Method performed by a source provider network node for indicating to a consumer network node that provision of a network service is ended.

Abstract

Embodiments herein relate to, for example, a method performed by a source provider network node (120) for handling one or more network services in a communication network. The source provider network node (120) provides a network service to a consumer network node (110); and upon determining to end provision of the network service for the consumer network node (110), the source provider network node (120) transmits an indication to the consumer network node (110), wherein the indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended.

Description

[0001] SOURCE PROVIDER NETWORK NODE, CONSUMER NETWORK NODE AND METHODS PERFORMED THEREIN

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to a source provider network node, a consumer network node and methods performed therein regarding wireless communication. Furthermore, a computer program product and a computer readable storage medium are also provided herein. In particular, embodiments herein relate to handling network services in a communication network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In a typical communication network, user equipment (UE), also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (ST A) and / or wireless devices, communicate via a Radio Access Network (RAN) with one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cells, with each service area or cell being served by a radio network node such as an access node, e.g., a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be called, for example, a NodeB, a gNodeB, or an eNodeB. The service area or cell is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node operates on radio frequencies to communicate over an air interface with the UEs within range of the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over a downlink (DL) to the UE and the UE communicates over an uplink (UL) to the radio network node.

[0006] A Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation (3G) telecommunication network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and / or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for communication with user equipment. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for present and future generation networks and investigate e.g. enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g. as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. The RNCs are typically connected to one or more core networks.

[0007] Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP and coming 3GPP releases, such as New Radio (NR), are worked on. The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E-UTRAN / LTE is a 3GPP radio access technology wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network. As such, the Radio Access Network (RAN) of an EPS has an essentially “flat” architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more core networks.

[0008] With the emerging 5G technologies such as NR, the use of very many transmit- and receive-antenna elements may be of great interest as it makes it possible to utilize beamforming, such as transmit-side and receive-side beamforming. Transmit-side beamforming means that the transmitter can amplify the transmitted signals in a selected direction or directions, while suppressing the transmitted signals in other directions. Similarly, on the receive-side, a receiver can amplify signals from a selected direction or directions, while suppressing unwanted signals from other directions. NR is connected to the 5G Core Network (5GC) which comprises a number of Network Functions (NF) such as Session Management Function (SMF), User Plane Function (UPF), Access Management Function (AMF), Authentication Service Function (AUSF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Unified Data Manager (UDM), Network Repository Function (NRF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), just to mention some. In the 5GC, NFs can discover other NFs by using a discovery service provided by the Network Repository Function (NRF).

[0009] This disclosure handles change of provider / server role for a relationship established between two network entities, e.g., a service provider for an ongoing network service which has been established by a service consumer using a service-based interface (SBI), e.g., a subscription. Currently, change of provider for subscription-type of services could happen among NFs of the core network.

[0010] One approach used in 3GPP is that, when a new NF takes over the provider role from an old NF, the new NF obtains information about active subscriptions provided by the old NF when it retrieves the context from the old NF. One example is at registration where, if RAN cannot determine the (old) AMF of a UE, the RAN forwards the Registration Request to a new AMF which has been configured in RAN. The new AMF will determine the old AMF and will use the Namf_Communication_UEContextTransfer operation to retrieve the context of the UE in order to continue with the registration. If the old AMF was providing subscriptions associated to the UE, the new AMF needs to take over these subscriptions. In detail, the old AMF provides the list of the events which other CP NFs subscribed to as well as any information on how to send the corresponding notifications.

[0011] Another approach used in 3GPP is to use dedicated system operation. One example is considered in NWDAF specifications in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 23.288, shown in Fig. 1a. A consumer has one or more subscriptions established with a certain NWDAF provider (source). This source NWDAF provider could trigger an analytics subscription transfer to another (target) NWDAF provider invoking the Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Transfer operation, and the subscription transfer will include information on the Subscription Correlation ID(s) and the associated consumer. Finally, the target NWDAF provider can inform the analytics consumer about the successful analytics subscription transfer using a Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Notify message, including in this message the old Subscription Correlation ID(s) so that the consumer can correlate the new provider to the correct subscriptions.

[0012] In both approaches described above, it is the role of the new service provider to inform the service consumer that the subscription with the old provider is “transferred” to the new provider.

[0013] Another approach that could be used is instead for the service consumer to be informed about the unavailability of a service provider. This could be done by exploiting the “NF status” provided by the NRF. A NF X which consumes a service from NF Y can subscribe to “NF status” to NRF for NF Y. In this way, if e.g. NF Y is decommissioned and NF Y deregisters itself from NRF, NF X is notified by NRF about this event and consequently NF X will understand that NF Y can no longer be the provider of the services. In this approach, it is the consumer that has the responsibility of taking an action for being informed about changes in provider’s availability, i.e., subscribe to NF Status to NRF, and, in order to get such information, the consumer relies on a service of a third NF, i.e., NRF.

[0014] Currently as part of 6G research there are proposals for standardization of service-based interfaces (SBI) within the RAN and between RAN and CN network functions. As part of these ideas, it is possible that the CN-RAN relations will be modelled as the RAN functions consuming and / or providing different network services from / to the CN functions. The service interactions can use both request-response and subscribe-notify communication patterns. The latter pattern is particularly interesting since it allows to model UE-specific service interactions and more long- lasting relations between NFs as subscriptions. E.g., RAN functions can subscribe to updates on UE session related information from CN functions, while CN functions can subscribe to updates on UE state or mobility related information from RAN. In this disclosure, the focus is on services which RAN provides to CN functions. Examples of services that RAN could provide to CN functions could be:

[0015] UE session related information, e.g., change of admitted / supported quality of service (QoS) Flows, change to an Alternative QoS Profile for a certain UE / user plane session, etc;

[0016] UE capability related information;

[0017] Traffic or mobility related information, e.g., change of UE location information;

[0018] RAN-related network events and / or analytics;

[0019] UE-state related information;

[0020] - Etc.

[0021] Furthermore, there could be new services, e.g., sensing or computation offloading, which could create new relationships between the RAN and CN that should be updated in case of change of the RAN node serving a UE. In addition to introducing SBI, it is possible that in 6G, the RAN could take over some functionality currently provided by CN function, e.g., AMF, i.e., it could become the RAN’s responsibility to update multiple CN entities / NFs about inter-RAN node, or function, mobility, as well as updating other services towards the CN. This could be motivated as part of adopting SBI between RAN and core, with RAN providing services to several CN NFs.

[0022] A re-design of system procedures, leveraging on SBI and on design principles such as loose coupling and modularity among services, could bring to having permanent / semi-permanent relationships between RAN and CN in the form of subscription, see Fig. 1b. In case of mobility, i.e., a UE moves from a source to a target RAN node or function, the subscriptions established between the CN and the source RAN need to be re-established or transferred to the target RAN node or function (e.g., target base station). In Fig. 1b, the source RAN node or function is shown as S-RAN and the target RAN node or function is shown as T-RAN.

[0023] Fig. 1b shows a possible 6G architecture with service based interfaces between RAN and CN functions, showing that relations of service producer between RAN and CN are updated in case of RAN changes for a UE.

[0024] When focusing on the update of relations established between a RAN node or function and a CN function due to UE mobility, one should note that radio handovers (or other radio mobility) and associated RAN function change could happen quite frequently (e.g. for UEs moving along a road) for some UEs, hence one could expect that updates of relations established between RAN nodes or functions and a CN function could be more frequently compared to updates of relations between CN functions.

[0025] Furthermore, radio handover typically involves a preparation phase where the new RAN node or function is preparing resources for the incoming handover as well as transferring network service information. Depending on the service, it could be the case that both source and target RAN might have notifications to send to the service consumer. One example could be services such as “prediction of QoS fulfilment or achievable QoS”, where RAN provides in-advance notifications with information on whether QoS will be fulfilled or on which QoS / performance are predicted in a certain future time interval for a certain traffic. In this case, the source RAN could send notifications related to performance in the old cell meanwhile the target could start sending notifications related to performance in the new cell.

[0026] A last aspect to consider is that different RAN nodes or functions could support different sets of services. A situation could arise where there is a change of RAN node or function and the target does not support all services which the source RAN node or function was providing to CN function(s).

[0027] SUMMARY

[0028] As part of developing embodiments herein one or more problems have been identified. Issues arise in scenarios where changes of a service provider role could be more frequent and where it is not certain when and if a new entity will take over the provider role. For example, in a scenario with services provided by RAN, there might be cases when the handover fails, meaning that a new provider is not taking over the role of the old provider. Even if the radio handover is successful, it could be that the target RAN cannot take over the provider role towards the service consumer. This could happen, for instance, because the service is not supported by the target RAN or because target RAN being too loaded and it is not possible to provide a certain low-priority service. In a more general way, a target network entity which is supposed to take over the role of the old provider might in reality not be able to. With the current approaches, the consumer is informed only if a new provider successfully takes over the service from the old provider, and if it is the case, it is informed only when the new provider takes over. One problem with the current approach is that, for cases when the service is not transferred to a new provider, the consumer is not aware that the old provider will no longer provide the service. In fact, applying the current approach to this situation, there will not be a new provider contacting the consumer and the old provider will not generate notifications towards the consumer as it is not handling the UE anymore. Hence, the service consumer will interpret this situation as if the provider is still able to provide the subscriptions but, simply, there is nothing to be notified about.

[0029] This problem could be overcome by adopting some well-known mechanisms used in other signalling schemes, such as usage of keep-alive messages from the provider side, to indicate that the provider is still active when there are no service notifications for a long-time, and usage of expiration timers, consumer understands the provider is not active if it has not received a message or keep-alive for a certain time. But, although keep alive messages are considered for SBIs in the form of monitoring whether a connection is still alive via HTTP PING frame, where the standard currently mandates that a PING frame shall not be sent more often than every 60 seconds, these approaches would imply more signaling, i.e., keep-alive messages to be sent when there are no service information / notifications generated by the provider to all the associated consumers, new responsibilities for the consumer / provider pair and / or a delay in terms of when the consumer becomes aware that the service is not provided by the old provider.

[0030] Or another way to overcome the problem stated above could be that the consumer infers from other network information that the old provider cannot provide the service any longer. Currently, in 5G, this is applicable to the case of NRF informing the consumer if the provider has been decommissioned. Looking into possible evolutions towards 6G, it could be that other NFs could provide services to inform, e.g., that a UE is now associated to a different radio node or function. Overall, this approach has a problem of creating coupling between services, i.e., NF X relies on NF Z (e.g., NRF or another NF) to know that NF Y is no longer a provider. This is not desirable as it complicates the handling of, e.g., error cases. A further scenario to keep in mind that could be of relevance towards 6G is when both old and new providers are to provide the service (even for a limited time) to the consumer simultaneously. The current approach for transferring a service from an old to a new provider does not support this scenario, since a notification relevant to a certain service received from a new provider would be interpreted by the consumer as an indication that it will not be contacted any longer by the old provider, potentially bringing to the case of rejecting incoming notifications from the old provider.

[0031] An object of embodiments herein is to handle communication in a communication network in an efficient manner.

[0032] According to an aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a source provider network node for handling one or more network services in a communication network. The source provider network node provides a network service to a consumer network node. Upon determining to end provision of the network service for the consumer network node, the source provider network node transmits an indication to the consumer network node, wherein the indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended.

[0033] The source provider network node may determine to end the network service when the network service is to be or is transferred to a target provider network node.

[0034] The source provider network node may comprise a provider network function and the consumer network node may comprise a consumer network function. Furthermore, the network service may comprise an establishment of a relationship between the provider network function and the consumer network function. The relationship may comprise a subscription from the consumer network function to the provider network function for updates or changes, such as subscription to notifications of changes to status of information hosted at or obtained by the provider network function, or to events which are monitored by the provider network function, or to analytics generated by the provider function, where such subscriptions to the provider network function may be related to specific target objects like a specific UE and / or a specific network information.

[0035] According to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a consumer network node for handling one or more network services in a communication network. The consumer network node consumes a network service from a source provider network node. The consumer network node receives an indication from the source provider network node, wherein the indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended.

[0036] The consumer network node may consume the network service from a target provider network node in parallel with the source provider network node. It is furthermore provided herein a computer program comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods above, as performed by the source provider network node and the consumer network node, respectively. It is additionally provided herein a computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the methods above, as performed by the source provider network node and the consumer network node, respectively.

[0037] According to another aspect a source provider network node and a consumer network node are herein provided to be configured to perform the methods herein, respectively.

[0038] Thus, according to an aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a source provider network node for handling one or more network services in a communication network. The source provider network node is configured to provide a network service to a consumer network node. Upon determining to end provision of the network service for the consumer network node, the source provider network node is configured to transmit an indication to the consumer network node, wherein the indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended.

[0039] According to yet another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a consumer network node for handling one or more network services in a communication network. The consumer network node is configured to consume, i.e. , use, a network service from a source provider network node. The consumer network node is further configured to receive an indication from the source provider network node, wherein the indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended.

[0040] Embodiments herein provide a solution for cases when a service provider will no longer provide a network service, e.g., notifications, to the consumer which had previously subscribed to it. The indication, being explicit information, is sent by the source provider network node, providing the network service, to inform the consumer network node about ending the provision. This information may be seen as an indication of “end-of-service”, or “end-of-subscription”, or “end-of- notifications-from-this-provider”.

[0041] The embodiments herein provide one or more of the following advantages:

[0042] • The consumer network node is informed as soon as possible that the provider network node stopped providing the network service. In this way, the consumer network node is quickly informed about the change and may react based on its logic as soon as it is informed. This is quicker than relying on approaches like keep-alive or expiration timers or relying on information from other NFs about the status of the provider network node.

[0043] • The consumer network node is directly informed by the provider network node that the provider is stopping providing the service. Compared to approaches where this information is inferred from other network information and / or NFs, this approach does not create coupling among services, i.e., the consumer network node does not rely on a third NF to know the status of the provider it is associated to. This simplifies the handling of error cases.

[0044] • Possible to support new scenarios with notifications sent by multiple provider network nodes, e.g., old and new, to a consumer network node simultaneously, as the explicit information that one of the providers, e.g., the source, will stop providing notifications will overcome the issue that the consumer network node might reject notifications from an old provider network node when it gets notifications from a new provider network node. This also allows the consumer network node to synchronize information, e.g., arrange the order of messages, from different provider network nodes, as the consumer network node may become aware whether a certain provider network node is active or not.

[0045] • Possible to support cases where service provider network node might change frequently, e.g., for UE-related services provided by a RAN node or function, guaranteeing that the consumer network node is made aware in a timely manner about the status of service provisioning.

[0046] • Possible to support cases where services are not supported everywhere in the whole network. If a new service is introduced only in a certain area, there is no constraint to update the whole network for supporting such service as the service provider network node can directly inform the consumer network node about the status of service provisioning. This is related to the bullet above that embodiments herein may not create coupling among services, i.e., the consumer network node does not rely on a third NF to know the status of the provider it is associated to.

[0047] Thus, embodiments herein handle a network service in a communication network in an efficient manner.

[0048] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] Embodiments will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which:

[0050] Fig. 1a shows an analytics Subscription Transfer initiated by source NWDAF according to prior art;

[0051] Fig. 1b shows a possible 6G architecture with service based interfaces;

[0052] Fig. 2a is a schematic overview depicting a communication network according to embodiments herein;

[0053] Fig. 2b is a combined flowchart and signalling scheme according to embodiments herein; Fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart depicting a method performed by a source provider network node according to embodiments herein; Fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart depicting a method performed by a consumer network node according to embodiments herein;

[0054] Fig. 5a is a combined flowchart and signalling scheme according to some embodiments herein;

[0055] Fig. 5b is a combined flowchart and signalling scheme according to some embodiments herein;

[0056] Fig. 6 is a combined flowchart and signalling scheme according to some embodiments herein;

[0057] Fig. 7 is a block diagram depicting a source provider network node according to embodiments herein;

[0058] Fig. 8 is a block diagram depicting a consumer network node according to embodiments herein;

[0059] Fig. 9 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0060] Fig. 10 shows a UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0061] Fig. 11 shows a network node QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0062] Fig. 12 is a block diagram of a host QQ400, which may be an embodiment of the host QQ116 of Fig. 9, in accordance with various aspects described herein;

[0063] Fig. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized; and

[0064] Fig. 14 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.

[0065] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0066] Embodiments herein relate to communication networks in general. Fig. 2a is a schematic overview depicting a communication network 1 . The communication network 1 comprises one or more RANs, e.g. RAN1 and RAN2, and one or more CNs. The communication network 1 may use one or a number of different technologies. Embodiments herein relate to recent technology trends that are of particular interest in a NR context, however, embodiments are also applicable in further development of existing wireless communications systems such as e.g. LTE or WCDMA.

[0067] In the communication network 1 , one or more UEs such as a user equipment (UE) 10 exemplified herein as a wireless device such as a mobile station, a non-access point (non-AP) station (STA), a STA and / or a wireless terminal, are comprised communicating via e.g. one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. RAN, to one or more CNs. It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communications terminal, user equipment, narrowband internet of things (NB-loT) device, Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a small base station capable of communicating using radio communication with a radio network node within an area served by the radio network node.

[0068] The communication network 1 comprises a first radio network node 12, providing radio coverage over a geographical area, a first service area 11 or first cell, of a first radio access technology (RAT), such as NR, LTE, or similar. The first radio network node 12 may be a transmission and reception point such as an access node, an access controller, a base station, A NG-RAN node, e.g. a radio base station such as a gNodeB (gNB), an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), a NodeB, a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a NG-RAN-CU-UP node, base station router, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a standalone access point or any other network unit or node capable of communicating with a UE within the area served by the first radio network node depending e.g. on the first radio access technology and terminology used. The first radio network node communicates with the wireless device in form of DL transmissions to the wireless device and UL transmissions from the wireless device.

[0069] The communication network 1 comprises a second radio network node 13, providing radio coverage over a geographical area, a second service area 14 or second cell, of a second RAT, such as NR, LTE, or similar. The second radio network node 13 may be a transmission and reception point such as an access node, an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a gNodeB (gNB), an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), a NodeB, a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, a NG-RAN-CU-CP node, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a WLAN access point or an AP STA, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit or node capable of communicating with a wireless device within the area served by the second radio network node depending e.g. on the first radio access technology and terminology used. The second radio network node communicates with the UE in form of DL transmissions to the UE and UL transmissions from the UE.

[0070] It should be noted that a service area may be denoted as cell, beam, beam group or similar to define an area of radio coverage.

[0071] The first RAT may be the same RAT as the second RAT or the first RAT may be a different RAT than the second RAT.

[0072] The communication network 1 may further comprise a number of network nodes providing network functions (NF) or actually instantiations of NFs also referred to as NF instances, such as a first network node 15, for example, a AMF or a PCF, and a second network node 16 such as an SMF, or a second AMF or similar. The different NF instances may have different tasks. Other functions may be for LTE such as MME or similar. The respective node may be a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or processing resources in a server farm or same node. Embodiments herein may be implemented as physical bare metal, virtual or cloud native such as Kubernetes environment in, e.g., hyper-cloud networks.

[0073] According to embodiments herein a network service such as a subscription of updates and / or changes of a NF is established between a consumer network node 110 and a source provider network node 120. The consumer network node 110 may comprise the UE 10, the first or the second radio network node 12,13 or any of the network nodes. The source provider network node 120 may comprise any of the network nodes or the first or the second radio network node.

[0074] Thus, the consumer network node 110 consumes (subscribes) the network service from the source provider network node 120.

[0075] The network service may be handed over to a target provider network node 130. The target provider network node 130 may comprise any of the network nodes or the first or the second radio network node. This may be determined based on: mobility of the consumer network node 110, or the source / target provider network node; decommissioning of the source provider network node 120; updating software and / or version updates; and / or scaling in or out a capacity of the service.

[0076] The source provider network node 120 transmits an indication to the consumer network node 110, wherein the indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended.

[0077] Hence, the provision of the network service may proceed in parallel with one another or be ended by the source provider network node 120 after notifying the consumer network node 110.

[0078] In the remainder, the following terminology may be used:

[0079] • with “RAN” it is indicated a RAN node, e.g., a gNB or base station, or a function of a RAN entity, e.g., a control plane functionality such as central unit (CU) control plane (CP).

[0080] • “service” or “network service” is established between a provider, e.g., RAN, and a consumer, e.g., CN. For instance, a CN NF subscribing to a service provided by RAN, with the service being associated to a target object / resource such as a wireless device, e.g., UE, handled by the RAN. Nevertheless, embodiments herein are generic and possible to apply also in other cases, such as a RAN as consumer of a service provided by a CN NF, a CN NF as service provider and another CN NF as service consumer, etc . As part of this network service, the service provider provides the consumer with notifications, e.g., the service could be a subscription-based service where service-related information are notifications of events or analytics.

[0081] A service consumer may have a long-lasting relation with a service provider for a certain service, e.g., subscription-based service. Nevertheless, embodiments herein may be applied also to the case of request-response services. It is herein considered the case when there is a change of service provider for the network service, e.g., because of the change of RAN serving the UE if it is RAN providing a service which is associated to a UE. In this case, the first serving RAN might no longer provide the service to its consumer as the UE is now served by a second RAN. The case of change of provider due to handover is an example used in this disclosure. Nevertheless, change of service provider could happen for other reasons, such as decommissioning of the old provider, for software / version updates, due to scaling in or out the capacity of the service, etc.

[0082] Fig. 2b is a combined signalling scheme and flowchart depicting some embodiments herein.

[0083] Action 201. The consumer network node 110 consumes (uses) the network service from the source provider network node 120. Thus, the source provider network node 120 may provide such as a network service and notifying the consumer network node 110 of updates or changes of the source provider network node 120.

[0084] Action 202. The source provider network node 120 may determine to end and / or handover the network service to one or another provider network node such as the target provider network node 130. This may be determined based on: mobility of the consumer network node 110, or mobility of the source / target provider network node; decommissioning of the source provider network node 120; updating software and / or version updates; and / or scaling in or out a capacity of the network service.

[0085] Action 203. The source provider network node 120 may then perform an HO of the network service to the target provider network node 130.

[0086] Action 204. The consumer network node 110 may then consume (use) the network service from the target provider network node 130. Thus, the target provider network node 130 may provide such as the network service and notifying the consumer network node 110 of updates or changes of the target provider network node 120.

[0087] Action 205. The source provider network node 120 then transmits the indication to the consumer network node 110, wherein the indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended.

[0088] The method actions performed by the source provider network node 120, such as an NF node, for handling one or more network services in the communication network 1 according to embodiments will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 3. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below but may be taken in any suitable order. Dashed boxes indicate optional features.

[0089] Action 301. The source provider network node 120 provides the network service to the consumer network node 110. Action 302. The source provider network node 120 may determine to end the network service when the network service is to be or is transferred to the target provider network node 130. This may be determined based on: mobility of the consumer network node 110, or mobility of the source / target provider network node; decommissioning of the source provider network node 120; updating software and / or version updates; and / or scaling in or out a capacity of the network service.

[0090] Action 303. The source provider network node 120, upon determining to end provision of the network service for the consumer network node 110, transmits the indication to the consumer network node 100. The indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended.

[0091] The indication may be comprised in a message or in an information element. The indication may comprise one or more of the following parameters:

[0092] Service name;

[0093] Subscription ID;

[0094] Security token;

[0095] Service / Subscription target ID;

[0096] Time information;

[0097] Cause why the end of service has happened; and

[0098] Target information.

[0099] The indication may be transmitted upon receiving a confirmation of transferring the provision of the network service to the target provider network node 130.

[0100] It should be understood that the source provider network node 120 may comprise a provider network function and the consumer network node 110 may comprise a consumer network function. Furthermore, the network service may comprise the establishment of a relationship between the provider network function and the consumer network function. The relationship may comprise a subscription from the consumer network function to the provider network function for updates or changes, such as subscription to notifications of changes to status of information hosted at or obtained by the provider network function, or to events which are monitored by the provider network function, or to analytics generated by the provider function, where such subscriptions to the provider network function may be related to specific target objects like a specific UE and / or a specific network information.

[0101] Action 304. The source provider network node 120 may then stop or end provision of the network service. For example, upon receiving a confirmation from the target provider network node 130.

[0102] The method actions performed by the consumer network node 110, such as a RAN node or an NF node, for handling one or more network services in the communication network 1 according to embodiments will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 4. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below but may be taken in any suitable order. Dashed boxes indicate optional features.

[0103] Action 401. The consumer network node 110 consumes the network service from the source provider network node 120. That is, the consumer network node 110 uses the network service provided from the source provider network node 120.

[0104] Action 402. The consumer network node 110 may then consume the network service from the target provider network node 130 in parallel with the source provider network node 120.

[0105] Action 403. The consumer network node 110 receives the indication from the source provider network node 120, wherein the indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended. The indication may be comprised in a message or in an information element. The indication may comprise one or more of the following parameters:

[0106] Service name;

[0107] Subscription ID;

[0108] Security token;

[0109] Service I Subscription target ID;

[0110] Time information;

[0111] Cause why the end of service has happened; and

[0112] Target information.

[0113] Action 404. The consumer network node 110 may perform a network action related to the network service taking the indication into account. For example, the consumer network node 110 may accept notifications, until reception of the indication, from an old provider network node when it gets notifications from a new provider network node. This also allows the consumer network node 110 to synchronize information, e.g., arrange the order of messages, from different provider network nodes, as the consumer network node 110 may become aware whether a certain provider network node is active or not.

[0114] It should be understood that the source provider network node 120 may comprise a provider network function and the consumer network node 110 may comprise a consumer network function. Furthermore, the network service may comprise the establishment of a relationship between the provider network function and the consumer network function. The relationship may comprise a subscription from the consumer network function to the provider network function for updates or changes, such as subscription to notifications of changes to status of information hosted at or obtained by the provider network function, or to events which are monitored by the provider network function, or to analytics generated by the provider function, where such subscriptions to the provider network function may be related to specific target objects like a specific UE and / or a specific network information. Embodiments herein disclose that a service provider network node, i.e., the source provider network node 120, sends the indication, such as explicit information, to the consumer network node 110 to indicate that the service provider network node will no longer provide the network service which was previously established with the consumer network node 110. Herein the indication is also referred to as “end of service” information, and indicates that, for example, “Service X no longer provided”, or that “Subscription A to Service X is no longer provided”.

[0115] The indication may be sent to the consumer network node 110 in different ways:

[0116] • One possibility is to include it in an existing message, e.g., as part of a service notification. For instance, the source provider network node 120 sends a “Service X notification”, which includes the “end of service” information as new field (se last action in Fig. 5a). It could be a notification with a normal body, e.g., a last notification sent from the source provider network node 120 including event or analytics or other information related to the network service plus the “end of service” information. Or it could be a notification including only the “end of service” information, i.e., not carrying any other information.

[0117] • Another possibility is to use a specific message for this purpose. For instance, shown in Fig. 5b, the source provider network node 120 may send a new message “Service X End of service” to the consumer network node 110.

[0118] The indication or “end of service” information may include one or more fields, such as:

[0119] • Service name;

[0120] • Subscription identity (ID), e.g., correlation ID;

[0121] • Security token, e.g., exchanged at establishment of a subscription;

[0122] • Service / Subscription target, e.g., UE ID related to the network service;

[0123] • Time information, e.g., the service stops at specific time or the service stops after a communicated period of time. This could be a timer; service ends when timer expires.

[0124] • Cause, i.e., a reason why the end of service has happened: o No longer handling the service target object / resource, service not supported in the new handler (or provider); and / or o No longer handling the service target object / resource

[0125] • Optionally, the indication may comprise information, e.g., identity, Uniform Resource Locator (URL), of the new provider network node to make it possible for the consumer network node 110 to contact the new provider network node in case the network service is not supported by new provider network node. Or, alternatively, if the network service is transferred to the new provider network node, the consumer network node 110 can use this information to correlate or verify the service transfer. The sending of the indication may be triggered, considering the case of change of provider due to e.g., mobility of service target / UE, based on:

[0126] • When the source provider network node 120 becomes aware that it is no longer handling the target object / resource of the service, e.g., a UE, for example a source RAN which receives an “UE Context Release” message from a target RAN.

[0127] • When the source provider network node 120 becomes aware that the new provider network node of the target object / resource (e.g., UE) cannot provide the service previously established with the consumer. For example, the source provider network node 120 (source RAN) has information about which services are supported by its neighbors, e.g., via management or via neighbor discovery mechanisms, in this way the source provider network node 120 can know whether or not the target RAN which the UE 10 moves to can act as new provider. In another example, the source provider network node 120 can get explicit feedback whether or not the new handler, target provider network node 130, can provide the service, e.g., as part of information exchanged during handover (e.g., handover preparation phase). In this case, when sending the indication, the source provider network node 120 may set the cause flag to “No longer handling the target object / resource, service not supported in the new handler”.

[0128] • When the source provider network node 120 becomes aware of, as part of information exchanged during handover, that the new provider network node 130 of the service does not have enough resources to provide the service, i.e. , the service is supported by the new provider network node but it does not have the capacity right now.

[0129] An idea presented in this disclosure considers the scenarios where multiple providers can simultaneously provide a service to a consumer. In this scenario, the “end of service” information can be sent by one provider to inform the consumer that a particular provider will no longer provide the service, but other provider(s) will continue. In this scenario, the “end of service” information previously introduced is intended as “end-of-service-from-this-provider” or as “end-of-notifications- from-this-provider”, i.e., the service will continue to be provided, but by another provider. This scenario is shown in Fig. 6 considering the case of provider change due to handover, e.g., UE moving from a source to a target RAN and thus the consumer network node 110 being an NF change service provider RAN node. As an example, during handover preparation, the target provider network node 130 (target RAN) may start sending notifications to the consumer network node 110 in addition to the source provider network node 120 (source RAN), see action 61. This, allowing the consumer network node 110 to obtain notifications from both old and new providers. When handover is complete, see action 62, with the UE 10 being successfully moved to the new provider network node 130 (target RAN), the source provider network node 120 (source RAN) informs the consumer network node 110 about the “end of service” information, see action 63. In this way, the consumer network node 110 becomes aware that it should no longer expect notifications from the old provider network node 120, see action 64. In this case, when sending the indication, the source provider network node 120 could set the cause flag to “No longer handling the target object / resource”.

[0130] Considering the cases shown in Figs. 5a-5b and in Fig. 6, it is worth noting that in principle the “end of service” information can be sent by the (old) provider network node 120 regardless if a new provider network node 130 will take over the service or not. Also note that the end of service could be sent in either of the ways illustrated in fig. 5a-5b.

[0131] Please further note that an alternative to the “end of service” information as the indication is to instead have a “continuation of service” information as transmitted and not transmitting the continuation of service” information is the indication that the network service is no longer provided. This alternative can be applied to approaches where a consumer network node needs an explicit indication that a service to which it had previously subscribed is (successfully) transferred to a new provider.

[0132] Fig. 7 is a block diagram depicting the source provider network node 120 such as an NF node or a RAN node, for handling a network service in the communication network 1 according to embodiments will now be described

[0133] The source provider network node 120 may comprise processing circuitry 701 , e.g., one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0134] The source provider network node 120 and / or the processing circuitry 701 is configured to provide the network service to the consumer network node 110.

[0135] The source provider network node 120 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to determine to end the network service when the network service is to be or is transferred to the target provider network node 130. This may be determined based on: mobility of the consumer network node 110, or mobility of the source / target provider network node; decommissioning of the source provider network node 120; updating software and / or version updates; and / or scaling in or out a capacity of the network service.

[0136] The source provider network node 120 and / or the processing circuitry 701 is configured to, upon determining to end provision of the network service for the consumer network node 110, transmit the indication to the consumer network node 110. The indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended.

[0137] The indication may be comprised in a message or in an information element. The indication may comprise one or more of the following parameters:

[0138] Service name;

[0139] Subscription ID;

[0140] Security token; Service I Subscription target ID;

[0141] Time information;

[0142] Cause why the end of service has happened; and

[0143] Target information.

[0144] The indication may be transmitted upon receiving a confirmation of transferring the provision of the network service to the target provider network node 130.

[0145] It should be understood that the source provider network node 120 may comprise a provider network function and the consumer network node 110 may comprise a consumer network function. Furthermore, the network service may comprise the establishment of a relationship between the provider network function and the consumer network function. The relationship may comprise a subscription from the consumer network function to the provider network function for updates or changes, such as subscription to notifications of changes to status of information hosted at or obtained by the provider network function, or to events which are monitored by the provider network function, or to analytics generated by the provider function, where such subscriptions to the provider network function may be related to specific target objects like a specific UE and / or a specific network information.

[0146] The source provider network node 120 may comprise a memory 705. The memory 705 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, indications, messages, network service information, service messages, synchronization status, network information, session information, configurations, information, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the source provider network node 120 may comprise a communication interface 706 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0147] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the source provider network node 120 are respectively implemented by means of, e.g., a computer program product 707 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the source provider network node 120. The computer program product 707 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 708, e g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 708, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the source provider network node 120. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the source provider network node 120 for handling communication in a communication network, wherein the source provider network node 120 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said source provider network node 120 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0148] Fig. 8 is a block diagram depicting the consumer network node 110, such as an NF node or a RAN node, for handling a network service in the communication network 1 according to embodiments will now be described.

[0149] The consumer network node 110 may comprise processing circuitry 801 , e.g., one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0150] The consumer network node 110 and / or the processing circuitry 801 is configured to consume the network service from the source provider network node 120. That is, the consumer network node 110 and / or the processing circuitry 801 may be configured to use the network service provided from the source provider network node 120.

[0151] The consumer network node 110 and / or the processing circuitry 801 may be configured to consume the network service from the target provider network node 130 in parallel with the source provider network node 120.

[0152] The consumer network node 110 and / or the processing circuitry 801 is configured to receive the indication from the source provider network node 120, wherein the indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended. The indication may be comprised in a message or in an information element. The indication may comprise one or more of the following parameters:

[0153] Service name;

[0154] Subscription ID;

[0155] Security token;

[0156] Service I Subscription target ID;

[0157] Time information;

[0158] Cause why the end of service has happened; and

[0159] Target information.

[0160] The consumer network node 110 and / or the processing circuitry 801 may be configured to perform a network action related to the network service taking the indication into account, such as not expect notifications from the source provider network node 120.

[0161] It should be understood that the source provider network node 120 may comprise a provider network function and the consumer network node 110 may comprise a consumer network function. Furthermore, the network service may comprise the establishment of a relationship between the provider network function and the consumer network function. The relationship may comprise a subscription from the consumer network function to the provider network function for updates or changes, such as subscription to notifications of changes to status of information hosted at or obtained by the provider network function, or to events which are monitored by the provider network function, or to analytics generated by the provider function, where such subscriptions to the provider network function may be related to specific target objects like a specific UE and / or a specific network information.

[0162] The consumer network node 110 may comprise a memory 805. The memory 805 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, indications, messages, network service information, message information, synchronization status, network information, session information, configurations, information, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the consumer network node 110 may comprise a communication interface 806 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0163] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the consumer network node 110 are respectively implemented by means of, e.g., a computer program product 807 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the consumer network node 110. The computer program product 807 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 808, e g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 808, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the consumer network node 110. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the consumer network node 110 for handling communication in a communication network, wherein the consumer network node 110 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said consumer network node 110 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0164] In some embodiments a more general term “network node” or “radio network node” is used and it can correspond to any type of radio-network node or any network node, which communicates with a UE and / or with another network node.

[0165] In some embodiments the non-limiting term wireless device or user equipment (UE) is used and it refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and / or with another wireless device in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device to device (D2D) UE, proximity capable UE (aka ProSe UE), loT capable device, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles etc.

[0166] Embodiments are applicable to any RAT or multi-RAT systems, where the wireless device receives and / or transmit signals (e.g. data) e.g. NR, Wi-Fi, LTE, LTE-Advanced, 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.

[0167] As will be readily understood by those familiar with communications design, that functions means or circuits may be implemented using digital logic and / or one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other digital hardware. In some embodiments, several or all of the various functions may be implemented together, such as in a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or in two or more separate devices with appropriate hardware and / or software interfaces between them. Several of the functions may be implemented on a processor shared with other functional components of a wireless device or network node, for example.

[0168] Alternatively, several of the functional elements of the processing means discussed may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware, while others are provided with hardware for executing software, in association with the appropriate software or firmware. Thus, the term “processor” or “controller” as used herein does not exclusively refer to hardware capable of executing software and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware and / or program or application data. Other hardware, conventional and / or custom, may also be included. Designers of communications devices will appreciate the cost, performance, and maintenance trade-offs inherent in these design choices.

[0169] Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0170] Fig. 9 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0171] 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) being examples of the first radio network node 12 and second radio network node 13, or any other similar 3rdGeneration 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, being examples of the entities herein, 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.

[0172] 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-CU- 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 the user equipment (UE) 10, such as by connecting UEs 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.

[0173] 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) such as network node 15 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 De-concealing 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 Fig. 9 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).

[0180] 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.

[0181] 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 nondedicated 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.

[0182] Fig. 10 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 and / or other UEs. 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, vehicle-mounted 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.

[0183] 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). 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 10. 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.

[0184] 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).

[0185] 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.

[0186] 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.

[0187] 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 readonly 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.

[0188] 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.

[0189] 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. 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. 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), WCDMA, GSM, LTE, 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.

[0190] 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).

[0191] 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.

[0192] 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 10.

[0193] 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.

[0194] 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.

[0195] Fig. 11 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).

[0196] 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). 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-cell / 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).

[0197] 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.

[0198] 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.

[0199] 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.

[0200] 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.

[0201] 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.

[0202] 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).

[0203] 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 frontend 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.

[0204] 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.

[0205] 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.

[0206] Embodiments of the network node QQ300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 11 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. Fig. 12 is a block diagram of a host QQ400, which may be an embodiment of the host QQ116 of Figure 9, 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.

[0207] 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 10 and 11, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host QQ400.

[0208] 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 (WC), 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.

[0209] Fig. 13 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.

[0210] 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.

[0211] 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.

[0212] 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.

[0213] 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.

[0214] 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.

[0215] Fig. 14 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 9 and / or UE QQ200 of Figure 10), network node (such as network node QQ110a of Figure 9 and / or network node QQ300 of Figure 11), and host (such as host QQ116 of Figure 9 and / or host QQ400 of Figure 12) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 14.

[0216] 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.

[0217] 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 9) 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.

[0218] 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.

[0219] 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.

[0220] 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.

[0221] 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.

[0222] 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 transfer consumption of network services and thereby provide benefits such as better communication, better responsiveness, and / or better battery life.

[0223] 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.

[0224] 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. 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.

[0225] 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.

[0226] It will be appreciated that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings represent non-limiting examples of the methods and apparatus taught herein. As such, the apparatus and techniques taught herein are not limited by the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Instead, the embodiments herein are limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a source provider network node (120) for handling one or more network services in a communication network, the method comprising providing (301) a network service to a consumer network node (110); and upon determining to end provision of the network service for the consumer network node (110), transmitting (303) an indication to the consumer network node (110), wherein the indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining (302) to end the network service when the network service is to be or is transferred to a target provider network node (130).

3. The method according to any of the claims 1-2, wherein the indication is transmitted upon receiving a confirmation of transferring the provision of the network service to the target provider network node (130).

4. The method according to any of the claims 1-3, wherein the source provider network node (120) comprises a provider network function and the consumer network node (110) comprises a consumer network function, and furthermore the network service comprises a service providing a relationship between the provider network function and the consumer network function.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the network service comprises a subscription to notifications of updates or changes to information hosted at or obtained by the provider network function.

6. The method according to any of the claims 4-5, wherein the network service comprises a subscription to notifications of one or more network events monitored by the provider network function.

7. The method according to any of the claims 1-6, wherein the indication is comprised in a message or in an information element.

8. The method according to any of the claims 1-7, wherein the indication comprises one or more of the following parameters:• Service name;• Subscription ID;• Security token;• Service / Subscription target ID;• Time information;• Cause why the end of service has happened; and• Target information.

9. A method performed by a consumer network node (110) for handling one or more network services in a communication network, the method comprising: consuming (401) a network service from a source provider network node (120); and receiving (403) an indication from the source provider network node (120), wherein the indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising consuming (402) the network service from a target provider network node (130) in parallel with the source provider network node (120).

11. The method according to any of the claims 9-10, further comprising performing (404) a network action related to the network service taking the indication into account.

12. The method according to any of the claims 9-11 , wherein the source provider network node (120) comprises a provider network function and the consumer network node (110) comprises a consumer network function, and furthermore the network service comprises a service providing a relationship between the provider network function and the consumer network function.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the network service comprises a subscription to notifications of updates or changes to information hosted at or obtained by the provider network function.

14. The method according to any of the claims 12-13, wherein the network service comprises a subscription to notifications of one or more network events monitored by the provider network function.

15. The method according to any of the claims 9-14, wherein the indication is comprised in a message or in an information element.

16. The method according to any of the claims 9-15, wherein the indication comprises one or more of the following parameters:• Service name;• Subscription ID;• Security token;• Service / Subscription target ID;• Time information;• Cause why the end of service has happened; and• Target information.

17. A source provider network node (120) for handling one or more network services in a communication network, wherein the source provider network node (120) is configured to: provide a network service to a consumer network node (110); and upon determining to end provision of the network service for the consumer network node (110), transmit an indication to the consumer network node (110), wherein the indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended.

18. The source provider network node (120) according to claim 17, wherein the source provider network node (120) is configured to determine to end the network service when the network service is to be or is transferred to a target provider network node (130).

19. The source provider network node (120) according to any of the claims 17-18, wherein the indication is transmitted upon receiving a confirmation of transferring the provision of the network service to the target provider network node (130).

20. The source provider network node (120) according to any of the claims 17-19, wherein the source provider network node (120) comprises a provider network function and the consumer network node (110) comprises a consumer network function, and furthermore the network service comprises a service providing a relationship between the provider network function and the consumer network function.

21. The source provider network node (120) according to claim 20, wherein the network service comprises a subscription to notifications of updates or changes to information hosted at or obtained by the provider network function.

22. The source provider network node (120) according to any of the claims 20-21, wherein the network service comprises a subscription to notifications of one or more network events monitored by the provider network function.

23. The source provider network node (120) according to any of the claims 17-22, wherein the indication is comprised in a message or in an information element.

24. The source provider network node (120) according to any of the claims 17-23, wherein the indication comprises one or more of the following parameters:• Service name;• Subscription ID;• Security token;• Service / Subscription target ID;• Time information;• Cause why the end of service has happened; and• Target information.

25. A consumer network node (110) for handling one or more network services in a communication network, wherein the consumer network node (110) is configured to: consume a network service from a source provider network node (120); and receive an indication from the source provider network node (120), wherein the indication indicates that provision of the network service is ended.

26. The consumer network node (110) according to claim 25, wherein the consumer network node (110) is configured to: consume the network service from a target provider network node (130) in parallel with the source provider network node (120).

27. The consumer network node (110) according to any of the claims 25-26, wherein the consumer network node (110) is further configured to perform a network action related to the network service taking the indication into account.

28. The consumer network node (110) according to any of the claims 25-27, wherein the source provider network node (120) comprises a provider network function and the consumer network node comprises a consumer network function, and furthermore the network service comprises a service providing a relationship between the provider network function and the consumer network function.

29. The consumer network node (110) according to claim 28, wherein the network service comprises a subscription to notifications of updates or changes to information hosted at or obtained by the provider network function.

30. The consumer network node (110) according to any of the claims 28-29, wherein the network service comprises a subscription to notifications of one or more network events monitored by the provider network function.

31. The consumer network node (110) according to any of the claims 25-30, wherein the indication is comprised in a message or in an information element.

32. The consumer network node (110) according to any of the claims 25-31, wherein the indication comprises one or more of the following parameters:• Service name;• Subscription ID;• Security token;• Service / Subscription target ID;• Time information;• Cause why the end of service has happened; and• Target information.

33. A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the method according to any of the claims 1-16, as performed by the source provider network node (120) and the consumer network node (110), respectively.

34. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-16, as performed by the source provider network node (120) and the consumer network node (110), respectively.

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