Discovering user equipment providing service of interest

Abstract

A system and method are provided for enabling user equipment discovery in a telecommunications network. For that purpose, the system and method may access records of user equipment (UE), wherein a respective record may identify a UE and identify one or more services which the UE is configured to provide, and enable an application server to discover UE which are configured to provide a service of interest by i) receiving a discovery request from the application server, wherein the discovery request is indicative of the service of interest, ii) searching the records for UE matching the service of interest to obtain a search result, and iii) providing the search result to the application server. This way, an application server is enabled to discover UE which is / are capable of providing a service of interest to the application server.

Description

[0001] DISCOVERING USER EQUIPMENT PROVIDING SERVICE OF INTEREST

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The invention relates to a system and computer-implemented method for enabling user equipment discovery in a telecommunications network. The invention further relates to a user equipment and computer-implemented method for being performed at the user equipment, to an application server and computer-implemented method for being performed at the application server, and to a computer-readable medium comprising data representing instructions for causing a processor system to perform any of the computer-implemented methods.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In today's telecommunications environment, the scope of services goes beyond the traditional offerings of voice and internet. Modern telecommunications networks have incorporated a diverse array of services to cater to evolving user needs, such as video streaming, augmented reality, and Internet-of-Things (loT) connectivity.

[0006] While traditionally entities within the telecommunications network, such as (edge) application servers, provided such services to user equipment (UE), increasingly the UEs themselves are capable of providing services to other entities. Namely, UEs are increasingly equipped with significant processing, communication and sensing capabilities which allow these UEs to offer novel services to other entities.

[0007] For example, a scenario is envisioned where an autonomous or semi- autonomous vehicle has a sensor malfunction and is thus impaired in its ability to safely continue its journey. The vehicle may be connected via the telecommunications network to a control center where a human operator may standby to assist in such emergency cases. It is envisioned that the human operator may have access to an application which reconstructs one or more views of the surroundings of the broken- down vehicle based on the sensor data of the nearby vehicles. Using such an application, the human operator may then remotely steer the broken-down vehicle to a safe location. In this scenario, the control center may make use of the sensor data of nearby vehicles by utilizing a sensor data sharing service provided by the vehicles.

[0008] There is an effort to standardize services offered by UE. For example, in the automotive domain, so-called V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) services are defined, which may include ‘CA - Cooperative Awareness’, ‘VRU - Vulnerable Road Users’, and ‘CP - Cooperative Perception’. These V2X services are examples of a larger collection of services identified by Intelligent Transport Systems-Application Identifier (ITS-AID) values [1], Another example of services which may be offered by UE to other entities include those identified by Slice / Service Type (SST) values as specified in [2],

[0009] References

[0010] [1] ETSI TS 102 965 V2.1.1 (2021-11), Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS); Application Object Identifier (ITS-AID); Registration; Release 2

[0011] [2] 3GPP TS 23.501 V18.1.0 (2023-03), Technical Specification, 3rd Generation Partnership Project; System architecture for the 5G System (5GS); R. 18

[0012] SUMMARY

[0013] While there exist discovery mechanisms to allow UE to discover application servers which offer a particular service, the inventors have considered that there is currently a lack of suitable mechanisms to allow application servers to discover UE which are capable of providing a service of interest to the application server.

[0014] In a first aspect of the invention, a system is provided for enabling user equipment discovery in a telecommunications network. The system may comprise:

[0015] - a network interface to the telecommunications network;

[0016] - a processor subsystem which may be configured to: access records of user equipment, wherein a respective record may identify a user equipment and identify one or more services which the user equipment may be configured to provide; via the network interface, enable an application server to discover user equipment which is configured to provide a service of interest by: receiving a discovery request from the application server, wherein the discovery request may be indicative of the service of interest; searching the records for user equipment matching the service of interest to obtain a search result, wherein a non-empty search result may comprise an identifier of user equipment configured to provide the service of interest; providing the search result to the application server.

[0017] In a further aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method is provided for enabling user equipment discovery in a telecommunications network. The method may comprise:

[0018] - accessing records of user equipment, wherein a respective record may identify a user equipment and identify one or more services which the user equipment is configured to provide; - enabling an application server to discover user equipment which may be configured to provide a service of interest by: receiving a discovery request from the application server, wherein the discovery request may be indicative of the service of interest; searching the records for user equipment matching the service of interest to obtain a search result, wherein a non-empty search result may comprise an identifier of user equipment configured to provide the service of interest; and providing the search result to the application server.

[0019] In a further aspect of the invention, a device is provided which may be configured as user equipment of a telecommunications network. The device may comprise:

[0020] - a network interface to the telecommunications network;

[0021] - a processor subsystem which may be configured to provide one or more services to a network entity via the network interface; wherein the processor subsystem may be further configured to register with a system configured to enable user equipment discovery by sending a registration request to the system, wherein the registration request may be indicative of the one or more services which the user equipment is configured to provide.

[0022] In a further aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method is provided for being performed at a user equipment of a telecommunications network, wherein the user equipment may be configured to provide one or more services to a network entity via the network interface. The method may comprise:

[0023] - selecting one or more of the one or more services which the user equipment may be configured to provide for registration with a system configured to enable user equipment discovery, thereby obtaining one or more selected services;

[0024] - registering with the system by sending a registration request to the system which may be indicative of the one or more selected services.

[0025] In a further aspect of the invention, an application server is provided which may comprise:

[0026] - a network interface to a telecommunications network;

[0027] - a processor subsystem which may be configured to: send a discovery request to a system configured to enable user equipment discovery, wherein the discovery request may be indicative of a service of interest, wherein the system may be configured to search records for user equipment matching the service of interest to obtain a search result; receive the search result from the system, wherein the search result may comprise an identifier of user equipment configured to provide the service of interest; based on the identifier of the user equipment, request the user equipment to provide the service of interest; and utilize the service of interest provided by the user equipment.

[0028] In a further aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method is provided for being performed at an application server of a telecommunications network. The method may comprise:

[0029] - sending a discovery request to a system configured to enable user equipment discovery, wherein the discovery request may be indicative of a service of interest, wherein the system may be configured to search records for user equipment matching the service of interest to obtain a search result;

[0030] - receiving the search result from the system, wherein the search result may comprise an identifier of user equipment configured to provide the service of interest;

[0031] - based on the identifier of the user equipment, requesting the user equipment to provide the service of interest; and

[0032] - utilizing the service of interest provided by the user equipment.

[0033] In a further aspect of the invention, a transitory or non-transitory computer- readable medium is provided comprising data representing a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions for causing a processor system to perform any of the methods described in this specification.

[0034] The above measures relate to a system which may be configured to enable user equipment (UE) to be discovered, to an application server which may be configured to make use of the system to discover user equipment, and to the user equipment which may be configured to register with the system to enable its discovery.

[0035] To enable entities such as the application server to discover UEs, the system may be configured to access a collection of records of UEs. These records may represent data structures which may be organized in any suitable form, for example as a database. Different records may pertain to different UEs. A record for a UE may identify the UE, e.g., by comprising or referring to an identifier of the user equipment such as an IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity), IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity), GUTI (Globally Unique Temporary UE Identity), etc. The record may further identify one or more services which the UE may be configured to provide. For example, if the UE is configured to provide VX2 service ‘GA’ and ‘CP’, the record may identify such services, for example by listing the ITS-AID values of the services. The system may maintain the records in that it may have read-write access to the records and in some embodiments may also host the records. Thus, in some embodiments, the records may be internally stored by the system, while in other embodiments, the records may be externally stored yet may be read-write accessible to the system, e.g., via the network interface or another type of data interface.

[0036] The system may be configured to enable the application server to discover UEs which provide certain services to the application server. These services may elsewhere also be referred to as ‘service(s) of interest’. For that purpose, the system may be configured to receive a discovery request from the application server which is indicative of the service of interest. In some embodiments, the discovery request may comprise an identifier of the service of interest, while other embodiments, the discovery request may contain information which may allow the system to determine the service of interest, for example by comprising a description of the service of interest.

[0037] Based on the discovery request, the system may search the records for user equipment of which the service(s) which are stored in a respective record match the service of interest. In some embodiments, the system may operate according to a request-response model. In such embodiments, the system may search the records in direct response to the discovery request. In other embodiments, the system may operate according to a subscription model. In such embodiments, the discovery request may be a subscription request for discovery, which may also be termed ‘discovery subscription request’. In response to such a subscription request, the system may repeatedly execute the search, for example periodically or in response to changes in the records. Having executed the search, a search result may be obtained. The search result may be empty in case no UE was found which provides the service of interest. However, if such a UE was found, the search result may identify the found UE via the identifier of the UE. It will be appreciated that if more than one UE was found during the search, the search result may list each or a number of the found UEs.

[0038] The search result including the identifier(s) of the UE(s) may then be provided to the application server so as to enable the application server to request one or more of the UE to provide the service of interest. This may for example involve the application server establishing a session with a particular UE and then utilizing the service of interest provided by the UE. When operating according to a requestresponse model, the providing of the search result may be provided as the response to the discovery request, and when operating according to a subscription model, the search result may be provided in form of a notification to the application server. It will be appreciated that the application server may, but does not need to, utilize the service provided by the UE. For example, if more than one UE is identified in the search result, the application server may only utilize the service provided by one or a subset of the UEs. Likewise, in some embodiments, the application server may apply additional criteria to the UEs identified in the search result to the discovery request to determine whether and / or from which UE to utilize the service of interest.

[0039] The user equipment itself may be configured to register with the system. Such registration may involve the user equipment sending a registration request to the system. This registration request may take various forms, and may generally allow the system to identify the user equipment and to identify which one or more services the user equipment can provide. For that purpose, the registration request may comprise identifiers of the one or more services or a description of the one or more services.

[0040] The above measures may have the effect that application servers and similar entities are enabled to discover UEs which are capable of providing a certain type of service or certain types of services. The type(s) of service(s) may be selected by the application server to establish criteria to discover and thereby identify the user equipment. For example, in the scenario of a broken-down vehicle being remotely steered to a safe location, the application server may seek to engage user equipment which is configured for certain V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) services as the application server may access sensor data acquired by the user equipment through such services. By determining the service of interest accordingly and requesting the system via a discovery request to search its records for UE which are capable of providing the service(s) of interest, the application server may discover and thereby identify only user equipment which is configured for such service(s). The application server is thus informed only of user equipment which is of relevance for the application server.

[0041] The following embodiments may relate to the system enabling user equipment discovery but may also denote corresponding limitations of the device and application server and in any one of the described computer-implemented methods.

[0042] In an embodiment, the processor subsystem may be configured to enable user equipment to register with the system by:

[0043] - receiving a registration request from a user equipment, wherein the registration request is indicative of one or more services which the user equipment is configured to provide; and

[0044] - establishing a record for the user equipment based on the registration request. The user equipment may register with the system by sending a registration request. In response to such a registration request, the system may then generate a record for the user equipment. The record may be generated based on the information contained in the registration request. For example, in case the registration request contains identifiers of one or more services which the user equipment is configured to provide, the system may include the identifiers in the corresponding record.

[0045] In an embodiment, the processor subsystem may be configured to enable the user equipment to update the service(s) identified in the record for the user equipment. For example, the user equipment may, via an update message, request the system to add a service to its record and / or to remove a service from its record. This may, the user equipment may be enabled to keep its record up-to-date.

[0046] In an embodiment, the processor subsystem may be configured to include, in the record for the user equipment, a service permission level for a service, wherein the service permission level indicates a service level at which use of the service is permitted by the user equipment. A particular type of service may be provided at different levels. For example, for a cooperative perception-type of service, user equipment may either only make its raw sensor data available, or may analyze and label the raw sensor data, e.g., to detect pedestrians, and make labelled sensor data available. Such different service levels may in general relate to a quality of the service, e.g., in terms of quality of service results (e.g., in terms of quality of the sensor data which is provided) or quality of delivery of the service results (e.g., in terms of latency or frequency). A reason for distinguishing between service levels is that providing a service at a higher service level may require more resources from the user equipment, e.g., in terms of processing power, network utilization, etc., which may incur various other costs, such as increased power consumption, decreased battery life, etc. User equipment may therefore wish to control at which level the service is provided, or may in some cases only be able to provide the service at a particular service level. Therefore, user equipment may only permit utilization of the service at a particular service level, or a plurality of such service levels. By being enabled to register such a service permission level with the system, the application servers may be informed thereof in advance, e.g., before attempting to utilize the service. This way, the service permission level may be used as an additional criterion in addition to the service itself, for example to limit the discovery to only UEs which permit providing the service at a certain service level, or to enable an application server to learn of the service permission level of the discovered UE in advance and to allow the application server to make a decision on the utilization of the service based on the service permission level. In an embodiment, the discovery request from the application server may be further indicative of a required service permission level, and the processor subsystem may be configured to search the records for user equipment matching the service of interest and the required service permission level. While user equipment may only permit a service to be utilized at one or a number of service levels, the application server may have requirements in terms of service level. Such requirements may for example specify a minimum in service level. By being able to specify the required service permission level in the discovery request, the required service permission level may be used as an additional criterion in the search. The application server may thereby only be informed of UE which are both capable of providing the service of interest and providing the service of interest at the service level required by the application server. This way, it may be avoided that UEs are identified to the application server which are not able provide the service at the required service level.

[0047] In an embodiment, the processor subsystem may be configured to only include, in the search result provided to the application server, user equipment which consents to providing the service of interest to the application server. It has been recognized that while a UE may in principle be capable of providing a service, there may be reasons for the UE not to consent to providing the service. For example, in case a UE has low battery capacity, the UE may decline to provide a service to an application server to not further shorten the battery life. Another example is that a UE may be roaming on a visited network and may decline to provide a service for reasons of connectivity cost. Yet another example is that a UE may suffer a sensor malfunction and may need to decline providing a sensor-related due to the malfunction. Yet another example is that a user of the UE declines to give consent due to privacy concerns. Yet another example is that there is no contractual agreement established for the application server to utilize the service provided by the UE. The system may therefore determine whether or not the user equipment consents to providing the service of interest and may only include user equipment in the search results which provides this consent. This way, the application server may not be provided with UEs which are capable of providing the service of interest but currently do not consent.

[0048] In an embodiment, the processor subsystem may be configured to determine whether user equipment consents to providing the service of interest to the application server by:

[0049] - enabling the user equipment to register and / or deregister consent in the record; or - in response to the user equipment being identified in the search result, checking consent of the user equipment via a message exchange.

[0050] A UE may indicate the consent to the system by registering and / or deregistering such consent with the system. This may allow the UE to dynamically deregister consent, e.g., when roaming, when the battery depletes below a minimum battery level, etc., and dynamically register consent, e.g., when returning to the home network, when being connected to a power supply, etc. In addition, or as an alternative, the system may request whether the UE consents if and when the UE has been identified in a search query. By requesting such consent before returning the search query to the application server, it may not be needed for the UE to keep the current state of consent registered with the system as the system may request the UE to indicate the consent, or lack of consent, on an “as-needed” basis.

[0051] In an embodiment, the processor subsystem may be configured to enable the user equipment to deregister with the system by:

[0052] - receiving a deregistration request from the user equipment; and

[0053] - deleting, disabling, or marking the record for the user equipment based on the deregistration request.

[0054] It may be desirable for the UE to be able to deregister with the system, for example when it is expected that the UE cannot or wishes not to provide its services for longer time period. By way of the above measures, the system is enabled to process such a registration request and thereby update its collection of records accordingly.

[0055] In an embodiment, the processor subsystem may be configured to, when a user equipment which has been previously identified to the application server ceases to provide the service of interest, search the records for another UE which is configured to provide the service of interest or a substitute service and identify the other UE to application server. A UE may cease to provide a service after the UE has been identified to the application server, and in some cases, after utilization of the service has commenced. For example, a UE may suffer a sensor malfunction which may prevent the UE from continuing to provide a sensor-related service. Other examples which may cause the UE to cease providing a service include running out of battery capacity, losing connectivity, running out of storage space, running out of processing capacity, overheating, etc. In case the system is informed of such service cessation, for example directly by the UE or via the application server, the system may search for a replacement UE which is capable of providing the same or at least a similar type of service, and if found, identify the replacement UE to the application server. This may allow the application server to continue its operation with some degree of continuity. In an embodiment, the discovery request from the application server may be further indicative of a geographical location, and wherein the processor subsystem may be configured to only include, in the search result provided to the application server, user equipment which is or is estimated to be located in a proximity of the geographical location. The geographical location may serve as one of the criteria for the application server to determine from which user equipment to utilize the service of interest. For example, the geographical location may determine the relevance of the service results. Namely, in the aforementioned example of a broken-down vehicle being remotely steered to a safe location, only the sensor data of nearby vehicles may be relevant to the application involved in the remote steering. Another example is that the geographical location may affect the delivery of search results, e.g., in terms of latency. By being able to specify the geographical location, and by the system taking the geographical location into account in its search, the geographical location may be used as an additional criterion in the discovery of user equipment next to the service level.

[0056] In an embodiment, the processor subsystem may be configured to determine a location of a user equipment in response to the user equipment being identified in the search result, for example by requesting the location of the user equipment from a location management network function or a core network function on the basis of the identifier of the user equipment. In order to use the geographical location provided by the application server as criterion for the discovery of UE, the system may determine the location of UEs. However, as the location of UEs may change, e.g., due to mobility, the system may determine the location on an “as-needed” basis, namely when a UE is actually identified in a search result. This way, it may be ensured that the location of the UE is up-to-date, at least to a certain degree.

[0057] In an embodiment, the processor subsystem may be configured to include, in the record for the user equipment, the one or more services which the user equipment is configured to provide by recording at least one of:

[0058] - a service identifier, such as a vertical application layer (VAL) service ID;

[0059] - a service type, such as a slice / service type (SST) value or an intelligent transport system application identifier (ITS-AID) value.

[0060] In an embodiment, the system may be implemented by an application function of the telecommunications network.

[0061] In an embodiment, the system may be implemented as a network function, such as an application function, in a service enabler architecture layer (SEAL) of the telecommunications network. In an embodiment, the application server may be a vertical application layer (VAL) server.

[0062] In an embodiment, the application server may be configured to stream data to and / or from the user equipment, for example in real-time or near real-time.

[0063] In an embodiment, the application server may be configured to consume sensor data acquired by the user equipment. In other words, the application server may stream sensor data acquired by the user equipment from the user equipment.

[0064] In an embodiment, the application server may be part of a user equipment. As such, the application server may be an internal component of one user equipment and may be configured to utilize a service of interest provided by other user equipment.

[0065] In a further aspect of the invention, a telecommunications network is provided comprising the system for enabling user equipment discovery as described in this specification. The telecommunications network may be a mobile network.

[0066] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that two or more of the above-mentioned embodiments, implementations, and / or aspects of the invention may be combined in any way deemed useful.

[0067] Modifications and variations of any one of the systems or devices (e.g., servers, network functions, user equipment, etc.), computer-implemented methods, and / or computer programs, which correspond to the described modifications and variations of another one of these systems or devices, computer-implemented methods, and / or computer programs, or vice versa, may be carried out by a person skilled in the art on the basis of the present description.

[0068] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0069] These and other aspects of the invention are apparent from and will be elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter. In the drawings,

[0070] Fig. 1 shows a semi-autonomous vehicle, which represents user equipment of telecommunications network and which has a sensor malfunction, being guided by a vehicle control center to a safe location based on sensor data of nearby vehicles;

[0071] Fig. 2 shows a sequence diagram for the Fig. 1 example;

[0072] Fig. 3 shows a sequence diagram in which an application server uses a UE discovery management system to discover one or more target UEs which are configured to provide a certain type of service, with the sequence diagram further showing the application server subsequently making use of the service; Fig. 4 shows a sequence diagram in which the UE discovery management system checks whether a target UE consents with the utilization of a service by the application server and only then identifies the target UE to the application server;

[0073] Fig. 5 shows a sequence diagram in which a UE indicates to the UE discovery management system that it wishes not to be discoverable anymore;

[0074] Fig. 6 shows a system which may be exemplary for any entity described in this specification, including but not limited to an application server, a UE discovery management system, and a user equipment configured to provide a service;

[0075] Fig. 7 shows a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising data;

[0076] Fig. 8 shows an exemplary data processing system.

[0077] It should be noted that items which have the same reference numbers in different figures have the same structural features and the same functions, or are the same signals. Where the function and / or structure of such an item has been explained, there is no necessity for repeated explanation thereof in the detailed description.

[0078] Reference signs list

[0079] The following list of references and abbreviations is provided for facilitating the interpretation of the drawings and shall not be construed as limiting the claims.

[0080] 3GPP-NS 3GPP network system

[0081] 5GC 5G core

[0082] AF application function

[0083] APP SVR application server

[0084] DTS digital twin service

[0085] SEAL service enabler architecture layer

[0086] UE user equipment

[0087] LIE-DM user equipment discovery management

[0088] UE-T target user equipment

[0089] VAL vertical application layer

[0090] VAL SVR vertical application layer server

[0091] 1-32 messages / steps

[0092] 100 telecommunications network

[0093] 120 internet 140 vehicle control center

[0094] 200 system

[0095] 210 network interface

[0096] 220 processor subsystem

[0097] 230 data storage

[0098] 300 non-transitory computer-readable medium

[0099] 310 stored data

[0100] 400 3GPP network system

[0101] 410 5G core

[0102] 420 application function

[0103] 430 user equipment discovery management

[0104] 440 service enabler architecture layer

[0105] 450-452 user equipment

[0106] 455 target user equipment

[0107] 470 vertical application layer

[0108] 480 vertical application layer server

[0109] 490 digital twin service

[0110] 1000 exemplary data processing system

[0111] 1002 processor

[0112] 1004 memory element

[0113] 1006 system bus

[0114] 1008 local memory

[0115] 1010 bulk storage device

[0116] 1012 input device

[0117] 1014 output device

[0118] 1016 network adapter

[0119] 1018 application

[0120] DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0121] The following embodiments are described in the context of a 5G telecommunications network adhering to one or more ETSI NFV and related standards. The following also specifically refers to mechanisms to discover user equipment which is configured to provide one or more services in such a 5G telecommunications network. However, the concepts described in the following embodiments may equally apply, mutatis mutandis, to any other type of telecommunications network, for example one which adheres to another standard, such as a 6G or later generation standard, which provides for the ability for user equipment to provide one or more services.

[0122] The following embodiments may concern a system and method for enabling user equipment discovery in a telecommunications network. For that purpose, the system and method may be configured to access records of user equipment, wherein a respective record identifies a user equipment and identifies one or more services which the user equipment is configured to provide. The system and method may enable an application server to discover user equipment which is configured to provide a service of interest by receiving a discovery request from the application server, wherein the discovery request is indicative of the service of interest, searching the records for user equipment matching the service of interest to obtain a search result, wherein a nonempty search result comprises an identifier of user equipment configured to provide the service of interest, and providing the search result to the application server. It is noted that the system may elsewhere in this specification also be referred to as a UE discovery management system, or abbreviated, or simply as LIE-DM. The functionality of the LIE-DM may also be implemented as one or more network functions. As such, the following embodiments may also refer to a UE discovery management function.

[0123] These and other aspects of the operation of the system and the steps of the method may be further elucidated with reference to the figures.

[0124] Fig. 1 illustrates one of the many scenarios in which embodiments of the system and method may be employed. In this scenario, a telecommunications network 100, which by way of example is a 5G network which comprises a network core 5GC, is shown to provide connectivity to a number of autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles which represent user equipment UE of the telecommunications network 100. In the following, references to the UE and to a device or vehicle representing the UE may be used interchangeably, unless otherwise indicated. The vehicles may comprise sensors, for example to enable self-driving functionality. However, one of the vehicles UE1 may have a sensor malfunction, which may impair its self-driving functionality.

[0125] The vehicle UE1 may report its sensor malfunction via the telecommunications network 100 to a vehicle control center 140, which may be connected to the telecommunications network 100 via the Internet 120. At the vehicle control center 140, a human operator may standby to provide assistance if a vehicle experiences a malfunction. In response to the vehicle UE1 reporting its sensor malfunction, the human operator may try to assume control of the vehicle UE1 and navigate the vehicle UE1 to a safe spot at which the vehicle UE1 may remain until assistance arrives to repair the malfunctioning sensor. To be able to safely remote control and navigate the vehicle UE1 , telemetric data in form of sensor data may be obtained from the vehicle UE1 itself, e.g., from its remaining functional sensors, but also from nearby vehicles UE2, UE3. The sensor data may be provided by the UEs in form of a service, e.g., a cooperative perception service, to a digital twin service (DTS). The digital twin service may be operated on an application server SVR. In the Fig. 1 example, this application server may be a vertical application layer (VAL) server as explained elsewhere in this specification. The digital twin service DTS may establish a digital twin of the vehicle UE1 on the basis of the telemetric data, e.g., from vehicle UE1 and nearby vehicles UE2, UE3, through which the vehicle UE1 may be controlled.

[0126] In this scenario, the application server may need to be able to first discover the nearby vehicles in order to utilize the service provided by the nearby vehicles, e.g., the aforementioned cooperative perception service. Namely, while the application server may become aware of the vehicle UE1 on the basis of the vehicle UE1 reporting its sensor malfunction, the application server may generally not be aware of which UEs are nearby the vehicle UE1 , and in particular, which of those nearby UEs are configured for and capable of providing sensor data to its digital twin service.

[0127] Fig. 2 shows a sequence diagram for the Fig. 1 example. In this example and in following examples, a system is shown which is configured to enable an application server to discover UEs which are configured for a select type of service, e.g., a service of interest. This system may also be referred to as a UE discovery management system, or abbreviated, UE-DM system and in short simply UE-DM. In this example, the UE-DM is shown to be implemented by one or more network functions, namely, by one or more Application Functions (AFs) which are part of a SEAL (Service Enabler Architecture Layer) layer [3] (see ‘further references’ at the end of this specification). However, this is merely exemplary, in that the UE-DM may also be implemented by one or more AFs which are independent from such a SEAL layer or by other types of network functions. Thus, the UD-DM may, but does not need to be, implemented by AF(s) which may, but do not need to be, part of a SEAL layer.

[0128] In Fig. 2 and the following figures, messages and steps in the figure may be numbered, with the same numbering being used in the accompanying description of the sequence diagram. It is noted that the sequence diagram of Fig. 2 may omit a number of messages or steps for the purpose of giving a general overview. In the following, a short description of the message or step is given within quotes. 1. “ Vehicle stops, sends warning message that it has a malfunctioning sensor and sends its location". One or more sensors, such as a camera, of the vehicle UE1 may malfunction, which may trigger a safety brake of the vehicle UE1 on the roadside and cause the vehicle UE1 to send a warning message to the digital twin service DTS. The warning message may include the location of the vehicle UE1.

[0129] 2. “Discover nearby vehicles that can provide sensor data to digital twin service". The digital twin service DTS may subscribe with the LIE-DM for nearby vehicles that can provide sensor data to enrich a road map used by the digital twin service and to enable teleoperated driving. The subscription may trigger the LIE-DM to check vehicles for certain characteristics, such as their available service type (e.g., type of sensor data available), location, direction, speed, etc. In this example, this may result in the LIE-DM identifying vehicles UE2 and UE3 as being capable of providing a service of interest to the digital twin service DTS and being nearby the vehicle UE1.

[0130] 3. “Consume sensor data from the selected vehicle(s)". The digital twin service DTS may, after having discovered the vehicles UE2 and UE3 using the LIE-DM, start consuming sensor data, e.g., by streaming via the telecommunications network.

[0131] 4. “Stop digital twin service after the vehicle with malfunctioning sensor is remotely driven to a safe location". The digital twin service may be stopped for the vehicle UE1 after the vehicle UE1 has been remotely driven to a safe location.

[0132] In the above example, the digital twin service is an example of an application which seeks to utilize one or more services of interest provided by UE.

[0133] The desire to discover user equipment which is configured to provide one or more services of interest not only exists in the above scenario but also in various other scenarios, for example when a fire department wishes to stream sensor data of UEs nearby a fire. As also explained elsewhere, the discovery of such UEs may not only include the ability to provide a service of interest but may additionally or alternatively also include other criteria, such as UE being located in a certain geographic region. Another exemplary scenario may be a road monitoring application which may wish to discover vehicles which are capable of providing sensor data pertaining to the road conditions to enable the road monitoring application to detect unsafe road conditions.

[0134] With continued reference to the service of interest, it is noted that such services may be identified by the requesting entity, e.g., the application server, to the UE-DM in various ways. For example, a description of the service of interest may be provided. In some embodiments, the service of interest may be identified by an identifier, which may take a numerical or alphanumerical form. For example, as also elucidated in the background section, in the automotive domain, V2X (Vehicle-to- Everything) services are defined, which may include ‘CA - Cooperative Awareness’, ‘VRU - Vulnerable Road Users’, and ‘CP - Cooperative Perception’. These V2X services are examples of a larger collection of services identified by Intelligent Transport Systems-Application Identifier (ITS-AID) values [1] which may be used by the requesting identity to identify the service of interest to the UE-DM. Another example of identifiers of services include the Slice / Service Type (SST) values as specified in [2], In this respect, it is noted that references in this specification to a UE ‘supporting’ service identifiers and / or service types is to be understood as referring to the UE supporting services as identified by the service identifiers and / or service types.

[0135] Fig. 3 shows a sequence diagram in which an application server uses a UE discovery management system UE-DM to discover one or more target UEs which are configured to provide a certain type of service, with the sequence diagram further showing the application server subsequently making use of the service. In this example and elsewhere, select steps may be performed by an application running on the application server, by which the steps are inherently also performed by the application server. Accordingly, in the following and elsewhere in this specification, references to the application server and the application may be used interchangeably.

[0136] The messages and steps in Fig. 3 may comprise the following:

[0137] 11. One or more UEs UE-T may via the 3GPP network system, in short also 3GPP-N, establish a session and register with the UE discovery management system. As part of said registration, the one or more UEs may announce their service capability information to the system, which information may for example include supported service types and / or service identifiers.

[0138] 12. The application server, being in this and following examples a VAL server, may send a request to the UE discovery management system to discover UEs that support a list of one or more service types and / or service identifiers.

[0139] 13. The UE discovery management system may respond to the discovery request with a list of UEs. This list may contain identifiers of the respective UEs and services supported by each UE, e.g., by listing service types and / or service identifiers.

[0140] 14. The application server may select one or more UEs from the list received in step 13 and may request the UE discovery management system to contact and request the selected UEs to establish a session with the application server. These selected UEs may also be referred to as target UEs UE-T. It is noted that step 11 is only shown to be performed by these target UEs. It will be understood, however, that typically (many) more UEs are registered with the UE discovery management system. 15. The UEs which were selected by the application server in step 14 may initiate a direct session to the application server and may subsequently provide data for the selected service types and / or service identifiers to the application server.

[0141] In some embodiments, a service permission level may be desired or required by the application server. The service permission level may be indicated in the discovery request. With respect to the embodiment shown in and described with reference to Fig. 3, the following changes may be introduced:

[0142] • In step 11 of the Fig. 3 embodiment, when the UEs register with the UE discovery management system, the UEs may additionally announce the service permission levels which are available for each service which may be provided. Examples of service permission levels include, but are not limited to: o ‘Premium’, ‘Standard’, etc., e.g., denoting different quality levels at which the service may be provided or differences in scope of the service. o A particular sensor (e.g., a camera) may provide different types of data, e.g., low-level data, e.g., ‘raw data’, or higher-level data, e.g., ‘object-level data’.

[0143] • In step 12 of the Fig. 3 embodiment, the application server may include the desired service permission level, e.g., for each requested service, in the discovery request which is sent to the UE discovery management system.

[0144] In some embodiments, location information may be included in the discovery request, for example to request discovery of UEs which are in a particular geographical region or in proximity to a particular geographical location.

[0145] With respect to the embodiment shown in and described with reference to Fig. 3, the following changes may be introduced:

[0146] • In step 12 of the Fig. 3 embodiment, the application server may send a request to the UE discovery management system to retrieve a list of UEs that support a given list of service types and service identifiers. Additionally, the application server may include filter criteria, e.g., in form of location information, to discover UEs providing services in a particular geographical region or near a particular geographical location.

[0147] • After step 12 of the Fig. 3 embodiment, the UE discovery management system may retrieve current or recent location information for the selected target UEs, for example from a location management network function in the SEAL layer or from one or more a 5G core network function, and based on the location information, determine which UE(s) satisfy the geographical criterion. The UE discovery management system may then return a list of UEs which both satisfy the service and the geographical criteria to the application server in step 13 of the Fig. 3 embodiment. Fig. 4 shows a sequence diagram in which the UE discovery management system may check whether a target UE consents with the utilization of a service by the application server and only then may identify the target UE to the application server.

[0148] The messages and steps in Fig. 4 may comprise the following, where continued reference is made to the Fig. 3 embodiment.

[0149] • Steps 21 and 22 may correspond to steps 11 and 12, respectively, of the Fig. 3 embodiment.

[0150] • In step 23, the UE discovery management system may check for user consent with each target UE which supports one or more services requested by the application server.

[0151] • In step 24, a respective target UE may reply to the UE discovery management system whether or not there is user consent for the services requested to be consumed by the application server.

[0152] • Steps 25-27 may correspond to steps 15-17 of the Fig. 3 embodiment, which the exception that in step 25, the list of UEs which are identified in the response to the application server may only include UEs that have given consent in step 24.

[0153] It is noted that the embodiment in which a service permission level is requested by the application server may be combined with the Fig. 4 embodiment as follows. The UE discovery management system may check in step 23 whether the UE consents to providing the service at a requested service permission level, and in step 24, a respective target UE may reply whether consent is given for the service to be utilized by the application server at the requested service permission level.

[0154] Fig. 5 shows a sequence diagram in which a UE may indicate to the UE discovery management system that it wishes not to be discoverable anymore.

[0155] The messages and steps in Fig. 5 may comprise the following:

[0156] 31. One or more target UE(s) UE-T may send a request to the UE discovery management system to de-register from the discovery service provided by the UE discovery management system.

[0157] 32. The UE discovery management system may de-register the target UE(s) and may reply to the UE by confirming the request.

[0158] In a further embodiment, after a target UE de-registers from the UE discovery management system, an automatic re-discovery procedure may be triggered by the UE discovery management system to discover alternative UEs that may provide an equivalent service as that requested earlier by the application server. Such alternative UEs may be offered by the UE discovery management system as replacement to the application server. Such an embodiment may involve steps 31 and 32 of the Fig. 5 embodiment followed by steps 13-15 of the Fig. 3 embodiment.

[0159] In general, the functionality described in this specification may represent functionality of one or more network functions which are implemented in the respective telecommunications network, e.g., by a network node or a system of network nodes. The network function(s) may be made available within the telecommunications network so as to establish the respective functionality in the telecommunications network.

[0160] Fig. 6 shows a system 200 which may represent a system for enabling user equipment discovery in a telecommunications network, e.g., a UE discovery management system, as also described elsewhere in this specification. The system 200 may comprise a network interface 210 for network data communication. The network interface 210 may for example be a wired communication interface, such as an Ethernet or fiber-optic based interface, to a fixed (e.g., non-mobile) part of a mobile telecommunications network. Alternatively, the network interface 210 may be a wireless communication interface. In yet other examples, the system 200 may be a subsystem of a larger system, e.g., a supra-system implementing several network functions. In such cases, the network interface 210 may be an internal interface of the supra- system, for example a virtual, software-based network interface. The system 200 may further comprise a processor subsystem 220 which may be configured, e.g., by hardware design or software, to perform the operations described in this specification in as far as pertaining to the entity that the processor system is embodying, e.g., the aforementioned system configured for enabling user equipment discovery in a telecommunications network. In particular, the processor subsystem 220 may be configured to perform the actions attributed to the UE discovery management system as described with reference to Figs. 1-5 and elsewhere in this specification.

[0161] In general, the processor subsystem 220 may be embodied by a single Central Processing Unit (CPU), such as a x86 or ARM-based CPU, but also by a combination or system of such CPUs and / or other types of processing units. In embodiments where the system 200 is distributed over different entities, e.g., over different servers, the processor subsystem 220 may also be distributed, e.g., over the CPUs of such different servers. As also shown in Fig. 6, the system 200 may comprise a data storage 230, such as a hard drive, a solid-state drive, or an array of such hard and / or solid-state drives, etc., which may be used to store data. In some examples, the system 200 may be implemented by a network node, or by a system of network nodes.

[0162] In an alternative embodiment of the system 200 of Fig. 6, the system 200 may represent user equipment, or a device representing user equipment, as described in this specification. An example of such a device includes, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a tablet device, a computer, a pair of smart glasses, or an loT device such as a robot, a connectivity enabled vehicle, etc. In such cases, the network interface 210 may represent a radio access network interface to a mobile network, and the processor subsystem 220 may be configured, e.g., by hardware design or software, to perform the operations described in this specification in as far as pertaining to the entity that the processor system is embodying, e.g., the user equipment or the device.

[0163] In an alternative embodiment of the system 200 of Fig. 6, the system 200 may represent an application server as described in this specification. Accordingly, the processor subsystem 220 may be configured, e.g., by hardware design or software, to perform the operations described in this specification in as far as pertaining to the application server. In such an embodiment, the network interface 210 may be of a same type as previously described for the UE discovery management system.

[0164] In general, each entity described in this specification may be embodied as, or in, a device or apparatus. The device or apparatus may comprise one or more (micro) processors which execute appropriate software. The processor(s) of a respective entity may be embodied by one or more of these (micro)processors. Software implementing the functionality of a respective entity may have been downloaded and / or stored in a corresponding memory or memories, e.g., in volatile memory such as RAM or in non-volatile memory such as Flash. Alternatively, the processor(s) of a respective entity may be implemented in the device or apparatus in the form of programmable logic, e.g., as a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Any input and / or output interfaces may be implemented by respective interfaces of the device or apparatus. In general, each functional unit of a respective entity may be implemented in the form of a circuit or circuitry. A respective entity may also be implemented in a distributed manner, e.g., involving different devices or apparatus.

[0165] It is noted that any of the methods described in this specification, for example in any of the claims, may be implemented on a computer as a computer implemented method, as dedicated hardware, or as a combination of both. Instructions for the computer, e.g., executable code, may be stored on a computer-readable medium 300 as for example shown in Fig. 7, e.g., in the form of a series 310 of machine-readable physical marks and / or as a series of elements having different electrical, e.g., magnetic, or optical properties or values. The executable code may be stored in a transitory or non-transitory manner. Examples of computer-readable mediums include memory devices, optical storage devices, integrated circuits, servers, online software, etc. Fig. 7 shows by way of example a memory card 300. Fig. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary data processing system 1000 that may be used in the embodiments described in this specification. Such data processing systems include data processing entities described in this specification, including but not limited to a system configured for enabling user equipment discovery, a device representing user equipment, and an application server. The data processing system 1000 may include at least one processor 1002 coupled to memory elements 1004 through a system bus 1006. As such, the data processing system may store program code within memory elements 1004. Furthermore, processor 1002 may execute the program code accessed from memory elements 1004 via system bus 1006. In one aspect, data processing system may be implemented as a computer that is suitable for storing and / or executing program code. It should be appreciated, however, that data processing system 1000 may be implemented in the form of any system including a processor and memory that is capable of performing the functions described within this specification. The memory elements 1004 may include one or more physical memory devices such as, for example, local memory 1008 and one or more bulk storage devices 1010. Local memory may refer to random access memory or other non-persistent memory device(s) generally used during actual execution of the program code. A bulk storage device may be implemented as a hard drive, solid state disk or other persistent data storage device. The data processing system 1000 may also include one or more cache memories (not shown) that provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times program code is otherwise retrieved from bulk storage device 1010 during execution.

[0166] Input / output (I / O) devices depicted as input device 1012 and output device 1014 optionally can be coupled to the data processing system. Examples of input devices may include, but are not limited to, for example, a microphone, a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, a game controller, a Bluetooth controller, a VR controller, and a gesture-based input device, or the like. Examples of output devices may include, but are not limited to, for example, a monitor or display, speakers, or the like. Input device and / or output device may be coupled to data processing system either directly or through intervening I / O controllers. A network adapter 1016 may also be coupled to data processing system to enable it to become coupled to other systems, computer systems, remote network devices, and / or remote storage devices through intervening non-public or public networks. The network adapter may comprise a data receiver for receiving data that is transmitted by said systems, devices and / or networks to said data and a data transmitter for transmitting data to said systems, devices and / or networks. Radios, modems, cable modems, and ethernet cards are examples of different types of network adapter that may be used with data processing system 1000.

[0167] As shown in Fig. 8, memory elements 1004 may store an application 1018. It should be appreciated that data processing system 1000 may further execute an operating system (not shown) that can facilitate execution of the application. The application, being implemented in the form of executable program code, can be executed by data processing system 1000, e.g., by processor 1002. Responsive to executing the application, the data processing system may be configured to perform one or more operations to be described herein in further detail.

[0168] For example, data processing system 1000 may represent a system as described in this specification for enabling user equipment discovery in a telecommunications network. In that case, application 1018 may represent an application that, when executed, configures data processing system 1000 to perform the functions described with reference to the system. In another example, data processing system 1000 may represent an embodiment of user equipment or an embodiment of a device representing user equipment as described in this specification. In that case, application 1018 may represent an application that, when executed, configures data processing system 1000 to perform the functions described with reference to the user equipment and / or device. In another example, data processing system 1000 may represent an embodiment of an application server as described in this specification. In that case, application 1018 may represent an application that, when executed, configures data processing system 1000 to perform the functions described with reference to the application server.

[0169] An abstract for the present specification may read as follows: a system and method are provided for enabling user equipment discovery in a telecommunications network. For that purpose, the system and method may access records of user equipment (UE), wherein a respective record may identify a UE and identify one or more services which the UE is configured to provide, and enable an application server to discover UE which are configured to provide a service of interest by i) receiving a discovery request from the application server, wherein the discovery request is indicative of the service of interest, ii) searching the records for UE matching the service of interest to obtain a search result, and iii) providing the search result to the application server. This way, an application server is enabled to discover UE which is / are capable of providing a service of interest to the application server. It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

[0170] In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. Use of the verb "comprise" and its conjugations does not exclude the presence of elements or stages other than those stated in a claim. The article "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. Expressions such as “at least one of” when preceding a list or group of elements represent a selection of all or of any subset of elements from the list or group. For example, the expression, “at least one of A, B, and C” should be understood as including only A, only B, only C, both A and B, both A and C, both B and C, or all of A, B, and C. The invention may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In the device claim enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

[0171] Further references

[0172] [3] 3GPP TS 23.434 V18.4.1 (2023-03), Technical Specification, 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Service Enabler Architecture Layer for Verticals - Functional Architecture and Information Flows; Release 18

Claims

CLAIMSClaim 1. A system for enabling user equipment discovery in a telecommunications network, comprising: a network interface to the telecommunications network; a processor subsystem configured to: access records of user equipment, wherein a respective record identifies a user equipment and identifies one or more services which the user equipment is configured to provide; via the network interface, enable an application server to discover user equipment which is configured to provide a service of interest by: receiving a discovery request from the application server, wherein the discovery request is indicative of the service of interest; searching the records for user equipment matching the service of interest to obtain a search result, wherein a non-empty search result comprises an identifier of user equipment configured to provide the service of interest; and providing the search result to the application server.Claim 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processor subsystem is configured to enable user equipment to register with the system by: receiving a registration request from a user equipment, wherein the registration request is indicative of one or more services which the user equipment is configured to provide; and establishing a record for the user equipment based on the registration request.Claim 3. The system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processor subsystem is configured to include, in the record for the user equipment, a service permission level for a service, wherein the service permission level indicates a service level at which use of the service is permitted by the user equipment.Claim 4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the discovery request from the application server is further indicative of a required service permission level, andwherein the processor subsystem is configured to search the records for user equipment matching the service of interest and the required service permission level.Claim 5. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the processor subsystem is configured to only include, in the search result provided to the application server, user equipment which consents to providing the service of interest to the application server.Claim 6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the processor subsystem is configured to determine whether user equipment consents to providing the service of interest to the application server by: enabling the user equipment to register and / or deregister consent in the record for the user equipment; or in response to the user equipment being identified in the search result, checking consent of the user equipment via a message exchange.Claim 7. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the processor subsystem is configured to enable the user equipment to deregister with the system by: receiving a deregistration request from the user equipment; and deleting, disabling, or marking the record for the user equipment based on the deregistration request.Claim 8. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the processor subsystem is configured to, when a user equipment which has been previously identified to the application server ceases to provide the service of interest, search the records for another UE which is configured to provide the service of interest or a substitute service and identify the other UE to application server.Claim 9. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the discovery request from the application server is further indicative of a geographical location, and wherein the processor subsystem is configured to only include, in the search result provided to the application server, user equipment which is or is estimated to be located in a proximity of the geographical location.Claim 10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the processor subsystem is configured to determine a location of a user equipment in response to the userequipment being identified in the search result, for example by requesting the location of the user equipment from a location management network function or a core network function on the basis of the identifier of the user equipment.Claim 11. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the processor subsystem is configured to include, in the record for the user equipment, the one or more services which the user equipment is configured to provide by recording at least one of: a service identifier, such as a vertical application layer (VAL) service ID; a service type, such as a slice / service type (SST) value or an intelligent transport system application identifier (ITS-AID) value.Claim 12. A device configured as user equipment of a telecommunications network, comprising: a network interface to the telecommunications network; a processor subsystem configured to provide one or more services to a network entity via the network interface; wherein the processor subsystem is further configured to register with a system configured to enable user equipment discovery by sending a registration request to the system, wherein the registration request is indicative of the one or more services which the user equipment is configured to provide.Claim 13. An application server, comprising: a network interface to a telecommunications network; a processor subsystem configured to: send a discovery request to a system configured to enable user equipment discovery, wherein the discovery request is indicative of a service of interest, wherein the system is configured to search records for user equipment matching the service of interest to obtain a search result; receive the search result from the system, wherein the search result comprises an identifier of user equipment configured to provide the service of interest; based on the identifier of the user equipment, request the user equipment to provide the service of interest; and utilize the service of interest provided by the user equipment.Claim 14. A computer-implemented method for enabling user equipment discovery in a telecommunications network, comprising: accessing records of user equipment, wherein a respective record identifies a user equipment and identifies one or more services which the user equipment is configured to provide; enabling an application server to discover user equipment which is configured to provide a service of interest by: receiving a discovery request from the application server, wherein the discovery request is indicative of the service of interest; searching the records for user equipment matching the service of interest to obtain a search result, wherein a non-empty search result comprises an identifier of user equipment configured to provide the service of interest; and providing the search result to the application server.Claim 15. A computer-implemented method for being performed at a user equipment of a telecommunications network, wherein the user equipment is configured to provide one or more services to a network entity via the network interface, comprising: selecting one or more of the one or more services which the user equipment is configured to provide for registration with a system configured to enable user equipment discovery, thereby obtaining one or more selected services; and registering with the system by sending a registration request to the system which is indicative of the one or more selected services.Claim 16. A computer-implemented method for being performed at an application server of a telecommunications network, comprising: sending a discovery request to a system configured to enable user equipment discovery, wherein the discovery request is indicative of a service of interest, wherein the system is configured to search records for user equipment matching the service of interest to obtain a search result; receiving the search result from the system, wherein the search result comprises an identifier of user equipment configured to provide the service of interest; based on the identifier of the user equipment, requesting the user equipment to provide the service of interest; and utilizing the service of interest provided by the user equipment.Claim 17. A transitory or non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising data representing a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions for causing a processor system to perform the method according to any one of claims 14 to 16.

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