information by way of any suitable position determination method.

[0072] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality, and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include various sensors, such as an accelerometer, a biometric (e.g., fingerprint) sensor, an electronic compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photos or videos), a universal serial bus (USB) port or other interconnection interface, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, and the like.

[0073] The WTRU 102 may be included in other apparatus or devices, such as a sensor, a household appliance, a wearable device such as a smart watch or smart clothing, a medical or e-health device, a robot, industrial equipment, a drone, a vehicle such as a car, truck, train, or airplane. The WTRU 102 may be connected to other components, modules, or systems of such an apparatus or device via one or more interconnect interfaces, such as an interconnect interface that may include one of the peripherals 138.

[0074] FIG. 1G is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system 90 in which one or more of the devices of the communication networks illustrated in FIGS. 1A, 1C, 1D, and 1E may be embodied, such as a particular node or functional entity in the RAN 103 / 104 / 105, the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, other networks 112, or the network services 113. The computing system 90 may include a computer or server and may be controlled primarily by computer-readable instructions, which may be in the form of software or any means by which such software is stored or accessed. Such computer-readable instructions may be executed within a processor 91 to cause the computing system 90 to operate. The processor 91 may be a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) circuit, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, or the like. The processor 91 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the computing system 90 to operate in a communications network. The co-processor 81 is an optional processor distinct from the main processor 91 and may perform additional functions or assist the processor 91. The processor 91 and / or the co-processor 81 may receive, generate, and process data related to the methods and apparatus disclosed herein.

[0075] In operation, the processor 91 fetches, decodes, and executes instructions and transmits information to other resources via the computing system's main data transfer path, the system bus 80. Such a system bus connects components within the computing system 90 and defines a medium for data exchange. The system bus 80 typically includes data lines for transmitting data, address lines for transmitting addresses, and control lines for transmitting interrupts and operating the system bus. An example of such a system bus 80 is a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus.

[0076] The memories coupled to the system bus 80 include a random access memory (RAM) 82 and a read only memory (ROM) 93. Such memories include circuits that allow information to be stored and retrieved. The ROM 93 generally includes stored data that cannot be easily modified. Data stored in the RAM 82 can be read or changed by the processor 91 or other hardware devices. Access to the RAM 82 and / or the ROM 93 can be controlled by a memory controller 92. The memory controller 92 can provide an address translation function that translates virtual addresses to physical addresses when instructions are executed. The memory controller 92 can also provide a memory protection function that separates processes in the system and separates system processes from user processes. Thus, a program running in the first mode can only access memory mapped by its own process virtual address space and cannot access memory in another process' virtual address space unless memory sharing between processes is set up.

[0077] Additionally, computing system 90 may include a peripheral controller 83 that serves to communicate instructions from processor 91 to peripheral devices, such as a printer 94 , a keyboard 84 , a mouse 95 , and a disk drive 85 .

[0078] The display 86, controlled by the display controller 96, is used to display visual output generated by the computing system 90. Such visual output may include text, graphics, animated graphics, and video. The visual output may be provided in the form of a graphical user interface (GUI). The display 86 may be implemented with a CRT-based video display, an LCD-based flat panel display, a gas plasma-based flat panel display, or a touch panel. The display controller 96 contains the electronic components necessary to generate the video signal that is sent to the display 86.

[0079] Additionally, computing system 90 may include communications circuitry, such as, for example, a wireless or wired network adapter 97, that may be used to connect computing system 90 to external communications networks or devices, such as RAN 103 / 104 / 105, core network 106 / 107 / 109, PSTN 108, Internet 110, WTRU 102, or other networks 112 of Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E, allowing computing system 90 to communicate with other nodes or functional entities of those networks. The communications circuitry may be used alone or in combination with processor 91 to perform the transmitting and receiving steps of particular apparatus, nodes, or functional entities described herein.

[0080] It is understood that any or all of the devices, systems, methods, and processes described herein may be embodied in the form of computer-executable instructions (e.g., program code) stored on a computer-readable storage medium, which instructions, when executed by a processor, such as processor 118 or 91, cause the processor to execute and / or implement the systems, methods, and processes described herein. In particular, any of the steps, operations, or functions described herein may be implemented in the form of such computer-executable instructions executed on a processor of a device or computing system configured for wireless and / or wired network communication. Computer-readable storage media include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media for storing information, implemented in any non-transitory (e.g., tangible or physical) method or technology, although such computer-readable storage media do not include signals. Computer readable storage media include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other tangible or physical medium that can be used to store the desired information and that can be accessed by a computing system.

[0081] Below is a list of acronyms that may appear in the description below. Unless otherwise specified, the acronyms used herein refer to the corresponding term listed below.

[0082] 5GC 5G Core Network AF Application Features AMF Access Management Functions API Application Programming Interface AS Application Server AC Application Client BS combination function CN Core Network DNN Data Network Name DNS Domain Name Server EAS Edge Application Server EDN Edge Data Network ECSP Edge Computing Service Provider EDNCS Edge Data Network Configuration Server EES Edge Enabler Server EEC Edge Enabler Client EHE Edge Hosting Environment EMRP Edge Monitoring Routing Policy FQDN Fully Qualified Domain Name GMLC Gateway Mobile Location Centre GUI Graphical User Interface LADN Local Area Data Network NEF Network Exposure Function NF Network Function PDU Protocol Data Unit SMF Session Management Facility UDM Unified Data Management UE User Equipment UP User Plane Application Server - An entity deployed on a network node that provides services to application clients.

[0083] Application Client - An entity that accesses the services of an application server.

[0084] Edge Application Server - A server that provides application services hosted on an edge node or in an edge hosting environment.

[0085] Edge Node - A virtual or physical entity that is deployed within an edge network and hosts edge-based applications and services.

[0086] Edge Data Network - A local data network that supports the distribution deployment of edge hosting environments. In this disclosure, the term edge data network may be used interchangeably with the term edge hosting environment. For example, a server described herein that is in an edge data network executes in a corresponding edge hosting environment.

[0087] Edge Enabler Server - an entity deployed in an edge network that provides edge network centric services to edge enabler clients and edge application servers. In some 3GPP specifications, the edge enabler server is not functionally distinct from the edge application server, and the term "edge application server" may apply to both.

[0088] Edge Enabler Client - Deployed on devices that provide edge network centric services to application clients hosted on the device.

[0089] Edge Data Network Configuration Server - An entity in the network that configures the edge enabler clients and edge enabler servers to enable the services provided by the edge data network. The edge data network configuration server may also be referred to as an edge configuration server.

[0090] Edge Hosting Environment − An environment that provides the support required to run edge application servers.

[0091] Deploying edge applications.

[0092] Advantages of deploying Application Servers (AS) at the edge of a 3GPP system, rather than in the cloud, may include reduced access latency and increased reliability for Application Clients (ACs) accessing services offered by these ASs. In addition, network operators may also benefit from deploying ASs at the edge of the network, as this deployment model may be able to distribute load and reduce network congestion levels (e.g., by enabling localized communication between ACs and ASs).

[0093] For example, Figure 2 illustrates an autonomous vehicle use case. The vehicle hosts a UE, and hosted on the UE is a V2X AC used by the vehicle's autonomous driving control system. The V2X AC communicates with V2X services deployed in the 3GPP system (e.g., platooning service, cooperative driving service, or collision avoidance service). The V2X services can be deployed in a system-wide distributed manner as a combination of V2X ASs deployed on edge nodes (e.g., roadside units or cell towers) as well as in the cloud.

[0094] For enhanced performance (e.g., reduced access latency and higher reliability), a preferred method for accessing V2X services by a V2X AC may be via a V2X AS that is typically deployed in an edge network in the system in close proximity to the vehicle, rather than accessing the V2X AS via the cloud. When accessing the V2X AS at the edge, the V2X AC hosted in the UE in the vehicle may utilize more timely and more reliable information regarding other vehicles, as well as roadway and traffic conditions. As a result, the vehicle may travel faster and closer to other vehicles. The vehicle may also be able to change lanes more frequently and effectively without sacrificing safety. In contrast, when accessing a cloud V2X AS, the vehicle may have to revert to a more conservative mode of operation due to the reduced availability of timely information. This may typically result in reduced vehicle speed, increased distance between the vehicle and other vehicles, and / or less than optimal lane changes.

[0095] As a vehicle travels along the roadway, handover of V2X ACs between V2X ASs hosted on different edge nodes closest to the vehicle may have to be coordinated. Similarly, handover of V2X ACs between V2X ASs hosted on edge nodes and V2X ASs hosted on the cloud may also have to be coordinated for cases where edge network coverage fades in and out during the vehicle's journey. In such scenarios, seamless (low latency and reliable) V2X AC handover between ASs hosted on both edge nodes and the cloud may be critical to the successful deployment of this type of V2X use case as well as other types of use cases with similar requirements to V2X.

[0096] 3GPP architecture for enabling edge applications. Error! Reference source not found. This shows a 3GPP defined architecture for enabling edge applications. The framework for enabling edge applications may include an edge enabler client and an application client hosted in the UE, and an edge enabler server hosted in the edge data network. An edge data network configuration server may be used to configure the edge enabler client and the edge enabler server. The edge enabler client and server may provide edge-centric capabilities to the application clients and servers, respectively. The edge enabler server and the edge data network configuration server may also interact with the 3GPP network.

[0097] 3GPP architecture for network exposure. Figure 7 is a system diagram of a core network architecture with network functions, as described below. The current network exposure mechanism in 5GS can be designed based on the NEF and other control plane NFs, such as AMF, SMF, or PCF. The NEF (as described in 3GPP TS 23.501, System Architecture for 5G Systems, Stage 2, V16.3.0 (2019-12)) can include the following functionality: · Secure exposure of capabilities and events to third parties, application features, etc. The NEF stores and retrieves information as structured data in a Unified Data Repository (UDR) using standardized interfaces (Nudr). Secure provisioning of information from external applications to the 3GPP network. This provides a means for application functions to securely provide information to the 3GPP network, e.g. expected UE behavior, 5GLAN group information, or service specific information. In that case, the NEF may authenticate, authorize, and assist in throttling of application functions. Conversion of internal and external information. Conversion takes place between information exchanged with the AF and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, conversion may take place between the AF service identifier and internal 5G core information such as the DNN or S-NSSAI. Specifically, the NEF processes network masking and user protection-required information to the external AF according to the network policy. · The Network Exposure Function receives information from other Network Functions (based on their exposure capabilities). The NEF stores the received information as structured data in a Uniform Data Repository (UDR) using standardized interfaces. The stored information can be accessed and "re-exposed" by the NEF to other Network Functions and application functions and used for other purposes such as analysis. · The NEF may support the packet flow description function by storing and retrieving the PFD in the UDR and providing the PFD to the SMF upon request of the SMF (pull mode) or upon request of PFD management from the NEF (push mode). -NEF may also support 5G LAN group management functions. Exposure of the analysis. The NWDAF analysis may be safely exposed by an external party’s NEF as specified in TS 23.288. Retrieval of data by the NWDAF from external parties. Data provided by external parties may be collected by the NWDAF through the NEF for analytical generation purposes. The NEF processes and forwards requests and notifications between the NWDAF and the AFs as specified in TS 23.288.

[0098] A particular NEF instance may support one or more of the above-mentioned functionalities, such that an individual NEF may support a subset of the APIs specified for capability exposure. The NEF may have access to a UDR that may be located in the same PLMN as the NEF. For external exposure of services related to a particular UE, the NEF may reside in the HPLMN. Depending on the operator agreement, the NEF in the HPLMN may have an interface with an NF in the VPLMN.

[0099] A statement of the problem. SA6 designs an edge computing application layer architecture. In this architecture, an application client on a UE may access the services of an edge enabler client on the UE. The application client on the UE may also communicate with an edge application server. The edge application server may reside in an edge data network. The server at the edge may interact with the 5GS to access functionality and information exposed by the network. Currently, exposure may be provided via a control plane NF, e.g., NEF or PCF, which is likely to be deployed centrally to avoid relocation. When an application client on a UE uses SA6-defined procedures and APIs to access an edge enabler client, it is said to be "edge-aware."

[0100] In the SA6 architecture, an edge enabler client may communicate with an EDN configuration server that may be hosted on the N6-LAN (i.e., the EDN configuration server may not be deployed at the edge). The edge enabler client may communicate with the EDN configuration server to obtain information such as which edge data networks are available or which edge application servers are available at a given location. Thus, the edge enabler client may have to obtain configuration information before it can establish communication with the EDN configuration server and provide services to application clients. 3GPP has not defined a means for an edge enabler client to discover an EDN configuration server.

[0101] In other scenarios, application clients on the UE may not be "edge aware", so for example, they do not communicate with edge enabler clients and do not follow 3GPP application layer protocols.

[0102] In a scenario where the application client is not "edge aware" but the application on the UE can use edge services, 3GPP does not define how the UE protocol stack can know where to send the application data when edge computing is enabled. In other words, there is no way for the UE to independently (without the assistance of the application) decide when to route data to the edge. For example, consider the case where a smartphone is hosting applications that are not edge aware. The smartphone may display a GUI where the user can indicate which applications the user would like to enable edge computing for. If not "edge aware", there is no way for the UE protocol stack to enable edge computing for the indicated applications.

[0103] When edge services rely on network exposure information (e.g., reports) from the NEF, long delays in reports traveling from the network to the edge server can cause the information to become outdated by the time it reaches the edge server. This can then cause application behavior changes (e.g., adjusting video stream resolution or switching the level of driving automation) based on outdated network information. Thus, one of the issues that needs to be addressed is how network exposure information (e.g., reports) can be delivered to edge servers in a more timely or optimized manner. As new and more efficient exposure mechanisms are defined, they should also include a method for the 5G system to decide which exposure mechanism to use, as multiple mechanisms may coexist in the system. This issue is discussed further below and illustrated in FIG. 8.

[0104] Provisioning for edge service enablement In describing provisioning for edge service enablement, the following assumptions or conventions may be used.

[0105] The UE may or may not be aware of the edge services.

[0106] An edge-aware UE can trigger an explicit request for services offered at the edge. Two ways may be available to implement an edge-aware UE. The first way to implement an edge-aware UE is by provisioning an edge enabler client hosted on the UE that allows edge services to be grouped with network entities such as an edge enabler server and an edge enabler configuration server, as described in the SA6 architecture. Note that this disclosure uses SA6 nomenclature for these entities, but non-SA6 based implementations with equivalent entities may be envisioned. For example, the edge enabler client may be referred to as a service layer or common service entity. The second way to implement an edge-aware UE is where the edge enabler client is not hosted on the UE, but has a specialized protocol stack and configuration edge functionality. For example, the UE may provide a GUI where the user can indicate that a particular application should be allowed to access the edge service. In this case, the UE protocol stack needs to enable the UE to know how to send application data when edge computing is enabled.

[0107] An edge-unaware UE does not have the ability to trigger an explicit request for an edge-provided service. An edge-unaware UE may have traffic routed by the network to an edge service, but the UE is generally unaware of this.

[0108] An application client in an edge-aware UE (with or without an EEC) may or may not be aware of edge services.

[0109] An edge-aware application client is pre-provisioned with configuration information that may be explicitly provided to the UE or an EEC hosted by the UE with information about edge-related capabilities and requirements. An edge-aware application client may also be able to trigger explicit requests for edge-provided services. These requests are processed by the UE or the EEC hosted on the UE before being requested by the network.

[0110] An edge-unaware application client does not have the capability to trigger an explicit request for an edge service, but may pre-provision information about the capabilities and requirements of the edge-unaware application client that may be used by the UE or an EEC hosted on the UE to configure or trigger such services. For example, the UE may provide a GUI where a user can indicate that an application enables edge computing. The functionality enabled by the GUI may use configuration information that the application client pre-provisioned, but the application client itself may not be edge-aware.

[0111] An edge data network is a local data network that supports the delivery deployment of an edge hosting environment.

[0112] Services in edge data networks are provided by Edge Computing Service Providers (ECSPs), which may or may not be the same as Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).

[0113] An edge data network may be configured as an LADN (e.g., when the MNO is also an ECSP), in which case its service area may be discovered as an LADN service area based on existing 5GC procedures. However, these procedures do not allow discovery of an edge data network service area in the more general case where the EDN is not configured as an LADN. The following description addresses the more general case with specific reference to the LADN case.

[0114] An edge data network configuration server may be deployed / managed by either an ECSP or an MNO and provide configuration services to one or more edge data networks. Configuration servers typically do not reside at the edge, but rather are part of the MNO's N6-LAN.

[0115] EDN information in 5GC. 5GS specifies network capabilities for interworking with external application servers. This includes exposing capabilities via the NEF, e.g., exposing provisioning capabilities to external functions. It also includes capabilities of application servers belonging to third parties with which the PLMN has agreement to influence routing decisions. These capabilities with enhancements may be used to provide a means for ECSP to provide externally managed EDN information to the EDN.

[0116] The application server may provide configuration for edge data networks, which may not be managed by the PLMN serving the UE, 1) to the AMF, where information about the EDN service area is used to assist EDN and EDNCS discovery, and 2) to the SMF, where if traffic information is used to influence routing, that routing influence may be used to access the EDNCS or to provide connectivity for edge services.

[0117] It should be noted that the PCF may provide both the AMF and the SMF with corresponding policies. In the following, the AMF and SMF configurations are described in detail separately. However, the AF may also provide a single set of provisioning information to the PCF, so that the information is provided to both the AMF and the SMF via corresponding policies.

[0118] The AMF may be configured with any EDN-related information for all EDNs available in any tracking area of ​​the AMF's service area, and may also be configured with information regarding additional EDNs within the PLMN.

[0119] There may be different approaches to how edge data network information can be configured in the AMF, for example as a set of tracking areas. In one example, the information is configured per DNN, i.e., for different UEs accessing edge services using the same DNN, and the configured edge service area is the same regardless of the UE subscription information. In a second example, the information is configured per EDNCS, i.e., for different UEs accessing edge services of the same type or from the same ECSP, and the configured edge service area is the same regardless of the UE registration area. The UE subscription information is used to derive the type of subscribed edge service, which is then used to derive the corresponding EDN-CS. Different DNNs provided by the UE may map to the same EDN-CS.

[0120] In both of the above examples, the EDN information configured in the AMF may depend on factors that determine whether it is a UE registration area (e.g., mobility pattern and allowed / unauthorized area). For example, UEs in the same EDN service area and subscribed to the same service (or using the same DNN) but with different mobility patterns may be mapped to different EDNCSs (or EDNs). The information may include, for each EDN, an EDN identifier, a service area (e.g., a list of corresponding TAIs), a DNN or multiple DNNs, an indicator specifying whether the EDN is configured as a LADN and is discoverable, an ID associated with an ECSP, an FQDN of an EDN-CS associated with each or multiple DNNs, and conditional parameters for determining EDNCS association to a DNN (e.g., per service type). How this information may be used by the AMF is described in a procedure below.

[0121] The SMF receives traffic routing impact information from the AF via the PCF. When provisioning edge configuration information in the 5GC, an application server request may target, for example, a group of UEs. In case of such a request, the information may be stored in the UDR and the PCF receives a corresponding notification of the application server request. The traffic routing impact information provided to the SMF may include 1) traffic descriptor (IP filter or application ID), 2) DNAI, 3) N6 routing information (which may include IP addresses, ports), and 4) EDNCS FQDN. How this information may be used by the SMF is explained in a procedure described later.

[0122] Handling Edge-Non-Emergency-Aware UE Applications Without an EEC. Aspects disclosed herein include procedures that may be well suited for cases where a UE that does not host an EEC needs to provide edge services to edge-non-aware UE applications. For example, the UE may provide a GUI that allows a user to indicate that a particular application should be allowed access to edge services. The UE protocol stack may use this indication to determine that traffic from the indicated application should be routed to the edge data network.

[0123] Edge-unaware UE Application Handling without EEC - Registration-based UE Provisioning. The UE may have to register with the network to be authorized to receive services, to enable mobility tracking and to enable reachability. When registering the UE with the network, it is proposed to indicate to the network that it wishes to access the edge computing resources of the network. This mechanism may be used in scenarios where the UE is not hosting an EEC, but is edge-aware and hosts an application that provides a GUI where the user can indicate applications that enable edge computing.

[0124] 4A-4C illustrate an enhanced registration procedure (without EEC case) according to one aspect of the present disclosure. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 4A-4C is an enhanced version of the general registration procedure described in section 4.2.2.2.2 of 23.502 (3GPP TS 23.502, Procedures for 5G Systems, Stage 2, V16.1.1 (2019-09)). The enhancements to the general registration procedure are as follows. In step 1 of FIG. 4A, the UE can initiate the registration procedure using registration type "Initial Registration" or "Mobility Registration Update" and can request to retrieve edge data network information by providing an EDN Information Indication, which is a flag and additional information that may indicate that the UE wants to access edge computing resources of the network. The EDN Information Indication may also include an application descriptor (OSId and / or OSAppId) to indicate to the network that a particular application on the UE should have access to edge computing services. The EDN information indication may be forwarded to the AMF in step 3 of FIG. 4A and to the PCF in step 16 of FIG. 4B. The PCF may use this information to determine which URSP rules to forward to the UE. The PCF may respond to the AMF with an indication of whether the UE can be configured with URSP rules that enable edge computing. This indication may be provided by the PCF per application descriptor. In step 21 of FIG. 4C, the indication from the PCF may be provided by the AMF to the UE. The PCF may further subscribe to the AMF to receive notifications when the location of the UE changes so that it can update the URSP rules of the UE related to edge computing.

[0125] Handling edge-unaware UE applications without EEC - Using URSP rules. URSPs are policies provided to the UE by the PCF. They can be used by the UE to determine how to route outgoing traffic from the UE. Traffic may be routed to an established PDU session, offloaded to a non-3GPP access outside the PDU session, or may trigger the establishment of a new PDU session.

[0126] Using an enhancement to the registration procedure described above, the UE may provide an indication to the PCF that it hosts an application whose traffic may benefit from being routed to an edge service. This information (e.g., application descriptor) may be used by the PCF to determine that a URSP rule may be required to access the edge service. As a result, the EDN-specific URSP rule may be returned to the UE in the registration acceptance response. The URSP rule may also be provided to the UE in the configuration update procedure. To support this feature, the route selection component of the URSP rule may be modified to include a new edge-enabled indication. A route with this indication may be considered valid only if the UE is configured (e.g., via a GUI) such that the associated application descriptor enables the edge service. The RSD may further indicate the location (e.g., where edge computing services are available) where the route may be considered valid.

[0127] URSP policies with route descriptors that include an edge-enabled indication may be used only if edge computing is enabled on the UE. Route selection validation criteria may provide location (and time) conditions associated with the particular edge service required. Edge-enabled indications may be used for URSP rules that will route PDU session establishments for edge configuration purposes to edge services. Other URSP rules with edge-enabled indications may cause PDU session establishments for edge configuration purposes to be sent to a configuration server.

[0128] EEC discovery of edge configuration servers (URSP-based approach). The PDU session establishment procedure is used in 5GS by the UE to establish new PDU sessions at some handovers from EPS, or between 3GPP and non-3GPP cases, or following a network-triggered PDU session establishment procedure. This procedure may assume that the UE is registered and that the AMF has retrieved the user subscription data from the UDM.

[0129] In some scenarios, an edge enabler client may attempt to establish IP connectivity to an edge configuration server after being pre-provisioned with the FQDN of the edge configuration server or after being obtained at registration. For example, a UE has discovered an EDN service area and one of its application clients is pre-provisioned with a well-known FQDN to access the configuration server. The URSP rules of the UE may cause the UE to attempt to establish a new PDU session when the FQDN is first accessed. The URSP rules may indicate to the UE that the PDU session is to be used to obtain edge configuration data or to obtain operator configuration data in general. This mechanism may also be used for purposes other than obtaining operator or edge configuration data, for example, to obtain edge services itself. The mechanism may also be used by edge-aware UEs or applications when the FQDN is pre-configured rather than provided via the URSP rules.

[0130] The PDU session establishment procedure of section 4.3.2.2.1 of 3GPP TS 23.502 (see 3GPP TS 23.502, Procedures for 5G Systems, Stage 2, V16.1.1 (2019-09)) may be enhanced as shown in Figures 5A and 5B. Note that only the changes to the procedure introduced by the present disclosure are detailed, all other steps are performed according to this specification.

[0131] 5A and 5B show an example call flow of an enhanced UE request PDU session establishment. Here, in step 1 of FIG. 5A, the UE may send an AMF NAS message (S-NSSAI, DNN, PDU Session ID, Request Type, Old PDU Session ID, N1 SM Container (PDU Session Establishment Request) including an edge configuration request indication. The inclusion of the edge configuration request indication may indicate that the PDU session is to be used to retrieve configuration information from an edge configuration server.

[0132] In step 2, the AMF may proceed to SMF selection and, if an edge configuration request indicator is included, determine the EDNCS. If the message includes a DNN corresponding to a known EDNCS, the AMF may forward that information to the SMF so that the FQDN is resolved to the IP address of the operator's ECS, so that the SMF may determine which DNS server address to provide to the UE. The DNS server addresses may be provided in multiple ways, such as as a simple list, as a list mapping each DNS address to a location (e.g., cell ID). If the message does not include a DNN corresponding to a known EDNCS, for the S-NSSAI provided, the AMF may select / determine 1) an EDNCS corresponding to an available LADN, 2) an EDNCS based on a priority established from the UE subscription information regarding the relative priority of the subscribed edge service or the default DNN used, or 3) an EDNCS based on the local OAM configuration. The AMF may create an implicit subscription to "UE presence in EDN area" so that a presence notification is sent to the SMF.

[0133] In step 3, the AMF may send a Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request to the selected SMF with an edge configuration selection mode flag to the SMF, and the SMF may use this indication to determine which DNS server addresses should be sent to the UE in the PDU session establishment response. The DNS server addresses may be provided in multiple ways, such as a simple list, as a list mapping each DNS address to a location (e.g., a cell ID), etc. The PDU session establishment response may also be used to send to the UE that the edge configuration server can be reached using the PDU session.

[0134] In step 5, the SMF may send a Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext response to the AMF. The response may include the FQDN of the EDNCS or may provide the DNS server address of the EDNCS to be updated in the UE (i.e., during the PDU session, as described in 3GPP TS 23.501, System Architecture for 5G Systems, Stage 2, V16.3.0 (2019-12)). In step 8, the SMF may select an appropriate UPF using the FQDN of the EDNCS. In step 10a, the SMF may send an N4 session establishment request to the selected UPF, and may include the appropriate CN tunnel information. Then, continuing from step 6, various procedures such as an optional secondary authentication / authorization may take into account that the PDU session is used for configuration purposes. Steps 12 and 13 of FIG. 5B are used to forward the response information to the UE.

[0135] EEC Discovery of Edge Configuration Server (Registration-based Approach). The UE may be provided with edge configuration server information during registration. An enhancement of the general registration procedure is shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B and described as follows. In step 1 of FIG. 6A, the UE may initiate the registration procedure using registration type "Initial Registration" or "Mobility Registration Update" and may request to discover the edge configuration server by providing a flag and additional information EDNCS discovery request indication indicating that the UE wants to access edge computing resources of the network. The EDNCS discovery request indication may also include an application descriptor (OSId and / or OSAppId) to indicate to the network that a particular application on the UE should have access to edge computing services. The EDNCS discovery request indication may be forwarded to the AMF in step 3. The AMF may use this information to determine which EDNCS discovery information to forward to the UE.

[0136] When the UE requests EDNCS discovery information via an EDN discovery request indication, the AMF may identify the EDNCS discovery information provided via a response to the registration procedure. The AMF may use subscription information (existing or obtained via step 14 of FIG. 6B) to determine services for which the UE has an edge service subscription. The AMF may create a list of EDNs and EDNCSs available to the UE in the registration area to provide to the UE in the registration acceptance (step 21 of FIG. 6B). The information provided to the UE may include, for example, for each EDN that meets the criteria to be discovered by the UE, 1) an EDN identifier, 2) the UE's authorization scope on the EDN (e.g., on services or storage), 3) the corresponding EDN service area (e.g., a list of corresponding TAIs), 4) one or more DNNs used to obtain edge services and 5) an optional indicator specifying whether the EDN is configured as a LADN and is discoverable, 6) the FQDN of the EDNCS associated with each or multiple DNNs determined based on conditional parameters (e.g., per service type or mobility pattern), or 7) EDNCS discovery information. The EDNCS discovery information may include the following information: 1) the FQDN or IP address of the EDNCS, 2) a list of services (e.g., application descriptors) for which edge services can be provided, or 3) one or more DNNs associated with the ECD for the UE to access. Note that the "EDN information" in step 21 of FIG. 6B includes this "EDNCS discovery information" described above.

[0137] Note that not all information in the above list may be available in the AMF. For example, an EDN service area may be configured, but EDNCS information may not be available. If the UE also included an indicator requesting LADN DNN or LADN information, the AMF may provide information only about EDNs that are configured as LADNs and discoverable. Alternatively, the UE may be able to extract this information using an optional indicator that specifies whether an EDN is configured as LADN and discoverable.

[0138] Based on the EDN service area available at the UE, the UE may later determine whether it may request a PDU session for an edge service. Alternatively, this information may be requested and provided in the UE service request or configuration update procedure. If the AMF determines that two or more applicable EDNCSs are available based on the above process, the AMF may select / determine for the provided S-NSSAI: 1) an EDNCS corresponding to the available LADN, 2) an EDNCS based on the priority established from the UE subscription information regarding the relative priority of the subscribed edge service or the default DNN used, or 3) an EDNCS based on the local OAM configuration. The AMF may create an implicit subscription to the "UE presence in the EDN area" so that a presence notification is sent to the SMF. The AMF may determine the SMF corresponding to the chosen EDNCS or reject the session establishment request if it cannot determine the EDNCS.

[0139] Allows efficient network exposure and alternative paths through the UE. The monitoring event may be exposed to an application function (AF) (as described in 3GPP TS 23.502, section 4.15.3, Procedures for 5G Systems, Stage 2, V16.1.1 (2019-09)). When the monitoring event is exposed to the AF via the NEF, a report may be sent from the NF (AMF, GMLC, UDM, or SMF) that detected the event to the NEF and on the AF. Before detecting the event and sending the report, the NF that detected the event may be configured to monitor, for example, one of the procedures in TS 23.502, section 4.15.3.2 for the AMF. The configuration typically consists of invoking a join operation.

[0140] Figure 8 is an example of a non-optimized network exposure reporting path for an edge deployment. A "local deployment" as described herein refers to a core network function (e.g., UPF or SMF) that may be dedicated to enabling functionality in an LADN and / or edge deployment, as local deployment functions are generally deployed geographically closer to the UE. Local deployment functions may be illustrated separately from "centralized" core network functions that are deployed independent of the location of the UE served.

[0141] The edge hosting environment may be geographically close to the local deployment and UEs, but functionally is not part of the CN deployment. Thus, in one aspect of the present disclosure, we consider a local deployment separate from the edge hosting environment, e.g., the local deployment may serve multiple EHEs and be managed by different providers. However, this is merely a logical construct, and the local deployment may alternatively be considered part of the 5GC or include EHEs, etc. It should also be noted that in some 3GPP specifications (e.g., from 3GPP SA2), this concept of local deployment may be referred to as "edge" or "edge deployment."

[0142] Figure 8 illustrates two possibilities of AF deployment in an Edge Hosting Environment (EHE) together with edge application servers or in a centralized cloud. The dotted lines illustrate the reporting paths to the AF for reports that can be generated either by the AMF or by a local SMF.

[0143] Figure 8 illustrates why the current exposed architecture may cause problems in some edge deployments. The fact that monitoring reports need to traverse through a centralized NEF may cause unacceptable delays between the occurrence of an event at the AF and the receipt of the event report, especially towards the edge AF. Note that the AMF and NEF may be in a "centralized" core network, i.e. not at the "edge", but may not be close to each other. For example, the AMF, SMF, and NEF may each be in different / separate cities.

[0144] Aspects of the present disclosure propose a new reporting method that may be used to send event reports when a UE is connected to an Edge Hosting Environment (EHE) via a local deployment. In one aspect, a new CN function "Local Enablement Function (LEF)" is proposed. The LEF may be a type of NEF that may be used to route monitoring reports to an AF. Monitoring report configuration requests for delay-insensitive AFs may still be sent to a NEF that resides in a centralized core network.

[0145] Figure 9 is an example of an optimized reporting path from a centralized network function. Figure 9 illustrates a local deployment LEF used to expose to an AF in an EHE connected to the local deployment. The dotted lines illustrate the reporting path from either the AMF or the local SMF to the edge AF. The illustrated reporting path corresponds to the method introduced in this specification. The optimization occurs by minimizing (or eliminating) the number of times messages cross geographical boundaries between the centralized NF and geographically proximate entities at the edge.

[0146] Method for Edge Reporting Subscription via Centralized NEF - Method using Subscription Retargeting The following describes how an AF can subscribe to monitoring events via a centralized NEF. When the UE moves and connects to different local deployments and EHEs, the subscription can be forwarded to the LEF serving the corresponding deployment.

[0147] FIG. 10 is an example call flow demonstrating forwarding of edge reporting subscriptions from a centralized network exposure function. The flow in FIG. 10 illustrates a subscription to an event, e.g., downlink delivery data status, that the centralized NEF forwards to the PCF. In the flow, the PCF may be replaced by a UDM for other types of events, e.g., availability after DDN failure. Thus, the forwarding functionality and flow messages described for the PCF may be applied to other NFs, such as UDMs.

[0148] To enable AF subscription for event monitoring via a centralized NEF, it is proposed to enhance the reporting subscription procedure to include newly proposed reporting parameters, including reporting requirements, AF availability information, and UE routing preference indicator, while the reporting exposure is provided by the most suitable NEF or LEF to meet the reporting requirements (e.g., delay). The reporting requirements (e.g., delay tolerance) may be for each subscription and may also include a list of qualifiers, so that the reporting requirements provided may be applied differently based on some conditions, e.g., UE location, UE reachability state, time of day, etc. The AF availability information may be, for example, the location parameters of the AF, or the availability time. The UE routing preference indicator may be used as a mandatory or optional requirement to include (or prefer to include) the UE in the reporting path. This feature may also be used when the UE may use the report for processing (e.g., QoS change) instead of waiting for AF processing based on the report. The reporting parameters may be used to determine which entity (e.g., NEF or LEF) is best for reporting exposure to meet the reporting requirements.

[0149] In step 1 of FIG. 10, the AF may send an Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe request to the centralized NEF requesting edge hosting environment detection reports, e.g., data delivery status. The request may include IP traffic filters and monitoring events. In step 2, the NEF may send an Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe request to the PCF. The IP filter information, the monitoring events received from step 1 may be included in the message, as well as the endpoint of the request AF. The NEF may determine the address of the selected PCF for the PDU session, e.g., by querying the BSF.

[0150] Using the subscribed reporting parameters proposed above, the NEF may determine the most suitable entity to support the exposure of the subscribed reports. To support this functionality in the BSF, it is proposed that the registration Nbsf Management Registration operation (as described in 5.2.13.2.2 of 3GPP TS 23.502, Procedures for 5G Systems, Stage 2, V16.1.1 (2019-09)) is enhanced to include information about available NEFs and LEFs. This means that when the PCF calls Nbsf_Management_Register, in addition to the tuple (UE address, SUPI, GPSI, DNN, DN information (e.g., S-NSSAI), PCF id) for the PDU session and PCF id, it may also provide the preferred NEF / LEF information, for example based on reporting requirements or endpoint (AF) information.

[0151] When an enrolled NEF meets these requirements, existing enrollment / notification procedures may apply. The following discussion primarily focuses on cases where the LEF in the local deployment provides the most efficient reporting exposure.

[0152] In step 3, the PCF may send a Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe request message to the local SMF that may serve the PDU session related to the IP filter information, and may include the LEF as well as the notification endpoint of the requesting AF. Next, in step 4, the local SMF may send a Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe request to the corresponding LEF requesting exposure reporting. This request may include the endpoint of the requesting AF. Then, in step 5, the LEF may respond with a Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe response to the local SMF, and in step 6, the local SMF may send a Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe response message to the PCF that includes the LEF information. Then, in step 7, the PCF may send a Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe response message that includes the LEF information to the NEF. In step 8, the NEF may send a Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe response that may include the LEF information to the AF. The local SMF may detect the event, e.g., a change in the downlink delivery state, in step 9. And, in step 10, the SMF may send an Nsmf_EventExposure_Notify to the LEF with a downlink delivery state event message.

[0153] To communicate with the LEF, the local SMF may use the N4 interface to and from the local UPF, which is the already proposed Nx interface to the LEF. Alternatively, a new interface or API may be defined between the local SMF and the LEF. Alternatively, a new service-based interface may be defined between the local SMF and the LEF, and the API of the service-based interface may be used to send the report to the LEF. In step 11, the LEF may send a Nnef_EventExposure_Notify to the AF with a downlink delivery status event message.

[0154] Note that the messages in steps 4, 5, 10, and 11 in the above description may use Nnef operations, assuming that the LEF interface is implemented as an extension of the NEF operations currently defined by 3GPP. However, the LEF messaging may be implemented similarly to the Nnef operations currently described by 3GPP, but may be implemented independently.

[0155] Note that in addition to the enhancement of the BSF functionality proposed herein, the method relies on the PCF determining the corresponding local SMF. This means that when the UE moves from local deployment A to local deployment B and changes the connection, the PCF needs to keep track of subscriptions sent to the local SMFs and the LEFs serving local deployment A, forward them to local deployment B, and delete the old subscriptions. The PCF may also send a subscription response update to the NEF (corresponding to step 7) with the new LEF. The subscription response update is forwarded by the NEF to the AF (corresponding to step 8).

[0156] Method for edge reporting subscription via centralized NEF - Method using policy forwarding via UE. FIG. 11 is an example call flow demonstrating edge monitoring policy routing / delivery via UE. The flow in FIG. 11 describes how an AF may subscribe to monitor events generated by NFs in a local deployment via a centralized NEF. To support this method, previously proposed reporting parameters may be used to enhance the AF subscription procedure. The reporting parameters may include reporting requirements, AF availability information, and UE routing preference indicator. The reporting parameters may be used to determine if this subscription is related to event monitoring at the edge that needs to be delivered in an optimized manner, for example, via a LEF in the local deployment. To enable the method using policy forwarding via UE, one or more event subscriptions of the AF may be used to create an Edge Monitoring Policy (EMP).

[0157] The AMF may encapsulate the EMP in a NAS message and send it to the UE. When the UE changes its connection from one local deployment to another, it may provide the EMP to each local SMF via user plane messaging using a preconfigured FQDN (or provided in the policy itself). Alternatively, the UE may provide the EMP to each local SMF via NAS-SM messaging (e.g., PDU Session Establishment or PDU Session Modification messages). When the UPF receives a message addressed to the preconfigured FQDN, it may deliver the message to the local SMF associated with the PDU session. To enable this functionality, it is proposed that the UE indicates that it supports policy forwarding. An indication of support may be provided during various procedures, e.g., when registering with the core network. The network (i.e., the AMF) may use this indicator to determine whether it is acceptable to send the EMP to the UE.

[0158] The SMF may be configured using policy information (EMP) that may be sent from the UE to the local SMF. This method of delivering policies to the SMF via the UE may also be used in other cases, such as when the SMF cannot directly communicate with the PCF or cannot receive policy information from the AMF, or to deliver other policy or configuration messages from a centralized NF to the NF in a local deployment.

[0159] In step 1 of FIG. 11, the AF may send a Nnef_EventExposure_Subscribe request to the centralized NEF requesting edge hosting environment detection reports, e.g., data delivery status. This request may include IP traffic filters and monitoring events. Then, in step 2, the NEF may send this request to the corresponding NF, e.g., a Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe request to the PCF. The PCF may be replaced after UDM for some types of events, e.g., availability after DDN failure. The IP filter information, the monitoring events received from step 1 may be included in the message, as well as the endpoint of the requesting AF. The NEF may determine the address of the selected PCF for the PDU session by querying the BSF.

[0160] In step 3, the PCF or UDM may create a corresponding EMP or modify an existing EMP to include the new subscription. The EMP may for example be created by the PCF and stored in the UDM. The EMP may also be forwarded to the AMF, where it is encapsulated in a NAS message of the UE for which monitoring is relevant. The EMP may contain information about one or more monitoring events and one or more received AFs. EMPs that may be delivered using this method include: A policy identifier that provides a unique ID for the policy; and A UE identification filter that provides a way to identify the UEs to which the monitoring policy applies. The filter can be, for example, an IP filter or a subscription correlation ID. It can be expressed as a notification endpoint associated with the endpoint information of the receiving AF. This can be expressed as a notification endpoint associated with two or more receiving AFs. A measurement or message type identifier (e.g., a downlink delivery data status event ID) that determines which measurement or message type should be generated in the local deployment and sent to the AF where the policy applies; Notification parameters, which may for example include a time window in which the event notification should be forwarded to the AF. The notification criteria are used by the local SMF to configure the event monitoring. The notification parameters may include LEF information or the LEF information may be pre-configured in the local SMF, may include policy applicability criteria that specify which local deployments should be applied, for example by indicating geographic area, specific LADN information, etc. Policy applicability criteria may be used by a local SMF in validating policies or configuring monitoring; Policy delivery criteria may include other criteria that define how the UE should deliver the EMP to the local deployment. For example, the policy delivery criteria may indicate to the UE that an AMF trigger is required to trigger the delivery. In another example, the criteria may indicate that the UE should trigger EMP delivery for any new LADNs detected, such as periodically. These criteria may also indicate whether the UE should use a pre-configured FQDN for EMP delivery or whether it may configure another specific FQDN.

[0161] In step 4, the AMF may send the EMP to the UE using a NAS message. The NAS message may include the EMP and instructions on how to send the report to the local SMF when connecting to the local deployment. For example, the policy delivery criteria mentioned above may be included in the NAS message instead of being included in the policy itself.

[0162] When the UE connects with a new local deployment, the subsequent steps of FIG. 11 are repeated for each new local deployment. In step 5, the UE may detect the new local deployment, for example, by detecting a new LADN. Alternatively, the UE may be triggered by the AMF after connecting to the local deployment. Then, in step 6, the UE may send an EMP encapsulated in a UP message to the local UPF, which may then forward this message to the local SMF using the policy delivery criteria specified in the EMP or in the NAS message received from the AMF. The UE may be configured with a DNN and / or S-NSSAI that may be used to send the EMP to the SMF. The UE may be configured with a URSP rule indicating that traffic carrying the EMP should be routed towards a specific DNN and / or S-NSSAI. In step 7, the local SMF may configure monitoring in the local deployment. The local SMF may configure other NFs implemented in the local deployment (e.g., NWDAF) to provide monitoring reports. The event may be detected in step 8 by the local SMF. Alternatively, the event may be detected by other NFs implemented in the local deployment. In step 9, the local SMF may send a Nsmf_EventExposure_Notify with the monitored event to the LEF, and the LEF may send a Nsmf_EventExposure_Notify with the monitored event message to the AF in step 10.

[0163] The above-described method for distributing subscription information provided by an AF via a centralized NF (i.e., NEF) can be used to distribute any policy or configuration information provided via a centralized NF to an NF in a local deployment along the UE's path. The method can also be used to distribute policy or configuration information provided via a centralized NF to a server in an edge hosting environment connected to the local deployment.

[0164] Method for reporting to an edge server - a method for centralized NF event reporting via a UE. When an event is detected in a central core network (e.g., by the AMF in FIG. 8) and the AF is at the edge, it may not be efficient to send the report to the edge via the NEF. As illustrated in FIG. 8, sending the report via the NEF may cause significant delay. In one aspect, it is proposed that if the UE is connected to a local / edge deployment and an AF that should receive the report, the AMF may send the report via the UE using a NAS message. The NAS message may include the event report and instructions (i.e., address) on how to send the report to the AF. For example, the following information may be sent to the UE: Event reports describing events such as location changes, SUPI / PEI association changes, MICO mode configuration changes, UE reachability reports, QoS targets or QoS monitoring parameters that can no longer (or again) be met, IP address or FQDN of the LEF that should receive the reports; the DNN or S-NSSAI to be used in association with the PDU session used to send the report to the UE; an AF identifier that identifies the AF to which the LEF should forward the report, and A transaction reference ID that can be used by the AF to correlate the report with an earlier request from the AF to receive the report.

[0165] The method may further be used to forward monitoring reports from the AMF or other NFs in the centralized core network when the UE is reachable. The method may also support subscriptions with precisely implemented reporting parameters, and a UE routing preference indicator commands or indicates the UE routing preference. This is particularly useful in cases where it is beneficial for the UE to act directly on the reports without waiting for AF actions or commands, such as QoS monitoring. At the same time, the AF may also notify the reports via an optimized route.

[0166] Figure 12 is an example call flow demonstrating report routing from a centralized NF via a UE. Figure 12 illustrates a high level flow method for monitoring reports being routed from a centralized NF (e.g., AMF) via a UE to an AF located in an EHE.

[0167] After the UE receives the monitoring report from the AMF in step 2 of FIG. 12, in step 3, it may send the monitoring report to the LEF via the local UPF. When the UE sends the monitoring report to the LEF, it may choose to use an existing PDU session that is already associated with the DNN and the S-NSSAI provided by the AMF when the monitoring report was sent to the UE. Alternatively, the UE may establish a new PDU session using the DNN and the S-NSSAI provided by the AMF and use the new PDU session to send the report. The UE may also forward information such as the AF identifier to the LEF so that the LEF can decide which AF to forward the report to. The UE may also include other information such as a timestamp indicating when the report was received from the AMF, a transaction reference ID received from the AMF, etc.

[0168] The UPF may use an interface or API to send the report to the LEF in step 4. For example, the Nx interface in Figure 9 may be an N6-based interface and IP-based routing may be used to send the report to the NEF. Alternatively, a new service-based interface may be defined between the UPF and the LEF and the API of the service-based interface may be used to send the report to the LEF.

[0169] The LEF may then expose the information to the edge AF in step 5 using the same API as used in the centralized NEF (Figure 9). The Ny interface supports the edge AF to LEF interface and may be realized as the N33 / Nnef interface defined in TS 29.122. This API may be enhanced to indicate to the edge AF that the reports arrive via the UE since the UE is connected to the AF via the edge environment.

[0170] To enable this functionality, it is proposed that the UE indicates that it supports routing of monitoring reports to the edge. An indication of support may be provided during various procedures, for example, when registering with the core network, as part of the PDU session establishment procedure. The network (i.e., AMF) may use this indicator to decide whether it is acceptable to send a monitoring report to the UE.

[0171] To enable this functionality, it is also proposed that the core network provides the UE with an Edge Monitoring Routing Policy (EMRP), which the UE can use to receive monitoring reports and route them to the LEF, which can then expose the information to the requested edge AF.

[0172] 13A-13E illustrate an example call flow of an enhanced registration procedure that allows a UE to communicate its support for routing monitoring reports. FIGs. 13A-13E illustrate a general registration procedure (as described in 3GPP TS 23.502, Procedures for 5G Systems, Stage 2, V16.1.1 (2019-09)), enhanced to allow a UE to communicate its support for routing monitoring reports to a LEF.

[0173] The following enhancements are proposed in the procedures shown in Figures 13A to 13E to enable the UE to support routing monitoring reporting to the LEF.

[0174] In step 1 of Figure 13A, the UE includes a LEF reporting capability indicator in a registration request to inform the core network that the UE can receive monitoring reports from the AMF and can provide monitoring reports to the LEF. This registration request can be forwarded to the AMF in step 3.

[0175] In step 16 of FIG. 13C, the AMF includes a LEF reporting capability indicator to the PCF when establishing an AM policy association for the UE. The PCF creates a new Edge Monitored Routing Policy (EMRP) policy or updates an existing Edge Monitored Routing Policy. Information used by the PCF to create / update the policy may include UE location, subscribed service area restrictions (from the AMF based on UDM information). The PCF also obtains information about UE enabled monitoring by querying various NFs (e.g., AMF, GMLC, UDM). The PCF may be provisioned with information about available LEFs as part of the network configuration or policy. The EMRP policy may include: a) a policy identifier that provides a unique ID for the policy; and b) a DNN that identifies a data network to which a UE is connected when routing a monitoring report to a given LEF; and c) The IP address or FQDN of the LEF to which the policy applies; and d) a notification endpoint associated with the endpoint information of the receiving AF; e) a measurement or message type identifier (e.g. event ID) that determines which measurement or message type should be forwarded to the LEF to which the policy applies; f) An indicator of application layer level exposure of LEF information. This is a binary indicator that allows the UE to send LEF information to the AF using application layer signaling. This is useful to support the AF at the edge to discover the LEF to connect to. The AF can generally be pre-provisioned with information about centralized NEFs. However, with the proliferation of edge deployments, it may not be feasible to pre-provision information about all LEFs when the ECSP is different from the MNO. Instead, the UE can send this information at the application level to the AF based on the received EMRP.

[0176] In step 21 of Figure 13E, the EMRP is returned to the UE in a registration accept message. If the UE did not include a LEF reporting capability indicator in step 1, the AMF may ask the UE whether it wants to provide LEF reporting in the registration accept message.

[0177] In step 22, if the UE is asked by the AMF to provide its LEF reporting capability, the UE returns an indicator to the AMF in the registration complete message. Upon receiving the LEF reporting capability indicator, the AMF may trigger the execution of a UE configuration update procedure for transparent UE policy delivery to generate and send an EMRP. After receiving the EMRP, the UE routes the monitoring reports specified by the policy and sends them to the LEF.

[0178] The UE may alternatively send the LEF reporting capability indicator as part of the PDU session establishment procedure. In this scenario, the UE includes the indicator in the PDU session establishment request or when modifying the PDU session. The SMF receives the indicator and forwards it to the PCF. The EMRP is generated by the PCF and returned to the UE in the PDU session establishment accept response. Examples of existing types of AMF monitoring reports using this method are UE reachability, location reporting, availability after downlink data notification failure, etc.

[0179] Examples of existing types of PCF monitoring reports using this method are changes in access type, signaling path status, QoS targets that can no longer (or again) be met, QoS monitoring parameters.

[0180] Another event detected in the central core network of Figure 8 is a change in the QoS of an ongoing PDU session (TS 23.503 section 6.1.3.22). This report can be sent via SMF and NAS signaling.

[0181] Method for reporting to edge server - a method for edge deployed NF event routing. Figure 14 is an example of an optimized reporting path from a locally deployed NF. When an event (e.g., downlink delivery data state by SMF in Figure 14) is detected at the edge and the AF is at the edge, it is efficient to send the report to the AF via a path that does not leave the edge.

[0182] For reports generated by other NFs in the local deployment (e.g., NWDAF), the PCF may generate an edge monitoring policy (EMP) that is applicable to all (or a set of) UEs connected to the local deployment and provided to the local SMF. The EMP may be generated or stored by other NFs, e.g., UDM, for availability after a DDN failure event. The edge monitoring policy provided to the local SMF may be: A policy identifier that provides a unique ID for the policy; and A UE identification filter that provides a way to identify the UEs to which the monitoring policy applies, where the filter can be expressed, for example, as an IP filter or a subscription correlation ID; A notification endpoint associated with endpoint information of a received AF, which may include two or more received AFs; A measurement or message type identifier (e.g., downlink delivery data status event ID) that determines which measurement or message type should be forwarded to the LEF for which the policy applies; notification parameters including the address (e.g. IP address) of the LEF to which the policy applies, and may include other criteria (e.g. time windows) for forwarding event notifications to the AF, such notification criteria may be used by the local SMF to configure event monitoring and for notification routing; Policy applicability criteria that specify which local deployments should be applied, for example by indicating geographical area, specific LADN information, etc. The policy applicability criteria can be used by a local SMF in validating the policy or configuring monitoring.

[0183] The local SMF may use the edge monitoring policy to determine how to configure monitoring and send monitoring reports. The local SMF may configure other NFs implemented in the local deployment (e.g., NWDAF) to provide monitoring reports. Based on this configuration, a report identified by a UE identification filter and filtering based on a measurement or message type identifier is generated and sent to the LEF indicated by the policy. The message sent by the local SMF to the LEF also includes the knowledge endpoint provided by the policy, which is used by the LEF to determine where to forward the report.

[0184] In many cases, existing interfaces can be reused to report events generated by the local NF. For example, the local SMF may use the N4 interface to the local UPF. From the local UPF, the reports may use already proposed interfaces, i.e., the Nx interface between the local UPF and the LEF, and the Ny interface between the LEF and the (E)AF. Alternatively, new interfaces or APIs may be defined between the local SMF and the LEF. In another alternative, a new service-based interface may be defined between the local SMF and the LEF, and the reports may be sent to the LEF using the API of the service-based interface. New interfaces / APIs or service-based interfaces may also be defined between other locally deployed NFs (e.g., NWDAF) and the LEF.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE) hosting an edge enabler client (EEC), the UE comprising a processor, a communication circuit connected to a network, and a memory, the memory, when executed by the processor, causing the UE to: Sending a request for establishment of a protocol data unit (PDU) session to the network, the request including an edge configuration request indication, the edge configuration request indication indicating to the network that the PDU session is to be used to retrieve configuration information from an edge configuration server; and receiving a PDU session establishment response from the network, the PDU session including an indication that the PDU session may be used to reach the edge configuration server.

2. 2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the edge configuration request indication includes one or more application identifiers of one or more applications on the UE that desire to access edge computing resources of the network.

3. 2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the UE to receive a UE route selection policy, URSP, rule, indicating that the UE may obtain edge configuration or operator data using a PDU session before sending the request.

4. 2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the UE to receive a UE route selection policy, URSP, rule, indicating that the UE may obtain one or more edge services using a PDU session before sending the request.

5. The UE of claim 4 , wherein the URSP rules indicate one or more locations where the edge service is available.

6. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the UE further hosts an application client that triggers requests for edge services.

7. The UE of claim 6, wherein the trigger from the application client is processed by the EEC to cause the request for establishment of a PDU session to be sent to the network.

8. A user equipment (UE) hosting an edge enabler client (EEC), the UE comprising a processor, a communication circuit connected to a network, and a memory, the memory, when executed by the processor, causing the UE to: sending a non-access stratum (NAS) request including an edge data network configuration server (EDNCS) discovery request indication to the network, the EDNCS discovery request indication indicating that the UE desires to access edge computing resources of the network; and receiving a NAS response from the network, the NAS response including EDNCS discovery information.

9. The UE of claim 8 , wherein the EDNCS discovery information includes at least one identifier of an EDNCS.

10. The UE of claim 9, wherein the identifier of the EDNCS is a Fully Qualified Domain Name, FQDN, or an Internet Protocol, IP, address.

11. The UE of claim 8 , wherein the EDNCS identifier is associated with a Data Network Name, DNN.

12. 10. The UE of claim 8, wherein the EDNCS discovery request indication includes one or more application identifiers of one or more applications on the UE that desire to access edge computing resources of the network.

13. The UE of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the UE to determine to establish a PDU session based at least in part on the EDNCS discovery information.

14. The UE of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the UE to determine to acquire an edge service based at least in part on the EDNCS discovery information.

15. the NAS request is a registration request or a service request, The UE of claim 8 , wherein the NAS response is a registration acceptance response or a service request response.

16. A server hosting a network function, NF, the server comprising a processor, a communication circuit connected to a network, and a memory, the memory being configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the server to: receiving a NAS request from a user equipment (UE) to an edge data network configuration server (EDNCS), the NAS request including a discovery request indication, the EDNCS discovery request indication indicating to the NF that the UE desires to access edge computing resources of the network; and sending a NAS response including EDNCS discovery information to the UE.

17. The server of claim 16 , wherein the EDNCS discovery information includes at least one identifier of the EDNCS.

18. 18. The server of claim 17, wherein the identifier is a fully qualified domain name, FQDN, or an Internet Protocol, IP, address.

19. The server of claim 16, wherein the at least one identifier is associated with a Data Network Name, DNN.

20. The server of claim 16 , wherein the instructions further cause the NF to derive the EDNCS discovery information from subscription information of the UE.

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