Network exposure node, control node, and methods therein, in a communications network

Abstract

A method performed by a network exposure node is provided. The method is for assisting an application server in handling a data session for a subscriber in a communications network. The network exposure node receives (202) a first request from an application server to subscribe to changes of any one or more of: a data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The network exposure node sends (205) a second request to a control node to subscribe to notifications of changes related to any one or more of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. When the network exposure node receives (206) from the control node an acknowledgement to the second request, the network exposure node sends (207) to the application server an acknowledgement to the first request for changes of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. When the network exposure node receives (208) from the control node a notification of a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber when it has been identified, the network exposure node sends (211) to the application server the notification of the change of any one or more out of: the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The notification enables the application server to handle a data session for the subscriber accordingly.

Description

[0001] NETWORK EXPOSURE NODE, CONTROL NODE, AND METHODS THEREIN, IN A

[0002] COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

[0003] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0004] Embodiments herein relate to a network exposure node, a control node and methods therein. In some aspects, they relate to assisting an application server in handling a data session for a subscriber in a communications network.

[0005] BACKGROUND

[0006] In a typical wireless communication network, wireless devices, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and / or User Equipment (UE), communicate via a Wide Area Network or a Local Area Network such as a Wi-Fi network or a cellular network comprising a Radio Access Network (RAN) part and a Core Network (CN) part. The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, which may also be referred to as a beam or a beam group, with each service area or cell area being served by a radio network node such as a radio access node e.g., a Wi-Fi access point, a Base Station (BS) or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be denoted, for example, a Base Station (BS), a NodeB, eNodeB (eNB), or gNodeB (gNB) as denoted in Fifth Generation (5G) telecommunications. A service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over an air interface operating on a radio frequency with the wireless devices within the range of the radio network node.

[0007] 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is the standardization body for specifying the standards for the cellular system evolution, e.g., including 3G, 4G, 5G and the future evolutions. Specifications for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E- UTRA) and Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP. In 4G also called a Fourth Generation (4G) network, EPS is core network and E-UTRA is radio access network. In 5G, 5G Core (5GC) is core network, NR is radio access network. As a continued network evolution, the new release of 3GPP specifies a 5G network also referred to as 5G New Radio (NR) and 5GC.

[0008] Frequency bands for 5G NR are being separated into two different frequency ranges, Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and Frequency Range 2 (FR2). FR1 comprises sub-6 GHz frequency bands. Some of these bands are bands traditionally used by legacy standards but have been extended to cover potential new spectrum offerings from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. FR2 comprises frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. Bands in this millimeter wave range have shorter range but higher available bandwidth than bands in the FR1.

[0009] Multi-antenna techniques may significantly increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system. For a wireless connection between a single user, such as UE, and a base station (BS), the performance is in particular improved if both the transmitter and the receiver are equipped with multiple antennas, which results in a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) communication channel. This may be referred to as Single-User (SU)-MIMO. In the scenario where MIMO techniques is used for the wireless connection between multiple users and the base station, MIMO enables the users to communicate with the base station simultaneously using the same time-frequency resources by spatially separating the users, which increases further the cell capacity. This may be referred to as Multi-User (MU)-MIMO. Note that MU-MIMO may benefit when each UE only has one antenna. The cell capacity can be increased linearly with respect to the number of antennas at the BS side. Due to that, more and more antennas are employed in BS. Such systems and / or related techniques are commonly referred to as massive MIMO.

[0010] 5GC architecture comprises a number of Network Functions (NF) such as Session Management Function (SMF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Network Repository Function (NRF), Application Function (AF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), just to mention some. Among the different NFs, the NEF facilitates secure, robust, developer-friendly, and easy access of network services and 5G network capabilities by the communication service providers and third parties. This access is provided by a set of northbound restful (RESTful) or web-style Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) from a network domain to internal applications within a network operator’s trust domain and also to external applications. An AF is the functional component that provides service- or application-related information to the consumer of NF services i.e. , the AF acts as a data broker between applications and other NFs. The NEF has appeared in the 5G standards as an intelligent, service-aware border gateway that will enable the external AFs to communicate with the 5G NFs. 5G NEF provides both northbound API and southbound API. NEF northbound interface provides services to an AF external to the operator, whereas NEF southbound interface provides services to an operator’s internal 5G NFs. NEF northbound interface is used to expose certain functionalities in the 5GC that will be used by external AFs. To provide these services, the NEF may obtain services from other 5G NFs.

[0011] SUMMARY

[0012] As part of developing embodiments herein, the inventors identified some problems that first will be described.

[0013] In 3GPP, different network services and capabilities that may be exposed using the NEF are described. However there does not exist any procedure related to an NF initiating any trigger to an external entity such as an AF that is related to change in policy counter values maintained within a Converged Charging System (CCS) or an Online Charging System (OCS) or a PCF. A CCS is a function that plays a central role in managing and processing charging information for both online and offline charging scenarios. It serves as a single point of contact for all charging-related activities, promoting unified and streamlined charging operations. An OCS is a function within CCS that tracks user data usage in real-time and applies charges instantaneously, ensuring accurate billing and network resource management. A PCF is a function that dynamically enforces policies for network access, resource usage, and service control, ensuring optimal performance and security in 5G and beyond. Policy counters in the CCS or PCF or OCS systems hold important information related to the data subscription of a subscriber such as the spending limits & subscription information. A spending limit is a pre-defined threshold that restricts user expenditure and resource consumption. It may automatically suspend services when resource consumption reaches a limit. This may e.g. further be to ensure cost control and preventing excessive billing. Subscription information comprises information such as data plan that the subscriber has subscribed to e.g., 5G Plan, 4G plan. This information is of importance to an application in order to tune its services based on the spending limit and subscription plan information. Applications needs to be notified of the changes in subscription plan and changes in various spending limits as these will result in change in the network policy and hence the quality of experience. An object of embodiments herein is to improve handling of data sessions relating to services, such as e.g., application services, for subscribers in a communication network.

[0014] According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by a network exposure node. The method is for assisting an application server in handling a data session for a subscriber in a communications network. The network exposure node receives a first request from an application server to subscribe to changes of any one or more of: a data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The network exposure node sends a second request to a control node to subscribe to notifications of changes related to any one or more of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. When the network exposure node receives from the control node an acknowledgement to the second request, the network exposure node sends to the application server an acknowledgement to the first request for changes of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. When the network exposure node receives from the control node a notification of a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber when it has been identified, the network exposure node sends to the application server the notification of the change of any one or more out of: the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The notification enables the application server to handle a data session for the subscriber accordingly.

[0015] According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by a control node. The method is for assisting an application server in handling a data session for a subscriber in a communications network. The control node receives a second request from a network exposure node to subscribe to notifications of changes related to any one or more of a data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The control node sends to the network exposure node an acknowledgement to the second request for changes of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The control node identifies a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The control node sends to the network exposure node a notification of a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber to be forwarded to the application server. The notification enables the application server to handle a data session for the subscriber accordingly. According to another aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a network exposure node. The network exposure node is configured to assist an application server to handle a data session for a subscriber in a communications network. The network exposure node is further being configured to:

[0016] - Receive a first request, from an application server to subscribe to changes of any one or more of: a data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber,

[0017] - Send a second request to a control node to subscribe to notifications of changes related to any one or more of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber,

[0018] - When an acknowledgement to the second request is received from the control node send to the application server an acknowledgement to the first request for changes of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber,

[0019] - When a change has been identified and a notification has been received from the control node which notification is adapted to be a notification of a change of any one or more out of: the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, send to the application server the notification of the change of any one or more out of: the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, enabling the application server to handle a data session for the subscriber accordingly.

[0020] According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a control node. The control node is configured to assist an application server to handle a data session for a subscriber in a communications network. The control node is further being configured to:

[0021] - Receive a second request, from a network exposure node, to subscribe to notifications of changes related to any one or more of a data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber,

[0022] - Send to the network exposure node an acknowledgement to the second request for changes of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber,

[0023] - Identify a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber,

[0024] - Send to the network exposure node a notification of a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber to be forwarded to the application server, enabling the application server to handle a data session for the subscriber accordingly.

[0025] Thanks to that the network exposure node can assist the application server in receiving notifications from the control node, the application server is enabled to obtain information related to any changes in the data plan and / or policy counter related to a subscriber. This will result in an improved handling of data sessions related to services, such as e.g., application services for a subscriber in a communications network. This is since the application can tune its services according to the subscriber’s data plan or spending limits.

[0026] Embodiments herein may provide one or more of the following advantages:

[0027] They enable applications to offer much more value and better experience to their subscribers.

[0028] They solve the challenges faced by the application to integrate with Communication Service Provider’s (CSP’s) Business Support System (BSS) such as the CCS system where there is lack of any standards or alignments on BSS interfaces.

[0029] They enable the application to gather information related to change in subscription plan or spending limits.

[0030] They enable CSP to be able to get additional revenue from their NEF and CCS system integration.

[0031] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] Examples of embodiments herein are described in more detail with reference to attached drawings in which:

[0033] Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a communications network.

[0034] Figure 2 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of a method in a network exposure node.

[0035] Figure 3 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of a method in a control node. Figure 4a is a combined signaling scheme and flowchart according to an example embodiment of a method herein. Figure 4b is a combined signaling scheme and flowchart according to an example embodiment of a method herein.

[0036] Figure 5a is a combined signaling scheme and flowchart according to an example embodiment of a method herein.

[0037] Figure 5b is a combined signaling scheme and flowchart according to an example embodiment of a method herein.

[0038] Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a network exposure node.

[0039] Figure 7 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a control node. Figure 8 schematically illustrates embodiments of a communication system.

[0040] Figure 9 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a UE.

[0041] Figure 10 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a network node.

[0042] Figure 11 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a host.

[0043] Figure 12 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a virtualization environment.

[0044] Figure 13 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a communication diagram of a host.

[0045] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] In example embodiments herein, an application server e.g., comprising the application is allowed to subscribe for notifications from a control node on the subscription plan or spending limit through the network exposure node.

[0047] According to examples herein, the network exposure node integrates the application server with the control node. This results in that the application server can get notifications related to changes in any of the data plans or its associated policy counters related to a subscriber that is using the applications within the application server.

[0048] In example embodiments herein, a network exposure node is allowed to be able to subscribe to get notifications from a control node for a subscription plan or a spending limit i.e., policy counter changes for specific subscribers for whom the application server has requested event notification. An event notification when used herein refers to an event of subscriber data plan change or spending limits change e.g., if the subscriber spending limit is breached during an ongoing data session, that event needs to be notified to the application server. Examples of embodiments herein provide a method in a network exposure node, a control node and an application server. The method may e.g., comprise the following actions:

[0049] The application server sends an event notification subscription request to network exposure node, e.g., through its EventExposure interface, to be notified of any changes in subscriber subscription plan or spending limits i.e. , policy counter changes.

[0050] E.g., on receiving this request, the network exposure node sends a Subscription Limit Request (SLR) Initial to the control node to be notified for any changes in the subscriber’s subscription plan or spending limits.

[0051] The control node registers this event subscription information from the network exposure node.

[0052] Whenever there is any change in subscription plan of the subscriber, the control node sends a Subscription Notification Request (SNR) to the network exposure node.

[0053] On receiving this change notification, the network exposure node may trigger a notification back to the application server.

[0054] The application server may then act on this event notification to tune its services for the subscriber accordingly.

[0055] Figure 1 is a schematic overview depicting a communications network 100 wherein embodiments herein may be implemented. The communications network 100 comprises one or more RANs and one or more CNs such as CN 106.

[0056] The communications network 100 may use 5G NR but may further use a number of other different technologies, such as, 6G, Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE- Advanced, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications / enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM / EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations.

[0057] One or more UEs operate in the communication network 100, such as e.g. the UE 121. The UE 121 may represent a device used by a subscriber that is capable of comprising an application and operating the application by communicating with the server 140 via a RAN node e.g., RAN node 110 and one or more CN nodes. The UE 121 may e.g., be a wireless device, an NR device, a mobile station, a wireless terminal, an NB-loT device, an MTC device, an eMTC device, a CAT-M device, a WiFi device, an LTE device and a non-access point (non-AP) STA, a STA. It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, client, mobile client, IMS client, wireless communication terminal, user equipment, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g., smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a car or any small base station communicating within a cell.

[0058] RAN nodes, such as a RAN node 110, operate in the RAN of the communications network 100. The RAN node 110 may be a transmission and reception point e.g. a radio access network node such as a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), an NR Node B (gNB), a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access controller, or any other network unit capable of communicating with UEs, such as a UE 121 that is used by a subscriber, within a cell, served by the RAN node 110. The RAN node 110 may act as a connecting point between the UE 121 and the different CN nodes in the CN 106. The RAN node 110 may be referred to as a serving radio network node and may communicate with the UE 121 with Downlink (DL) transmissions to the UE 121 and Uplink (UL) transmissions from the UE 121.

[0059] CN nodes, such as e.g., a network exposure node 131, operate in the CN 106 of the communications network 100. In some embodiments, the network exposure node 131 may e.g., be represented by a NEF.

[0060] CN nodes, such as e.g., a control node 132 operate in the CN 106 of the communications network 100. The application server 133 may lie within the CN 106 or at the interface between the CN 106 and the server 140 or in the server 140.

[0061] According to embodiments herein, the control node 132 may e.g., comprise information related to the data subscription of the subscriber that is using the UE 121.

[0062] In some embodiments, the control node 132 may e.g., be represented by a CCS or a PCF or an CCS or an integrated CCS and PCF system.

[0063] CN nodes, such as e.g., an application server 133 operate in the CN 106 of the communications network 100. The application server 133 may lie within the CN 106 or at the interface between the CN 106 and the server 140 or in the server 140. In some embodiments, the application server 133 may e.g., be represented by an

[0064] AF.

[0065] Servers, such as e.g., in some embodiments herein, a server 140 operates in the communications network. The server 140 may comprise one or more applications being used by a subscriber with the UE 121. The server 140 may communicate with the CN nodes 131 and 132 through the application server 133.

[0066] According to embodiments herein, the network exposure node 131 may e.g., expose the network functionalities of the CN nodes e.g., control node 132 in the CN 106 to the server 140, the RAN node 110 and the UE 121 in the communications network 100.

[0067] Methods according to aspects of embodiments herein are performed by the network exposure node 131 and control node 132. These nodes may be Distributed Nodes (DN)s and their functionality may e.g., be comprised in a cloud 170 as shown in Figure 1.

[0068] Examples of embodiments herein e.g., provides a mechanism to allow a network exposure node 131 to be able to subscribe to get notified from a control node 132 for subscription plan or spending limit i.e. , policy counter changes for specific subscribers for whom the application has requested event notification.

[0069] A number of embodiments will now be described, some of which may be seen as alternatives, while some may be used in combination.

[0070] A method according to embodiments will first be described as seen from the view of the network exposure node 131 together with Figure 2, and then as seen from the view of the control node 132 together with Figure 3.

[0071] Figure 2 shows exemplary embodiments of a method performed by the network exposure node 131. The network exposure node 131 may e.g., be the NEF. The method is for assisting the application server 133 in handling a data session for a subscriber in a communications network. The application server 133 may e.g., be the AF.

[0072] According to an example scenario, the application server 133 e.g., AF wants a notification when either the subscriber’s data plan or spending limit policy counter value changes beyond a configured threshold. Since the application server 133 is integrated to 3GGP network via the network exposure node 131 e.g., NEF, to obtain information from one or more CN nodes such as e.g., control node 132, the NEF needs to support subscribing to such notifications from the control node 132.

[0073] The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order. Optional actions are referred to as dashed boxes in Figure 2.

[0074] Action 201. The network exposure node 131 may maintain a policy counter associated with a data plan for the subscriber. This may for example be performed by using a look-up table which maintains the mapping between data plan name e.g.,5G_basic_plan and policy counter name e.g., 5G_spending_limit, and optionally the policy group name. The network exposure node 131 may be configured with the data plan names, the policy group to which the data plan belongs and the policy counter for the respective policy group. In this way, it may be possible to map the data plan provided by the application server 133 to the corresponding policy group and policy counter.

[0075] Action 202. The network exposure node 131 receives a first request, from an application server 133, such as an AF, to subscribe to changes of any one or more of: a data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The application server 133 may request to obtain information requested by the server 140 from a CN node e.g., the control node 132 through the network exposure node 131. The information may be related to the data subscription of the subscriber that is using the UE 121. The first request may comprise a subscriber identifier such as e.g., Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network (MSISDN). The subscriber identifier identifies the subscriber for whom the first request is sent. The first request may comprise the name of the data plan and the name of the policy counter for which any changes observed is requested to be notified.

[0076] Action 203. If the first request comprises a name of the data plan, the network exposure node 131 may map the name of the data plan with an identifier of the associated data plan, and / or an identifier of the associated policy counter. This mapping may be performed by using the maintained policy counters in Action 201 associated with the data plan of the subscriber. The mapping of the name to the corresponding identifier may be performed to assist the control node 132 e.g., CCS to identify the policy group or policy counter which are identified within the control node 132 using these identifiers. The mapped identifier of the associated data plan, and / or the identifier of the associated policy counter may be included in the second request. Action 204. If the first request comprises a name of the policy counter, the network exposure node 131 may map the name of the policy counter with an identifier of the associated policy counter. This mapping may be performed by using the maintained policy counters in Action 201 associated with the data plan of the subscriber. The mapped identifier of the associated policy counter may be included in the second request.

[0077] Action 205. The network exposure node 131 sends a second request to a control node 132 to subscribe to notifications of changes related to any one or more of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The control node 132 may represent any network node that comprises information related to the data plan subscription and the spending limit for the corresponding data plans for a subscriber e.g., a CCS or a PCF or an integrated CCS and PCF. The second request may comprise the subscriber identifier such as e.g., MSISDN that identify the subscriber for whom the second request is sent. The second request may comprise the mapped identifiers from Action 203 and 204 such as the identifier of the data plan and / or the identifier of the policy counter.

[0078] Action 206. The network exposure node 131 receives an acknowledgement from the control node 132. This is an acknowledgement to the second request. The acknowledgement may confirm a successful registration of the requested subscriber to be monitored for changes to the data plans and its associated policy counters for the respective subscriber. The monitoring may be performed for the requested data plan and its associated policy counter if comprised in the first request. In some embodiments, the monitoring may be performed for all data plans and their associated policy counters related to the subscriber if a specific data plan or a policy counter is not comprised in the first request.

[0079] Action 207. The network exposure node 131 sends an acknowledgement to the application server 133. This is an acknowledgement to the first request for changes of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The acknowledgement may confirm a successful registration of the requested subscriber with the control node 132 such as a CCS.

[0080] Action 208. The network exposure node 131 receives a notification from the control node 132. This is a notification of a change of any one or more out of: the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The notification is received when the change has been identified, e.g., by the control node 132.

[0081] In some embodiments, the identified change may be a change in the data plan of the subscriber or a change in the subscription information related to the data plan of the subscriber, such as e.g., spending limits of the subscriber has reached and / or crossed the threshold value.

[0082] In some embodiments, the notification of the change is received from the control node 132 when the policy counter value reaches a threshold configured for the associated data plan. In these embodiments, the threshold comprises one or more out of: spending limit of the data plan, predetermined value or a zero value. The change in the policy counter value may correspond to the spending limits of the subscriber. For example, when the subscriber has used all the data from their subscribed data plan or when the subscriber is about to reach the data limit for their subscription or when the subscriber has not used any of the data from their subscribed data plan corresponding to zero policy counter value e.g., at the beginning of a new billing cycle.

[0083] Action 209. If the notification from the control node 132 comprises an identifier of the data plan, the network exposure node 131 may map the identifier of the data plan with a name of the associated data plan. This may be performed since the application server 133 is only aware of the data plan name and not the internal data plan identifiers used by the control node 132. This mapping may be performed by using the maintained policy counters in Action 201 associated with the data plan of the subscriber. The mapped name of the associated data plan may be included in the notification sent to the application server 133.

[0084] Action 210. If the notification from the control node 132 comprises an identifier of the policy counter, the network exposure node 131 may map the identifier of the policy counters with a name of the associated policy counter or a name of the associated data plan. This may be performed since the application server 133 is only aware of the policy counter name and not the internal policy counter identifiers used by the control node 132. This mapping may be performed by using the maintained policy counters in Action 201 associated with the data plan of the subscriber. The mapped name of the associated policy counter and the name of the associated data plan may be included in the notification sent to the application server 133. Action 211. The network exposure node 131 sends the notification to the application server 133. This is the notification of the change of any one or more out of: the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. This notification enables the application server 133 to handle a data session for the subscriber accordingly.

[0085] In some embodiments, if the notification is related to the subscriber reaching the spending limit of their data plan, the application server 133 may e.g., warn the subscriber of reaching the spending limit or may reduce the quality of experience accordingly e.g., from high quality video streaming to poor quality streaming video.

[0086] In some embodiments, if the notification is related to the subscriber staring a new billing cycle with zero policy counter value, the application server 133 may for example improve the quality of experience of data session associated with the application e.g., the application server 133 may move back to high quality video streaming.

[0087] In this way, by performing the above method, the network exposure node 131 is now able to expose the subscriber’s data plan change event notification or policy counter change event notification to application server 133 so that the applications within the application server 133 may tune their services accordingly.

[0088] Figure 3 shows exemplary embodiments of a method performed by the control node 132. The control node 132 may be represented by any network node that comprises information related to the data plan subscription and the spending limit for the corresponding data plans for a subscriber e.g., a CCS or a PCF or an integrated CCS and PCF. The method is for assisting an application server 133 in handling a data session for a subscriber in a communications network 100. The application server 133 may e.g., be the AF.

[0089] According to the example scenario as mentioned above, the application server 133 e.g., AF wants a notification when either the subscriber’s data plan or spending limit policy counter value changes beyond a configured threshold. Since the application server 133 is integrated to 3GGP network via the network exposure node 131 e.g., NEF, to obtain information from one or more CN nodes such as e.g., control node 132, needs to support subscribing to such notifications from the control node 132.

[0090] The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order. Optional actions are referred to as dashed boxes in Figure 3. Action 301. The control node 132 receives a second request from a network exposure node 131 , e.g., NEF. The second request requests to subscribe to notifications of changes related to any one or more of a data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The application server 133 may request to obtain information requested by the server 140 from a CN node e.g., the control node 132 through the network exposure node 131. In this regard, the network exposure node 132 may send a second request to the control node 132 to obtain information requested by the application server 133. The information may be related to the data subscription of the subscriber that is using the UE 121. The second request may comprise the subscriber identifier, such as e.g., MSISDN that identifies the subscriber for whom the second request is sent. The second request may comprise the identifier of the data plan and / or the identifier of the policy counter.

[0091] Action 302. The control node 132 may register the subscriber and any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, received from the network exposure node 131 , in the second request. In some embodiments, the registration of the subscriber is for monitoring changes to the data plans and its associated policy counters for the respective subscriber. The monitoring may e.g., be performed for the requested data plan and its associated policy counter if comprised in the second request. The monitoring may further be performed for all data plans and their associated policy counters related to the subscriber if a specific data plan or a policy counter is not comprised in the second request.

[0092] Action 303. The control node 132 sends an acknowledgement to the network exposure node 131 , e.g., NEF. This is an acknowledgement to the second request for changes of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The acknowledgement may confirm a successful registration of the requested subscriber.

[0093] Action 304. The control node 132 identifies a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. The identification of the change may be due to monitoring of the data plan and the spending limit for those subscribers that are registered in the control node 132 in action 302 based on the second request from the network exposure node 131.

[0094] In some embodiments, the identified change may be a change in the data plan of the subscriber or a change in the subscription information related to the data plan of the subscriber such as e.g., spending limits of the subscriber has reached and / or crossed the threshold value. The change in the policy counter value identified by the control node 132 may correspond to the spending limits of the subscriber e.g., when the subscriber has used all the data from their subscribed data plan or when the subscriber is about to reach the data limit for their subscription or when the subscriber has not used any of the data from their subscribed data plan corresponding to zero policy counter value e.g., at the beginning of a new billing cycle.

[0095] Action 305. The control node 132 sends a notification of a change to the network exposure node 131. The notification of a change comprises any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. This notification is to be forwarded to the application server 133. This notification enables the application server 133, e.g., AF, to handle a data session for the subscriber accordingly. In some embodiments, the control node 132 sends the notification of the change to the network exposure node 131 , when the policy counter value reaches a threshold configured for the associated data plan. In these embodiments, the threshold may comprise one or more out of: spending limit of the data plan, predetermined value or a zero value.

[0096] In this way, by performing the above method, the control node 132 is able to now notify the network exposure node 131 about data plan name change event or policy counter change events of the subscriber.

[0097] Embodiments herein such as the embodiments mentioned above will now be further described and exemplified. The text below is applicable to and may be combined with any suitable embodiment described above.

[0098] As mentioned above, according to some example embodiments herein, the application server 133, such as e.g., the AF, wants a notification when either the subscriber’s data plan or spending limit policy counter value changes beyond a configured threshold. Since the application server 133 is integrated to 3GGP network via the network exposure node 131 , such as e.g., the NEF, to obtain information from one or more CN nodes such as e.g., control node 132, the network exposure node 131needs to support subscribing to such notifications from the control node 132.

[0099] The subscriber may have multiple data plans with different characteristics, e.g., a monthly base data plan and an add-on streaming movie data plan subscription, where the latter has higher QoS than the base subscription and different spending limits. The subscriber’s data plan may be mapped to a policy group in the CCS or PCF or an integrated Policy & Charging architecture. Each data plan may e.g., be associated with their policy counters which maintain the consumption and / or the spending limits of the associated data plan. The policy group connects the different data plans provisioned on the subscriber to a set of policies i.e., policy rules. The policy group may also be called as product offerings in BSS. Each policy group has a different policy configuration to control the policy to be applied for a data session based on the data plan and spending limit i.e., policy counter status reported by the control node 132. The policy counter status comprises information related to crossing of a spending limit of a data plan by the subscriber.

[0100] A policy group represents a data plan e.g., 5G_data_plan which the subscriber has subscribed to.

[0101] It is an advantage for the network exposure node 131 to be aware of the data plan names for which the policy counter status will be reported by the control node 132 so that it can include the data plan name in its notification to the application server 133. The notification may e.g., be 5G Boost gold plan quota has finished. For this the network exposure node 131 may maintain the configuration of all the policy groups related to the respective data plans and their associated spending limit counters i.e., policy counters within itself. This may e.g., be achieved manually by the network exposure node 131 administrator configuring this mapping in a lookup table or via an automated mechanism such as a program which automatically pulls the data plan name and associated policy counter values from the control node 132. Some embodiments herein provide a way for any changes in the data plans and / or the policy counters in the control node 132 to also be reflected in the network exposure node 131.

[0102] The application server 133 may obtain the name of the data plan of interests from their subscribers or from the CSP. As mentioned above in Action 202, according to some example embodiments herein, the application server 133 may send event notification subscription request to the network exposure node 131. The event notification may comprise the subscriber identifiers such as e.g., MSISDN and optionally the data plan name for which they need to be notified for any policy counter changes. The application server 133 may also specify, as part of the request, the policy counter name that is of interest such as e.g., consumption quota counter status or monetary balance counter status. As mentioned above in Action 203, the network exposure node 131 may map the data plan name to the policy group identifier and the required policy counter from their configuration data. The policy group identifier identifies the data plan and the corresponding policy group to which the data plan belongs. As mentioned above in Action 205, according to some example embodiments herein, the network exposure node 131 may then send a SNR - Initial to the control node 132 to subscribe for spending limit notifications for this subscriber for the policy counter. The control node 132 may register the event notification subscription as mentioned in Action 302. Whenever the spending limit thresholds are crossed in the control node 132 for the corresponding policy counter, the control node 132 may send a notification to the network exposure node 131 specifying the policy counter value breached as mentioned in Action 208. The network exposure node 131 may then map as described in Action 210, that policy counter to the data plan name and policy counter name and then send an event notification to the application server 133 with information about data plan’s spending limit changes e.g., High Speed boost plan active or exhausted. The application server 133 may then act on this notification according to the business requirements.

[0103] According to some example embodiments herein, during the ongoing data session of the subscriber the control node 132 accumulates used units on one or multiple policy counters reported from the SMF or the User Plane Function (UPF) and monitors their related one or multiple spending limits. At reached limit as mentioned in Action 304, the control node 132 notifies the network exposure node 131 that the spending is over the limit. This notification may be sent using the SNR message comprising information about the policy group identifier, the policy counter identifier and the policy counter status indicating that spending is above limit. The network exposure node 131 then notifies the application server 133 about the change in the policy counter status as described in Action 211.

[0104] According to some example embodiments herein, when a policy counter is reset, at for instance a new billing cycle as mentioned in Action 304, the control node 132 notifies about the change to the network exposure node 131 using the SNR message. The notification comprises among other information the policy counter identifier and the policy counter status indicating that the spending is below limit.

[0105] The above-described actions are described below in details with examples. An example of embodiments herein is outlined in Figures 4a and 4b. Actions 401- 403 are depicted in Figure 4a, and Actions 404-408 are depicted in Figure 4b. The figure captures the integration between the network exposure node 131 and the control node

[0106] 132 for subscribing to notifications of changes in the data plan or the spending limit for a subscriber.

[0107] To resolve the data plan name and policy counter name request coming from the application server 133, the network exposure node 131 may maintain the mapping of the data plan name with the associated policy counters as is available in the control node 132. This mapping configuration may be created either manually or automatically as described earlier by obtaining information from the control node 132.

[0108] Action 401. The network exposure node 131 receives a first request from the application server 133.

[0109] This relates to Action 202 as described above. In this action, the application server

[0110] 133 triggers an Event Exposure interface of the network exposure node 131 to subscribe for event notifications related to change in the subscriber’s plan or spending limits i.e. , policy counter values. To perform this, the application server 133 sends a request with the request parameter comprising a subscriber identifier and optionally the data plan name and the policy counter name. If the data plan name and policy counter names are not provided, it means that the application server 133 is interested in changes to any one or more of the data plans associated with that subscriber and their corresponding policy counter.

[0111] Action 402. The network exposure node 131 maps the first request comprising the names to their corresponding identifiers.

[0112] This relates to Actions 203 and 204 as described above. In this action, the network exposure node 131 maps the optional data plan name and optional policy counter name received in the first request from the application server 133 to the corresponding policy group identifier and the policy counter identifier used in the control node 132. If the data plan name or policy counter name was not provided by the application server 133, it means that the application server 133 is interested in getting notified for any data plan and their policy counter changes for the subscriber.

[0113] Action 403. The network exposure node 131 sends a second request to the control node 132. This relates to Actions 205 and 301 as described above. In this action, the network exposure node 131 sends a Spending Limit Request - Initial (SLR-I) trigger to the control node 132.

[0114] Action 404. The control node 132 sends an acknowledgement to the network exposure node 131.

[0115] This relates to Actions 206 and 303 as described above. In this action, the control node 132 validates the SLR-I request and registers the subscription request from the network exposure node 131 as described in Action 302. The control node 132 then acknowledges to the network exposure node 131 of the successful registration.

[0116] Action 405. The network exposure node 131 sends an acknowledgement to the application server 133.

[0117] This relates to Action 207 as described above. In this action, the network exposure node 131 acknowledges the application server 133 of the event exposure subscription request confirming successful registration of the request.

[0118] Action 406. The control node 132 sends a notification to the network exposure node 131.

[0119] This relates to Actions 208 and 305 as described above. In this action, the control node 132 identifies the change in either the subscriber’s data plan and / or the spending limit i.e., policy counter values as described in Action 304 and triggers a SNR towards the network exposure node 131. It includes the policy group identifier, the policy counter identifier and the policy counter status in the SNR trigger. If no policy group and / or policy counter was specified in the SLR-I request, the control node 132 reports back to the network exposure node 131 any changes in any of the policy counters related to the subscriber.

[0120] Action 407. The network exposure node 131 maps the identifier to the corresponding names.

[0121] This relates to Actions 209 and 210 as described above. In this action, the network exposure node 131 maps the policy group identifier, the policy counter identifier to the required data plan name and policy counter name. Action 408. The network exposure node 131 sends a notification to the application server 133.

[0122] This relates to Action 211 as described above. In this action, the network exposure node 131 triggers the event notification to the application server 133. The event notification to the application server 133 comprises information about the data plan change and I or the policy counter status change i.e., spending limit status.

[0123] An example of embodiments herein is outlined in Figures 5a and 5b. Actions 501- 503 are depicted in Figure 5a, and Actions 504-508 are depicted in Figure 5b. The figure captures the integration between the network exposure node 131 and the control node

[0124] 132 system for subscribing to notifications of changes in the data plan or the spending limit for a subscriber. In this architecture the control node 132 is configured to return the status of only the policy counters while the policy group information is not included in the notification sent by the control node 132 to the network exposure node 131. The network exposure node 131 has to translate the policy counter identifier to the required data plan name and policy counter name using the policy counter configuration data maintained within the network exposure node 131.

[0125] Action 501. The network exposure node 131 receives a first request from the application server 133.

[0126] This relates to Action 202 as described above. In this action, the application server

[0127] 133 triggers the EventExposure interface of the network exposure node 131 to subscribe for event notifications related to change in spending limits i.e., policy counter values. To perform this, the application server 133 sends a request with the request parameter comprising a subscriber identifier and optionally the data plan name. If the data plan name is not provided, it means that the application server 133 is interested in changes to any one or more of the data plans associated with that subscriber and their corresponding policy counter.

[0128] Action 502. The network exposure node 131 maps the first request comprising the names to their corresponding identifiers.

[0129] This relates to Actions 203 and 204 as described above. In this action, the network exposure node 131 maps the data plan name, if provided in the first request from the application server 133, to the corresponding policy counters. Action 503. The network exposure node 131 sends a second request to the control node 132.

[0130] This relates to Actions 205 and 301 as described above. In this action, the network exposure node 131 sends a SLR-I to the control node 132 to subscribe to notifications of change of data plan or its policy counter for the given subscriber. The second request comprises the subscriber identifier and optionally the mapped policy counter identifier. If no policy counter identifier is provided in the second request, it means that the network exposure node 131 wants to be notified by the control node 132 of changes to any of the policy counters for that subscriber.

[0131] Action 504. The control node 132 sends an acknowledgement to the network exposure node 131.

[0132] This relates to Actions 206 and 303 as described above. In this action, the control node 132 validates the SLR-I request and stores the subscription request from the network exposure node 131 as described in Action 302. The control node 132 then acknowledges to the network exposure node 131 of the successful registration.

[0133] Action 505. The network exposure node 131 sends an acknowledgement to the application server 133.

[0134] This relates to Action 207 as described above. In this action, the network exposure node 131 acknowledges the application server 133 of the event exposure subscription request confirming successful event notification subscription for policy counters.

[0135] Action 506. The control node 132 sends a notification to the network exposure node 131.

[0136] This relates to Actions 208 and 305 as described above. In this action, the control node 132 identifies the change in either the subscriber’s data plan and / or the spending limit i.e., policy counter values as described in Action 304 and triggers a SNR towards the network exposure node 131. It includes the policy counter identifier and the policy counter status in the SNR trigger. If no policy counter was specified in the SLR-I request, the control node 132 reports back to the network exposure node 131 any changes in any of the policy counters related to the subscriber. Action 507. The network exposure node 131 maps the identifier to the corresponding names.

[0137] This relates to Actions 209 and 210 as described above. In this action, the network exposure node 131 maps the policy counter identifier to the required data plan name and policy counter name.

[0138] Action 508. The network exposure node 131 sends a notification to the application server 133.

[0139] This relates to Action 211 as described above. In this action, the network exposure node 131 reports the event back to the application server 133 notifying of change in the subscriber’s policy counter status.

[0140] The below scenarios describe the need for the application server 133 to be aware of the spending limits and the data plans of their subscriber’s communication service maintained with the CSP.

[0141] Scenario 1

[0142] An example scenario may comprise a company X that has 100 employees using an operator Y’s 5G connection with a data subscription. The employee may make use of their 5G enabled devices such as UE 121 for activities such as e.g., to participate in internal and external meetings and do real time collaboration. Seamless connectivity with good experience is essential for these activities. But company X may want to keep the subscriber’s data traffic resource consumption and the resulting costs in check since the company X pays for all the data usage made by their employees and pays their bills. In such a scenario, an internal limit on the data usage e.g., 20GB may be imposed by the company for each employee without barring the service if this limit exceeds. According to some example embodiments herein, in case the employee’s data usage exceeds this spending limit, company X may want to send a real time notification to the employee’s project manager for approval to extend the limit. Such a scenario may become more critical if the employee is at customer location or on roaming for a business travel. So, the company X may want to know the location of the employee to take a decision to extend the limit or not. Getting notified of both the employees location changes as well as the spending limit changes may be critical for the company X. In such a scenario, according to examples of embodiments herein, the application server 133 may request for event notification subscription for policy counter status changes for a subscriber to the network exposure node 131 which may translate the data plan name and / or policy counter names to data plan identifier and / or policy counter identifier and then network exposure node 131 sends the subscription request to the control node 132 which will then store the event subscription request for the subscriber.

[0143] Scenario 2

[0144] An example scenario may comprise a video streaming company that may want to provide video streaming services to its subscribers. The video streaming company may provide basic as well as premium i.e., high quality streaming services to their subscriber who stream videos on their SIM enabled devices such as e.g., UE 121. For their premium streaming services, the video streaming company may require their subscribers to have 5G enabled devices such as e.g., UE 121. Since the CSPs work based on fair data usage policy to throttle the data speed of their mobility subscribers, the experience of the video may be severely impacted when the subscriber goes above the data plan’s spending limit. In yet another scenario comprising a subscriber using premium streaming services provided by a video streaming company, if the subscriber’s location status changes to roaming, this might result in huge data roaming cost for the subscriber. To handle these gracefully during an ongoing video session, the company may want to be notified when either the location or the spending limits of their video streaming subscriber change. In such a scenario, according to examples of embodiments herein, the application server 133 may send the event notification subscription request for policy counter status change to the network exposure node 131 which may translate the counter names to the policy counter identifier and then send the requests for policy counter status change notification to the control node 132 which has the information about subscriber’s policy counter status. The control node 132 may then store the event notification subscription request

[0145] In both the above-described scenarios, the critical need from the application server 133 is to be notified of changes to the spending limit or the subscription plan of the subscriber from the 5G network. Embodiments herein provide a way for the application server 133 to accomplish the example scenarios mentioned above by being able to obtain the subscription information related to a subscriber such as e.g., data plan and spending limit on the data plan from the control node 132 through the network exposure node 131. To perform the method actions above, the network exposure node 131 is configured to assist an application server 133 to handle a data session for a subscriber in a communications network 100.

[0146] The network exposure node 131 may comprise an arrangement depicted in Figure 6. The network exposure node 131 may comprise an input and output interface 600 configured to communicate in the communications network 100, e.g., with the control node 132 and the application server 133. The input and output interface 600 may comprise a wireless receiver not shown, and a wireless transmitter not shown.

[0147] The network exposure node 131 is further configured to receive a first request, from an application server 133 to subscribe to changes of any one or more of: a data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber.

[0148] The network exposure node 131 is further configured to send a second request to a control node 132 to subscribe to notifications of changes related to any one or more of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber.

[0149] The network exposure node 131 is further configured to, when an acknowledgement to the second request is received from the control node 132, send to the application server 133 an acknowledgement to the first request for changes of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber.

[0150] The network exposure node 131 is further configured to, when a change has been identified e.g., by the control node 132 and a notification has been received from the control node 132 which notification is adapted to be a notification of a change of any one or more out of: the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, send to the application server 133 the notification of the change of any one or more out of: the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, enabling the application server 133 to handle a data session for the subscriber accordingly.

[0151] In some embodiments, the notification of the change is adapted to be received from the control node 132 when the policy counter value reaches a threshold configured for the associated data plan, which threshold is adapted to comprises one or more out of: spending limit of the data plan, predetermined value or a zero value.

[0152] In some embodiments, the network exposure node 131 is further configured to maintain the policy counter associated with a data plan for the subscriber.

[0153] In some embodiments, wherein the first request is adapted to comprise a name of the data plan, the network exposure node 131 is further being configured to: map the name of the data plan, with an identifier of the associated data plan, and / or an identifier of the associated policy counter, and wherein the identifier of the associated data plan, and / or the identifier of the associated policy counter are adapted to be included in the second request.

[0154] In some embodiments, wherein the first request is adapted to comprise a name of the policy counter, the network exposure node 131 further being configured to: map the name of the policy counter, with an identifier of the associated policy counter, and wherein the identifier of the associated policy counter is adapted to be included in the second request.

[0155] In some embodiments, wherein the notification from the control node 132 is adapted to comprise an identifier of the data plan, the network exposure node 131 further being configured to: map the identifier of the data plan, with a name of the associated data plan, and wherein the name of the associated data plan is adapted to be included in the notification sent to the application server 133.

[0156] In some embodiments, wherein the notification from the control node 132 is adapted to comprise an identifier of the policy counter, the network exposure node 131 further being configured to: map the identifier of the policy counters, with a name of the associated policy counter or a name of the associated data plan, and wherein the name of the associated policy counter and the name of the associated data plan are adapted to be included in the notification sent to the application server 133.

[0157] In some embodiments, the network exposure node 131 is represented by a Network Exposure Function, NEF.

[0158] To perform the method actions above, the control node 132 is configured to assist an application server 133, e.g., AF, to handle a data session for a subscriber in a communications network 100.

[0159] The control node 132 may comprise an arrangement depicted in Figure 7. The control node 132 may comprise an input and output interface 700 configured to communicate in the communications network 100, e.g., with the network exposure node 131 and the application server 133. The input and output interface 700 may comprise a wireless receiver not shown, and a wireless transmitter not shown. The control node 132 is further configured to receive a second request, from a network exposure node 131 to subscribe to notifications of changes related to any one or more of a data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber.

[0160] The control node 132 is further configured to send to the network exposure node 131 an acknowledgement to the second request for changes of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber.

[0161] The control node 132 is further configured to identify a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber.

[0162] The control node 132 is further configured to send to the network exposure node 131 a notification of a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber to be forwarded to the application server 133, enabling the application server 133 to handle a data session for the subscriber accordingly.

[0163] In some embodiments, the control node 132 is further being configured to send the notification of the change to the network exposure node 131 when the policy counter value reaches a threshold configured for the associated data plan, which threshold is adapted to comprise one or more out of: spending limit of the data plan, predetermined value or a zero value.

[0164] In some embodiments, the control node 132 is further being configured to register the subscriber and any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber as received from the network exposure node 131 in the second request.

[0165] In some embodiments, the control node 132 is represented by any one or more out of: a Converged Charging System, CCS, and Policy Control Function, PCF.

[0166] Embodiments herein may be implemented through a respective processor or one or more processors, such as the respective processor 610 of a processing circuitry in the network exposure node 131 depicted in Figure 6, and processor 710 of a processing circuitry in the control node 132 depicted in Figure 7 together with respective computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the respective network exposure node 131 and control node 132. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the respective network exposure node 131 and control node 132. The network exposure node 131 and control node 132 may further comprise a respective memory 620 and memory 720 comprising one or more memory units. The respective memory 620 and memory 720 comprises instructions executable by the processor in the respective network exposure node 131 and control node 132. The respective memory 620 and memory 720 are arranged to be used to store e.g., media functions, indications, tags, information, data, configurations, communication data, and applications to perform the methods herein when being executed in the respective network exposure node 131 and control node 132.

[0167] In some embodiments, a respective computer program 630 and computer program 730 comprises instructions, which when executed by the respective at least one processor 610 and processor 710, cause the at least one processor of respective network exposure node 131 and control node 132. to perform the actions above.

[0168] In some embodiments, a respective carrier 640 and carrier 740 comprises the respective computer program 630 and computer program 730, wherein the respective carrier 640 and carrier 740 is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0169] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that units in the respective network exposure node 131 and control node 132. described above may refer to a combination of analog and digital circuits, and / or one or more processors configured with software and / or firmware, e.g. stored in the respective network exposure node 131 and control node 132, that when executed by the respective one or more processors such as the processors described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuitry ASIC, or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC).

[0170] ADDITIONAL EXPLANATION

[0171] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0172] Figure 8 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments. In the example, the communication system QQ100 includes a telecommunication network QQ102 that includes an access network QQ104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network QQ106, which includes one or more core network nodes QQ108. The access network QQ104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes QQ110a and QQ110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes QQ110), or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network QQ102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network QQ102 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network QQ102, including one or more network nodes QQ110 and / or core network nodes QQ108.

[0173] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (0-Rll), an open distributed unit (0-Dll), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O- CLI-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1 , F1 , W1, E1 , E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes QQ110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 121, QQ112a, QQ112b, QQ112c, and QQ112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs QQ112) to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections. Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system QQ100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system QQ100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0174] The UEs QQ112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes QQ110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes QQ110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs QQ112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network QQ102 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network QQ102.

[0175] In the depicted example, the core network QQ106 connects the network nodes QQ110 to one or more hosts, such as host QQ116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network QQ106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node QQ108) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node QQ108. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier Deconcealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0176] The host QQ116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network QQ104 and / or the telecommunication network QQ102, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host QQ116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0177] As a whole, the communication system QQ100 of Figure 8 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0178] In some examples, the telecommunication network QQ102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network QQ102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network QQ102. For example, the telecommunications network QQ102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0179] In some examples, the UEs QQ112 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network QQ104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network QQ104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi- RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC). In the example, the hub QQ114 communicates with the access network QQ104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node QQ110b). In some examples, the hub QQ114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub QQ114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network QQ106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes QQ110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub QQ114. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub QQ114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub QQ114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub QQ114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0180] The hub QQ114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node QQ110b. The hub QQ114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub QQ114 and UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d), and between the hub QQ114 and the core network QQ106. In other examples, the hub QQ114 is connected to the core network QQ106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub QQ114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network QQ104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes QQ110 while still connected via the hub QQ114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node QQ110b. In other embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node QQ110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels. Figure 9 shows a UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes such as e.g. network exposure node 131 , control node 132 and application server 133 and / or other UEs, such as e.g., UE 121. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehiclemounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0181] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0182] The UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ202 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ204 to an input / output interface QQ206, a power source QQ208, a memory QQ210, a communication interface QQ212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 9. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0183] The processing circuitry QQ202 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory QQ210. The processing circuitry QQ202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry QQ202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0184] In the example, the input / output interface QQ206 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE QQ200. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0185] In some embodiments, the power source QQ208 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source QQ208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source QQ208 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE QQ200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source QQ208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source QQ208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE QQ200 to which power is supplied.

[0186] The memory QQ210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory QQ210 includes one or more application programs QQ214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data QQ216. The memory QQ210 may store, for use by the UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0187] The memory QQ210 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUlCC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory QQ210 may allow the UE QQ200 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory QQ210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0188] The processing circuitry QQ202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface QQ212. The communication interface QQ212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna QQ222. The communication interface QQ212 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter QQ218 and / or a receiver QQ220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter QQ218 and receiver QQ220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0189] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface QQ212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof.

[0190] Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0191] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface QQ212, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0192] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0193] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smartwatch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE QQ200 shown in Figure 9.

[0194] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0195] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0196] Figure 10 shows a network node QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O- RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0197] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0198] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi- cel l / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0199] The network node QQ300 includes a processing circuitry QQ302, a memory QQ304, a communication interface QQ306, and a power source QQ308. The network node QQ300 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node QQ300 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node QQ300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory QQ304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna QQ310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node QQ300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node QQ300.

[0200] The processing circuitry QQ302 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node QQ300 components, such as the memory QQ304, to provide network node QQ300 functionality.

[0201] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and the baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0202] The memory QQ304 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer- readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device- readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry QQ302. The memory QQ304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry QQ302 and utilized by the network node QQ300. The memory QQ304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry QQ302 and / or any data received via the communication interface QQ306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 and memory QQ304 is integrated.

[0203] The communication interface QQ306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface QQ306 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) QQ316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface QQ306 also includes radio front-end circuitry QQ318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna QQ310. Radio front-end circuitry QQ318 comprises filters QQ320 and amplifiers QQ322. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may be connected to an antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ320 and / or amplifiers QQ322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna QQ310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry QQ318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry QQ302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0204] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node QQ300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry QQ318, instead, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna QQ310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 is part of the communication interface QQ306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface QQ306 includes one or more ports or terminals QQ316, the radio front-end circuitry QQ318, and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface QQ306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry QQ314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0205] The antenna QQ310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna QQ310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna QQ310 is separate from the network node QQ300 and connectable to the network node QQ300 through an interface or port.

[0206] The antenna QQ310, communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna QQ310, the communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0207] The power source QQ308 provides power to the various components of network node QQ300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source QQ308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node QQ300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source QQ308. As a further example, the power source QQ308 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0208] Embodiments of the network node QQ300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 10 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node QQ300 and to allow output of information from the network node QQ300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node QQ300.

[0209] Figure 11 is a block diagram of a host QQ400, which may be an embodiment of the host QQ116 of Figure 8, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host QQ400 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and / or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host QQ400 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0210] The host QQ400 includes processing circuitry QQ402 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ404 to an input / output interface QQ406, a network interface QQ408, a power source QQ410, and a memory QQ412. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures QQ2 and QQ3, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host QQ400.

[0211] The memory QQ412 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs QQ414 and data QQ416, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host QQ400 or data generated by the host QQ400 for a UE. Embodiments of the host QQ400 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs QQ414 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAG, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs QQ414 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host QQ400 may select and / or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs QQ414 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0212] Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment QQ500 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O- Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface.

[0213] Applications QQ502 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0214] Hardware QQ504 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers QQ506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs QQ508a and QQ508b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs QQ508), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer QQ506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs QQ508.

[0215] The VMs QQ508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance QQ502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs QQ508, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0216] In the context of NFV, a VM QQ508 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs QQ508, and that part of hardware QQ504 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs QQ508 on top of the hardware QQ504 and corresponds to the application QQ502.

[0217] Hardware QQ504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ504 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ504 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration QQ510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ502. In some embodiments, hardware QQ504 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system QQ512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0218] Figure 13 shows a communication diagram of a host QQ602 communicating via a network node QQ604 with a UE QQ606 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE QQ112a of Figure 8 and / or UE QQ200 of Figure 9), network node (such as network node QQ110a of Figure 8 and / or network node QQ300 of Figure 10), and host (such as host QQ116 of Figure 8 and / or host QQ400 of Figure 11) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 13.

[0219] Like host QQ400, embodiments of host QQ602 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host QQ602 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host QQ602 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE QQ606 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection QQ650 extending between the UE QQ606 and host QQ602. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection QQ650.

[0220] The network node QQ604 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host QQ602 and UE QQ606. The connection QQ660 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network QQ106 of Figure 8) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0221] The UE QQ606 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE QQ606 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE QQ606 with the support of the host QQ602. In the host QQ602, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection QQ650 terminating at the UE QQ606 and host QQ602. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection QQ650 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection QQ650.

[0222] The OTT connection QQ650 may extend via a connection QQ660 between the host QQ602 and the network node QQ604 and via a wireless connection QQ670 between the network node QQ604 and the UE QQ606 to provide the connection between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606. The connection QQ660 and wireless connection QQ670, over which the OTT connection QQ650 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606 via the network node QQ604, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0223] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection QQ650, in step QQ608, the host QQ602 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE QQ606. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE QQ606 that shares data with the host QQ602 without explicit human interaction. In step QQ610, the host QQ602 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE QQ606. The host QQ602 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE QQ606. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE QQ606 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE QQ606. The transmission may pass via the network node QQ604, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step QQ612, the network node QQ604 transmits to the UE QQ606 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host QQ602 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step QQ614, the UE QQ606 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE QQ606 associated with the host application executed by the host QQ602.

[0224] In some examples, the UE QQ606 executes a client application which provides user data to the host QQ602. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host QQ602. Accordingly, in step QQ616, the UE QQ606 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input / output interface of the UE QQ606. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE QQ606 initiates, in step QQ618, transmission of the user data towards the host QQ602 via the network node QQ604. In step QQ620, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node QQ604 receives user data from the UE QQ606 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host QQ602. In step QQ622, the host QQ602 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE QQ606.

[0225] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE QQ606 using the OTT connection QQ650, in which the wireless connection QQ670 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the latency and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time.

[0226] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host QQ602. As another example, the host QQ602 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host QQ602 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host QQ602 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host QQ602 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host QQ602 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and / or transmitting data.

[0227] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection QQ650 between the host QQ602 and UE QQ606, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host QQ602 and / or UE QQ606. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection QQ650 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection QQ650 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node QQ604. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host QQ602. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection QQ650 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0228] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0229] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0230] When using the word "comprise" or “comprising” it shall be interpreted as nonlimiting, i.e. meaning "consist at least of".

[0231] The embodiments herein are not limited to the preferred embodiments described above. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A method performed by a network exposure node (131) for assisting an application server (133) in handling a data session for a subscriber in a communications network (100), the method comprising: receiving (202) a first request, from an application server (133) to subscribe to changes of any one or more of: a data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, sending (205) a second request to a control node (132) to subscribe to notifications of changes related to any one or more of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, when receiving (206) from the control node (132) an acknowledgement to the second request, sending (207) to the application server (133) an acknowledgement to the first request for changes of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, when receiving (208), from the control node (132) a notification of a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber when it has been identified e.g., by the control node (132) sending (211), to the application server (133) the notification of the change of any one or more out of: the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, enabling the application server (133) to handle a data session for the subscriber accordingly.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the notification of the change is received (208) from the control node (132) when the policy counter value reaches a threshold configured for the associated data plan, which threshold comprises one or more out of: spending limit of the data plan, predetermined value or a zero value.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: maintaining (201) a policy counter associated with a data plan for the subscriber.

4. The method according to any of the claims 1-3, wherein the first request comprises a name of the data plan, the method further comprising:mapping (203) the name of the data plan, with an identifier of the associated data plan, and / or an identifier of the associated policy counter, and wherein the identifier of the associated data plan, and / or the identifier of the associated policy counter are included in the second request.

5. The method according to any of the claims 1-4, wherein the first request comprises a name of the policy counter, the method further comprising: mapping (204) the name of the policy counter, with an identifier of the associated policy counter, and wherein the identifier of the associated policy counter is included in the second request.

6. The method according to any of the claims 1-5, wherein the notification from the control node (132) comprises an identifier of the data plan, the method further comprising: mapping (209) the identifier of the data plan, with a name of the associated data plan, and wherein the name of the associated data plan is included in the notification sent to the application server (133).

7. The method according to any of the claims 1-6, wherein the notification from the control node (132) comprises an identifier of the policy counter, the method further comprising: mapping (210) the identifier of the policy counters, with a name of the associated policy counter or a name of the associated data plan, and wherein the name of the associated policy counter and the name of the associated data plan are included in the notification sent to the application server (133).

8. A computer program (630) comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor (610), causes the processor (610) to perform actions according to any of the claims 1-7.

9. A carrier (640) comprising the computer program (630) of claim 8, wherein the carrier (640) is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagneticsignal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

10. A method performed by a control node (132) for assisting an application server (133) in handling a data session for a subscriber in a communications network (100), the method comprising: receiving (301) a second request, from a network exposure node (131), to subscribe to notifications of changes related to any one or more of a data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, sending (303), to the network exposure node (131), an acknowledgement to the second request for changes of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, identifying (304) a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, sending (305) to the network exposure node (131) a notification of a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber to be forwarded to the application server (133), enabling the application server (133) to handle a data session for the subscriber accordingly.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the sending (305) of the notification of the change to the network exposure node (131) is performed when the policy counter value reaches a threshold configured for the associated data plan, which threshold comprises one or more out of: spending limit of the data plan, predetermined value or a zero value.

12. The method according to any of the claims 10-11, the method further comprises. registering (302) the subscriber and any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, received from the network exposure node (131) in the second request.

13. A computer program (730) comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor (710), causes the processor (710) to perform actions according to any of the claims 10-12.

14. A carrier (740) comprising the computer program (730) of claim 13, wherein the carrier (740) is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagneticsignal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

15. A network exposure node (131) configured to assist an application server (133), e.g., AF, to handle a data session for a subscriber in a communications network (100), the network exposure node (131) further being configured to: receive a first request, from an application server (133) to subscribe to changes of any one or more of: a data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, send a second request to a control node (132) to subscribe to notifications of changes related to any one or more of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, when an acknowledgement to the second request is received from the control node (132) send to the application server (133) an acknowledgement to the first request for changes of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, when a change has been identified and a notification has been received from the control node (132) which notification is adapted to be a notification of a change of any one or more out of: the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, send to the application server (133) the notification of the change of any one or more out of: the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, enabling the application server (133) to handle a data session for the subscriber accordingly.

16. The network exposure node (131) according to claim 15, wherein the notification of the change is adapted to be received from the control node (132) when the policy counter value reaches a threshold configured for the associated data plan, which threshold is adapted to comprises one or more out of: spending limit of the data plan, predetermined value or a zero value.

17. The network exposure node (131) according to any of the claims 15-16, further being configured to: maintain the policy counter associated with a data plan for the subscriber.

18. The network exposure node (131) according to any of the claims 15-17, wherein the first request is adapted to comprise a name of the data plan, the network exposure node (131) further being configured to: map the name of the data plan, with an identifier of the associated data plan, and / or an identifier of the associated policy counter, and wherein the identifier of the associated data plan, and / or the identifier of the associated policy counter are adapted to be included in the second request.

19. The network exposure node (131) according to any of the claims 15-18, wherein the first request is adapted to comprise a name of the policy counter, the network exposure node (131) further being configured to: map the name of the policy counter, with an identifier of the associated policy counter, and wherein the identifier of the associated policy counter is adapted to be included in the second request.

20. The network exposure node (131) according to any of the claims 15-19, wherein the notification from the control node (132) is adapted to comprise an identifier of the data plan, the network exposure node (131) further being configured to: map the identifier of the data plan, with a name of the associated data plan, and wherein the name of the associated data plan is adapted to be included in the notification sent to the application server (133).

21. The network exposure node (131) according to any of the claims 15-20, wherein the notification from the control node (132) is adapted to comprise an identifier of the policy counter, the network exposure node (131) further being configured to: map the identifier of the policy counters, with a name of the associated policy counter or a name of the associated data plan, and wherein the name of the associated policy counter and the name of the associated data plan are adapted to be included in the notification sent to the application server (133).

22. The network exposure node (131) according to any of the claims 15-21 , wherein the network exposure node (131) is represented by a Network Exposure Function, NEF.

23. A control node (132) configured to assist an application server (133) to handle a data session for a subscriber in a communications network (100), the control node (132) further being configured to: receive a second request, from a network exposure node (131) to subscribe to notifications of changes related to any one or more of a data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, send to the network exposure node (131) an acknowledgement to the second request for changes of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber, identify a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber. send to the network exposure node (131) a notification of a change of any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber to be forwarded to the application server (133), enabling the application server (133) to handle a data session for the subscriber accordingly.

24. The control node (132) according to claim 23, further being configured to: send the notification of the change to the network exposure node (131) when the policy counter value reaches a threshold configured for the associated data plan, which threshold is adapted to comprise one or more out of: spending limit of the data plan, predetermined value or a zero value.

25. The control node (132) according to any of the claims 23-24, further being configured to: register the subscriber and any one or more out of the data plan and its associated policy counter for the subscriber as received from the network exposure node (131) in the second request.

26. The control node (132) according to any of the claims 23-25, wherein the control node (132) is represented by any one or more out of: a Converged Charging System, CCS, and Policy Control Function, PCF.

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