Information processing device, base station, and information processing method

Abstract

This information processing device is connected to one or a plurality of core networks via a service-based interface, the information processing device comprising: a transmission unit that transmits, to the one or plurality of core networks, a request for QoS monitoring for data belonging to one application, and information pertaining to a traffic pattern of the data; and a timing control unit that controls a transmission timing of the data transmitted to a plurality of base stations via a function for processing a user plane of the one or plurality of core networks on the basis of information about a burst arrival time pertaining to each of the base stations as information about the burst arrival time of the data based on information pertaining to the traffic pattern, and information about the measurement results of the QoS monitoring pertaining to each of the plurality of base stations.

Description

Information processing device, base station, and information processing method

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device, a base station, and an information processing method.

[0002] Recent mobile networks (e.g., cellular networks such as 5G) require high communication performance (e.g., connection stability, low latency, high reliability, high throughput, power saving, low processing load, etc.). Among these, realizing stable, low-latency wireless transmission is a very important element for realizing new communication services that have emerged in recent years (e.g., device control in IoT, real-time communication in VR games and the Metaverse, etc.).

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2021-158486

[0004] However, with conventional technologies, it is difficult to provide high-quality communication services to users. For example, in cases where multiple users simultaneously receive communication services related to a single application (e.g., a competitive game or metaverse), it is required that services be provided uniformly to multiple users. However, with conventional technologies, it is difficult to provide uniform services to multiple users who are not in close proximity to each other.

[0005] Therefore, the present disclosure proposes an information processing device, a base station, and an information processing method that can provide high-quality communication services.

[0006] It should be noted that the above problem or object is merely one of multiple problems or objects that can be solved or achieved by multiple embodiments disclosed in this specification.

[0007] In order to solve the above problem, an information processing device of one form according to the present disclosure is an information processing device that connects to one or more core networks via a service-based interface, and includes: a transmitting unit that transmits a request for QoS monitoring for data belonging to one application and information related to the traffic pattern of the data to the one or more core networks; and a timing control unit that controls the transmission timing of the data to the base station via a function that processes the user plane of the one or more core networks, based on information on burst arrival times of the data based on the information related to the traffic pattern, the information on the burst arrival times for each of a plurality of base stations, and information on measurement results of the QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations.

[0008] 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of the present embodiment. A diagram for explaining an overview of the present embodiment. A diagram for explaining an overview of the present embodiment. A diagram for explaining a configuration of a communication system according to the present embodiment. A diagram for explaining an example configuration of a server according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A diagram for explaining a configuration of a management device according to the present embodiment. A diagram for explaining a configuration of a base station according to the present embodiment. A diagram for explaining a configuration of a terminal device according to the present embodiment. A diagram for explaining an example configuration of a 5GS architecture. A diagram for explaining an example configuration of an XR architecture in 5G. A diagram for explaining an example QoS architecture of 5GS. A diagram for explaining a standardized SST value. A diagram for explaining an example connection process in 5GS. A diagram for explaining an example PDU session establishment process. A diagram for explaining an example PDU session establishment process. A diagram for explaining an example process for reflecting an AF request in session routing. A diagram for explaining an example process for reflecting an AF request targeted at an individual UE 40 in a policy. A diagram for explaining an example process for setting up an AF session for requesting QoS. A diagram for explaining another example process for setting up an AF session for requesting QoS. A diagram for explaining an example of data burst distribution to multiple users in different PLMN operator environments. A diagram for explaining an example procedure for adaptive control of transmission timing. A diagram for explaining an example procedure for adaptive control of transmission timing. A diagram for explaining an example notification process of monitoring results. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of cooperative control processing of transmission timing according to an allowable time difference.

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, the same components are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0010] Additionally, in this description / specification, the phrase "at least one of" following a list of elements is understood to mean that the listed elements are optional. For example, "at least one of A, B, and C" means "(A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B, and C)." "At least one of A, B, or C" and "at least one of A, B, and / or C" are similar to "at least one of A, B, and C." Here, A, B, and C are all arbitrary expressions (e.g., words, phrases, clauses, terms, or items).

[0011] In addition, in this specification and drawings, multiple components having substantially the same functional configuration may be distinguished by adding different numbers to the same reference numeral. For example, multiple components having substantially the same functional configuration may be distinguished by adding different numbers to the same reference numerals to the terminal device 40 as needed. １ , 40 ２ , and 40 ３ However, when there is no need to particularly distinguish between multiple components having substantially the same functional configuration, only the same reference numerals are used. For example, the terminal device 40 １ , 40 ２ , and 40 ３ When there is no need to particularly distinguish between them, they will be simply referred to as terminal devices 40.

[0012] One or more embodiments (including examples and variations) described below can be implemented independently. However, at least a portion of the embodiments described below may be implemented in appropriate combination with at least a portion of another embodiment. These embodiments may include novel features that are different from one another. Therefore, these embodiments may contribute to solving different purposes or problems and may produce different effects.

[0013] <<1. Overview>> The first standard for the fifth-generation mobile communications system (so-called 5G) was formulated as Rel-15 in 2018. 5G is a wireless access technology that can support a variety of use cases, including eMBB (Enhanced Mobile Broadband), mMTC (Massive Machine Type Communications), and URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications).

[0014] 5G will enable new wireless communication services. For example, 5G will enable device control in IoT and real-time communication in games and VR. 4G has also seen the emergence of wearable devices compatible with VR (Virtual Reality), primarily for gaming use cases. However, with 4G, it is difficult to deliver video content that requires real-time wireless transmission due to latency and throughput issues.

[0015] For 5G, a technology extension called XR is being discussed to enable low-latency and stable distribution of media. Here, XR stands for Extended Reality or Cross Reality. XR includes AR (Augmented Reality), MR (Mixed Reality), and VR (Virtual Reality). In the following explanation, Extended Reality can be replaced with Cross Reality.

[0016] In applications such as competitive games and the Metaverse, multiple users simultaneously receive communication services related to a single application. In communication services for such applications, it is often expected that each user will decide their actions based on data (e.g., video information) received at the same time. Therefore, if there is a difference in the delay in the data reception timing, the QoE of each user will deteriorate. In other words, communication services for such applications are required to provide uniform services to multiple users.

[0017] As a technology for providing uniform services, Patent Document 1 (JP 2021-158486 A) discloses a technology that enables uniform services to be obtained within the same cell. Specifically, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which a control device acquires the relative positions of two terminal devices that have subscriptions with different public land mobile network (PLMN) operators, and switches the PLMN operator of one terminal device to the other PLMN operator so that services are provided via the same PLMN operator.

[0018] However, in applications such as competitive gaming and the Metaverse, there is a need to provide the same quality of experience (QoE) to multiple users who are not in close proximity to each other, so there may be cases where multiple users cannot obtain the same quality of service simply by switching PLMN operators.

[0019] Therefore, in this embodiment, the above problem is solved as follows.

[0020] 1 and 2 are diagrams for explaining an overview of this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the communication system of this embodiment includes an XR server, a core network, a plurality of base stations (a first base station and a second base station), and a plurality of XR devices (a first XR device and a second XR device).

[0021] The XR server is a server device that distributes data belonging to one application to multiple XR devices. For example, the XR server is a third-party server device located outside the core network and can include an AF (Application Function). In the example of FIG. 1, the data (data belonging to one application) that the XR server distributes to multiple XR devices is XR content data.

[0022] The XR devices are terminal devices such as AR devices, VR devices, and MR devices. A first XR device is worn by a user U1, and a second XR device is worn by a user U2. The first XR device is connected to an XR server via a first base station and a core network. The second XR device is connected to the XR server via a second base station and a core network.

[0023] The XR content may be, for example, a VR game and / or a metaverse. Note that the XR content is not limited to a VR game and / or a metaverse. The XR content may also be video content generated by calculating or processing 3D data (e.g., 3D spatial data and / or 3D object data) based on user viewpoint data. In the following description, the XR content may be referred to as XR media or XR media content.

[0024] The XR device of this embodiment is connected to the XR server via a wireless access network such as 5G. In the example of Fig. 1, the XR device is a head-mounted device, but it may also be a glasses-type device.

[0025] The XR server connects to one or more core networks via a service-based interface provided by a network function of the core network. For example, the XR server connects to one or more core networks via Nnef. Nnef is a service-based interface provided by a network exposure function (NEF) of the core network.

[0026] Then, the XR server transmits information related to the traffic pattern of the XR content data (data belonging to one application) to the core network. The information related to the traffic pattern includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, information on the burst departure time (BDT), which is the timing at which the XR server transmits the first packet of a data burst, and information on the periodicity. Here, the information on the burst transmission time may be information indicating the timing at which the first packet of the data burst arrives at the core network. In this case, the information on the burst transmission time may be a parameter named burst arrival time (BAT).

[0027] In addition, the XR server transmits a request for QoS monitoring for XR content data (data belonging to one application) to the core network. The QoS monitoring request includes, for example, a request for monitoring packet delay. QoS monitoring will be described later.

[0028] The core network obtains information on the traffic pattern of XR content data (data belonging to one application) and a request for QoS monitoring for the XR content data from the XR server.

[0029] Then, the core network generates information on burst arrival time (BAT) of XR content data for each of the plurality of base stations (first base station and second base station) based on the information related to the traffic pattern. For example, the core network generates first BAT information for the first base station and second BAT information for the second base station based on the information related to the traffic pattern. The BAT information is information included in assistance information notified to each of the plurality of base stations. The assistance information is, for example, TSC assistance information. The TSC assistance information will be described later.

[0030] The core network also acquires information on the measurement results of QoS monitoring. The measurement results of QoS monitoring are offset times relative to BAT (burst arrival time). The core network acquires the measurement results of each of the multiple base stations 30 as the measurement results of QoS monitoring. For example, the core network acquires the measurement results of a first base station and a second base station as the measurement results of QoS monitoring.

[0031] Here, the measurement result of the first base station is a first offset time indicating the difference between a first BAT included in the assistance information transmitted to the first base station and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst, and the measurement result of the second base station is a second offset time indicating the difference between a second BAT included in the assistance information transmitted to the second base station and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst.

[0032] Then, the core network transmits information on the BAT (information on the first BAT and information on the second BAT) and information on the measurement results of the QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations (information on the first offset time and information on the second offset time) to the XR server. The XR server acquires the information on the BAT and information on the measurement results of the QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations from the core network.

[0033] The XR server controls the transmission timing of data of the XR content to be transmitted to the base station via a user plane processing function of the core network based on BAT information (information on the first BAT and information on the second BAT) and information on the measurement results of QoS monitoring related to each of the plurality of base stations (information on the first offset time and information on the second offset time). Here, the user plane processing function is, for example, a UPF (User Plane Function) of the core network.

[0034] For example, the XR server calculates the offset (relative delay shown in FIG. 2) of the reception timing of the first packet of the data burst based on the first BAT, the second BAT, the first offset time, and the second offset time. Then, the XR server controls the transmission timing of the data of the XR content based on the calculated offset.

[0035] For example, the XR server changes either the first transmission timing of the data to be transmitted to the first XR device or the second transmission timing of the data to be transmitted to the first XR device. In the example of Figure 2, the XR server may delay the second transmission timing relative to the first transmission timing by the calculated offset (relative delay shown in Figure 2).

[0036] This allows the XR server to reduce the difference in arrival time of XR content data. As a result, the XR server can provide the same QoE (Quality of Experience) to multiple users who are not in close proximity to each other. As a result, the XR server can provide each user with a high-quality communication service (for example, a uniform communication service with little relative delay).

[0037] The outline of this embodiment has been described above, and the communication system 1 of this embodiment will now be described in detail.

[0038] <<2. Configuration of Communication System>> First, the configuration of the communication system 1 will be described.

[0039] 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a communication system 1 according to this embodiment. The communication system 1 includes a server 10, a management device 20, a base station 30, and a terminal device 40. The communication system 1 provides users with a wireless network (mobile network) that enables mobile communication by having the wireless communication devices that make up the communication system 1 operate in cooperation with each other.

[0040] The wireless network of this embodiment may be, for example, a cellular network composed of a radio access network RAN and a core network CN. The mobile network may include a terminal device 40. In this embodiment, the wireless communication device is a device having a wireless communication function. In the example of FIG. 3, the base station 30 and the terminal device 40 correspond to this.

[0041] The communication system 1 may include a plurality of servers 10, management devices 20, base stations 30, and terminal devices 40 respectively. In the example of FIG. 3, the communication system 1 includes the server 10 as the server 10 １ and the server 10 ２ and includes the management device 20 as the management device 20 １ and the management device 20 ２ and includes the base station 30 as the base station 30 １ the base station 30 ２ and the base station 30 ３ and includes the terminal device 40 as the terminal device 40 １ the terminal device 40 ２ and the terminal device 40 ３ and includes the terminal device 40. In the following description, the devices included in the communication system 1 may be referred to as network devices.

[0042] The terminal device 40 may be configured to connect to the network using a radio access technology (RAT: Radio Access Technology) such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), NR (New Radio), B5G (Beyond 5G), 6G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (registered trademark), etc. At this time, the terminal device 40 may be configured to be able to use different radio access technologies (wireless communication methods). For example, the terminal device 40 may be configured to be able to use NR and Wi-Fi. Also, the terminal device 40 may be configured to be able to use different cellular communication technologies (for example, LTE, NR, B5G, or 6G). In the following description, the terminal device 40 may be referred to as the UE (User Equipment) 40.

[0043] LTE and NR are types of cellular communication technologies that enable mobile communication for terminal devices by arranging multiple areas covered by base stations in the form of cells. 6G, also a type of cellular communication technology, has the potential to become a technology that enables mobile communication for terminal devices by arranging multiple areas covered by base stations in the form of cells.

[0044] In the following description, "LTE" includes LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), LTE-A Pro (LTE-Advanced Pro), and EUTRA (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access). NR includes NRAT (New Radio Access Technology) and FEUTRA (Further EUTRA). A single base station 30 may manage multiple cells. In the following description, a cell corresponding to LTE is referred to as an LTE cell, and a cell corresponding to NR is referred to as an NR cell.

[0045] NR is the next generation (5th generation) radio access technology after LTE (4th generation communications including LTE-Advanced and LTE-Advanced Pro). NR is a radio access technology that can support various use cases, including eMBB (Enhanced Mobile Broadband), mMTC (Massive Machine Type Communications), and URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications). NR was standardized in 3GPP (registered trademark) Rel-15 as a technical framework that corresponds to the usage scenarios, requirements, and deployment scenarios of these use cases. Furthermore, B5G (Beyond 5G) and 6G require the simultaneous realization of multiple axes of high speed, large capacity, low latency, high reliability, and multiple simultaneous connections.

[0046] 6G is the next generation of cellular communications technology, following NR and 5GS (5G system), which are fifth-generation mobile communications. 6G includes radio access technology and network technologies between base stations, core networks, and data networks. 6G also includes technologies for extreme connectivity, which were the main use cases or requirements of NR: eMBB, mMTC, and URLLC. 6G also includes new technologies in new areas. For example, 6G may include technologies related to AI (cognitive network, AI native air interface), sensing (including radar / RF sensing and network as a sensor), and terahertz communications.

[0047] The wireless network described above or below may correspond to at least one of radio access technologies (RATs) such as LTE, NR, B5G, and 6G. LTE, NR, and 6G are types of cellular communication technologies that enable mobile communication for terminal devices by arranging multiple areas covered by base stations in the form of cells. The wireless access method used by the communication system 1 is not limited to LTE, NR, B5G, and 6G, and may be other wireless access methods such as W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) and cdma2000 (Code Division Multiple Access 2000).

[0048] Furthermore, the base station 30 may be a terrestrial station or a non-terrestrial station. The non-terrestrial station may be a satellite station or an aircraft station. If the non-terrestrial station is a satellite station, the wireless network may be a bent-pipe (transparent) type mobile satellite communication system.

[0049] In this embodiment, terrestrial stations and terrestrial base stations refer to base stations and relay stations installed on the ground. Here, "terrestrial" refers to terrestrial in a broad sense, including not only land but also underground, on water, and underwater. In the following description, the term "terrestrial station" may be replaced with "gateway."

[0050] Note that an LTE base station may be referred to as an eNodeB (Evolved Node B) or eNB. An NR base station may be referred to as a gNodeB or gNB. A 6G base station may be referred to as a 6G NodeB (6GNB). In LTE, NR, and 6G, a terminal device (also referred to as a mobile station or terminal) may be referred to as a UE (User Equipment). Note that a terminal device is a type of communication device and is also referred to as a mobile station or terminal.

[0051] The terminal device 40 may be able to connect to a network using a wireless access technology (wireless communication method) other than LTE, NR, B5G, 6G, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth. For example, the terminal device 40 may be able to connect to a network using low power wide area (LPWA) communication. The terminal device 40 may also be able to connect to a network using proprietary wireless communication.

[0052] Here, LPWA communication refers to wireless communication that enables low-power, wide-area communication. For example, LPWA wireless refers to IoT (Internet of Things) wireless communication using a specific low-power radio (e.g., the 920 MHz band) or the ISM (Industry-Science-Medical) band. LPWA wireless may include LTE-M, which operates in the cellular frequency band, and / or C-IoT (Cellular IoT), represented by NB-IoT. The LPWA communication used by the terminal device 40 may conform to the LPWA standard. The LPWA standard may be, for example, at least one of ELTRES, ZETA, SIGFOX, LoRaWAN, LTE-M, and NB-IoT. Of course, the LPWA standard is not limited to these and may be another LPWA standard.

[0053] Each wireless communication device shown in Fig. 3 may be considered as a device in a logical sense, i.e., a part of each wireless communication device may be realized by a virtual machine (VM), a container such as Docker, or the like, and these may be physically implemented on the same hardware.

[0054] In this embodiment, the concept of a wireless communication device includes not only portable mobile devices (terminal devices) such as mobile terminals, but also devices installed in structures or mobile bodies. The structures or mobile bodies themselves may be considered wireless communication devices. Furthermore, the concept of a wireless communication device includes not only terminal devices 40 but also base stations 30. A wireless communication device is a type of processing device or information processing device. A wireless communication device can also be referred to as a transmitting device or a receiving device.

[0055] Below, we will explain in detail the configuration of each wireless communication device that makes up the communication system 1. Note that the configuration of each wireless communication device shown below is merely an example. The configuration of each wireless communication device may be different from the configuration shown below.

[0056] <2-1. Server Configuration> First, the configuration of the server 10 will be described.

[0057] The server 10 is an information processing device (computer) that provides various services to the terminal device 40. For example, the server 10 is an XR server that distributes XR content (XR media) such as XR video content to the terminal device 40. The server 10 is, for example, an application server (AS). In the following description, the server 10 may be referred to as the application server 10 or the AS 10.

[0058] The server 10 may be a web server, a PC server, a midrange server, or a mainframe server. The server 10 may also be an information processing device that performs data processing (edge ​​processing) near a user or a terminal. For example, the server 10 may be an information processing device (computer) attached to or built into a base station. The server 10 may also have a core network function. For example, the server 10 may be a device that functions as the management device 20. Of course, the server 10 may also be an information processing device that performs cloud computing. The server 10 of this embodiment can function as an application function.

[0059] The server 10 is connected to the management device 20 via a network N. Although only one network N is shown in the example of FIG. 3, there may be multiple networks N. Here, the network N is, for example, a public network such as the Internet. Note that the network N is not limited to the Internet, and may be, for example, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a cellular network, a fixed telephone network, or a regional Internet Protocol (IP) network. The network N may include a wired network or a wireless network.

[0060] 4 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of the server 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The server 10 includes a communication unit 11, a storage unit 12, and a control unit 13. The configuration illustrated in FIG. 4 is a functional configuration, and the hardware configuration may be different from this. Furthermore, the functions of the server 10 may be distributed and implemented in multiple physically separated configurations. For example, the server 10 may be configured by multiple information processing devices.

[0061] The communication unit 11 is a communication interface for communicating with other devices. For example, the communication unit 11 is a network interface. For example, the communication unit 11 is a LAN (Local Area Network) interface such as a NIC (Network Interface Card). The communication unit 11 may be a wired interface or a wireless interface. The communication unit 11 communicates with the management device 20, the base station 30, the terminal device 40, and other servers 10 under the control of the control unit 13.

[0062] The storage unit 12 is a data readable / writable storage device such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a flash memory, or a hard disk.

[0063] The control unit 13 is a controller that controls each component of the server 10. The control unit 13 may be implemented by a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a microprocessing unit (MPU). Specifically, the control unit 13 may be implemented by a processor executing various programs stored in a storage device within the management device 20 using a random access memory (RAM) or the like as a work area. The control unit 13 may be implemented by an integrated circuit such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The control unit 13 may also be implemented by a graphics processing unit (GPU). A CPU, an MPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, and a GPU can all be considered controllers. The control unit 13 may be configured by multiple physically separated entities. For example, the control unit 13 may be configured by multiple semiconductor chips.

[0064] The control unit 13 includes at least one block of an acquisition unit 131, a transmission unit 132, a generation unit 133, and a timing control unit 134. Each block (acquisition unit 131 to timing control unit 134) constituting the control unit 13 is a functional block that indicates the function of the control unit 13. These functional blocks may be software blocks or hardware blocks. For example, each of the above-mentioned functional blocks may be a software module realized by software (including a microprogram), or may be a circuit block on a semiconductor chip (die). Of course, each functional block may be a processor or an integrated circuit. The control unit 13 may be configured by functional units different from the above-mentioned functional blocks. The method of configuring the functional blocks is arbitrary.

[0065] <2-2. Configuration of Management Device> Next, the configuration of the management device 20 will be described.

[0066] The management device 20 is an information processing device (computer) that manages the wireless network. For example, the management device 20 is an information processing device that manages communication of the base station 30.

[0067] The management device 20 may be a device constituting a core network CN. For example, the management device 20 may be a device having a function as an MME (Mobility Management Entity). The management device 20 may also be a device having a function as an AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) and / or an SMF (Session Management Function). The MME, AMF, and SMF are control plane network function nodes in the core network CN. The management device 20 may be a device having a function as a control plane network function (6G CPNF) in 6G. The 6G CPNF may be composed of one or more logical nodes.

[0068] Of course, the functions of the management device 20 are not limited to MME, AMF, SMF, and 6G CPNF. The management device 20 may be a device having functions as a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), an Authentication Server Function (AUSF), a Policy Control Function (PCF), and a Unified Data Management (UDM). Furthermore, the management device 20 may be a device having functions as a Home Subscriber Server (HSS).

[0069] The management device 20 may have a gateway function. For example, the management device 20 may have a function as an S-GW (Serving Gateway) or a P-GW (Packet Data Network Gateway). The management device 20 may also have a function as a UPF (User Plane Function). In this case, the management device 20 may have multiple UPFs. The management device 20 may also be a device that has a function as a 6G User Plane Network Function (6G UPNF).

[0070] The core network CN is composed of multiple network functions, and each network function may be consolidated into one physical device or distributed across multiple physical devices. In other words, the management device 20 may be distributed across multiple devices. Furthermore, this distributed distribution may be controlled so that it is executed dynamically. The base station 30 and the management device 20 form a single network, providing wireless communication services to terminal devices 40. The management device 20 is connected to the Internet, and the terminal devices 40 can use various services provided via the Internet via the base station 30.

[0071] The management device 20 does not necessarily have to be a device that constitutes the core network CN. For example, assume that the core network CN is a core network of W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) or cdma2000 (Code Division Multiple Access 2000). In this case, the management device 20 may be a device that functions as an RNC (Radio Network Controller).

[0072] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the management device 20 according to this embodiment. The management device 20 includes a communication unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a control unit 23. The configuration shown in Fig. 5 is a functional configuration, and the hardware configuration may be different from this. Furthermore, the functions of the management device 20 may be statically or dynamically distributed and implemented in multiple physically separated configurations. The management device 20 may also be configured by multiple server devices.

[0073] The communication unit 21 is a communication interface for communicating with a wireless communication device (e.g., base station 30). The communication unit 21 may be a network interface or a device connection interface. The communication unit 21 may be a LAN (Local Area Network) interface such as a NIC (Network Interface Card), or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface configured by a USB host controller or a USB port. The communication unit 21 may be a wired interface or a wireless interface. The communication unit 21 is controlled by the control unit 23.

[0074] The storage unit 22 is a readable and writable storage device such as a DRAM, an SRAM, a flash memory, or a hard disk. The storage unit 22 stores, for example, the connection state of the terminal device 40. The storage unit 22 stores the state of the RRC (Radio Resource Control) of the terminal device 40 and the state of the ECM (EPS Connection Management) or the 5G System CM (Connection Management). The storage unit 22 may function as a home memory that stores location information of the terminal device 40.

[0075] The control unit 23 is a controller that controls each unit of the management device 20. The control unit 23 may be realized by a processor such as a CPU or MPU. In particular, the control unit 23 may be realized by a processor executing various programs stored in a storage device inside the management device 20 using RAM or the like as a work area. The control unit 23 may be realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC or FPGA. The control unit 23 may also be realized by a GPU. A CPU, MPU, ASIC, FPGA, and GPU can all be considered controllers. The control unit 23 may be composed of multiple physically separated objects. For example, the control unit 23 may be composed of multiple semiconductor chips.

[0076] The control unit 23 includes at least one block of an acquisition unit 231, a transmission unit 232, a generation unit 233, and a timing control unit 234. Each block (acquisition unit 231 to timing control unit 234) constituting the control unit 23 is a functional block that indicates the function of the control unit 23. These functional blocks may be software blocks or hardware blocks. For example, each of the above-mentioned functional blocks may be a software module realized by software (including a microprogram), or may be a circuit block on a semiconductor chip (die). Of course, each functional block may be a processor or an integrated circuit. The control unit 23 may be configured as a functional unit different from the above-mentioned functional blocks. The method of configuring the functional blocks is arbitrary.

[0077] <2-3. Configuration of Base Station> Next, the configuration of the base station 30 will be described.

[0078] The base station 30 is a wireless communication device that performs wireless communication with other wireless communication devices (e.g., terminal devices 40 or other base stations 30). The base station 30 may perform wireless communication with the terminal devices 40 via a relay station, or may perform wireless communication directly with the terminal devices 40.

[0079] The base station 30 is a device equivalent to a radio base station (such as a base station, Node B, eNB, gNB, or 6GNB) or a radio access point. The base station 30 may be a radio relay station. The base station 30 may be an optical device called a remote radio head (RRH). The base station 30 may be a receiving station such as a field pickup unit (FPU). The base station 30 may be an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor node or an IAB relay node that provides radio access lines and radio backhaul lines using time division multiplexing, frequency division multiplexing, or space division multiplexing.

[0080] The wireless access technology used by the base station 30 may be cellular communication technology. The wireless access technology used by the base station 30 may be wireless LAN technology. The wireless access technology used by the base station 30 may be low-power wide-area (LPWA) communication technology. However, the wireless access technology used by the base station 30 is not limited to these and may be other wireless access technologies. The wireless communication used by the base station 30 may be wireless communication using millimeter waves or wireless communication using terahertz waves. The wireless communication used by the base station 30 may be wireless communication using radio waves or wireless communication using infrared or visible light (optical wireless). Furthermore, the base station 30 may be capable of NOMA (Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access) communication with the terminal device 40. Here, NOMA communication refers to communication (transmission, reception, or both) using non-orthogonal resources. Note that the base station 30 may be capable of NOMA communication with other base stations 30.

[0081] The base station 30 may be able to communicate with the core network via a base station-core network interface (e.g., NG Interface, S1 Interface, etc.). This interface may be either wired or wireless. The base station may also be able to communicate with other base stations via an inter-base station interface (e.g., Xn Interface, X2 Interface, F1 Interface, etc.). This interface may be either wired or wireless.

[0082] The concept of a base station (also called a "base station device") includes not only a donor base station but also a relay base station (also called a "relay station"). A relay base station may be any one of an RF Repeater, a Smart Repeater, and an Intelligent Surface. The concept of a base station includes not only a structure with base station functions but also equipment installed in the structure.

[0083] Examples of structures include high-rise buildings, houses, steel towers, station facilities, airport facilities, port facilities, office buildings, school buildings, hospitals, factories, commercial facilities, stadiums, and other buildings. The concept of a structure includes not only buildings, but also non-building structures such as tunnels, bridges, dams, fences, and steel pillars, as well as equipment such as cranes, gates, and wind turbines. The concept of a structure includes not only land (ground in the narrow sense) or underground structures, but also water-based structures such as piers or megafloats, and underwater structures such as ocean observation facilities. A base station can also be referred to as an information processing device.

[0084] The base station 30 may be a donor station or a relay station (relay station). The base station 30 may also be a fixed station or a mobile station. A mobile station is a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station) configured to be mobile. In this case, the base station 30 may be a device installed in a mobile body, or may be the mobile body itself. For example, a relay station with mobility can be considered a base station 30 as a mobile station. Furthermore, devices that are inherently mobile and have base station functionality (at least part of the base station functionality), such as vehicles, UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) represented by drones, and smartphones, also fall under the category of a base station 30 as a mobile station.

[0085] Here, the mobile body may be a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a mobile phone. The mobile body may be a mobile body that moves on land (ground in the narrow sense) (e.g., a vehicle such as an automobile, bicycle, bus, truck, motorcycle, train, or linear motor car), or a mobile body that moves underground (e.g., in a tunnel) (e.g., a subway). The mobile body may also be a mobile body that moves on water (e.g., a ship such as a passenger ship, cargo ship, or hovercraft), or a mobile body that moves underwater (e.g., a submersible vessel such as a submersible boat, submarine, or unmanned submersible). The mobile body may also be a mobile body that moves in the atmosphere (e.g., an aircraft such as an airplane, airship, or drone).

[0086] The base station 30 may be a terrestrial base station (ground station) installed on the ground. The base station 30 may be a base station located on a structure on the ground, or a base station installed on a mobile object moving on the ground. The base station 30 may be an antenna installed on a structure such as a building and a signal processing device connected to that antenna. The base station 30 may be the structure or the mobile object itself. "Ground" refers not only to land (ground in the narrow sense) but also to ground, on water, and underwater in a broad sense. The base station 30 is not limited to a terrestrial base station. If the communication system 1 is a satellite communication system, the base station 30 may be an aircraft station. From the perspective of a satellite station, an aircraft station located on Earth is a ground station.

[0087] The base station 30 is not limited to a ground station. The base station 30 may be a non-terrestrial base station device (non-terrestrial station) that can float in the air or space. The base station 30 may be an aircraft station or a satellite station.

[0088] A satellite station is a satellite station capable of floating outside the atmosphere. The satellite station may be a device mounted on a space vehicle such as an artificial satellite, or may be the space vehicle itself. A space vehicle is a vehicle that moves outside the atmosphere. The space vehicle may be at least one of an artificial satellite, a spacecraft, a space station, and a probe. Of course, the space vehicle may also be an artificial celestial body other than these. Note that a satellite that serves as a satellite station may be any of a low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellite, a medium Earth orbiting (MEO) satellite, a geostationary Earth orbiting (GEO) satellite, or a highly elliptical orbiting (HEO) satellite. The satellite station may be a device mounted on a low Earth orbiting (LEO), a medium Earth orbiting (MEO), a geostationary Earth orbiting (GEO), or a highly elliptical orbiting (HEO) satellite.

[0089] An aircraft station is a wireless communication device capable of floating in the atmosphere of an aircraft or the like. The aircraft station may be a device mounted on the aircraft or the like, or may be the aircraft itself. The concept of aircraft includes not only heavier-than-air vehicles such as airplanes and gliders, but also lighter-than-air vehicles such as balloons and airships. The concept of aircraft includes not only heavier-than-air vehicles or lighter-than-air vehicles, but also rotorcraft such as helicopters and autogyros. The aircraft station, or an aircraft equipped with an aircraft station, may be an unmanned aerial vehicle such as a drone.

[0090] The concept of unmanned aerial vehicles also includes unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and tethered unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The concept of unmanned aerial vehicles also includes lighter than air UAS (LTA) and heavier than air UAS (HTA). The concept of unmanned aerial vehicles also includes high altitude unmanned aerial system platforms (HAPs).

[0091] The coverage size of the base station 30 may be relatively large, such as a macrocell, or relatively small, such as a picocell. The coverage size of the base station 30 may be extremely small, such as a femtocell. The base station 30 may have a beamforming function. The base station 30 may form a cell or service area for each beam. Additionally or alternatively, in addition to beamforming, which imparts directionality to the beam, the base station 30 may have a function for pinpointing a desired wave to a specific point by further considering distance information from the antenna of the base station 30. This function may be called beam focusing or point forming. The base station 30 may also be configured to acquire detection data by performing sensing using the beam.

[0092] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of a base station 30 according to this embodiment. The base station 30 includes a wireless communication unit 31, a storage unit 32, and a control unit 33. However, the configuration shown in Fig. 6 is a functional configuration, and the hardware configuration may be different. Furthermore, the functions of the base station 30 may be distributed and implemented in multiple physically separated units.

[0093] It should be noted that the base station 30 does not necessarily have to include all of the components described above or below, and may also include components other than the components described above or below.

[0094] The wireless communication unit 31 is a signal processing unit for wireless communication with other wireless communication devices (e.g., at least one of the terminal device 40 and another base station 30). The wireless communication unit 31 may be referred to as a wireless transceiver or simply as a transceiver. In this case, the wireless communication unit 31 may be a transceiver (hereinafter referred to as a 3GPP transceiver) conforming to the specifications defined in the Technical Specification (TS) of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The 3GPP transceiver may be a 3G transceiver, a 4G (LTE) transceiver, a 5G (NR) transceiver, or a transceiver of a generation after 5G. The wireless communication unit 31 is controlled by the control unit 33. The wireless communication unit 31 supports one or more wireless access methods. The wireless communication unit 31 may support at least one of NR, LTE, B5G (Beyond 5G), and 6G. The wireless communication unit 31 may support W-CDMA, cdma2000, etc. in addition to NR, LTE, B5G, and 6G. The wireless communication unit 31 may support automatic retransmission techniques such as HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest). Some or all of the processing performed by the wireless communication unit 31 may be performed by the control unit 33.

[0095] The wireless communication unit 31 includes a transmission processing unit 311, a reception processing unit 312, and an antenna 313. Alternatively, at least one of the transmission processing unit 311, the reception processing unit 312, and the antenna 313 may be considered as the wireless communication unit 31. The wireless communication unit 31 may include a plurality of transmission processing units 311, a plurality of reception processing units 312, and a plurality of antennas 313. When the wireless communication unit 31 supports a plurality of wireless access methods, each unit of the wireless communication unit 31 may be configured individually for each wireless access method. The transmission processing unit 311 and the reception processing unit 312 may be configured individually for LTE, NR, B5G, and 6G. The antenna 313 may be configured with a plurality of antenna elements, for example, a plurality of patch antennas. The wireless communication unit 31 may have a beamforming function. For example, the wireless communication unit 31 may have a polarization beamforming function using vertical polarization (V polarization) and horizontal polarization (H polarization) (or a polarization beamforming function using dual polarization in polarization directions of 45 degrees and -45 degrees from the vertical direction).

[0096] The transmission processing unit 311 performs transmission processing of the downlink control information and downlink data. For example, the transmission processing unit 311 encodes the downlink control information and downlink data input from the control unit 33 using a coding method such as block coding, convolutional coding, or turbo coding. Here, the encoding may be performed using polar codes or low density parity check codes (LDPC codes). The transmission processing unit 311 then modulates the coded bits using a predetermined modulation method (e.g., BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM, or a higher-order multi-level modulation method). In this case, the signal points on the constellation do not necessarily need to be equidistant. The constellation may also be a non-uniform constellation (NUC). The transmission processing unit 311 then multiplexes the modulation symbols of each channel and the downlink reference signal and allocates them to predetermined resource elements. The transmission processing unit 311 then performs various signal processing on the multiplexed signal. For example, the transmission processing unit 311 performs processes such as conversion to the frequency domain by fast Fourier transform, addition of a guard interval (cyclic prefix), generation of a baseband digital signal, conversion to an analog signal, quadrature modulation, up-conversion, removal of unnecessary frequency components, power amplification, etc. The signal generated by the transmission processing unit 311 is transmitted from an antenna 313.

[0097] The reception processing unit 312 processes the uplink signal received via the antenna 313. For example, the reception processing unit 312 performs downconversion, removal of unnecessary frequency components, control of amplification level, quadrature demodulation, conversion to a digital signal, removal of guard intervals (cyclic prefixes), extraction of frequency domain signals by fast Fourier transform, and the like on the uplink signal. The reception processing unit 312 then separates uplink channels such as a PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) and a PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) and an uplink reference signal from the signal that has undergone these processes. The reception processing unit 312 also demodulates the received signal using a modulation method such as Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) or Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) for the modulation symbols of the uplink channel. The modulation method used for demodulation may be 16QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), 64QAM, or 256QAM. In this case, the signal points on the constellation do not necessarily have to be equidistant. The constellation may be a non-uniform constellation (NUC). The reception processing unit 312 then performs decoding processing on the coded bits of the demodulated uplink channel. The decoded uplink data and uplink control information are output to the control unit 33.

[0098] The antenna 313 is an antenna device that converts electric current and radio waves into each other. The antenna 313 may be composed of a single antenna element, for example, a single patch antenna. The antenna 313 may be composed of multiple antenna elements, for example, multiple patch antennas. When the antenna 313 is composed of multiple antenna elements, the wireless communication unit 31 may have a beamforming function. The wireless communication unit 31 may be configured to generate a directional beam by controlling the directivity of a wireless signal using the multiple antenna elements. The antenna 313 may be a dual-polarized antenna. When the antenna 313 is a dual-polarized antenna, the wireless communication unit 31 may use vertical polarization (V polarization) and horizontal polarization (H polarization) (or dual polarization with polarization directions at 45 degrees and -45 degrees from the vertical direction) when transmitting a wireless signal. The wireless communication unit 31 may control the directivity of a wireless signal transmitted using vertical polarization and horizontal polarization (or dual polarization with polarization directions at 45 degrees and -45 degrees from the vertical direction). Furthermore, the wireless communication unit 31 may transmit and receive spatially multiplexed signals via multiple layers each consisting of multiple antenna elements.

[0099] The storage unit 32 is a readable and writable storage device such as a DRAM, an SRAM, a flash memory, or a hard disk.

[0100] The control unit 33 is a controller that controls each unit of the base station 30. The control unit 33 controls the wireless communication unit to perform wireless communication with other wireless communication devices (e.g., terminal devices 40 or other base stations 30). The control unit 33 may be implemented by a processor such as a CPU or MPU. Specifically, the control unit 33 may be implemented by a processor executing various programs stored in a storage device inside the base station 30 using RAM or the like as a work area. The control unit 33 may be implemented by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC or FPGA. The control unit 33 may also be implemented by a GPU. A CPU, MPU, ASIC, FPGA, and GPU can all be considered controllers. The control unit 33 may be composed of multiple physically separated objects. For example, the control unit 33 may be composed of multiple semiconductor chips.

[0101] The control unit 33 includes at least one block of an acquisition unit 331, a transmission unit 332, a generation unit 333, and a timing control unit 334. Each block (acquisition unit 331 to timing control unit 334) constituting the control unit 33 is a functional block that indicates the function of the control unit 33. These functional blocks may be software blocks or hardware blocks. For example, each of the above-mentioned functional blocks may be a software module realized by software (including a microprogram), or may be a circuit block on a semiconductor chip (die). Of course, each functional block may be a processor or an integrated circuit. The control unit 33 may be configured by functional units different from the above-mentioned functional blocks. The method of configuring the functional blocks is arbitrary.

[0102] In some embodiments, the base station 30 may be configured as a collection of multiple physical or logical devices. As an example, the base station 30 of this embodiment may be divided into multiple devices such as a baseband unit (BBU) and a radio unit (RU). The base station 30 may be interpreted as a collection of these multiple devices. Furthermore, the base station may be either a BBU or an RU, or may be both. The BBU and the RU may be connected by a predetermined interface such as an enhanced Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI).

[0103] The RU may be referred to as an RRU (Remote Radio Unit) or an RD (Radio DoT). The RU may correspond to a gNB-DU (gNB Distributed Unit) described later. The BBU may correspond to a gNB-CU (gNB Central Unit) described later. The RU may be a device integrally formed with an antenna. The antenna of the base station 30, for example, an antenna integrally formed with the RU, may employ an Advanced Antenna System and support MIMO such as FD-MIMO or beamforming. The antenna of the base station 30 may have, for example, 64 transmitting antenna ports and 64 receiving antenna ports.

[0104] The antenna mounted on the RU may be an antenna panel consisting of one or more antenna elements, and the RU may be equipped with one or more antenna panels. The RU may be equipped with two types of antenna panels, a horizontally polarized antenna panel and a vertically polarized antenna panel. The RU may be equipped with two types of antenna panels, a right-handed circularly polarized antenna panel and a left-handed circularly polarized antenna panel, or an antenna panel with a polarization direction at 45 degrees from the vertical direction and an antenna panel with a polarization direction at -45 degrees from the vertical direction. Multiple antennas with these multiple polarization directions may be mounted on a single antenna panel. The RU may form and control an independent beam for each antenna panel.

[0105] A plurality of base stations 30 may be connected to each other. One or more base stations 30 may be included in a radio access network (RAN). In this case, the base station 30 may be simply referred to as a RAN, a RAN node, an AN (Access Network), an AN node, or the like. The RAN in LTE may be called an Enhanced Universal Terrestrial RAN (EUTRAN). The RAN in NR may be called an NGRAN. Furthermore, the RAN in 6G may be called a 6GRAN. The RAN in W-CDMA (UMTS) may be called a UTRAN.

[0106] An LTE base station 30 may be referred to as an eNodeB (Evolved Node B) or eNB. In this case, the EUTRAN includes one or more eNodeBs (eNBs). An NR base station 30 may be referred to as a gNodeB or gNB. In this case, the NGRAN includes one or more gNBs. A 6G base station may be referred to as a 6GNodeB, 6gNodeB, 6GNB, or 6gNB. In this case, the 6GRAN includes one or more 6GNBs. The EUTRAN may include a gNB (en-gNB) connected to a core network (EPC) in an LTE communication system (EPS). The NGRAN may include an ng-eNB connected to a core network 5GC in a 5G communication system (5GS).

[0107] When the base station 30 is an eNB, gNB, 6GNB, or the like, the base station 30 may be referred to as a 3GPP access. When the base station 30 is a wireless access point, the base station 30 may be referred to as a non-3GPP access. The base station 30 may be a radio extension device called an RRH (Remote Radio Head). When the base station 30 is a gNB, the base station 30 may be a combination of the gNB-CU and gNB-DU described above, or may be either a gNB-CU or a gNB-DU.

[0108] Here, the gNB-CU hosts multiple upper layers (e.g., RRC (Radio Resource Control), SDAP (Service Data Adaptation Protocol), PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol)) of the access stratum for communication with the UE. On the other hand, the gNB-DU hosts multiple lower layers (e.g., RLC (Radio Link Control), MAC (Medium Access Control), PHY (Physical layer)) of the access stratum. That is, among the messages / information described below, RRC signaling (semi-static notification) is generated by the gNB-CU, while MAC The CE and DCI (dynamic notification) may be generated by the gNB-DU. Alternatively, some configurations of the RRC configuration (semi-static notification), such as IE:cellGroupConfig, may be generated by the gNB-DU, and the remaining configurations may be generated by the gNB-CU. These configurations may be transmitted and received over the F1 interface described below.

[0109] The base station 30 may be configured to be able to communicate with other base stations. When multiple base stations 30 are eNBs or a combination of eNBs and en-gNBs, these base stations 30 may be connected via an X2 interface. When multiple base stations 30 are gNBs or a combination of gn-eNBs and gNBs, these base stations 30 may be connected via an Xn interface. When multiple base stations 30 are a combination of gNB-CUs and gNB-DUs, these base stations 30 may be connected via the F1 interface described above. Messages / information (e.g., RRC signaling, MAC Control Element (CE), or Downlink Control Information (DCI)) described below may be transmitted between multiple base stations 30 via, for example, the X2 interface, the Xn interface, or the F1 interface.

[0110] A cell provided by the base station 30 may be referred to as a serving cell. The concept of a serving cell includes a PCell (Primary Cell) and an SCell (Secondary Cell). When dual connectivity is provided to the terminal device 40, the PCell and zero or more SCells provided by a Master Node (MN) may be referred to as a Master Cell Group. The dual connectivity may be at least one of EUTRA-EUTRA Dual Connectivity, EUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (ENDC), EUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity with 5GC, NR-EUTRA Dual Connectivity (NEDC), NR-NR Dual Connectivity, NR-6G Dual Connectivity, and 6G-NR Dual Connectivity. Of course, dual connectivity is not limited to these.

[0111] The serving cell may include a PSCell (Primary Secondary Cell or Primary SCG Cell). When dual connectivity is provided to the terminal device 40, the PSCell provided by a Secondary Node (SN) and zero or more SCells may be referred to as a Secondary Cell Group (SCG). Unless special configuration (e.g., PUCCH on SCell) is performed, the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) is transmitted by the PCell and PSCell but not by the SCell. Radio link failure is detected by the PCell and PSCell but not (does not need to be detected by) the SCell. As such, the PCell and PSCell play special roles among serving cells and are therefore also referred to as Special Cells (SpCells).

[0112] One cell may be associated with one downlink component carrier and one uplink component carrier. The system bandwidth corresponding to one cell may be divided into multiple BWPs (Bandwidth Parts). In this case, one or multiple BWPs may be configured in the terminal device 40, and one BWP may be used by the terminal device 40 as an active BWP. Radio resources available to the terminal device 40, such as a frequency band, numerology (subcarrier spacing), or slot format, may differ for each cell, component carrier, or BWP.

[0113] 2-4. Configuration of Terminal Device Next, the configuration of the terminal device 40 will be described.

[0114] The terminal device 40 is a wireless communication device (e.g., User Equipment (UE)) that performs wireless communication with another wireless communication device (e.g., a base station 30 or another terminal device 40). In the following description, the terminal device 40 may be referred to as the UE 40.

[0115] The terminal device 40 is typically an XR device such as an AR (Augmented Reality) device, a VR (Virtual Reality) device, or an MR (Mixed Reality) device. In this case, the XR device may be a glasses-type device such as AR glasses or MR glasses, or a head-mounted device such as a VR head-mounted display. When the terminal device 40 is an XR device, the terminal device 40 may be a standalone device consisting only of a part worn by a user (e.g., a glasses part). Alternatively, the terminal device 40 may be a terminal-linked device consisting of a part worn by a user (e.g., a glasses part) and a terminal part (e.g., a smart device) linked to the part worn by a user.

[0116] As described above, the terminal device 40 is typically an XR device such as an AR device, a VR device, or an MR device. However, the terminal device 40 is not limited to an XR device. Any type of information processing device (computer) can be used as the terminal device 40. For example, the terminal device 40 may be a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, a smart device (smartphone or tablet), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or a notebook PC. The terminal device 40 may also be an imaging device (e.g., a camcorder) equipped with a communication function. The terminal device 40 may also be a motorcycle or a mobile broadcast vehicle equipped with a communication device such as an FPU (Field Pickup Unit). The terminal device 40 may also be an M2M (Machine to Machine) device or an IoT (Internet of Things) device. The terminal device 40 may also be a wearable device such as a smartwatch.

[0117] The terminal device 40 may be capable of NOMA communication with the base station 30. The terminal device 40 may be able to use an automatic repeat technique such as HARQ when communicating with the base station 30. The terminal device 40 may be capable of sidelink communication with another terminal device 40. The terminal device 40 may be able to use an automatic repeat technique such as HARQ when performing sidelink communication. The terminal device 40 may be capable of NOMA communication when performing sidelink communication with another terminal device 40. The terminal device 40 may be capable of LPWA communication with other wireless communication devices such as the base station 30. The wireless communication used by the terminal device 40 may be wireless communication using millimeter waves. The wireless communication used by the terminal device 40, including sidelink communication, may be wireless communication using radio waves, or wireless communication using infrared or visible light, i.e., optical wireless.

[0118] The terminal device 40 may be a mobile wireless communication device, i.e., a mobile device. The terminal device 40 may be a wireless communication device installed in a mobile device, or may be the mobile device itself. The terminal device 40 may be a vehicle that moves on a road, such as an automobile, bus, truck, or motorcycle, or a train that runs on a track, or may be a wireless communication device mounted on the vehicle. The mobile device may be a mobile terminal, or a mobile device that moves on land (in the narrow sense of the word), underground, on water, or underwater. The mobile device may also be a mobile device that moves within the atmosphere, such as an airplane, airship, balloon, or helicopter, or a mobile device that moves outside the atmosphere, such as an artificial satellite. The mobile device may also be a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) such as a drone. The terminal device 40 may also be a wireless communication device mounted on the mobile device.

[0119] The terminal device 40 may be capable of simultaneously connecting to and communicating with a plurality of base stations 30 or a plurality of cells. When one base station 30 supports a communication area through a plurality of cells (e.g., pCell or sCell), the plurality of cells can be bundled together to enable communication between the base station 30 and the terminal device 40 by using carrier aggregation (CA) technology, dual connectivity (DC) technology, multi-connectivity (MC) technology, or the like. Alternatively, communication between the terminal device 40 and the plurality of base stations 30 can also be achieved via cells of different base stations 30 by coordinated multi-point transmission and reception (CoMP) technology.

[0120] The terminal device 40 may be a relay terminal that relays communications to a remote terminal.

[0121] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of a terminal device 40 according to this embodiment. The terminal device 40 includes a wireless communication unit 41, a storage unit 42, a control unit 43, an input unit 44, an output unit 45, and a sensor unit 46. The configuration shown in Fig. 7 is a functional configuration, and the hardware configuration may be different from this. Furthermore, the functions of the terminal device 40 may be distributed and implemented in multiple physically separated components.

[0122] It should be noted that the terminal device 40 does not necessarily have to have all of the configurations described above or below. For example, the terminal device 40 may not have at least one of the input unit 44, the output unit 45, and the sensor unit 46. The base station 30 may also have a configuration other than the configurations described above or below. The terminal device 40 may have a beamforming function. The terminal device 40 may also be configured to acquire detection data by performing sensing using beams.

[0123] The wireless communication unit 41 is a signal processing unit for wireless communication with other wireless communication devices (e.g., a base station 30 or another terminal device 40). The wireless communication unit 41 may be referred to as a wireless transceiver or simply as a transceiver. In this case, the wireless communication unit 41 may be a transceiver of a standard defined by the 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) (hereinafter referred to as a 3GPP transceiver). The 3GPP transceiver may be a 3G transceiver, a 4G (LTE) transceiver, a 5G (NR) transceiver, or a transceiver of a generation after 5G. The wireless communication unit 41 is controlled by, for example, the control unit 43. The wireless communication unit 41 supports one or more wireless access methods. The wireless communication unit 41 may support at least one of NR, LTE, B5G (Beyond 5G), and 6G. The wireless communication unit 41 may support W-CDMA, cdma2000, etc. in addition to NR, LTE, B5G, and 6G. The wireless communication unit 41 may support automatic retransmission techniques such as HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest). Some or all of the processing performed by the wireless communication unit 41 may be performed by the control unit 43.

[0124] The wireless communication unit 41 includes a transmission processing unit 411, a reception processing unit 412, and an antenna 413. At least one of the transmission processing unit 411, the reception processing unit 412, and the antenna 413 may be considered as the wireless communication unit 41. The wireless communication unit 41 may include a plurality of transmission processing units 411, a plurality of reception processing units 412, and a plurality of antennas 413. When the wireless communication unit 41 supports a plurality of wireless access methods, each unit of the wireless communication unit 41 may be configured individually for each wireless access method. The transmission processing unit 411 and the reception processing unit 412 may be configured individually for LTE, NR, B5G, and 6G. The antenna 413 may be configured with a plurality of antenna elements, for example, a plurality of patch antennas. The wireless communication unit 41 may have a beamforming function. For example, the wireless communication unit 41 may have a polarization beamforming function using vertical polarization (V polarization) and horizontal polarization (H polarization) (or a polarization beamforming function using dual polarization in polarization directions of 45 degrees and -45 degrees from the vertical direction).

[0125] The storage unit 42 is a readable and writable storage device such as a DRAM, an SRAM, a flash memory, or a hard disk.

[0126] The control unit 43 is a controller that controls each unit of the terminal device 40. The control unit 43 controls the wireless communication unit to perform wireless communication with other wireless communication devices (e.g., a base station 30 or another terminal device 40). The control unit 43 may be implemented by a processor such as a CPU or MPU. In particular, the control unit 23 may be implemented by a processor executing various programs stored in a storage device internal to the terminal device 40 using RAM or the like as a work area. The control unit 43 may be implemented by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC or FPGA. The CPU, MPU, ASIC, and FPGA can all be considered controllers. The control unit 43 may be implemented by a GPU. The CPU, MPU, ASIC, FPGA, and GPU can all be considered controllers. The control unit 43 may be composed of multiple physically separated objects. For example, the control unit 43 may be composed of multiple semiconductor chips.

[0127] The input unit 44 is an input device that accepts various inputs from the outside. For example, the input unit 44 is an operation device that allows the user to perform various operations, such as a keyboard, a mouse, operation keys, or voice input. If a touch panel is employed in the terminal device 40, the touch panel is also included in the input unit 44. In this case, the user performs various operations by touching the screen with a finger or a stylus.

[0128] The output unit 45 is a device that outputs various types of information to the outside, such as sound, light, vibration, and image. The output unit 45 includes a display unit 451 that displays various types of information. The display unit 451 is, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display. If a touch panel is employed in the terminal device 40, the display unit 451 may be a device integrated with the input unit 44. If the terminal device 40 is an XR device, the display unit 451 may be a transparent device that projects an image onto glasses, or a retinal projection device that projects an image directly onto the user's retina. The output unit 45 outputs various types of information to the user under the control of the control unit 43.

[0129] The sensor unit 46 is a sensor that acquires information about the position or attitude of the terminal device 40. For example, the sensor unit 46 is an acceleration sensor and / or a gyro sensor. For example, the sensor unit may be a 6DoF (Six degrees of freedom) sensor or a 3DoF (Three degrees of freedom) sensor. Note that the sensor unit 46 is not limited to an acceleration sensor and / or a gyro sensor. The sensor unit 46 may be an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), a geomagnetic sensor, an illuminance sensor, a ToF (Time of Flight) sensor, or an image sensor. The sensor unit 46 may also be a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) sensor. The GNSS sensor may be a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor, a GLONASS sensor, a Galileo sensor, or a QZSS (Quasi-Zenith Satellite System) sensor. Alternatively, the sensor unit 46 may be a camera (for example, an infrared camera or a light field camera), a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), a millimeter-wave radar, or a combination of these sensors.

[0130] <<Configuration Example of 3.5G Communication System>> The configuration of the communication system 1 has been described above. Next, a specific configuration example of the communication system 1 of this embodiment will be described.

[0131] In the following description, a configuration of a fifth generation mobile communication system (5G) will be described as a specific configuration example of the communication system 1, but the communication system 1 is not limited to a fifth generation mobile communication system. The communication system 1 may be a fourth generation mobile communication system (4G) or a sixth generation mobile communication system (6G). Of course, the communication system 1 may be any other wireless communication system.

[0132] <3-1. 5GS Network Architecture> First, a network architecture that can be applied to the communication system 1 of the present embodiment will be described. Here, as an example of the architecture of the communication system 1, the architecture of the 5GS (5G System) will be described.

[0133] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a 5GS architecture. The 5G core network CN is also called 5GC (5G Core) / NGC (Next Generation Core). The core network CN of this embodiment is configured by, for example, one or more management devices 20. Hereinafter, the 5G core network CN is also referred to as 5GC / NGC. The core network CN is connected to a UE (User Equipment) 40 via a RAN (Radio Access Network) / AN (Access Network) 510. The UE 40 is, for example, a terminal device 40 in the communication system 1.

[0134] An application server (AS) 10 that performs processing related to applications is connected to 5GS via the Internet. The server 10 is, for example, an application server (AS). The application server 10 shown in FIG. 8 corresponds to, for example, the server 10 in the communication system 1. This enables the UE 40 to use applications via 5G services.

[0135] If the entity providing the application has a contract such as a service level agreement (SLA) with a public land mobile network (PLMN) operator that provides 5G services, the server 10 can be arranged in the DN 530 or in the core network CN as part of the DN 530. The server 10 may be provided in the form of an edge application server.

[0136] The 5GS control plane function group 540 is composed of a plurality of NFs (Network Functions). The plurality of NFs included in the control plane function group 540 include, for example, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 541, a Network Exposure Function (NEF) 542, a Network Repository Function (NRF) 543, a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) 544, a Policy Control Function (PCF) 545, a Session Management Function (SMF) 546, a Unified Data Management (UDM) 547, an Application Function (AF) 548, an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) 549, a UE radio Capability Management Function (UCMF) 550, a Time Sensitive Communication and Time Synchronization Function (TSCTSF) 551, and a Binding Support Function (BSF) 552.

[0137] The UDM 547 includes a UDR (Unified Data Repository) that stores and manages subscriber information, and an FE (Front End) that processes the subscriber information. The AMF 541 performs mobility management. The SMF 546 performs session management.

[0138] The UCMF 550 holds UE Radio Capability Information corresponding to all UE Radio Capability IDs in a PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network). The UCMF 550 is responsible for assigning each PLMN-assigned UE Radio Capability ID. The TSCTSF 551 and the BSF 552 will be described later.

[0139] An application can use functions and services provided by the core network CN via the AF 548 provided for the application. However, if the application is a third-party application, it is necessary to conclude a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the operator that manages the core network CN, and be regarded as a trusted AF 548 by the core network CN.

[0140] Furthermore, from the viewpoint of security, a third-party AF 548 located outside the core network CN is generally configured to be connected to the core network CN via the NEF 542. The third-party AF 548 can also be implemented in the third-party server 10 as a control unit of the server 10.

[0141] Namf is a service-based interface provided by the AMF 541. Nsmf is a service-based interface provided by the SMF 546. Nnef is a service-based interface provided by the NEF 542. Npcf is a service-based interface provided by the PCF 545. Nudm is a service-based interface provided by the UDM 547. Naf is a service-based interface provided by the AF 548. Nnrf is a service-based interface provided by the NRF 543. Nnssf is a service-based interface provided by the NSSF 544. Nausf is a service-based interface provided by the AUSF 549. Nucmf is a service-based interface provided by the UCMF 550. Ntsctsf is a service-based interface provided by the TSCTSF 551. The Nbsf is a service-based interface provided by the BSF 552. Each NF exchanges information with other NFs via its respective service-based interface.

[0142] Each NF can request or subscribe to a service provided by another network function and receive a response or notification from the service. That is, each NF exchanges information with other NFs by means of request / response or subscribe / notification via each service-based interface.

[0143] The UPF (User Plane Function) 520 has a function of processing the user plane. The DN (Data Network) 530 has a function of enabling connection to MNO (Mobile Network Operator) proprietary services, the Internet, and third-party services. The UPF 520 functions as a forwarding processor for user plane data processed by the server 10. The UPF 520 also functions as a gateway connected to the RAN / AN 510.

[0144] Here, each NF of the core network CN can be configured using virtualization or a container. Each NF can be implemented on a cloud server. In 5GS, each NF can be dynamically and reconfigurably configured using SDN (Software Defined Network).

[0145] In a 5G core network CN configured according to a service-based architecture, new NFs can be introduced by defining new services and service-based interfaces for those services. Furthermore, in next-generation (i.e., 6G) and later core networks CN, it is expected that the above-mentioned NFs will be aggregated, subdivided, or specific services will be transferred to other NFs depending on the services provided by each NF. For this reason, the NFs supported by the core network CN are not limited to the types of NFs in the 5G core network CN illustrated above.

[0146] The RAN / AN 510 has a function of enabling connection with the RAN and connection with an AN other than the RAN. The RAN / AN 510 includes a base station called a gNB or ng-eNB. The RAN may also be called an NG (Next Generation)-RAN.

[0147] The functions of the RAN / AN 510 are divided into a CU (Central Unit) that processes L2 / L3 functions above the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) sublayer, and a DU (Distributed Unit) that processes L2 / L1 functions below the RLC (Radio Link Control) sublayer. These functions can be distributed and arranged via an F1 interface.

[0148] Furthermore, the functions of the DU can be divided into an RU (Radio Unit) that processes the LOW PHY sublayer and the radio unit (Radio), and a DU that processes the RLC, MAC (Medium Access Control), and HIGH PHY sublayers. The functions of the RU can be distributed and arranged, for example, via a fronthaul that complies with eCPRI (evolved Common Public Radio Interface).

[0149] The functions of the CU and / or DU can be configured using virtualization or containers. The functions of the CU and / or DU can be implemented on a cloud server. In 5GS, the functions of the CU and / or DU can be dynamically and reconfigurably configured using SDN.

[0150] Between the UE 40 and the AMF 541, information is exchanged via a reference point N1. Between the RAN / AN 510 and the AMF 541, information is exchanged via a reference point N2. Between the SMF 546 and the UPF 520, information is exchanged via a reference point N4.

[0151] The SMF 546 performs QoS (Quality of Service) control for each service data flow. The QoS control of the SMF 546 can be applied to both IP and Ethernet type service data flows. By performing QoS control for each service data flow, the SMF 546 provides authorized QoS for each specific service.

[0152] The SMF 546 can utilize indicators such as QoS subscriber information in conjunction with service-based, subscription-based, or predefined PCF internal policy rules.

[0153] The SMF 546 uses the Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rules associated with the QoS flow, i.e., the QoS-controlled data flow, to determine the QoS to authorize for the QoS flow.

[0154] When a QoS flow is deleted, the SMF 546 can notify the PCF 545 that the QoS flow has been deleted. Furthermore, when the SMF 546 cannot guarantee the bit rate guaranteed by the QoS flow, i.e., the Guaranteed Flow Bit Rate (GFBR), it can notify the PCF 545 that the GFBR cannot be guaranteed.

[0155] The QoS reservation procedure for a QoS flow can be to establish a UE-initiated QoS flow, and the QoS can be downgraded or upgraded as part of the QoS flow modification procedure.

[0156] In addition, in next-generation (i.e., 6G) and later mobile communication systems, it is expected that not only the control plane functions but also the user plane functions (e.g., UPF 520) and RAN / AN 510 will support the service-based architecture. Therefore, each node constituting the mobile communication system can be dynamically and re-configurably implemented in an information processing device including a cloud server and / or configured / reconfigured by utilizing technologies such as virtualization, containers, and / or SDN (Software Defined Network).

[0157] <3-2. Architecture of XR in 5G> Figure 9 is a diagram showing an example of the architecture of XR in 5G. More specifically, Figure 9 is a diagram showing the architecture of a use case called "Generalized XR Split Rendering" described in 3GPP TR26.928 "Extended Reality (XR) in 5G".

[0158] This architecture is composed of an XR server 60 and an XR device 70 (e.g., XR Capable UE). The XR server 60 corresponds to the server 10 described above. In the example of the 5GS network architecture shown in FIG. 8 , the XR server 60 corresponds to the DN 530 (or a part of the DN 530) or the server 10. The XR device 70 corresponds to the terminal device 40 described above. In the example of the 5GS network architecture shown in FIG. 8 , the XR device 70 corresponds to the UE 40.

[0159] <3-2-1. XR Server> The XR server 60 includes an XR media generation unit 61, an XR display area pre-rendering unit 62, a 2D / 3D media encoding unit 63, an XR rendering metadata processing unit 64, an XR media content distribution unit 65, and a 5GS distribution unit 66.

[0160] The XR media generation unit 61 generates XR media adapted to the display area according to tracking and sensor information received from the XR device 70.

[0161] The XR display area pre-rendering unit 62 performs adaptive rendering of the display area according to tracking and sensor information received from the XR device 70.

[0162] The 2D / 3D media encoding unit 63 encodes the 2D / 3D media that constitutes the XR media.

[0163] The XR rendering metadata processing unit 64 generates the metadata required to render the XR media.

[0164] The XR media content distribution unit 65 distributes XR media content including encoded 2D / 3D media and metadata for rendering to the XR device 70 via the 5GS distribution unit 66.

[0165] Furthermore, the XR media content distribution unit 65 can use a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) such as WebRTC when distributing XR media content. Generally, RTP uses User Datagram Protocol (UDP) as the transport layer protocol, and applies forward error correction (FEC) to omit the retransmission control used in Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).

[0166] The XR media content distribution unit 65 or the 5GS distribution unit 66 may provide QoS control depending on the encoding format of the 2D / 3D media or its position in the display area.

[0167] For example, for foveated rendering, the XR media content distribution unit 65 or the 5GS distribution unit 66 may transmit data in a high-resolution format with a high priority and data in a low-resolution format with a low priority. Alternatively, the XR media content distribution unit 65 or the 5GS distribution unit 66 may transmit data in a central region of the display area with a high priority and data in a region away from the center of the display area with a low priority. Foveated rendering is a technique that maintains high resolution in the center of the field of view and reduces resolution as it moves outward from the field of view. This foveated rendering can reduce the required data size while minimizing visual degradation.

[0168] <3-2-2. XR Device> The XR device 70 (for example, an XR capable UE) includes a 3DOF (Degrees Of Freedom) / 6DOF tracking and XR sensor unit 71, an XR media content distribution unit 72, a 5GS distribution unit 73, a 2D / 3D media decoding unit 74, an XR rendering metadata processing unit 75, an XR display area rendering unit 76, and a display unit 77.

[0169] The 3DOF / 6DOF tracking and XR sensor unit 71 acquires pose information (posture information) of the user as tracking information for identifying the display area (viewport). The XR media content distribution unit 72 provides this pose information to the XR server 60 by including it in tracking and sensor information. Note that the tracking and sensor information may include inertial information acquired by the 3DOF / 6DOF tracking and XR sensor unit 71 in addition to or instead of the pose information. In the following description, the tracking and sensor information may be simply referred to as sensor information.

[0170] The 3DOF / 6DOF tracking and XR sensor unit 71 is composed of, for example, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), a geomagnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, an illuminance sensor, an infrared camera, a light field camera, a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), a camera (image sensor), a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor, a millimeter wave radar, etc. The 3DOF / 6DOF tracking and XR sensor unit 71 corresponds to the sensor unit 46 of the terminal device 40.

[0171] The XR media content distribution unit 72 receives XR media content including a display area from the XR server 60 via the 5GS distribution unit 73. Here, the XR media content is composed of 2D / 3D media and metadata for rendering the XR media.

[0172] The 2D / 3D media decoding unit 74 decodes the 2D / 3D media that constitutes the XR media content received via the 5GS distribution unit 73 and the XR media content distribution unit 72.

[0173] The XR rendering metadata processing unit 75 processes metadata for rendering XR media that constitutes the XR media content received via the 5GS distribution unit 73 and the XR media content distribution unit 72.

[0174] The metadata includes projection information, which can be used to generate a 3D mesh and is also used to map a spherical image onto a 2D texture signal.

[0175] A 3D mesh is a polygon mesh, a collection of vertices, edges, and faces that defines the shape of a polyhedral object in, for example, 3D computer graphics or solid modeling. Objects generated by a polygon mesh are represented by various types of elements, such as vertices, edges, faces, polygons, and surfaces.

[0176] 3D meshes are also generated using point clouds, which are used in various fields of 3D modeling, such as medical imaging, architecture, 3D printing, manufacturing, 3D games, and XR applications. A point cloud is a collection of data points defined in a given coordinate system. For example, in a 3D coordinate system, a point cloud can define the shape of a real or fictional physical system.

[0177] Furthermore, a scene description enables the generation of various 3D scenes for XR applications. A scene description is also called a scene graph. A scene description is a directed acyclic graph (DAG) that hierarchically organizes the geometric arrangement of a scene based on objects, and typically has a simple tree structure. Leaf nodes in the graph represent geometric building blocks for generating shapes, such as polygons. Each node in the graph holds a pointer to a child node, which is a group of other nodes, a geometric element, a transformation matrix, etc. Spatial transformations are represented as graph nodes and are represented by transformation matrices. Other scene graph nodes include 3D objects or parts thereof, light sources, particle systems, display cameras, etc.

[0178] The XR display area rendering unit 76 renders the 2D / 3D media decoded by the 2D / 3D media decoding unit 74, taking into consideration the metadata processed by the XR rendering metadata processing unit 75 and the user's latest pose information acquired from the 3DOF / 6DOF tracking and XR sensor unit 71.

[0179] The XR display area rendering unit 76 may have a function called time warp. Time warp is a function for reducing MPL (Motion to Photon Latency), which can cause VR sickness. The XR device 70 using the time warp function converts (coordinate transformation) the display area (first display area) of the XR media rendered by the XR server 60 into the latest display area (second display area) identified based on the latest inertial information, for example, based on 3DOF / 6DOF tracking and inertial information acquired from the XR sensor unit 71.

[0180] The display unit 77 displays the 2D / 3D media rendered by the XR display area rendering unit 76. The display unit 77 corresponds to the display unit 451 of the terminal device 40.

[0181] Note that each block constituting the XR device 70 and the XR server 60 shown in Fig. 9 represents a logical function. Therefore, these functions may be implemented in an aggregated manner, or may be implemented by dividing them into more detailed functions. Furthermore, these functions may be implemented by distributing them statically or dynamically across multiple devices.

[0182] For example, the 5GS distribution unit 73 of the XR device 70 may be realized by the functions of the UE 40. Furthermore, the 5GS distribution unit 66 of the XR server 60 may be realized by the functions of the RAN / AN 510 and the core network CN. In this way, services such as XR are required to handle a wide range of data, from relatively small volumes of data such as pause information and inertial information to large volumes of data such as XR media. Furthermore, services such as XR are expected to be able to apply different QoS controls depending on the type of data.

[0183] <3-3. 5GS QoS Control> Figure 10 shows an example of a 5GS QoS architecture. Figure 10 is based on 3GPP TS38.300. At the NAS (Non-Access Stratum) level, a QoS flow is the finest granularity for distinguishing different QoS within a PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session. Within a PDU session, a QoS flow is identified by a QFI (QoS Flow ID).

[0184] In addition, in Extended Reality (XR) and media services, a group of packets may be transmitted using the payload of a PDU set. A PDU set is composed of one or more PDUs transmitting the payload of an information unit generated at the application level. This information unit may be, for example, at least one of an image frame and a video slice of XR or a media service. The information unit may also be at least one of an I frame, a P frame, and a B frame of video data in a group of pictures (GOP) format. Furthermore, in a multimodal application that handles multiple types of interrelated data, such as XR, each of multiple types of data (e.g., pause information, audio information, video information, haptics, etc.) may be an information unit. Of course, the information units are not limited to these.

[0185] That is, packets in a PDU set are treated as a unit of data to be received and decoded within a certain period of time. For example, a UE may decode an image frame or video slice only if it has successfully received all or a certain amount of packets carrying those packets. For example, a UE may decode an image frame in a GOP only if it has successfully received all dependent image frames.

[0186] 5GS allows for finer granularity in identifying data by PDU sets within QoS flows, which are the finest granularity in terms of QoS control. 5GS can apply PDU set level QoS control in addition to QoS flow level QoS control.

[0187] The PCF 545 can associate information of the AF session with the PDU session. The AF 548 can request that a data session (e.g., a PDU session) for the UE 40 be established as a session with a specific QoS (e.g., low latency or low jitter) via the AF session with the PCF 545.

[0188] The SMF 546 associates PCC rules to QoS flows based on the QoS and service requirements. The SMF 546 assigns a QFI to the new QoS flow and obtains the PCC rules and other information associated with the QoS flow from the PCF 545.

[0189] From this PCC rule, the SMF 546 obtains the QoS profile of the QoS flow, instructions regarding the corresponding UPF 520 (e.g., N4 rule), and QoS rule.

[0190] The base station (gNB) of the RAN / AN 510 can establish at least one DRB (Data Radio Bearer) together with a PDU session with each UE 40. The DRB is a logical path for transmitting data.

[0191] The 5G QoS model supports GBR (Guaranteed flow Bit Rate), which guarantees bandwidth, and Non-GBR (Non-Guaranteed flow Bit Rate), which does not guarantee bandwidth. Furthermore, Delay-critical GBR is supported for TSC (Time Sensitive Communication) QoS flows.

[0192] The RAN / AN 510 and the core network CN ensure quality of service by mapping each packet to the appropriate QoS flow and DRB, i.e., a two-stage mapping is performed: mapping between IP flows and QoS flows in the NAS, and mapping between QoS flows and DRBs in the AS.

[0193] At the NAS level, a QoS flow is characterized by a QoS profile provided from the core network CN to the RAN / AN 510 and a QoS rule provided from the core network CN to the UE 40 .

[0194] The QoS profile is used by the RAN / AN 510 to determine how to handle traffic over the air interface, and the QoS rules are used to instruct the UE 40 on the mapping between user plane traffic in the uplink and QoS flows.

[0195] Therefore, for a multicast MBS (Multicast / Broadcast Service) session, the QoS rules of the MBS QoS flow and the QoS parameters at the QoS flow level are not provided to the UE 40 .

[0196] The QoS profile is provided to the RAN / AN 510 from the SMF 546 via the AMF 541 and reference point N2, or is pre-configured in the RAN / AN 510.

[0197] The SMF 546 may also provide the UE 40 with one or more QoS rules and, if necessary, QoS flow-level QoS parameters associated with the QoS rules via the AMF 541 and the reference point N1.

[0198] Additionally or alternatively, reflective QoS control may be applied to the UE 40. Reflective QoS control is QoS control that monitors the QFI of downlink packets and applies the same mapping to uplink packets.

[0199] A QoS flow can be a GBR QoS flow or a non-GBR QoS flow depending on its QoS profile, which includes QoS parameters such as 5QI (5G QoS Identifier) ​​and ARP (Allocation and Retention Priority).

[0200] The ARP includes information regarding priority level, preemption capability, and preemption vulnerability.

[0201] Priority defines the relative importance of a QoS flow, with the lowest Priority Level indicating the highest priority.

[0202] Preemption capability is a metric that defines whether a QoS flow can seize resources already allocated to other, lower priority QoS flows, while preemption vulnerability is a metric that defines whether a QoS flow can give up its allocated resources to other, higher priority QoS flows.

[0203] Preemption capability and preemption vulnerability can be set to either "enabled" or "disabled."

[0204] Additionally, the QoS profile of a QoS flow may include PDU Set QoS Parameters.

[0205] For a GBR QoS flow, the QoS profile may include, for example, at least one of the following information: GFBR for uplink and downlink; MFBR (Maximum Flow Bit Rate) for uplink and downlink; Maximum Packet Loss Rate for uplink and downlink; Delay Critical Resource Type; and Notification Control.

[0206] In a non-GBR QoS flow, the QoS profile may include at least one of a Reflective QoS Attribute (RQA) and Additional QoS Flow Information.

[0207] The notification control of the QoS parameter indicates whether a notification is required from the RAN / AN 510 when a QoS flow cannot meet the GFBR. If the notification control is "enabled" for a GBR QoS flow and the RAN / AN 510 determines that the GFBR cannot be met, the RAN / AN 510 sends a notification to the SMF 546.

[0208] In this case, the RAN / AN 510 must maintain the GBR QoS flow unless a special condition exists that requires the RAN / AN 510 to release RAN resources for the GBR QoS flow, such as at least one of a radio link failure and RAN internal congestion.

[0209] If it is determined that the GFBR is again satisfied for the QoS flow, the RAN / AN 510 sends a new notification to that effect to the SMF 546.

[0210] An alternative QoS profile can also be used to control the notification of QoS parameters. The alternative QoS profile consists of a set of packet delay budget (PDB), packet error rate (PER), averaging window, and GFBR. The alternative QoS profile for a delay-critical GBR QoS flow can further include information on maximum data burst volume (MDBV).

[0211] When the RAN / AN 510 sends a notification to the SMF 546 that the QoS profile cannot be satisfied, the RAN / AN 510 checks, based on the list of alternative QoS profiles, whether there is a higher-priority alternative QoS profile that can currently satisfy the QoS profile. If there is a corresponding alternative QoS profile, the RAN / AN 510 indicates to the SMF 546 that there is an alternative QoS profile that can currently satisfy the QoS profile. To do this, the RAN / AN 510 includes information referencing the alternative QoS profile in the notification sent to the SMF 546. This control allows the SMF 546 to determine that even the lowest-priority alternative QoS profile cannot satisfy the QoS profile.

[0212] The AMBR (Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate) is related to the Session-AMBR of each PDU session and the UE-AMBR of each UE 40 for each PDU session. The Session-AMBR limits the aggregate bit rate expected to be provided across all Non-GBR QoS flows for a particular PDU session. The Session-AMBR is managed by the UPF 520. The UE-AMBR also limits the aggregate bit rate expected to be provided across all Non-GBR QoS flows for a UE 40. The UE-AMBR is managed by the RAN / AN 510.

[0213] Furthermore, a Slice Maximum Bit Rate (S-MBR) related to the network slice (S-NSSAI) may be set for each UE 40. The S-MBR may be included in the subscriber information as a Subscribed UE-Slice-MBR.

[0214] The UE-Slice-MBR limits the aggregate bit rate expected to be provided across all GBR and non-GBR QoS flows belonging to all PDU sessions established by UE 40 for the same network slice (S-NSSAI).

[0215] RAN / AN 510 receives a UE-Slice-MBR corresponding to the network slice (S-NSSAI) from AMF 541. RAN / AN 510 sets the Session-AMBR and MFBR for UE 40 so that the sum of the Session-AMBR and MFBR of the GBR QoS flow of all PDU sessions belonging to this network slice (S-NSSAI) is the UE-Slice-MBR.

[0216] The 5QI is related to QoS features. It provides guidelines (policies) for setting node-specific parameters for each QoS flow. A communication device can learn standardized or pre-configured 5G QoS features from the 5QI. Standardized or pre-configured 5G QoS features are not explicitly signaled. Signaled QoS features can be part of a QoS profile.

[0217] The QoS characteristics may include information regarding at least one of a resource type, a priority, a packet delay tolerance, a packet error rate, an averaging window, and a maximum data burst volume.

[0218] The resource type is a GBR QoS flow, a non-GBR QoS flow, or a delay-critical GBR QoS flow. The packet delay tolerance may include a packet delay tolerance in the core network CN.

[0219] At the AS level, DRB defines how packets are handled on the radio interface (Uu interface). DRB provides uniform packet forwarding treatment for any packet.

[0220] The RAN / AN 510 maps QoS flows to DRBs based on the QFI and the QoS profile configured for that QFI. The RAN / AN 510 can establish different DRBs for packets requiring different packet forwarding treatments (see FIG. 10).

[0221] The RAN / AN 510 can also multiplex multiple QoS flows belonging to the same PDU session into the same DRB (see FIG. 10).

[0222] In the uplink, the mapping of QoS flows to DRBs is controlled by mapping rules, which are signaled in two different ways:

[0223] One method is called Reflective Mapping, in which UE 40 monitors the QFI of downlink packets for each DRB and applies the same mapping to uplink packets.

[0224] The other method is called explicit configuration, in which the mapping rule of QoS flows to DRBs is explicitly signaled by RRC (Radio Resource Control).

[0225] In the downlink, the QFI is signaled by the RAN / AN 510 over the Uu interface for Reflective Quality of Service (RQoS). However, neither the RAN / AN 510 nor the NAS signals the QFI for a DRB over the Uu interface unless they use reflective mapping for the QoS flows carried on that DRB.

[0226] In the uplink, the RAN / AN 510 can configure signaling of QFI to the UE 40 on the Uu interface. The RAN / AN 510 can also configure a default DRB for each PDU session. If an uplink packet does not fit either the explicit configuration or the reflective mapping, the UE 40 maps the packet to the default DRB of the PDU session.

[0227] For Non-GBR QoS flows, the core network CN may send additional QoS flow information parameters associated with any QoS flow to the RAN / AN 510 to indicate an increased frequency of some traffic compared to other Non-GBR QoS flows within the same PDU session.

[0228] How multiple QoS flows within a PDU session are mapped to one DRB is up to the RAN / AN 510. For example, the RAN / AN 510 may map a GBR QoS flow and a non-GBR QoS flow to the same DRB or to separate DRBs. The RAN / AN 510 may also map multiple GBR QoS flows to the same DRB or to separate DRBs.

[0229] In 5G NR, a new SDAP (Service Data Adaptation Protocol) sublayer is introduced for QoS control via QoS flows. The SDAP sublayer maps QoS flow traffic to an appropriate DRB. The SDAP sublayer can have multiple SDAP entities. The SDAP sublayer has an SDAP entity for each PDU session on the Uu interface. The establishment or release of an SDAP entity is performed by RRC.

[0230] QoS flows are identified by a QFI in the PDU session container contained in the GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP)-U header. PDU sessions are identified by a GTP-U Tunnel Endpoint ID (TEID). The SDAP sublayer maps each QoS flow to a specific DRB.

[0231] In addition, to support PDU set-based QoS control, the PSA (PDU Session Anchor)-UPF 520 identifies PDUs belonging to a PDU set, determines PDU set information, and transmits the PDU set information in a GTP-U header to the RAN / AN 510. The PDU set information is used by the RAN / AN 510 for PDU set-based QoS control.

[0232] The PDU set information may include, for example, at least one of the following information: PDU set sequence number; Indication of the End PDU of the PDU set; PDU sequence number within the PDU set; PDU set size in bytes; Importance of the PDU set.

[0233] Here, the RAN / AN 510 can identify the relative importance of a PDU set relative to other PDU sets within the QoS flow based on the importance of the PDU set. Furthermore, information required to identify the PDU set is provided from the SMF 546 to the PSA-UPF 520. This information is provided using the Protocol Description of the Packet Detection Rule (PDR), which is one of the N4 rules described below.

[0234] Upon receiving a QoS monitoring request from the AF 548, the PCF 545 generates an authorized QoS monitoring policy and provides it to the SMF 546. At this time, the PCF 545 may include the QoS monitoring policy in a PCC rule. Note that the AF 548 may include the QoS monitoring request in an AF request (described later).

[0235] Here, the AF 548 can request monitoring of packet delay, monitoring of congestion information, monitoring of data rate, monitoring of QoS notification, and the like as QoS monitoring.

[0236] The monitoring of packet delay is the measurement of UL (Uplink) packet delay, DL (Downlink) packet delay, or RT (Round Trip) packet delay between the UE 40 and the PSA-UPF 520 .

[0237] The congestion information monitoring is monitoring of congestion information related to UL and / or DL ​​QoS flows provided by the RAN / AN 510.

[0238] Data rate monitoring is the measurement of UL and / or DL ​​data rates for each QoS flow.

[0239] QoS notification monitoring is monitoring of notification control information of QoS parameters provided by the RAN / AN 510 .

[0240] The PCF 545 is also provided with periodicity information from the AF 548 as information related to the traffic pattern for the TSC QoS flow. In this case, the PCF 545 can include the periodicity information in the PCC rule. Furthermore, the PCF 545 may include, in the PCC rule, an indication to perform traffic parameter measurements to detect jitter occurring at N6 and to measure the UL periodicity and / or DL ​​periodicity in accordance with local policy. The PCF 545 may then transmit the PCC rule including this indication to the SMF 546. 5GS can also treat these measurements as QoS monitoring.

[0241] The SMF 546 can activate end-to-end UL / DL / RT packet delay measurements for QoS flows between the UE 40 and the PSA-UPF 520. The SMF 546 can perform this activation during the PDU session establishment procedure or during the PDU session modification procedure.

[0242] The SMF 546 sends a QoS monitoring request to the UPF 520 via reference point N4, and then sends N2 signaling to request QoS monitoring between the UPF 520 and the RAN / AN 510.

[0243] The SMF 546 requests QoS monitoring based on the QoS monitoring policy received from the PCF 545 or a pre-configured locally authorized QoS monitoring policy. The QoS monitoring request includes monitoring variables determined by the SMF 546.

[0244] The RAN / AN 510 measures the delay of UL / DL packets in the RAN / AN 510. The RAN / AN 510 provides the measurement results to the UPF 520 via reference point N3.

[0245] The UPF 520 calculates the delay of UL / DL packets at the reference point N3 or N9. The UPF 520 sends the QoS monitoring result to the SMF 546 based on a predetermined condition, such as one-time, periodic, or event-triggered.

[0246] Furthermore, the UPF 520 may transmit the QoS monitoring results to the AF 548 via the locally deployed NEF 542. Here, the QoS monitoring results are, for example, as follows: Measurement results of the bit rate (e.g., average bit rate, maximum bit rate) of each GBR QoS flow of the target PDU session Measurement results of the total bit rate of all Non-GBR QoS flows of the target PDU session Measurement results of the packet error rate of the target PDU session Measurement results of the total bit rate of all Non-GBR QoS flows of the target UE 40 Measurement results of the packet error rate of the target UE 40 Measurement results of the UL / DL packet delay

[0247] The AF 548 may also transmit a request for monitoring and reporting packet delay variation together with the request for measuring packet delay to the PCF 545. Here, the packet delay variation is, for example, the variation in packet delay measured between the UE 40 and the PSA-UPF 520. The packet delay variation is one definition for evaluating jitter during packet transmission.

[0248] The packet delay variation request may include, for example, at least one of the following: - Packet delay variation parameter to be measured (UL, DL, or Round Trip (RT) packet delay variation) - Reporting frequency (event triggered or periodic)

[0249] In response to a packet delay variation monitoring request from the AF 548, the PCF 545 initiates a QoS monitoring process. The PCF 545 obtains the UL, DL, or RT (Round Trip) QoS monitoring results from the SMF 546. The PCF 545 derives 5GS packet delay variation based on the QoS monitoring results and reports it to the AF 548.

[0250] The delay of the UL / DL packet is a delay including the delay of the UL / DL packet in the RAN / AN 510 portion obtained from the RAN / AN 510 and the delay of the UL / DL packet at the reference point N3 or N9.

[0251] Also, if the PDU session is a session via a TSN bridge, the packet delay allowable time for the TSC QoS flow is the sum of the 5G-AN PDB (Packet Delay Budget) and the CN (Core Network) PDB.

[0252] The above-described QoS monitoring mechanism can also be applied to TSC QoS flows to measure bit rates (e.g., average bit rate, maximum bit rate) between UE 40 and PSA-UPF 520 and to measure end-to-end UL / DL packet delays.

[0253] TSC QoS flows use a resource type of Delay-critical GBR and TSC Assistance Information. TSC QoS flows can use standardized 5QI, pre-configured 5QI, or dynamically assigned 5QI values.

[0254] For a TSC QoS flow, it is required to transmit one data burst with the maximum data burst amount within the 5G-AN PDB. The TSC Burst Size is used to set the maximum data burst amount. The maximum TSC burst size is treated as the maximum amount of data within a period equal to the 5G-AN PDB value of 5QI. The maximum value of the TSC burst size is mapped to a 5QI with an equal or larger maximum data burst amount.

[0255] PDU Set QoS Parameters are used to support PDU Set based QoS Handling. PDU Set specific QoS characteristics include at least one of the following: PDU Set Delay Budget (PSDB), PDU Set Error Rate (PSER), and PDU Set Integrated Handling Information (PSIHI).

[0256] The PCF 545 determines the PDU set QoS parameters according to the information provided by the AF 548 and / or local configuration. The PDU set QoS parameters are sent to the SMF 546 as part of the PCC rules. The SMF 546 sends the PDU set QoS parameters to the RAN / AN 510 as part of a QoS profile.

[0257] The PDU Set Delay Tolerance defines the upper limit of the delay that occurs when transmitting a PDU set between the UE 40 and the termination point of the N6 interface of the UPF 520. In other words, the PDU Set Delay Tolerance is the time from receiving the first PDU of a PDU set to successfully receiving all PDUs. The PDU Set Delay Tolerance applies to the DL PDU set received by the PSA-UPF 520 via the N6 interface and the UL PDU set transmitted by the UE 40.

[0258] The PDU set error rate defines an upper limit on the ratio of PDU sets not successfully received by a higher layer (e.g., the PDCP sublayer of the RAN / AN 510) to PDU sets processed by the link layer (e.g., the RLC sublayer of the RAN / AN 510). One QoS flow is associated with only one PDU set error rate. The packet error rate value is the same for UL and DL. If a PDU set error rate is available, its use is preferred over the packet error rate.

[0259] The PDU set aggregation processing information indicates whether or not all PDUs in the PDU set are necessary for the application layer on the receiving side that uses the PDU set.

[0260] Here, the notification control of QoS parameters and alternative QoS profiles described above may also be applied to this PDU set QoS parameters.

[0261] <3-4. Network slice selection support information> A network slice is a unit of service obtained by dividing communication services provided by 5G according to the communication characteristics of each service (e.g., data rate, delay, etc.).

[0262] Each network slice is assigned Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI) as Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI). The network slice selection assistance information is information for assisting in the selection of a network slice. The S-NSSAI is composed of a mandatory 8-bit SST (Slice / Service Type) that identifies the slice type, and an optional 24-bit SD (Slice Differentiator) that distinguishes different slices within the same SST.

[0263] The S-NSSAI can use either a standardized SST or a non-standardized proprietary SST. When a standardized S-NSSAI value is used, it contains only the standardized SST without the SD. On the other hand, when a non-standardized S-NSSAI value is used, it contains the standardized SST and SD, or the non-standardized SST and SD, or the non-standardized SST only. A non-standardized S-NSSAI value can only be used within the PLMN, i.e., the telecom operator, that uses it.

[0264] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing standardized SST values. The table shown in FIG. 11 is based on the table shown in 3GPP TS23.501. The above-mentioned "case where standardized S-NSSAI values ​​are used" corresponds to the case where S-NSSAI values ​​including only these SST values ​​(eMBB: 1, URLLC: 2, MIoT: 3, V2X: 4, HMTC: 5, HDLC: 6) are used. In other words, for other network slices, for example, for network slices subdivided by SD, non-standardized S-NSSAI values ​​are used.

[0265] The network slice configuration information includes one or more Configured NSSAI(s). A serving PLMN (Serving Public Land Mobile Network) can configure a Configured NSSAI that applies to each PLMN in the UE 40. Alternatively, a Home PLMN (HPLMN) can configure a Default Configured NSSAI in the UE 40. Only when a Configured NSSAI for the serving PLMN is configured in the UE 40, the UE 40 under the serving PLMN can use the Default Configured NSSAI.

[0266] Note that a Default Configured NSSAI may be set in advance in UE 40. Also, UDM 547 of the HPLMN may provide or update the Default Configured NSSAI using a UE Parameters Update procedure via UDM Control Plane processing.

[0267] A Configured NSSAI consists of one or more S-NSSAI(s).

[0268] The Requested NSSAI is the NSSAI provided by the UE 40 to the serving PLMN during the registration process. The Requested NSSAI must be one of the following: Default Configured NSSAI Configured NSSAI Allowed NSSAI or a part of it NSSAI that is the Allowed NSSAI or a part of it plus one or more S-NSSAIs included in the Configured NSSAI

[0269] The Allowed NSSAI is, for example, the NSSAI that the serving PLMN provides to the UE 40 during the registration process. The Allowed NSSAI indicates one or more S-NSSAI(s) values ​​that can be used within the current registration area of ​​the current serving PLMN.

[0270] The Rejected S-NSSAI indicates the value of one or more S-NSSAIs included in the Requested NSSAI that is not authorized for use in at least one tracking area within the current registration area of ​​the current serving PLMN.

[0271] Here, a tracking area is an area used for mobility management and is identified by a Tracking Area Identity (TAI). The network (PLMN) manages the location of the UE 40 within a set of tracking areas in which the UE 40 is camped so that messages or data can be transmitted to the UE 40 in the RRC_IDLE state. When the UE 40 is registered in the network, the AMF 541 assigns a set of tracking areas included in the TAI list as an area in which the UE 40 is registered (a registration area). In other words, the network manages that the registered UE 40 is located within any of the tracking areas in the TAI list.

[0272] If UE 40 detects a more optimal cell according to the cell reselection criteria, it reselects the cell and camps on it. At this time, if the selected cell does not belong to any tracking area in the TAI list in which UE 40 is registered, a location registration process, i.e., a process of updating the TAI list, is performed.

[0273] The Subscribed S-NSSAI is an S-NSSAI that UE 40 can use within the PLMN according to the subscription information. The subscription information must include one or more Subscribed S-NSSAIs and at least one default S-NSSAI.

[0274] The UDM 547 transmits a maximum of 16 Subscribed S-NSSAIs to the AMF 541. Therefore, the number of S-NSSAIs that can be included in the Configured NSSAI is 16. The contract information that the UDM 547 transmits to the AMF 541 must include at least one default S-NSSAI. The NSSF 544 determines the Allowed NSSAI and the Configured NSSAI, and determines an AMF Set, which is a list of candidates for the AMF 541. For example, an AMF 541 may be selected from the list of candidates according to the network slice used by the UE 40 or other criteria, and the UE 40 may be assigned to the selected AMF 541.

[0275] One or more S-NSSAI(s) included in the Allowed NSSAI(s) provided to the UE 40 may contain values ​​that are not part of the UE 40's current network slice configuration information for the serving PLMN. In this case, the network provides a mapping between each S-NSSAI in the Allowed NSSAI and a corresponding S-NSSAI in the HPLMN for the Allowed NSSAI. This mapping information allows the UE 40 to associate applications with the S-NSSAI in the HPLMN and the corresponding S-NSSAI in the Allowed NSSAI per Network Slice Selection Policy (NSSP) in a UE Route Selection Policy (URSP) rule or per the UE 40's local configuration.

[0276] For example, if the HPLMN and / or VPLMN (Visitor PLMN) uses a non-standardized S-NSSAI value, UE 40 needs to provide information regarding the mapping between the S-NSSAI value included in the Requested NSSAI and the corresponding S-NSSAI value used in the HPLMN when roaming. UE 40 may obtain this mapping information in advance from the serving PLMN as a mapping between the S-NSSAI value included in the Configured NSSAI for the serving PLMN and the corresponding S-NSSAI value used in the HPLMN. Alternatively, UE 40 may obtain this mapping information in advance from the serving PLMN as a mapping between the S-NSSAI value included in the Allowed NSSAI for the serving PLMN and the corresponding S-NSSAI value used in the HPLMN.

[0277] Furthermore, the UE 40 can support a contract-based restriction function regarding network slices that can be simultaneously registered. If the UE 40 supports this function, the UE 40 includes, as part of the UE 5GMM Core Network Capability, information indicating that the function is supported in a registration request message at the time of initial registration and mobility registration update.

[0278] The AMF 541 provides a Configured NSSAI to the UE 40 that has notified that it supports the contract-based restriction function regarding simultaneously registered network slices. At this time, the AMF 541 provides information regarding the Network Slice Simultaneous Registration Group (NSSRG) associated with the network slice (S-NSSAI(s)) of the HPLMN.

[0279] The contract information including the NSRRG information must include at least one default S-NSSAI. If multiple default S-NSSAIs are configured, the default S-NSSAIs are associated with the same NSRRG. In other words, the UE 40 is allowed to register all the default S-NSSAIs simultaneously.

[0280] The HPLMN can transmit, as subscription information, other Subscribed S-NSSAIs that share at least all NSSRGs defined for the default S-NSSAI, in addition to the default S-NSSAI, to the VPLMN. In this case, the HPLMN does not need to transmit NSRRG information to the VPLMN.

[0281] A UE 40 that receives an NSSRG must include only network slices (S-NSSAIs) assigned to the same common NSSRG in the Requested NSSAI.

[0282] Furthermore, when the boundary of the service area of ​​the network slice does not coincide with the boundary of the tracking area, the communication device can define additional constraints on the use of the network slice within the tracking area using network slice availability location information (S-NSSAI location availability information). For example, consider a case where the S-NSSAI of the Configured NSSAI is not available in some cells within the tracking area of ​​the Registration Area. In this case, the network slice availability location information including location information (e.g., cell ID) of a cell in which the S-NSSAI is available among multiple cells within the tracking area is provided to the UE 40.

[0283] The AMF 541 may determine the Target NSSAI by itself or in cooperation with the NSSF 544. The Target NSSAI is information used by the RAN / AN 510 (e.g., NG-RAN) to redirect the UE 40 to cells / tracking areas of other frequency bands that support the S-NSSAI of the Target NSSAI and to other tracking areas. The RAN / AN 510 uses this information in addition to information such as the Allowed NSSAI and the RFSP (RAT / Frequency Selection Priority) for the Allowed NSSAI to redirect the UE 40.

[0284] The Target NSSAI includes at least one S-NSSAI in the Requested NSSAI. For example, the Target NSSAI includes at least one S-NSSAI that is not available in the current tracking area but is available in another tracking area in another frequency band or in an area in another frequency band that overlaps with the current tracking area. Furthermore, at least one S-NSSAI in the Requested NSSAI may be optionally added to the Target NSSAI. For example, the S-NSSAI added as an option is an S-NSSAI that is not available in the current tracking area but is available in the same tracking area as the tracking area in which the S-NSSAI included in the Target NSSAI is available.

[0285] The AMF 541 obtains an RFSP index (RAT / Frequency Selection Priority Index) suitable for the Target NSSAI from the PCF 545. Then, the AMF 541 includes the RFSP index in information to be sent to the RAN / AN 510 (e.g., NG-RAN). If the PCF 545 is not installed, the AMF 541 determines the RFSP index according to a locally configured rule. The RAN / AN 510 maps the RFSP index to a locally defined configuration to apply an individual radio resource management policy taking into account the available information. That is, the RAN / AN 510 can select a configuration for a radio resource management policy suitable for the Target NSSAI corresponding to the RFSP index.

[0286] If the RAN / AN 510 can redirect the UE 40 to a new tracking area that supports the Target NSSAI or an S-NSSAI of either the Target NSSAI, the RFSP index associated with the Target NSSAI is considered, otherwise the RFSP index of the Allowed NSSAI is considered.

[0287] In addition, a partial network slice can be provided within a registration area by configuring a Partially Allowed NSSAI and / or an S-NSSAI that is partially rejected within the registration area (S-NSSAIs rejected partially in the RA).

[0288] The S-NSSAI of an Allowed NSSAI can be used in all tracking areas within the registration area, whereas the S-NSSAI of a Partially Allowed NSSAI can only be used in tracking areas corresponding to the list of tracking areas associated with that S-NSSAI.

[0289] Assume that UE 40 supports partial network slicing within the registration area. In this case, AMF 541 configures a registration area for UE 40, taking into account the support status of the S-NSSAI of the Requested NSSAI in the current tracking area and surrounding tracking areas. AMF 541 provides the Partially Allowed NSSAI or the S-NSSAI that is partially rejected within the registration area to UE 40 using a Registration Accept message or a UE Configuration Update Command message.

[0290] For each S-NSSAI of the Partially Allowed NSSAI, the AMF 541 provides a list of tracking areas in which the S-NSSAI is supported. Alternatively, the AMF 541 may reject the S-NSSAI with a rejection reason indicating "partially in the RA". For each S-NSSAI of the partially rejected S-NSSAI in the registration area, the AMF 541 provides a list of tracking areas in which the S-NSSAI is supported or not supported.

[0291] If the S-NSSAI is unavailable or is overloaded, a Network Slice Replacement function may be used to replace the S-NSSAI with an Alternative S-NSSAI.

[0292] The AMF 541 can decide to replace the S-NSSAI with an Alternative S-NSSAI based on a notification from the NSSF 544, the PCF 545, or the OAM (Operations, Administration and Maintenance).

[0293] In the case of roaming, to initiate network slice substitution of the HPLMN's S-NSSAI, the V-AMF 541-2 can receive notification of network slice availability of the HPLMN's S-NSSAI from the HPLMN's H-NSSF 544-1 via the V-NSSF 544-2 of the VPLMN.

[0294] The AMF 541 determines an Alternative S-NSSAI for the UE 40 that has registered the S-NSSAI based on a notification from the NSSF 544 or the PCF 545 (or based on a local configuration if the NSSF 544 or the PCF 545 does not provide an Alternative S-NSSAI).

[0295] The Alternative S-NSSAI must be supported within the registration area of ​​the UE 40. For example, assume that the AMF 541 cannot determine the Alternative S-NSSAI for the S-NSSAI because the NSSF 544 or the PCF 545 does not provide the Alternative S-NSSAI. In this case, the AMF 541 may further negotiate with the PCF 545 to determine the Alternative S-NSSAI.

[0296] The UE 40 notifies the network of its support for the network slice alternative function during the registration process. The PDU session related to the S-NSSAI that needs to be exchanged supports the UE 40 in connected mode (CM-CONNECTED mode) existing in the UE context. To enable this, the AMF 541 provides the UE 40 with an Alternative S-NSSAI for this S-NSSAI, which is included in the Allowed NSSAI and the Configured NSSAI. The AMF 541 may also provide the UE 40 with mapping information between the S-NSSAI and the Alternative S-NSSAI using a UE Configuration Update message.

[0297] After sending the mapping information to the UE 40, the AMF 541 invokes the Update Session Management Context (Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext) service for the current PDU session associated with the S-NSSAI exchanged for the Alternative S-NSSAI, and instructs the SMF 546 to update the PDU session required to transition the PDU session to the Alternative S-NSSAI.

[0298] The UE 40 establishes a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling connection through a Service Request procedure or a UE registration procedure. At this time, it is assumed that the AMF 541 decides to exchange S-NSSAIs to support the UE 40 in the CM-IDLE state. At this time, if a PDU session related to the S-NSSAI exists in the UE context, the AMF 541 provides the UE 40 with mapping information between the S-NSSAI and the Alternative S-NSSAI using a UE Configuration Update message or a Registration Accept message.

[0299] <<4. Basic Operation of Communication System>> A specific configuration example of the communication system 1 has been described above. Before describing the operation of the communication system 1 that solves the problem of this embodiment, the basic operation of the communication system 1 will be described.

[0300] In the following description, the communication system 1 is assumed to be 5GS (for example, 5GS shown in FIGS. 8 to 11) as an example. However, the communication system 1 is not limited to 5GS. The communication system 1 may be 4GS or 6GS. Of course, the communication system 1 may be any other wireless communication system.

[0301] Session Establishment Processing> First, the session establishment processing will be described. Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a connection processing in 5GS.

[0302] During communication, UE 40 transitions to the RRC_IDLE and CM-IDLE states (step S101). UE 40 in the RRC_IDLE and CM-IDLE states performs cell reselection (step S102) and camps on an appropriate cell that meets predetermined criteria.

[0303] UE 40 determines to use an S-NSSAI corresponding to the application to be used from among the Allowed NSSAIs (step S103). Subsequently, UE 40 transmits an RRC Setup Request message to RAN / AN 510 of the base station that manages the cell where UE 40 is camped (step S104).

[0304] Upon receiving this, RAN / AN 510 transmits an RRC Setup message to UE 40 (step S105). UE 40 transitions to an RRC_CONNECTED and CM-IDLE state (step S106) and returns an RRC Setup Complete message to RAN / AN 510 (step S107). This completes the RRC setup process.

[0305] Next, the UE 40 transmits a PDU SESSION ESTABLISHMENT REQUEST message, which is a NAS message, to the AMF 541 (step S108). As a result, a PDU session establishment process is executed between the UE 40 and the DN 530 via the RAN / AN 510 and the UPF 520 (step S109).

[0306] The UE 40 transitions to an RRC_CONNECTED and CM-CONNECTED state (step S110). Note that the PDU SESSION ESTABLISHMENT REQUEST message can include the S-NSSAI selected by the UE 40.

[0307] The AMF 541 sends an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to the RAN / AN 510 (step S111). The INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message may include at least one of a PDU session context, a security key, a UE radio capability, and a UE security capability. The INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message may also include an Allowed NSSAI. The INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message may also include an S-NSSAI for each PDU session.

[0308] The RAN / AN 510 sets a UE context for the UE 40 and transmits a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE 40 (step S112). The SecurityModeCommand message includes an integrity algorithm selected by the RAN / AN 510.

[0309] The UE 40 verifies the integrity of the received SecurityModeCommand message to confirm the validity of the message, and returns a SecurityModeComplete message to the RAN / AN 510 (step S113).

[0310] The RAN / AN 510 transmits an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE 40 in order to set up a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) 2 and a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) (step S114). The UE 40, having received this message, returns an RRCReconfigurationComplete message to the RAN / AN 510 (step S115). As a result, the SRB 2 and the DRB are established between the UE 40 and the RAN / AN 510.

[0311] The RAN / AN 510 sends an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST RESPONSE message to the AMF 541 to notify that the UE context configuration process has been completed (step S116).

[0312] 13A and 13B are diagrams showing an example of a PDU session establishment process. Specifically, Figures 13A and 13B are diagrams showing an example of a PDU session establishment process (step S109 shown in Figure 12) started by a PDU SESSION ESTABLISHMENT REQUEST message.

[0313] When the AMF 541 receives a PDU session establishment request message from the UE 40 (step S108 shown in FIGS. 12 and 13A), it performs SMF selection (step S201 shown in FIG. 13A).

[0314] The AMF 541 sends an Nsmf_PDUSession_Create_SMContext Request message to the selected SMF 546 (step S202). The Nsmf_PDUSession_Create_SMContext Request message includes a Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI), an S-NSSAI, and a UE Requested Data Network Name (DNN) or a DNN.

[0315] If session management subscription data corresponding to the SUPI, S-NSSAI, and DNN is not available, the SMF 546 uses a Nudm_SDM_Get message to acquire the session management subscription data from the UDM 547. In addition, the SMF 546 registers the session management subscription data with the UDM 547 using a Nudm_SDM_Subscribe message so that it can be notified when the session management subscription data is updated.

[0316] Upon receiving the Nsmf_PDUSession_Create_SMContext Request message, the SMF 546 creates an SM context if it can process the message. The SMF 546 returns an Nsmf_PDUSession_Create_SMContext Response message including an SM context ID to the AMF 541 (step S203).

[0317] If it is necessary to perform a second authentication and authorization process by the DN-AAA server during the PDU session establishment process, the SMF 546 initiates PDU Session Authentication / Authorization (step S204).

[0318] The SMF 546 performs PCF selection if dynamic policy and charging control (PCC) is applied to the PDU session to be established (step S205). Alternatively, the SMF 546 may apply a local policy.

[0319] In addition, the SMF 546 may perform an SM Policy Association Establishment Procedure to establish an SM Policy Association with the PCF 545 and obtain a default PCC rule for the PDU session (step S206). This allows the PCC rule to be obtained before selecting the UPF 520.

[0320] The SMF 546 performs UPF selection (step S207) according to a preset rule or the PCC rule acquired in step S206. As a result, the SMF 546 selects one or more UPFs 520. The SMF 546 transmits an N4 Session Establishment Request message to the selected UPF 520 (step S208).

[0321] The N4 session establishment request message is used to set an N4 rule for controlling uplink and downlink traffic in the UPF 520. The N4 rule is information related to, for example, a packet detection rule (PDR), a forwarding action rule (FAR), a QoS enforcement rule (QER), a usage reporting rule (URR), and a buffering action rule (BAR).

[0322] The PDR contains information necessary for classifying packets in the UPF 520. The FAR contains information regarding how to handle a particular packet, such as forward, duplicate, drop, or buffer. The QER contains information regarding an indication of the QoS to be applied to the traffic. The URR contains information necessary for traffic metering and reporting. The BAR contains information regarding how long and how much data will be buffered and how to notify the control plane.

[0323] The SMF 546 may also send the aforementioned QoS monitoring request to the UPF 520 via an N4 session establishment request message.

[0324] The SMF 546 may also send a request to the UPF 520 to detect the last PDU of each data burst for the TSC QoS flow according to the PCC rules and / or local policies. In this case, the SMF 546 may send the request via an N4 session establishment request message. Details of the data burst will be described later.

[0325] Upon receiving a request to detect the last PDU, the UPF 520 detects the last PDU of each data burst and marks the GTP-U header of the last PDU of the downlink as "End of Data burst".

[0326] The UPF 520 that has received the N4 session establishment request returns an N4 session establishment response message to the SMF 546 (step S209). Note that, if multiple UPFs 520 are selected for the PDU session in step S207, the N4 session establishment process is initiated for each UPF 520.

[0327] The SMF 546 sends a Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message to the AMF 541 (step S210). The Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message may include at least one of a PDU session ID, N2SM information, CN tunnel information, S-NSSAI, and an N1SM container.

[0328] The N2SM information may include at least one of a PDU session ID, a QFI, and a QoS profile.

[0329] If multiple UPFs 520 are used for a PDU session, the CN tunnel information includes tunneling information related to these multiple UPFs 520 terminating at N3.

[0330] The N1SM container includes a PDU Session Establishment Accept and QoS rules that the AMF 541 must provide to the UE 40. The PDU Session Establishment Accept includes an S-NSSAI.

[0331] The Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message includes a PDU session ID so that AMF541 knows which access to use for UE40.

[0332] 13B, AMF 541 sends an N2 PDU Session Request message to RAN / AN 510 (step S211). The N2 PDU Session Request message includes a NAS message including a PDU session ID and an N1SM container destined for UE 40, and N2SM information received from SMF 546.

[0333] RAN / AN 510 acquires the PDU session ID, QFI, QoS profile, etc. from the N2SM information included in the N2 PDU session request message. RAN / AN 510 also transfers the NAS message included in the N2 PDU session request message to UE 40 (step S212). As described above, the NAS message includes the PDU session ID and an N1SM container, and the N1SM container includes a PDU session establishment permission and a QoS rule.

[0334] The RAN / AN 510 also assigns AN tunnel information (AN Tunnel Info) to the PDU session. Here, the AN tunnel information includes the tunnel endpoints of each participating RAN / AN node and the QFIs assigned to each tunnel endpoint. The RAN / AN 510 updates N2SM information for notification to the SMF 546. Here, the N2SM information may include at least one of a PDU session ID, AN tunnel information, a list of allowed or denied QFI(s), and a User Plane Enforcement Policy Notification.

[0335] The RAN / AN 510 returns an N2 PDU Session Response message including the N2SM information to the AMF 541 (step S213).

[0336] The AMF 541 acquires the N2SM information through the N2 PDU session response received from the RAN / AN 510. Then, the AMF 541 forwards an Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext Request message including the SM context ID and the acquired N2SM information to the SMF 546 (step S214).

[0337] The SMF 546 initiates an N4 session modification procedure between the SMF 546 and the UPF 520. Then, the SMF 546 sends an N4 session modification request message to the UPF 520 (step S215). The SMF 546 provides the UPF 520 with AN tunnel information in addition to the forwarding rule.

[0338] The SMF 546 may also send the aforementioned QoS monitoring request to the UPF 520 via an N4 session modification request message.

[0339] The UPF 520 returns an N4 Session Modification Response message to the SMF 546 (step S216). Note that, when multiple UPFs 520 are used in the PDU session, the session modification process is performed on all UPFs 520 terminating N3.

[0340] The above processing completes the PDU session establishment processing shown in step S109 of FIG.

[0341] <4-2. Association Between AF Request and PCF> Next, association between AF request and PCF will be described.

[0342] The AF 548 can make requests to the 5GS regarding the routing of traffic to or from the server 10 using an AF request (Application Function Request).

[0343] For example, 5GS can consider the AF request in the selection / reselection of the UPF 520 and / or the SMF 546. The AF request is sent to the PCF 545 via the NEF 542. However, if the AF 548 has direct access to the PCF 545, the AF request is sent to the PCF 545 via a reference point N5 defined between the AF 548 and the PCF 545. The PCF 545 translates the received AF request into policies / rules to be applied to the PDU session.

[0344] The AF request must include the mandatory Traffic Description, Target UE Identifier(s), and AF Transaction Identifier.

[0345] The traffic description is information for identifying traffic, and includes a set of a DNN (Data Network Name) and an S-NSSAI, as well as an application identifier or traffic filtering information.

[0346] The DNN corresponds to the APN (Access Point Name) used in systems prior to 4G. The S-NSSAI is information for assisting in the selection of a network slice (network slice selection support information).

[0347] The application identifier is information for identifying an application that handles user plane traffic. The application identifier is used by the UPF 520 to identify application traffic. The traffic filtering information is information for classifying traffic. The traffic filtering information is, for example, a 5-tuple consisting of a source IP, a source port number, a destination IP, a destination port number, and a protocol number.

[0348] The AF request may also include, depending on the condition, information on the locations of potential applications, where the information on the locations of potential applications is provided as a list including DNAIs (Data Network Access Identifiers) for identifying user plane access to one or more DNs 530 that are candidates for implementing the application.

[0349] Furthermore, the AF request may optionally include at least one of the following information: Spatial Validity Condition, N6 Traffic Routing requirements, Application Relocation Possibility, UE IP address preservation indication, Temporary Validity Condition, Information on AF subscription for SMF events, Information for IP Replacement of Edge Application Server (EAS) in the core network CN, User Plane Latency Requirement, Information on AF change, and Instruction for Edge Application Server relocation (EAS Relocation).

[0350] The Spatial Validity Condition is provided in the form of a valid area. If the AF request is a request regarding traffic routing decision in the SMF 546, the Spatial Validity Condition indicates that the routing applies only to traffic of UEs 40 located at a specific location. If the AF request is a request to register for notification of a user plane path management event, the Spatial Validity Condition indicates that the notification applies only to traffic of UEs 40 located at a specific location.

[0351] Information on N6 traffic routing requirements is information provided for each DNAI. The information on N6 traffic routing requirements may include a routing profile ID and N6 traffic routing information. Here, N6 is a reference point between the UPF 520 and the DN 530. The routing profile ID is identification information for referencing a routing policy pre-agreed between the AF 548 and the core network CN. The N6 traffic routing information includes information required to forward traffic to the DNAI.

[0352] Application Relocation Possibility is information indicating whether an application can be relocated after its location is selected by the core network CN.

[0353] The UE IP address preservation indication indicates that the IP address of the UE 40 related to the traffic identified by the Traffic Description should be preserved. Upon receiving this indication from the AF 548, the core network CN preserves the IP address of the UE 40 by avoiding reselection of the UPF 520 after the UPF 520 has been selected.

[0354] The Temporary Validity Condition is provided in a format that indicates the time interval or period during which the AF request applies. If the AF request is a request regarding a traffic routing decision in the SMF 546, the Temporary Validity Condition indicates when the routing applies. If the AF request is a request to register for notification of a user plane path management event, the Temporary Validity Condition indicates when the notification occurs.

[0355] The AF request, which includes information about the AF subscription for the SMF event, is a request to register for notifications of changes in the user plane path related to the traffic identified by the Traffic Description. This request includes the subscription type, a notification target address for receiving event notifications, etc. If the subscription type is Early Notification, the SMF 546 sends a notification of the path change before a new user plane path is established. If the subscription type is Late Notification, the SMF 546 sends a notification of the path change after a new user plane path is established.

[0356] The information for IP replacement of edge application servers is information indicating the identifiers of the source edge application server and the target edge application server for edge computing services, such as the IP addresses and port numbers of the source and target edge application servers.

[0357] The User Plane Latency Requirement is a delay in the user plane that is taken into account when relocating a target edge application server. The AF 548 can request the User Plane Latency Requirement from the core network CN via an AF request. This allows the SMF 546 to decide to relocate the PSA-UPF 520 based on the AF request in a network deployment where an estimated value of the delay in the user plane between the UE 40 and the candidate PSA-UPF 520 is known to the SMF 546.

[0358] The information about the AF change is information about the relocation of the AF 548. This information includes an AF ID, which is information for identifying the target AF 548 to which the change is made. The instruction for relocating the edge application server is an instruction to relocate an application.

[0359] When PCF545 is address-managed and distributed, a network function (e.g., AF548) that sends a policy regarding traffic identified by the address of UE40 needs to access PCF545, which holds information about the corresponding PDU session, via reference point N5.

[0360] The AF 548 may then possess at least one of the following pieces of information (or information about at least one of the following pieces of information) for the corresponding PDU session: User identity DNN UE IP or MAC address S-NSSAI Address of the selected PCF 545

[0361] For IP-based PDU sessions, the AF 548 receives information when an IP address is assigned or released to the PDU session.

[0362] For Ethernet-type PDU sessions that support MAC address-based AF request mapping, the AF 548 must receive information when the MAC address used by the UE 40 in the PDU session is detected. This MAC address detection is performed by the UPF 520 under the control of the SMF 546. Additionally, if TSC and time synchronization are supported, the AF 548 receives the MAC address of the Device-Side Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) Translator (DS-TT) port.

[0363] In addition, a binding support function (BSF) 552 may be used to associate the AF request with the PCF 545 .

[0364] The BSF 552 internally maintains information about the corresponding selected PCF 545 .

[0365] The BSF 552 may internally hold at least one of the following pieces of information (or information relating to at least one of the following pieces of information) for the corresponding PDU session: User identifier DNN UE IP address or MAC address S-NSSAI Address of the selected PCF 545

[0366] Furthermore, if available, the BSF 552 may internally maintain at least one of the following pieces of information (or information about at least one of the following pieces of information) for the corresponding PDU session: Identifier (ID) of the associated PCF instance; PCF set identifier; Level of association.

[0367] The BSF 552 may internally hold at least one of the following pieces of information (or information relating to at least one of the following pieces of information) for the corresponding UE 40: a user identifier; and an address of the selected PCF 545.

[0368] Furthermore, if available, the BSF 552 may internally maintain, for the corresponding UE 40, at least one of the following pieces of information (or information relating to at least one of the following pieces of information): Identifier of the associated PCF instance; PCF set identifier; Level of association.

[0369] The PCF 545 uses the Nbsf Management service to register, update, or delete the information it holds.

[0370] The PCF 545 updates this information whenever an IP address is assigned or released for the corresponding PDU session.

[0371] Alternatively, for Ethernet-type PDU sessions that support MAC address-based AF request mapping, PCF 545 updates the information each time it detects a MAC address used by UE 40 within a PDU session, or each time it detects that UE 40 will no longer use that MAC address.

[0372] The PCF 545 updates its information each time the AMF 541 selects a new PCF 545 for the corresponding UE 40.

[0373] AF requests targeted to an individual UE 40 by the UE 40's address are forwarded by the AF 548 or NEF 542 to the PCF 545 identified using the BSF 552.

[0374] Additionally, AF requests targeted at a group of UEs 40 or AF requests targeted at the following UEs 40 must go through the NEF 542: All UEs 40 that have access to a set of DNN and S-NSSAI UEs 40 classified by one or more GPSIs (Generic Public Subscription Identifiers) UEs 40 with an External Subscriber Category that is a set of external group IDs

[0375] The NEF 542 stores the information of the AF request in the UDR of the UDM 547. If the PCF 545 is registered for the service of creating, updating, or deleting the information of the AF request corresponding to the UDR Data Keys / Data Sub-Keys, it receives the corresponding notification.

[0376] If the AF 548 interacts with the PCF 545 via the NEF 542, the NEF 542 performs the mapping as described below.

[0377] The NEF 542 maps the AF-Service-Identifier to a set of DNN and S-NSSAI.

[0378] The NEF 542 maps the AF-Service-Identifier to a list of Data Network Access Identifiers (DNAIs) and routing profile IDs determined by the local configuration. The NEF 542 can provide this mapping only when the DNAIs used by the application are statically defined. If the DNAIs at which the application is instantiated change dynamically, the AF 548 provides the target DNAIs in the AF request, along with either the routing profile IDs or the N6 traffic routing information.

[0379] Here, DNAI is identification information for identifying user plane access to DN 530. Routing profile ID is identification information for referencing a routing policy previously agreed upon between AF 548 and the core network CN. N6 traffic routing information includes information required to forward traffic to DNAI.

[0380] The NEF 542 maps the GPSI contained in the Target UE Identifier to the SUPI according to the information received from the UDM 547 .

[0381] The NEF 542 maps the external group ID contained in the Target UE Identifier to an internal group ID according to information received from the UDM 547 .

[0382] The NEF 542 maps an external subscriber category and a UE 40, an external subscriber category and an external group ID to an internal group ID, or an internal group ID and a subscriber category.

[0383] The NEF 542 maps the geographical regions included in the Spatial Validity Condition to valid regions determined by local settings.

[0384] FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a process for reflecting an AF request in the routing of a session.

[0385] The PCF 545 sends a Nudr_DM_Subscribe message to the UDR to register the AF-requested change service of the UDR (step S301). Here, the Data Set is application data. The Data Subset is AF traffic influence request information. The Data Key is at least one of the S-NSSAI, the DNN, and the internal group ID. The Data Key may be SUPI.

[0386] The AF 548 generates a new AF request (step S302), and then invokes the Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Create service on the NEF 542. Alternatively, the AF 548 invokes the Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Update service or the Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Delete service on the NEF 542 to modify or delete an existing AF request (step S303).

[0387] When the Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Create service or the Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Update service is started, the NEF 542 stores the AF request information in the UDR. When the Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Delete service is started, the NEF 542 deletes the AF request information from the UDR (step S304).

[0388] The NEF 542 responds to a request for the Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Create service, the Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Update service, or the Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Delete service from the AF 548 (step S305).

[0389] The PCF 545, which is registered in the AF request change service of the UDR, receives a notification of a change in data related to the information of the AF request from the UDR (step S306).

[0390] The PCF 545 determines whether any current PDU sessions are affected by the AF request, invokes the Npcf_SMPolicyControl_UpdateNotify service for each of those PDU sessions, and updates the SMF 546 with the new policy information corresponding to the PDU sessions (step S307).

[0391] When the SMF 546 receives the updated policy information regarding the PDU session from the PCF 545, it reconfigures the user plane of the PDU session in accordance with the updated policy information (step S308).

[0392] In addition, when the SMF 546 receives updated policy information regarding the PDU session from the PCF 545, it may perform the necessary processing to support discovery and re-discovery of an EAS (Edge Application Server) for a PDU session having a session breakout connection type.

[0393] Furthermore, in the case of N6-LAN Traffic Steering Control, the SMF 546 provides N6 traffic steering parameters to the UPF 520.

[0394] The SMF 546 determines whether it is necessary to send target DNAI information or common DNAI information to the AMF 541 to trigger SMF / I-SMF (Intermediate SMF) reselection, and then notifies the AMF 541 of the target DNAI information or common DNAI information for the current PDU session or the next PDU session via the Nsmf_PDUSession_SMContextStatusNotify service (step S309).

[0395] FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a process for reflecting an AF request targeted at an individual UE 40 in a policy.

[0396] The AF 548 sends an Nnef_TrafficInfluence_Create / Update / Delete request message to the NEF 542 (step S401), targeting the address of the individual UE 40. This request message corresponds to an AF request for reflecting traffic routing to a local network or Service Function Chaining (SFC).

[0397] Here, service function chaining is a chain of service functions that is constructed so that network functions can process packets in the appropriate order. A network function can provide one or more service functions.

[0398] A network operator defines a service function chaining policy for forwarding traffic associated with a given application, and can modify the policy to improve the user's Quality of Experience (QoE).

[0399] Service functions for 5G networks include, for example, firewall functionality, NAT (Network Address Translation), antivirus, parental control, DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) protection, TCP proxy, load balancer, KPI monitoring, and EHE (Edge Hosting Environment).

[0400] A network operator can create, modify, or delete a single service function based on a service function chaining policy, and can also create, configure, or control a chain of service functions consisting of multiple service functions on a per-application and / or per-user basis based on the network operator's policy or a request from a third party.

[0401] If the address of the PCF 545 is not available, the NEF 542 requests the BSF 552 to use the Nbsf_Management_Discovery service to discover the address of the associated PCF 545 (step S402). If the address of the PCF 545 is available, step S402 is skipped.

[0402] The NEF 542 receives an Nbsf_Management_Discovery response message including the address of the PCF 545 from the BSF 552 as a response to the Nbsf_Management_Discovery request message (step S403).

[0403] The NEF 542 starts the Npcf_PolicyAuthorization service to reflect the AF request from the AF 548 in the policy, and then transmits an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create / Update / Delete message to the PCF 545 (step S404).

[0404] The PCF 545 determines whether to permit the AF request. If the PCF 545 permits the request, it invokes the PCF initiated SM Policy Association Modification procedure. Then, the PCF 545 updates the SMF 546 with the corresponding new PCC rules (step S405). If the PCF 545 does not permit the request, it rejects the AF request.

[0405] When the SMF 546 receives the policy information from the PCF 545, it reconfigures the user plane of the PDU session according to the received policy information.

[0406] Through the above processing, the AF request from AF 548 can be reflected in the policy managed by PCF 545 and in the user plane processing of the PDU session managed by SMF 546.

[0407] Note that the service provided by the NEF 542, which reflects AF requests in policies managed by the PCF 545 and in user plane processing of PDU sessions managed by the SMF 546, is not limited to the Nnef_TrafficInfluence service. For example, the AF 548 can use the Nnef_AF_request_for_QoS service to request 5GS to provide a specific QoS for the traffic flow of a UE 40 or a group of UEs 40. This service can be used, for example, to support QoS monitoring registration and notification for monitoring packet delay.

[0408] The AF 548 can also use the Nnef_AfsessionWithQoS service to request QoS for a session for a particular UE 40. This service can be used to support registration and notification of QoS monitoring, e.g., for monitoring packet delay, congestion information, data rate, packet delay variation, etc. Furthermore, this service can be used to support registration and notification of BAT offsets, which will be described later. This allows the AF 548 to adjust burst transmission times from the XR server 60 based on feedback from the RAN / AN 510.

[0409] The services provided by NEF542 illustrated here are just examples, and the services that reflect AF requests in policies managed by PCF545 and in user plane processing of PDU sessions managed by SMF546 may be other than these.

[0410] <4-3. Network Capability Exposure> One of the network capability exposures is a provisioning function for external functions. An external third party can use this provisioning function to provide information such as expected operation of the UE 40, service-specific parameters, or 5G VN (Virtual Network) group information to a 5G network function.

[0411] The 5G system can support a LAN (Local Area Network) type service (5G LAN-type service). In the LAN-type service, a 5G VN group is composed of a set of UEs 40 using private communication.

[0412] A 5G VN group is characterized by 5G VN group identities, 5G VN group membership, and 5G VN group data.

[0413] An external group ID and an internal group ID are used as 5G VN group identifiers to identify 5G VN groups.

[0414] 5G VN group membership is uniquely identified by a Generic Public Subscription Identifier (GPSI).

[0415] The 5G VN group data may include the following information: PDU session type DNN S-NSSAI and application descriptor Indication that the 5G VN group is associated with 5G VN group communication Information related to secondary authentication / authorization

[0416] To support dynamic management of 5G VN group identifiers and 5G VN group membership, the NEF 542 discloses a set of services for managing (e.g., adding / deleting / modifying) 5G VN groups and 5G VN group members. Additionally, the NEF 542 discloses a service for dynamically managing 5G VN group data.

[0417] The AF 548 may request provisioning of traffic characteristics, QoS parameters, and monitoring of QoS parameters for the 5G VN group.

[0418] The AF 548 identifies the 5G VN group using the external group ID, and the NEF 542 provides the external group ID to the UDM 547. The UDM 547 maps the external group ID to an internal group ID.

[0419] The NEF 542 can obtain the internal group ID from the UDM 547 via the Nudm_SDM_Get service.

[0420] The external group ID of a 5G VN group corresponds to a set of unique 5G VN group data parameters.

[0421] FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a process for setting up an AF session for requesting QoS.

[0422] The AF 548 sends a request to the NEF 542 to reserve resources for an AF session using an Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create request message (step S501).

[0423] Here, the Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create request message contains the following information: Address of the UE 40 Identifier of the AF 548 or external application identifier Flow description information QoS reference or individual QoS parameters Alternative Service Requirements DNN S-NSSAI

[0424] Optionally, the following information can be included in the AF request: Request for QoS monitoring Indication of ECN (Explicit Congestion Notification) marking for L4S (Low Latency, Low Loss and Scalable throughput) Multi-modal Service ID PDU Set QoS Parameters Protocol Description

[0425] Additionally, the AF request may optionally include a time period or traffic volume for the requested QoS.

[0426] Instead of a QoS Reference, the AF 548 may provide at least one of the following individual QoS parameters: Requested 5GS Delay, Requested Priority, Requested Guaranteed Bitrate, Requested Maximum Bitrate, Maximum Burst Size, and Requested Packet Error Rate.

[0427] The AF 548 may also provide an average window value for deriving parameters for GBR QoS flows.

[0428] Regardless of whether the AF request uses a QoS reference or individual QoS parameters, the AF 548 may also provide parameters describing the traffic characteristics. For example, the AF 548 may provide at least one of the following parameters: flow direction, Burst Arrival Time (BAT) at the UE 40 in uplink or at the UPF 520 in downlink, Periodicity, Time domain, Survival Time, Adaptive control of burst arrival times or BAT window capability, Periodicity Range.

[0429] The optional Alternative Service Requirements provided by the AF 548 must include either a QoS Reference or a Requested Alternative QoS Parameter Set(s). Additionally, 5GS Packet Delay Variation information can be included in the AF request. The AF 548 may also provide QoS duration information and QoS inactivity interval information to indicate to the PCF 545 the period during which the QoS is applied.

[0430] The NEF 542 approves the AF request including the address of one UE 40 (step S502). The NEF 542 can apply policies to control the overall amount of QoS granted to the AF 548. If approval is not granted, all subsequent steps except step S505 are skipped. The NEF 542 then responds to the AF 548 with a Result value indicating that authentication failed.

[0431] The NEF 542 assigns a Transaction Reference ID to the Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create request.

[0432] Based on the operator's configuration, the NEF 542 decides whether to invoke the TSCTSF 551 or directly contact the PCF 545. The NEF 542 can make this decision based on whether the AF request contains a QoS reference or individual QoS parameters. Furthermore, the NEF 542 may make this decision based on whether the AF request contains an identifier of the AF 548 or parameters describing the traffic characteristics (parameters provided by the AF 548).

[0433] In step S502, if the NEF 542 contacts the PCF 545 directly without invoking the TSCTSF 551, the NEF 542 uses the address of the UE 40 to discover the PCF 545 from the BSF 552. The NEF 542 forwards the received parameters to the PCF 545 using an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request message (step S503).

[0434] If the AF 548 is treated as a Trusted AF by the operator, the AF 548 communicates directly with the PCF 545 using the Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request message to request reservation of resources for the AF session.

[0435] In response to the request received from the NEF 542 in step S503, the PCF 545 determines whether the request can be approved. If the request is not approved, the PCF 545 notifies the NEF 542 of this fact using an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create response message. On the other hand, if the request is approved, the PCF 545 obtains the requested QoS parameters of the PCC rule based on the information provided by the NEF 542. The PCF 545 then determines whether this QoS is permitted. The PCF 545 then notifies the NEF 542 of the result using an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create response message (step S504).

[0436] If the AF 548 is treated as a Trusted AF by the operator, the PCF 545 sends the Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create response message directly to the AF 548 .

[0437] If the PCF 545 receives individual QoS parameters instead of a QoS reference, the PCF 545 determines the 5QI that matches the individual QoS parameters. The PCF 545 further sets the GBR and MBR of the PCC rule according to the requested values. The PCF 545 can use the requested priority obtained from the AF 548 to determine the priority level. The requested individual QoS parameters take precedence over the default values ​​of the 5QI.

[0438] When the PCF 545 receives a Round Trip Latency Indication (RT), the PCF 545 performs Uplink-Downlink Transmission Coordination and QoS monitoring associated with the two correlated QoS flows.

[0439] If the PCF 545 receives the PDU set QoS parameters, the PDU set QoS parameters are applied to the target PDU session.

[0440] If the PCF 545 receives an explicit indication, for example, an indication of ECN marking for L4S (Low Latency Low Loss Scalable throughput), the PCF 545 determines that the service data flow supports ECN marking for L4S. The PCF 545 instructs the SMF 546 to enable ECN marking for L4S for the target QoS.

[0441] Furthermore, if an alternative service request is provided, the PCF 545 derives the alternative QoS parameter set(s) in the same manner, while maintaining the same priority, from one or more QoS reference parameters included in the alternative service request or from the Requested Alternative QoS Parameter Set(s).

[0442] For a multimodal flow consisting of multiple media flows (e.g., pause, audio, video, haptics, etc.), the PCF 545 obtains the required QoS parameters of the PCC rule based on the information provided by the NEF 542. Then, the PCF 545 generates a QoS monitoring request policy for each media flow.

[0443] If the PCF 545 determines that the SMF 546 needs updated policy information, the PCF 545 issues an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_UpdateNotify request, which contains the updated policy information for the PDU session.

[0444] The NEF 542 sends an Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create response message to the AF 548 (step S505). This Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create response message includes a Transaction Reference ID and a Result value. Here, the Result value indicates whether the request has been approved or not.

[0445] The NEF 542 must send an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Subscribe message to the PCF 545 to subscribe to notifications of the status of resource allocation (step S506). The NEF 542 may also subscribe to other events.

[0446] When the event condition is satisfied, the PCF 545 transmits an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Notify message to the NEF 542 to notify the NEF 542 of the event (step S507). Here, the event condition is, for example, a condition regarding the success or failure (success / failure) of establishing transmission resources corresponding to the QoS update.

[0447] If the AF 548 is treated as a Trusted AF by the operator, the PCF 545 sends the Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Notify message directly to the AF 548 .

[0448] The NEF 542 sends an Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify message containing the event reported by the PCF 545 to the AF 548 (step S508).

[0449] Note that the Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create request message in step S501 may be a request to a multi-member. A multi-member is a set of UEs 40 identified by a list of addresses. This list contains information about all UEs 40 in the set. Specifically, this list contains the IP addresses and port numbers that each UE 40 uses to communicate with the AF 548.

[0450] When the NEF 542 receives an AF session with required QoS request (including the above list) for multi-member, it maps this request to an individual AF session with required QoS request. Here, the individual request is an AF session with required QoS request for each address of the UE 40. Then, the NEF 542 communicates with each serving PCF 545 of the UE 40 for each AF session. Here, the processes of steps S502 to S508 described above are executed in accordance with the individual AF session with required QoS request.

[0451] 17 is a diagram showing another example of a process for setting up an AF session for requesting QoS. Steps S601 and S602 are the same as steps S501 and S502 shown in FIG. 16, and therefore, description thereof will be omitted.

[0452] In step S902, when the NEF 542 calls the TSCTSF 551, the NEF 542 transfers the received parameters to the TSCTSF 551 using the Ntsctsf_QoSandTSCAssistance_Create request message (step S603).

[0453] If the AF 548 is treated as a Trusted AF by the operator, the AF 548 communicates directly with the TSCTSF 551 using the Ntsctsf_QoSandTSCAssistance_Create request message to request reservation of resources for the AF session.

[0454] The address of the TSCTSF 551 (one TSCTSF 551 address per DNN / S-NSSAI) may be configured locally in the NEF 542, the PCF 545, or a Trusted AF. Alternatively, the NEF 542 can use the identifier of the AF 548 to determine the DNN / S-NSSAI. The NEF 542 can also use the DNN / S-NSSAI to discover the TSCTSF 551 from the NRF 543.

[0455] The TSCTSF 551 determines whether an AF session exists with the PCF 545 for the specified address of the UE 40. If an AF session exists, the TSCTSF 551 sends an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Update request message to the PCF 545. This causes the TSCTSF 551 to forward the received parameters to the PCF 545 after performing the adjustment and mapping described below (step S604).

[0456] On the other hand, if there is no AF session with the PCF 545 for the specified address of the UE 40, the TSCTSF 551 discovers the PCF 545. Then, the TSCTSF 551 transmits an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request message to the PCF 545 (Step S604).

[0457] When the TSCTSF 551 receives the requested 5GS delay, the TSCTSF 551 subtracts the residence time (UE-DS-TT Residence Time) between the UE 40 and the device-side TSN translator (TT) from the requested 5GS delay. As a result, the TSCTSF 551 calculates the requested packet delay allowable time (Requested PDB). Then, the TSCTSF 551 transmits the requested 5GS delay to the PCF 545 instead of the requested 5GS delay. Here, the residence time between the UE 40 and the device-side TSN translator is provided by the PCF 545. Alternatively, the residence time between the UE 40 and the device-side TSN translator is preset in the TSCTSF 551.

[0458] If the TSCTSF 551 receives any of the following parameters from the NEF 542, the TSCTSF 551 determines the TSC Assistance Container and sends the TSC Assistance Container to the PCF 545 instead of these parameters: Flow direction Burst arrival time Period Time domain Time to live Burst arrival time adaptation control or BAT window capability Period range

[0459] If AF 548 provides burst arrival times or periods to TSCTSF 551 without indicating the corresponding time domain, TSCTSF 551 sets the time domain of the TSC Support Container to "5GS", where "5GS" in the time domain is the time based on the 5G clock.

[0460] In response to the request received from the TSCTSF 551 in step S604, the PCF 545 determines whether the request can be approved.

[0461] If the request is not approved, the PCF 545 notifies the NEF 542 using an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create / Update response message (step S605).

[0462] On the other hand, if the request is approved, the PCF 545 obtains the requested QoS parameters of the PCC rule based on the information provided by the TSCTSF 551, as in step S504. The PCF 545 then determines whether this QoS is allowed according to the configuration of the PCF 545. The PCF 545 then notifies the result to the NEF 542 using an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create / Update response message (step S605).

[0463] If the PCF 545 determines that the SMF 546 needs updated policy information, the PCF 545 issues an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_UpdateNotify request, which contains the updated policy information for the PDU session.

[0464] The TSCTSF 551 sends an Ntsctsf_QoSandTSCAssistance_Create response message to the NEF 542 (step S606). This Ntsctsf_QoSandTSCAssistance_Create response message includes a Transaction Reference ID and a Result value, where the Result value indicates whether the request has been approved.

[0465] If the AF 548 is treated as a Trusted AF by the operator, the TSCTSF 551 sends an Ntsctsf_QoSandTSCAssistance_Create response message directly to the AF 548 .

[0466] The NEF 542 sends an Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create response message to the AF 548 (step S607). This Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create response message includes a Transaction Reference ID and a Result value.

[0467] The TSCTSF 551 must send an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Subscribe message to the PCF 545 to subscribe to notifications of the status of resource allocation (step S608). The TSCTSF 551 may also subscribe to other events.

[0468] Assume that the TSCTSF 551 receives the BAT (Burst Arrival Time) adaptation or BAT window capability in step S603. In this case, the TSCTSF 551 must subscribe to notifications regarding the BAT offset via sending an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Subscribe request message to the PCF 545.

[0469] When the conditions of the event (for example, whether the establishment of transmission resources corresponding to the QoS update has succeeded or failed) are met, the PCF 545 sends an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Notify message to the TSCTSF 551 to notify the event (step S609).

[0470] The TSCTSF 551 sends an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Notify message to the NEF 542 (step S610). The Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Notify message includes information about the event reported by the PCF 545.

[0471] If the AF 548 is treated as a Trusted AF by the operator, the TSCTSF 551 sends the Ntsctsf_QoSandTSCAssistance_Notify message directly to the AF 548 .

[0472] The NEF 542 sends an Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify message to the AF 548 (step S611). This Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify message includes information about the event reported by the PCF 545.

[0473] It should be noted that the Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create request message in step S601 may be a request to a multi-member, which is a set of UEs 40 identified by a list of addresses.

[0474] When the NEF 542 receives an AF session with required QoS request for multi-member, it maps this request to an individual AF session with required QoS request. Here, the individual request is an AF session with required QoS request for each address of the UE 40. Then, the NEF 542 communicates with each serving PCF 545 of the UE 40 for each AF session. Here, the processing of steps S602 to S610 described above is executed in accordance with the individual AF session with required QoS request.

[0475] <4-4. TSC Support Information> Next, TSC (Time Sensitive Communication) support information will be described.

[0476] The TSCTSF 551 determines a TSC Assistance Container based on the traffic pattern provided by the AF 548, and provides the TSC Assistance Container to the PCF 545. Upon receiving the TSC Assistance Container from the TSCTSF 551, the PCF 545 transfers the TSC Assistance Container to the SMF 546 as part of a PCC rule. The transfer of the PCC rule including the TSC Assistance Container to the SMF 546 is performed in step S206 shown in FIG. 13A.

[0477] The SMF 546 associates a Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rule containing a TSC assistance container with a QoS flow. The SMF 546 uses the TSC assistance container to derive TSC assistance information for that QoS flow. The SMF 546 sends the derived TSC assistance information to the RAN / AN 510.

[0478] SMF546 defines the components of the TSC support information, namely, Periodicity, Periodicity Range, Burst Arrival Time (BAT), BAT Window, and Survival Time, in accordance with the 5G clock.

[0479] A period is the time interval between two data bursts, where a data burst is composed of multiple PDUs generated and transmitted by an application within a short period of time. For example, one or more PDU sets can be configured or assigned to the multiple PDUs that make up a data burst.

[0480] The period range indicates the lower and upper limits of the period as a range of acceptable periods within which the AF 548 can adjust the period.

[0481] The burst arrival time is defined as the latest possible time at which the first packet of a downlink data burst arrives at the input end of the RAN / AN 510 or the latest possible time at which the first packet of an uplink data burst arrives at the output end of the UE 40. For example, the downlink burst arrival time can be set to the burst arrival time set at the input end of the UPF 520 plus the CN PDB.

[0482] The BAT window indicates the earliest and latest allowable arrival times for the first packet of a data burst.

[0483] The time to live indicates the period during which an application can continue operation without receiving a data burst. The time to live is set either as the maximum number of messages equivalent to all packets in the data burst, or in units of time. If only one data burst is expected within a single period, the time to live corresponds to a period. The PCF 545 may also set the PDU set delay tolerance based on this time to live.

[0484] The TSCTSF 551 may also specify the flow direction (e.g., uplink or downlink) of the TSC flow in the TSC Support Container and TSC Support Information. A TSC flow is also referred to as a TSC QoS flow.

[0485] When the traffic pattern provided by the AF 548 is updated, the TSCTSF 551 updates the TSC support container. When the TSC support container is updated, the PCF 545 forwards the PCC rule including the updated TSC support container to the SMF 546. The SMF 546 updates the TSC support information based on the updated TSC support container. The updated TSC support information is sent to the RAN / AN 510.

[0486] If the RAN / AN 510 receives TSC assistance information including a BAT window or capability for BAT adaptation for a QoS flow, it can determine a BAT offset to align the arrival of a data burst with the next scheduled transmission opportunity.

[0487] When the RAN / AN 510 receives TSC assistance information including a Periodicity Range for a QoS flow, it can determine the period to be adjusted along with the BAT offset identified above to align the period of the data burst with the expected time interval between subsequent transmission opportunities.

[0488] For adaptive control of the BAT and period, the BAT offset and adjusted period are fed back to the SMF 546 as part of the QoS flow establishment or modification process.

[0489] <<5. Operation of the Communication System>> Based on the above, the operation of the communication system 1 will be described.

[0490] In the following description, XR media (XR media content) refers to XR content that can be played simultaneously by multiple users in remote locations. For example, XR media (XR media content) is content for VR games and / or the Metaverse. However, XR media is not limited to content for VR games and / or the Metaverse. XR media may also be video content generated by calculating or processing 3D data (e.g., 3D spatial data and / or 3D object data) based on user viewpoint data.

[0491] <5-1. Overview of Operation of Communication System> Before describing the specific operation of the communication system 1, the issues of this embodiment will be specifically described. Here, the issues of this embodiment will be described using an example of XR media distribution to multiple users in different PLMN operator environments.

[0492] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of data burst distribution to multiple users in different PLMN operator environments. The example of FIG. 18 shows an example of distributing XR media data, which is a data burst, to two users (user U1 and user U2). Note that the number of users is not limited to two. The number of users may be three or more. Also, in the example of FIG. 18, XR media data is distributed via two PLMN operators. However, XR media data may be distributed via three or more PLMN operators.

[0493] terminal device 40 １ A user U1 using a first PLMN operator uses an XR media distribution service provided by the server 10 via a 5G system (5GS) of the first PLMN operator. The 5GS of the first PLMN operator is connected to a first base station 30 １ and a first core network CN １ Here, the first core network CN １ is, for example, 5GC, and is composed of one or more management devices 20.

[0494] terminal device 40 ２A user U2 using the second PLMN operator uses the XR media distribution service provided by the server 10 via the second PLMN operator's 5GS. Here, the second PLMN operator's 5GS is provided by the second base station 30. ２ and a second core network CN ２ Here, the second core network CN ２ is, for example, 5GC, and is composed of one or more management devices 20.

[0495] The AF 548 acquires information related to a traffic pattern from the XR media distribution service provided by the server 10. Here, the server 10 is, for example, an application server. For example, the server 10 is connected to a core network CN (first core network CN １ , and a second core network CN ２ ) and includes a third-party application function (AF).

[0496] And the AF 548 communicates with the first core network CN of the first PLMN operator. １ , and a second core network CN of a second PLMN operator ２ The information relating to the traffic pattern includes, for example, information on a burst departure time (BDT), which is the timing at which the server 10 transmits the first packet of a data burst, and information on a periodicity. The information relating to the traffic pattern may also include information on a survival time, which indicates a period during which an application can continue to operate without receiving a data burst.

[0497] Alternatively, the AF 548 may provide the core network CN with information on the burst arrival time at the input end of the UPF 520 of the core network CN instead of the burst transmission time at the output end of the server 10 as information on the traffic pattern. For example, the AF 548 may provide the first core network CN with information on the burst arrival time at the input end of the UPF 520 of the core network CN based on the timing of transmitting the first packet of the data burst. １ UPF 520 １ and information on burst arrival times at the input end of the second core network CN ２ UPF 520 ２ and transmitting the generated information to the core network CN (first core network CN １ , and / or a second core network CN ２ ) may be provided to

[0498] The AF 548 is a first core network CN １ NEF542 １ , and a second core network CN ２ NEF542 ２ Using the services provided by the first core network CN １ TSCTSF551 １ , and a second core network CN ２ TSCTSF551 ２ Each of these can be provided with information regarding traffic patterns.

[0499] As mentioned above, the first core network CN １ TSCTSF551 １ , and a second core network CN ２ TSCTSF551 ２ determines the TSC support container based on the traffic pattern provided by the AF 548. １ , and TSCTSF551 ２ is the first core network CN １ PCF545 １ , and a second core network CN ２ PCF545 ２ Provide a TSC support container for each of the following:

[0500] First core network CN １ PCF545 １ , and a second core network CN ２ PCF545 ２ Each of the TSC support containers is transmitted to the first core network CN as part of the PCC rules. １ SMF546 １ , and a second core network CN ２ SMF546 ２ Transfer to.

[0501] First core network CN １ SMF546 １ , and a second core network CN ２ SMF546 ２ Each of the AFs 548 associates a PCC rule containing a TSC assistance container with a QoS flow transmitting a data burst and uses the TSC assistance container to derive TSC assistance information for that QoS flow. Here, the AF 548 coordinates the traffic pattern information with the first core network CN １ , and a second core network CN ２ Alternatively, the AF 548 may provide a 5QI required for the QoS flow transmitting the data burst to the first core network CN. Alternatively, the AF 548 may provide an upper limit of packet delay instead of providing a 5QI. １ PCF545 １ , and a second core network CN ２ PCF545 ２ It may be possible to specify a 5QI that satisfies the upper limit value for each of the above.

[0502] First core network CN １ SMF546 １ , and a second core network CN ２ SMF546 ２Each of the above sets TSC support information for a QoS flow that transmits a data burst based on the TSC support container and the 5QI. The burst arrival time included in the TSC support information is set taking into account the packet delay budget (PDB) of the 5QI.

[0503] First core network CN １ PCF545 １ , and a second core network CN ２ PCF545 ２ If any of the above identifies a non-standardized 5QI, the first core network CN １ 5QI and the second core network CN ２ Therefore, the first core network CN １ and the second core network CN ２ In the first core network CN, different burst arrival times (BATs) may be set for the TSC assistance information. １ In the example, a first BAT is set up and a second core network CN ２ In this case, a second BAT different from the first BAT may be set.

[0504] Also, the first core network CN １ PCF545 １ , and a second core network CN ２ PCF545 ２ Even if the first core network CN specifies the same standardized 5QI, １ and the second core network CN ２ Therefore, the first core network CN １ and the second core network CN ２ In this case, different BATs may be set for the TSC assistance information.

[0505] Furthermore, the BAT of the TSC assistance information is defined as the time when the first packet of the data burst arrives at the input end of the base station 30. Therefore, it is assumed that the first packet of the actual data burst arrives earlier than this BAT. In other words, if the first BAT and the second BAT are different, the first packet of the actual data burst may arrive earlier than the first base station 30. １ , and the second base station 30 ２ The time it takes to reach the target will also be different.

[0506] In applications such as competitive gaming and the Metaverse, it is expected that each user will make decisions based on data (e.g., video information) received at the same time. Therefore, if there is a delay difference in the timing of receiving the first packet of an actual data burst between the service of a first PLMN operator and the service of a second PLMN operator, the QoE of each user will be degraded. In other words, synchronization of specific data among multiple users is required. Here, data synchronization can be achieved, for example, by ensuring that the timing of data reception for each user falls within a predetermined allowable time difference for each application. Alternatively, data synchronization can be achieved, for example, by ensuring that the timing of data reception for each user falls within a dynamically required allowable time difference.

[0507] The base station 30 of each PLMN operator measures the difference between the timing at which the first packet of the actual data burst is received and the burst arrival time of the TSC assistance information. The base station 30 of each PLMN operator then reports / feeds back the measured difference to the core network CN. This allows, in principle, each core network CN to track the timing at which the first packet of the actual data burst is received within each PLMN operator with the burst arrival time of the TSC assistance information. However, it is difficult to improve the relative delay occurring between the service of a first PLMN operator and the service of a second PLMN operator solely through control within each PLMN operator.

[0508] Note that this issue of timing delay differences may occur not only between different operators but also within the same operator. For example, when multiple users receive a data burst via different UPFs 520, delay differences may occur in the timing at which the first packet of the actual data burst is received. Alternatively, when multiple users receive a data burst via different base stations 30 belonging to different registration areas, delay differences may occur in the timing at which the first packet of the actual data burst is received. Alternatively, when multiple users receive a data burst via different base stations 30 belonging to different TAs (Tracking Areas), delay differences may occur in the timing at which the first packet of the actual data burst is received. Alternatively, when multiple users receive a data burst via different base stations 30 belonging to different cells, delay differences may occur in the timing at which the first packet of the actual data burst is received.

[0509] Therefore, the communication system 1 of this embodiment controls the transmission timing of data transmitted to the base station 30 via a function for processing the user plane of the core network CN (hereinafter referred to as a user plane processing function) based on information on BAT (Burst Arrival Time) for each of the plurality of base stations 30 and information on the measurement results of QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations 30. In this way, the communication system 1 reduces delay differences in the reception timing of data.

[0510] The outline of this embodiment has been explained above, and the operation of the communication system 1 will now be specifically explained.

[0511] <5-2. First Example> First, the operation of the communication system 1 according to the first example will be described. In the first example, the server 10 (for example, an application server) controls the timing of data transmission according to the control of the AF 548. In the first example, it is assumed that multiple users are in the same PLMN operator environment.

[0512] <5-2-1. Transmission Timing Control Process> Fig. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission timing adaptive control procedure. More specifically, Fig. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission timing control procedure for data burst distribution to multiple users in the same PLMN operator environment. Here, the multiple users are users who use terminal devices 40 included in a multi-member. A multi-member is a set of terminal devices 40 identified by the list of addresses described above.

[0513] In the first embodiment, the server 10 is １ User U1 and terminal device 40 ２ The same XR media distribution service is provided to user U2 who uses the same XR media distribution service. Here, the XR media (XR media content) may be a competitive game or a metaverse. Of course, the XR media may also be other XR content. Here, the XR media (XR media content) is composed of data in the form of data bursts. Furthermore, the XR media (XR media content) may be composed of the above-mentioned multimodal flow. In the following description, XR media or XR media content may be referred to as XR content.

[0514] First, the AF 548 receives an Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify message via the NEF 542 according to the procedure shown in Fig. 16 or 17 (step S701). This Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify message includes parameters of TSC support information of the same PLMN operator. The process of step S701 corresponds to the process of step S508 in Fig. 16 or the process of step S611 in Fig. 17.

[0515] Here, the Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify message includes parameters of multiple different TSC support information. The multiple different TSC support information is TSC support information provided to base stations 30 connected to multiple different user plane processing functions (e.g., multiple different UPFs 520). For example, the multiple different TSC support information is provided to a first base station 30 connected to a second base station 30. １ and a first TSC assistance information including a first BAT provided to the second base station 30. ２ and second TSC assistance information including a second BAT provided to the first base station 30. １ is a base station 30 connected to a first user plane processing function, and ２ is a base station 30 connected to a second user plane processing function that is different from the first user plane processing function.

[0516] Here, even if the same 5QI is assigned to a QoS flow with the same QFI (QoS Flow ID), the actual packet delay between base stations 30 connected to different UPFs 520 is likely to be different.

[0517] The Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify message is issued by a PolicyAuthorization_Subscribe service (for example, the service registered in step S608) provided by the PCF 545. The Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify message is transmitted, for example, periodically or whenever the TSC support information is updated.

[0518] The AF 548 provides the parameters of the first TSC support information and the parameters of the second TSC support information to the server 10 (step S702). The TSC support information (first TSC support information and second TSC support information) notified to each of the plurality of base stations 30 includes information on BAT (burst arrival time) provided to each of the plurality of base stations 30. The server 10 determines the first TSC support information and the second TSC support information from the first TSC support information. １The server 10 also obtains information on the first BAT for the second base station 30 from the second TSC support information. ２ As described above, the first base station 30 acquires information on the second BAT for the １ is a base station 30 connected to a first user plane processing function, and ２ is a base station 30 connected to a second user plane processing function.

[0519] The server 10 calculates an offset between the first BAT of the first TSC support information and the second BAT of the second TSC support information (step S703). For example, the server 10 calculates the difference between the first BAT of the first TSC support information and the second BAT of the second TSC support information as the offset.

[0520] The server 10 determines adjustment parameters between the base stations 30 connected to different user plane processing functions, taking into account the calculated offset (step S704).

[0521] The server 10 performs adaptive cooperative control based on the adjustment parameters determined in step S704. For example, the server 10 controls the transmission timing of data transmitted from the server 10 (for example, an application server). Specifically, the server 10 controls the terminal device 40 based on the adjustment parameters. １ the first transmission timing of data (XR content data) to be transmitted to the terminal device 40 ２ or the second transmission timing of the data (XR content data) to be transmitted to (step S705).

[0522] At this time, the server 10 may control the second transmission timing relative to the first transmission timing, or may control the first transmission timing relative to the second transmission timing.

[0523] For example, if the offset calculated in step S703 indicates that the second BAT is later than the first BAT, the server 10 delays the first transmission timing by the offset.

[0524] On the other hand, if the offset calculated in step S703 indicates that the second BAT is earlier in time than the first BAT, the server 10 delays the second transmission timing by the offset.

[0525] By the above processing, even when the server 10 provides an XR media distribution service to multiple users in the same PLMN operator environment, it is possible to eliminate degradation of QoE caused by differences in BAT between base stations 30 (for example, between base stations 30 connected to different user plane processing functions). Here, the AF 548 can be implemented in the same information processing device as the server 10.

[0526] <5-2-2. Modifications of the Transmission Timing Control Process of the First Embodiment> The transmission timing control process described above can be modified in various ways.

[0527] For example, the AF 548 can transmit a request for QoS monitoring in step S601 of Fig. 17. Specifically, the AF 548 can request, as QoS monitoring, measurement of the difference between the BAT of the TSC assistance information and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst (hereinafter referred to as a first difference measurement).

[0528] In step S604, upon receiving the QoS monitoring request, the PCF 545 generates a QoS monitoring request policy for the QoS flow of the target application.

[0529] 13A, the SMF 546 obtains a QoS monitoring request policy from the PCF 545. Then, the SMF 546 sets a first differential measurement in the base station 30 via steps S210 and S211. The first differential measurement is a measurement of the difference between the BAT in the TSC assistance information for the target application and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst.

[0530] The base station 30 may provide the measurement result of the first differential measurement to the UPF 520 via the reference point N3.

[0531] In step S702, the server 10 can acquire the measurement result of QoS monitoring for the TSC assistance information in addition to the parameters of the first TSC assistance information and the parameters of the second TSC assistance information. Here, the measurement result of QoS monitoring acquired by the server 10 is an offset time for BAT (burst arrival time). The server 10 acquires the measurement result of each of the multiple base stations 30.

[0532] For example, a plurality of base stations 30 (first base station 30 １ and the second base station 30 ２ ) acquires information on the BAT (first BAT and second BAT) and instruction information for measurement related to the BAT. The instruction information includes an instruction to measure the difference between the BAT and the timing of receiving a specified packet. The specified packet is, for example, the first packet of a data burst. Each of the multiple base stations 30 performs measurement based on the instruction information.

[0533] Then, the server 10 receives the first base station 30 １ and the measurement result of the second base station 30 ２ The measurement result of and are obtained as the measurement result of QoS monitoring. １ The measurement result is, for example, a first offset time indicating the difference between the first BAT of the first TSC assistance information and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst. ２ The measurement result is, for example, a second offset time indicating the difference between the second BAT of the second TSC assistance information and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst.

[0534] In step S703, the server 10 may calculate the offset of the reception timing of the first packet of the data burst (the relative delay shown in Figure 2 or Figure 18) from the first BAT of the first TSC support information, the second BAT of the second TSC support information, the QoS monitoring measurement result for the first TSC support information (e.g., the first offset time), and the QoS monitoring measurement result for the second TSC support information (e.g., the second offset time).

[0535] The server 10 may then determine adjustment parameters between the base stations 30, taking the calculated offset into consideration. The server 10 may then perform adaptive cooperative control based on the determined adjustment parameters. Specifically, the server 10 may perform adaptive cooperative control based on the adjustment parameters. １ the first transmission timing of data (XR content data) to be transmitted to the terminal device 40 ２ For example, the server 10 may control the second transmission timing relative to the first transmission timing, or the first transmission timing relative to the second transmission timing.

[0536] As a modification, the AF 548 may request, as QoS monitoring, measurement of the difference between the BAT in the TSC assistance information and the actual reception timing of the last packet of the data burst (hereinafter referred to as second difference measurement) in step S601 shown in Fig. 17. In this case, the server 10 can calculate the offset of the reception timing of the last packet of the data burst in step S703.

[0537] Here, the AF 548 can include information indicating whether the request for QoS monitoring is for the first differential measurement or the second differential measurement.

[0538] Furthermore, the TSCTSF 551 can include burst delivery deadline information in the TSC support information. When the AF 548 requests measurement of the reception timing of the last packet, the AF 548 may request measurement of the difference between the burst delivery deadline in the TSC support information and the reception timing of the actual last packet of the data burst as QoS monitoring. Here, if the TSC support information does not include a burst delivery deadline, the AF 548 may set the burst delivery deadline to the time obtained by adding the BAT in the TSC support information to the lifetime.

[0539] The server 10 can perform the above-described processing for each media flow that constitutes a multimodal flow.

[0540] <5-2-3. Other Modifications of the First Embodiment> The modifications of the first embodiment are not limited to the modifications described above.

[0541] For example, in the first embodiment described above, an example of the base station 30 connected to different user plane processing functions within the same PLMN operator is shown, but the present embodiment is not limited to this.

[0542] For example, the process of this embodiment can be applied to base stations 30 belonging to different registration areas of the same PLMN operator. For example, the first base station 30 of the plurality of base stations 30 １ belongs to the first registration area and is a second base station 30 among the plurality of base stations 30. ２ may belong to the second registration area.

[0543] The process of this embodiment can also be applied to base stations 30 belonging to different Tracking Area Identities (TAIs) within the same PLMN operator. For example, the first base station 30 among the plurality of base stations 30 １ belongs to the first TAI and is a second base station 30 among the plurality of base stations 30. ２ may belong to the second TAI.

[0544] 17, the AF 548 may include in the AF request a target designation of the parameters of the TSC assistance information to be included in the message of step S701. For example, the AF 548 may transmit target designation information related to the report of BAT (Burst Arrival Time) information to the NEF 542. This target designation information may be transmitted by the server 10 to the core network CN.

[0545] The target to be specified (the target of the parameters of the TSC assistance information) is a different user plane processing function to which the base station 30 corresponding to the reported BAT is connected. For example, the first base station 30 connected to the first user plane processing function described above. １and a second base station 30 connected to a second user plane processing function. ２ The second BAT for is reported.

[0546] Here, when a plurality of base stations 30 are connected to the first user plane processing function and / or the second user plane processing function, the NEF 542 may report, as the first BAT and / or the second BAT, statistics of a plurality of BATs for the plurality of base stations 30. For example, when a plurality of base stations 30 are connected to the first user plane processing function, the NEF 542 may report, as the first BAT, statistics of a plurality of BATs for the plurality of base stations 30. Alternatively, when a plurality of base stations 30 are connected to the second user plane processing function, the NEF 542 may report, as the second BAT, statistics of a plurality of BATs for the plurality of base stations 30.

[0547] The statistical value may be, for example, at least one of the maximum, minimum, average, and standard deviation of the arrival times of the multiple bursts, where the AF 548 or the server 10 may include an indication of which statistical value to include in the AF request.

[0548] Furthermore, the designated target (target of the TSC assistance information parameters) may be a base station 30 that belongs to a different registration area or TAI.

[0549] 17, the AF 548 can include in the AF request, in step S601, a designation of a target of the QoS monitoring measurement result to be included in the message of step S701. For example, the AF 548 may transmit designation information of a target related to the report of the QoS monitoring measurement result information to the NEF 542. This designation information of the target may be transmitted by the server 10 to the core network CN.

[0550] The designated target (target of the QoS monitoring measurement result) is a different user plane processing function to which the base station 30 performing the first differential measurement is connected. For example, the first base station 30 connected to the first user plane processing function １ and a second base station 30 connected to a second user plane processing function.２ The second measurement result of , and is reported. １ The first measurement result is, for example, the difference between the first BAT and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst. ２ The second measurement result is, for example, the difference between the second BAT and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst.

[0551] Here, when a plurality of base stations 30 are connected to the first user plane processing function and / or the second user plane processing function, the NEF 542 may report, as the first measurement result and / or the second measurement result, statistics of a plurality of measurement results for the plurality of base stations 30. For example, when a plurality of base stations 30 are connected to the first user plane processing function, the NEF 542 may report, as the first measurement result, statistics of a plurality of measurement results for the plurality of base stations 30. Alternatively, when a plurality of base stations 30 are connected to the second user plane processing function, the NEF 542 may report, as the second measurement result, statistics of a plurality of measurement results for the plurality of base stations 30.

[0552] The statistical value may be, for example, at least one of the maximum, minimum, average, and standard deviation of the multiple measurement results, where the AF 548 or the server 10 may include an indication of which statistical value to include in the AF request.

[0553] Furthermore, the designated target (target of the QoS monitoring measurement results) may be a base station 30 that belongs to a different registration area, or may be a base station 30 that belongs to a different TAI.

[0554] Furthermore, the server 10 can distribute part or all of the processing to an edge application server (not shown). In this case, the Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify message acquired in step S701 can include multiple different TSC support information parameters provided to base stations 30 connected to different user planes to which different DNAIs (Data Network Access Identifiers) are assigned. Here, the server 10 and the connection with the edge application server can be identified by the DNAIs.

[0555] In step S705, the server 10 performs adaptive cooperative control using adjustment parameters between the base stations 30 connected to different user planes to which different DNAIs are assigned. １ the first transmission timing of data (XR content data) to be transmitted to the terminal device 40 ２ For example, the server 10 instructs an edge application server (first edge application server or second edge application server) connected to a different user plane to which a different DNAI is assigned to change either the first transmission timing or the second transmission timing.

[0556] Here, in step S703, the server 10 can calculate the timing offset for receiving the first / last packet of the data burst based on the first BAT of the first TSC support information, the second BAT of the second TSC support information, the QoS monitoring measurement results for the first TSC support information, and the QoS monitoring measurement results for the second TSC support information.

[0557] The above and below-mentioned packets can be read as PDUs (Protocol Data Units) or PDU sets, and the above and below-mentioned data bursts can be read as PDU sets.

[0558] <5-3. Second Example> Next, the operation of the communication system 1 according to the second example will be described. In the second example, the server 10 (e.g., application server) controls the timing of data transmission according to the control of the AF 548. In the second example, it is assumed that multiple users are in different PLMN operator environments.

[0559] 20 is a diagram showing another example of a transmission timing adaptation control procedure. More specifically, FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a transmission timing control procedure for data burst distribution to multiple users in different PLMN operator environments. Here, the multiple users are users who use terminal devices 40 included in a multi-member. A multi-member is a set of terminal devices 40 identified by the list of addresses described above.

[0560] In the second embodiment, the server 10 １ User U1 and terminal device 40 ２ In the second embodiment, the user U1 is in an environment of a first PLMN operator, and the user U2 is in an environment of a second PLMN operator different from the first PLMN operator.

[0561] Here, the XR media (XR media content) may be a competitive game or a metaverse. Of course, the XR media may be other XR media content. Here, the XR media (XR media content) is composed of data in the form of data bursts. Furthermore, the XR media (XR media content) may be composed of the above-mentioned multimodal flow. In the second embodiment, the XR media or XR media content may also be referred to as XR content.

[0562] First, the AF 548 connects the NEF 542 of the first PLMN operator to the NEF 542 in accordance with the procedure shown in FIG. 16 or FIG. １The first PLMN receives an Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify_1 message via the QoS_Notify_1 message server (S801). This Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify_1 message includes a parameter of the first TSC support information of the first PLMN operator. The process of step S801 corresponds to the process of step S508 in Fig. 16 or the process of step S611 in Fig. 17.

[0563] AF 548 also connects to NEF 542 of the second PLMN operator according to the procedure shown in FIG. 16 or FIG. ２ The second PLMN receives an Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify_2 message via the Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify_1 message (step S802). This Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify_1 message includes a parameter of the second TSC support information of the second PLMN operator. The process of step S801 corresponds to the process of step S508 in Fig. 16 or the process of step S611 in Fig. 17.

[0564] The AF 548 provides the first TSC support information parameter of the first PLMN operator and the second TSC support information parameter of the second PLMN operator to the server 10 (step S803). The TSC support information (first TSC support information and second TSC support information) includes information on BAT (Burst Arrival Time) provided to each of the multiple PLMN operators. The first BAT information is provided to the first base station 30. １ The second BAT information is included in the first TSC support information notified to the second base station 30. ２ The second TSC support information is included in the second TSC support information notified to the TSC.

[0565] Here, the first base station 30 １ is a terminal device 40 of a user U1 in a first PLMN operator environment. １ is connected to the second base station 30 ２ is a terminal device 40 of a user U2 in a second PLMN operator environment. ２The server 10 obtains a first BAT for the first PLMN operator from the first TSC assistance information. These base stations 30 are, for example, connected to different user plane processing functions of the same PLMN operator. For example, the first base station 30 １ is connected to a first user plane processing function of a first PLMN operator, and a second base station 30 ２ is connected to a second user plane processing function of a second PLMN operator.

[0566] The server 10 determines from the first TSC assistance information the first PLMN operator (e.g., the first base station 30 １ The server 10 also obtains the first BAT for the second PLMN operator (the second base station 30) from the second TSC support information. ２ ) and calculates the offset between the first BAT of the first PLMN operator and the second BAT of the second PLMN operator (step S804).

[0567] The server 10 determines the inter-operator adjustment parameters taking into account the calculated offset (step S805).

[0568] The server 10 performs adaptive cooperative control based on the adjustment parameters determined in step S805. The server 10 controls the transmission timing of data transmitted from the server 10 (for example, an application server). Specifically, the server 10 controls the terminal device 40 based on the adjustment parameters. １ the first transmission timing of data (XR content data) to be transmitted to the terminal device 40 ２ The second transmission timing of the data (XR content data) to be transmitted to the second terminal is changed (step S806).

[0569] For example, if the offset calculated in step S804 indicates that the second BAT is later than the first BAT, the server 10 delays the first transmission timing by the offset.

[0570] On the other hand, if the offset calculated in step S804 indicates that the second BAT is earlier in time than the first BAT, the server 10 delays the second transmission timing by the offset.

[0571] The server 10 can perform the above-described processing for each media flow that constitutes a multimodal flow.

[0572] By the above process, even when providing XR media distribution services to multiple users in different PLMN operator environments, it is possible to eliminate the degradation of QoE caused by differences in BAT between base stations 30 (e.g., between base stations 30 belonging to different PLMN operators).

[0573] <5-3-2. Modifications of the Transmission Timing Control Process of the Second Embodiment> The transmission timing control process described above can be modified in various ways.

[0574] For example, the AF 548 can transmit a request for QoS monitoring in step S601 of Fig. 17. Specifically, the AF 548 can request, as QoS monitoring, measurement of the difference between the BAT of the TSC assistance information and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst (hereinafter referred to as a first difference measurement).

[0575] In step S604, upon receiving the QoS monitoring request, the PCF 545 generates a QoS monitoring request policy for the QoS flow of the target application.

[0576] 13A, the SMF 546 obtains a QoS monitoring request policy from the PCF 545. Then, the SMF 546 sets a first differential measurement in the base station 30 via steps S210 and S211. The first differential measurement is a measurement of the difference between the BAT in the TSC assistance information for the target application and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst.

[0577] The base station 30 may provide the measurement result of the first differential measurement to the UPF 520 via the reference point N3.

[0578] For example, in step S803, the server 10 can acquire the measurement result of QoS monitoring for the TSC assistance information in addition to the parameters of the first TSC assistance information and the parameters of the second TSC assistance information. Here, the measurement result of QoS monitoring acquired by the server 10 is an offset time for the BAT (burst arrival time). The server 10 acquires the measurement result of each of the multiple base stations 30.

[0579] For example, a plurality of base stations 30 (first base station 30 １ and the second base station 30 ２ ) acquires information on the BAT (first BAT and second BAT) and instruction information for measurement related to the BAT. The instruction information includes an instruction to measure the difference between the BAT and the timing of receiving a specified packet. The specified packet is, for example, the first packet of a data burst. Each of the multiple base stations 30 performs measurement based on the instruction information.

[0580] Then, the server 10 receives the first base station 30 １ and the measurement result of the second base station 30 ２ The measurement result of and are obtained as the measurement result of QoS monitoring. １ The measurement result of the first base station 301 is, for example, a first offset time indicating the difference between the first BAT of the first TSC assistance information and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst, and the measurement result of the second base station 302 is, for example, a second offset time indicating the difference between the second BAT of the second TSC assistance information and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst.

[0581] In step S804, the server 10 may calculate the offset of the reception timing of the first packet of the data burst (the relative delay shown in Figure 2 or Figure 18) from the first BAT of the first TSC support information, the second BAT of the second TSC support information, the QoS monitoring measurement results for the first TSC support information, and the QoS monitoring measurement results for the second TSC support information.

[0582] The server 10 may then determine adjustment parameters between the base stations 30, taking the calculated offset into consideration. Then, the server 10 may perform adaptive cooperative control based on the determined adjustment parameters. Specifically, the server 10 may perform adaptive cooperative control based on the adjustment parameters. １ the first transmission timing of data (XR content data) to be transmitted to the terminal device 40 ２ For example, the server 10 may control the second transmission timing relative to the first transmission timing, or the first transmission timing relative to the second transmission timing.

[0583] As a modification, the AF 548 may request, as QoS monitoring, measurement of the difference between the BAT in the TSC assistance information and the actual reception timing of the last packet of the data burst (hereinafter referred to as second difference measurement) in step S601 shown in Fig. 17. In this case, the server 10 can calculate the offset of the reception timing of the last packet of the data burst in step S804.

[0584] Here, the AF 548 can include information indicating whether the request for QoS monitoring is for the first differential measurement or the second differential measurement.

[0585] Furthermore, the TSCTSF 551 can include burst delivery deadline information in the TSC support information. When the AF 548 requests measurement of the reception timing of the last packet, the AF 548 may request measurement of the difference between the burst delivery deadline in the TSC support information and the reception timing of the actual last packet of the data burst as QoS monitoring. Here, if the TSC support information does not include a burst delivery deadline, the AF 548 may set the burst delivery deadline to the time obtained by adding the BAT in the TSC support information to the lifetime.

[0586] The server 10 can perform the above-described processing for each media flow that constitutes a multimodal flow.

[0587] <5-3-3. Other Modifications of the Second Embodiment> Modifications of the second embodiment are not limited to the above-described modifications.

[0588] Furthermore, in the second embodiment described above, an example of the base station 30 connected to different user plane processing functions of different PLMN operators is shown, but this embodiment is not limited to this.

[0589] For example, the process of this embodiment can be applied to base stations 30 that belong to different registration areas. For example, the first base station 30 of the plurality of base stations 30 １ belongs to the first registration area and is a second base station 30 among the plurality of base stations 30. ２ may belong to the second registration area.

[0590] The process of this embodiment can also be applied to base stations 30 that belong to different Tracking Area Identities (TAIs). For example, the first base station 30 of the plurality of base stations 30 １ belongs to the first TAI and is a second base station 30 among the plurality of base stations 30. ２ may belong to the second TAI.

[0591] 17, the AF 548 may include in the AF request a target specification for the parameters of the TSC assistance information to be included in the message of step S801 and / or step S802. For example, the AF 548 may transmit target specification information for reporting information on BAT (Burst Arrival Time) to the NEF 542. This target specification information may be transmitted by the server 10 to the core network CN.

[0592] The target to be specified (the target of the parameters of the TSC assistance information) is a different user plane processing function to which the base station 30 corresponding to the reported BAT is connected. For example, the first base station 30 connected to the first user plane processing function described above. １ and a second base station 30 connected to a second user plane processing function. ２ The second BAT for is reported.

[0593] Here, when a plurality of base stations 30 are connected to the first user plane processing function and / or the second user plane processing function, the NEF 542 may report, as the first BAT and / or the second BAT, statistics of a plurality of BATs for the plurality of base stations 30. For example, when a plurality of base stations 30 are connected to the first user plane processing function, the NEF 542 may report, as the first BAT, statistics of a plurality of BATs for the plurality of base stations 30. Alternatively, when a plurality of base stations 30 are connected to the second user plane processing function, the NEF 542 may report, as the second BAT, statistics of a plurality of BATs for the plurality of base stations 30.

[0594] The statistical value may be, for example, at least one of the maximum, minimum, average, and standard deviation of the arrival times of the multiple bursts, where the AF 548 or the server 10 may include an indication of which statistical value to include in the AF request.

[0595] Furthermore, the designated target (target of the TSC assistance information parameters) may be a base station 30 that belongs to a different registration area or TAI.

[0596] Similarly, in step S601 shown in Fig. 17, the AF 548 can include in the AF request a designation of a target of the QoS monitoring measurement result to be included in the message of step S801 and / or step S802. For example, the AF 548 may transmit designation information of a target related to the report of the QoS monitoring measurement result information to the NEF 542. This designation information of the target may be transmitted by the server 10 to the core network CN.

[0597] The designated target (target of the QoS monitoring measurement result) is a different user plane processing function to which the base station 30 performing the first differential measurement is connected. For example, the first base station 30 connected to the first user plane processing function １ and a second base station 30 connected to a second user plane processing function. ２ The second measurement result of , and is reported. １ The first measurement result is, for example, the difference between the first BAT and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst. ２ The second measurement result is, for example, the difference between the second BAT and the actual reception timing of the first packet of the data burst.

[0598] Here, when a plurality of base stations 30 are connected to the first user plane processing function and / or the second user plane processing function, the NEF 542 may report, as the first measurement result and the second measurement result, statistics of a plurality of measurement results for the plurality of base stations 30. For example, when a plurality of base stations 30 are connected to the first user plane processing function, the NEF 542 may report, as the first measurement result, statistics of a plurality of measurement results for the plurality of base stations 30. Alternatively, when a plurality of base stations 30 are connected to the second user plane processing function, the NEF 542 may report, as the second measurement result, statistics of a plurality of measurement results for the plurality of base stations 30.

[0599] The statistical value may be, for example, at least one of the maximum, minimum, average, and standard deviation of the multiple measurement results, where the AF 548 or the server 10 may include an indication of which statistical value to include in the AF request.

[0600] Furthermore, the designated target (target of the QoS monitoring measurement results) may be a base station 30 that belongs to a different registration area, or may be a base station 30 that belongs to a different TAI.

[0601] Furthermore, the server 10 can distribute part or all of the processing to an edge application server (not shown). In this case, the Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Notify message acquired in step S801 and / or step S802 can include multiple different TSC assistance information parameters provided to base stations 30 connected to different user planes to which different DNAIs (Data Network Access Identifiers) are assigned. Here, the server 10 and the connection with the edge application server can be identified by the DNAIs.

[0602] In step S806, the server 10 performs adaptive cooperative control using adjustment parameters between the base stations 30 connected to different user planes to which different DNAIs are assigned. １ the first transmission timing of data (XR content data) to be transmitted to the terminal device 40 ２ For example, the server 10 instructs an edge application server (first edge application server or second edge application server) connected to a different user plane to which a different DNAI is assigned to change either the first transmission timing or the second transmission timing.

[0603] Here, in step S804, the server 10 can calculate the timing offset for receiving the first / last packet of the data burst based on the first BAT of the first TSC support information, the second BAT of the second TSC support information, the QoS monitoring measurement results for the first TSC support information, and the QoS monitoring measurement results for the second TSC support information.

[0604] The above and below-mentioned packets can be read as PDUs (Protocol Data Units) or PDU sets, and the above and below-mentioned data bursts can be read as PDU sets.

[0605] In addition, various modifications shown in the first embodiment (for example, the modifications shown in <5-2-2> and <5-2-3>) can be applied to the communication system 1 of the second embodiment.

[0606] <5-4. Third Example> As described above, a time difference occurs in the reception timing of data bursts between multiple base stations 30 (for example, between base stations 30 connected to different user plane processing functions, or between base stations 30 belonging to different registration areas, TAIs, or PLMN operators). In the above-described example, a process for improving QoE degradation due to this time difference in reception timing was described. However, it is considered that the time difference in reception timing that is acceptable for ensuring QoE differs depending on the application.

[0607] Therefore, in the third embodiment, the AF 548 requests the PCF 545 to monitor the allowable time difference in the reception timing of data bursts for each application via the AF request shown in Fig. 15. In the third embodiment, when the time difference in the reception timing of data bursts exceeds the allowable time difference, information required for calculating the time difference in the reception timing is provided to the AF 548.

[0608] Fig. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a process for notifying a monitoring result, more specifically, a process for notifying a monitoring result related to a time difference in the reception timing of data bursts.

[0609] In order to use the EventExposure_Subscribe service provided by the SMF 546, the PCF 545 transmits an Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe message to the SMF 546 in step S206 shown in FIG. 13A (step S901). This Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe message includes a monitoring request regarding the allowable time difference for the target application (the allowable time difference regarding the time difference in the reception timing of the data burst) and an event setting for reporting. Here, the monitoring request regarding the allowable time difference can be identified by an application identifier. Furthermore, the reception timing of the data burst is, for example, BAT.

[0610] The SMF 546 receives an Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe message (a monitoring request for the allowed time difference and an event setting for reporting). The Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe message includes a monitoring request for the allowed time difference and an event setting for reporting. Upon receiving this message, the SMF 546 sets this monitoring and event setting for the PDU session to be established (step S902). Here, the monitoring request for the allowed time difference includes a condition indicating that it targets different PDU sessions established between different user plane processing functions, for example.

[0611] The SMF 546 monitors two or more PDU sessions established between different user plane processing functions (step S903), and determines whether the time difference between the reception timings of the data bursts is within the allowable time difference (step S904).

[0612] If the SMF 546 determines that the time difference between the reception timings of the data bursts is not within the allowable time difference, it transmits a notification indicating that the time difference between the reception timings of the data bursts is not within the allowable time difference to the PCF 545 as a notification of the Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe service registered in step S901 (step S905). This notification is performed using an Nsmf_EventExposure_Notify message.

[0613] The PCF 545, which has received the notification indicating that the time difference between the reception timings of the data bursts is not within the allowable time difference, notifies the AF 548 of information relating to the time difference between the reception timings of the data bursts (steps S906 to S908). The information relating to the time difference between the reception timings of the data bursts is, for example, transmitted from the first base station 30 connected to the first user plane processing function. １ and a second base station 30 connected to a second user plane processing function. ２ This process is the same as steps S609 to S611 shown in FIG.

[0614] Furthermore, in event setting for reporting, the PCF 545 can specify "AF 548 via NEF 542" as the report destination. That is, the PCF 545 can set an event for which "AF 548 via NEF 542" is specified as the report destination to the SMF 546 in the EventExposure_Subscribe service provided by the SMF 546. In this case, in step S905, the SMF 546 can notify the AF 548 by using the service provided by the NEF 542, instead of sending a notification indicating that the time difference in the reception timing of the data burst is not within the allowable time difference to the PCF 545.

[0615] Furthermore, the above-described conditions included in the monitoring request for the allowable time difference are not limited to those targeting different PDU sessions established between different user plane processing functions. The monitoring request for the allowable time difference may include, for example, a condition indicating that the request targets PDU sessions via base stations 30 connected to different user planes to which different DNAIs (Data Network Access Identifiers) are assigned. Here, the server 10 can distribute part or all of the processing to an edge application server (not shown). In this case, the server 10 and the connection with the edge application server can be identified by the DNAI.

[0616] Alternatively, the monitoring request regarding the allowable time difference may include a condition indicating that the monitoring request is directed to a PDU session via a base station 30 belonging to a different registration area. Alternatively, the monitoring request regarding the allowable time difference may include a condition indicating that the monitoring request is directed to a PDU session via a base station 30 belonging to a different Tracking Area Identity (TAI).

[0617] The server 10 can perform the above-described processing for each media flow that constitutes a multimodal flow.

[0618] By the above process, when different QoEs are required for different applications, adaptive control of media distribution according to the application becomes possible.

[0619] Furthermore, the data burst in the above embodiment may be a unit of a PDU set.

[0620] <5-5. Fourth Example> In the above-described examples (first to third examples), the server 10 (e.g., application server) controlled the data transmission timing. For example, in the example of FIG. 19, the server 10 changed either the first transmission timing or the second transmission timing of the XR content data in step S705. However, the control of the data transmission timing may be performed by a user plane processing function (e.g., UPF 520) rather than the server 10.

[0621] For example, the AF 548 provides the NEF 542 with the adjustment parameters calculated in step S703 of Fig. 19 or step S804 of Fig. 20. Then, the UPF 520 uses the adjustment parameters to transmit the adjustment parameters to the terminal device 40. １ the first transmission timing of data (XR content data) transmitted to the terminal device 40, or the first transmission timing of data (XR content data) transmitted from the UPF 520 to the terminal device 40 ２ The second transmission timing of the data (XR content data) to be transmitted may be changed.

[0622] For example, the AF 548 sends an Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Update request message to the NEF 542 instead of the Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create request message in step S501 of Fig. 16. This Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Update request message includes the adjustment parameters calculated in step S703 / step S804.

[0623] The PCF 545 receives an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Update request message from the NEF 542 instead of the Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request message of step S503. This Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Update request message includes the adjustment parameters calculated in step S703 / step S804. Upon receiving the Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Update request message, the PCF 545 uses the adjustment parameters included in the message to generate or update a policy for controlling the transmission timing of data (XR content data).

[0624] The PCF 545 can provide the SMF 546 with a policy for controlling transmission timing via the SM policy association established in step S206 shown in FIG. 13A.

[0625] The SMF 546 sets, as an N4 rule, control of the transmission timing using the adjustment parameters in the UPF 520. Here, the Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Update request message may include an instruction to control the transmission timing in the UPF 520 in addition to the adjustment parameters.

[0626] For example, the adjustment parameters calculated in step S703 / step S804 are calculated based on the first base station 30 connected to the first user plane processing function. １ and a second base station 30 connected to a second user plane processing function. ２ In this case, the SMF 546 is the first user plane processing function, the first UPF 520. １ , or a second user plane processing function, the second UPF 520 ２ Here, the control of the transmission timing is set based on the adjustment parameter. １In this case, the SMF 546 controls the transmission timing by delaying the first transmission timing of the data (XR content data) transmitted from the first UPF 520. １ On the other hand, the control of the transmission timing is set to the second UPF 520 based on the adjustment parameters. ２ In this case, the SMF 546 controls the transmission timing by delaying the second transmission timing of the data (XR content data) transmitted from the second UPF 520. ２ Set to.

[0627] Similarly, the adjustment parameters calculated in step S703 / step S804 are calculated based on the first base station 30 connected to the first user plane to which the first DNAI (Data Network Access Identifier) ​​is assigned. １ and a second base station 30 connected to a second user plane to which a second DNAI is assigned. ２ In this case, the SMF 546 is the first UPF 520 connected to the first user plane to which the first DNAI is assigned. １ or a second UPF 520 connected to a second user plane to which a second DNAI is assigned. ２ , and the above-mentioned transmission timing control is set. Here, the server 10 can distribute part or all of the processing to an edge application server (not shown). The server 10 and the connection with the edge application server can be identified by DNAI.

[0628] For example, the adjustment parameters calculated in step S703 / step S804 are the same as those of the first base station 30 belonging to the first registration area. １ and a second base station 30 belonging to a second registration area. ２Assume that the delay is due to an offset with respect to the second BAT. In this case, the transmission timing control set in the UPF 520 includes information specifying the registration area to be controlled (i.e., the first registration area or the second registration area). The UPF 520 for which the transmission timing control is set delays the transmission timing of data (XR content data) transmitted via the base station 30 belonging to the specified registration area (i.e., the first registration area or the second registration area) based on the adjustment parameter.

[0629] Similarly, the adjustment parameters calculated in step S703 / step S804 are calculated based on the first base station 30 belonging to the first Tracking Area Identity (TAI). １ and a second base station 30 belonging to a second TAI. ２ Assume that the delay is due to the second BAT relative to the first BAT and the offset of the second BAT relative to the first BAT. In this case, the transmission timing control set in the UPF 520 includes information specifying the TAI to be controlled (i.e., the first TAI or the second TAI). The UPF 520 set for the transmission timing control delays the transmission timing of data (XR content data) transmitted via the base station 30 belonging to the specified TAI (i.e., the first TAI or the second TAI) based on the adjustment parameter.

[0630] The adjustment parameters calculated in step S703 / step S804 may include the result of QoS monitoring acquired in step S702 / step S803. The result of QoS monitoring is, for example, the difference between the BAT of the TSC assistance information measured by base station 30 and the timing of receiving the first packet of the actual data burst.

[0631] Furthermore, the SMF 546 may configure the base station 30 to control the transmission timing using the adjustment parameters via N2SM information, instead of configuring the UPF 520 to control the transmission timing using the adjustment parameters. Here, the Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Update request message may include an instruction to control the transmission timing at the base station 30, in addition to the adjustment parameters.

[0632] The SMF 546 may use the adjustment parameters acquired from the AF 548 via the NEF 542 to control the transmission timing of data transmitted from the base station 30. For example, the SMF 546 may use the adjustment parameters to １ to the terminal device 40 １ the first transmission timing of the data (XR content data) to be transmitted to the second base station 30 ２ to the terminal device 40 ２ The user may instruct the device to change one of the second transmission timings of the data (XR content data) to be transmitted to the device.

[0633] For example, the adjustment parameters calculated in step S703 / step S804 are calculated based on the first base station 30 connected to the first user plane processing function. １ and a second base station 30 connected to a second user plane processing function. ２ In this case, the SMF 546 is set to the first base station 30. １ , or the second base station 30 ２ Here, the control of the transmission timing is set based on the adjustment parameter. １ In this case, the SMF 546 controls the transmission timing by delaying the first transmission timing of the data (XR content data) transmitted from the first base station 30. １ On the other hand, the control of the transmission timing is set to the second base station 30 based on the adjustment parameter. ２In the case where the control is to delay the second transmission timing of the data (XR content data) to be transmitted from the second base station 30, the SMF 546 controls the transmission timing. ２ Set to.

[0634] Similarly, the adjustment parameters calculated in step S703 / step S804 are set to the first base station 30 connected to the first user plane to which the first DNAI is assigned. １ and a second base station 30 connected to a second user plane to which a second DNAI is assigned. ２ In this case, the SMF 546 is the first base station 30. １ , or the second base station 30 ２ The server 10 can distribute part or all of the processing to an edge application server (not shown). The server 10 and the connection with the edge application server can be identified by the DNAI.

[0635] For example, the adjustment parameters calculated in step S703 / step S804 are the same as those of the first base station 30 belonging to the first registration area. １ and a second base station 30 belonging to a second registration area. ２ Assume that the offset between the first BAT and the second BAT is due to an offset with respect to the first BAT. In this case, the transmission timing control requested to the SMF 546 includes information specifying the registration area to be controlled (i.e., the first registration area or the second registration area). The SMF 546 that has been requested to control the transmission timing performs a setting to delay the transmission timing of data (XR content data) for the base stations 30 that belong to the specified registration area (i.e., the first registration area or the second registration area) based on the adjustment parameters.

[0636] Similarly, the adjustment parameters calculated in step S703 / step S804 are calculated based on the first base station 30 belonging to the first Tracking Area Identity (TAI). １ and a second base station 30 belonging to a second TAI.２ Assume that the offset between the first BAT and the second BAT is due to an offset with respect to the first BAT. In this case, the control of the transmission timing requested to the SMF 546 includes information specifying the TAI to be controlled (i.e., the first TAI or the second TAI). The SMF 546 that has been requested to control the transmission timing performs a setting to delay the transmission timing of data (data of XR content) for the base station 30 that belongs to the specified TAI (i.e., the first TAI or the second TAI) based on the adjustment parameters.

[0637] The server 10 can make the above request for each media flow that constitutes a multimodal flow using one or more messages.

[0638] The AF 548 can provide a Multi-modal Service ID to the PCF 545 using a service provided by the NEF 542, for example, the Nnef_AfsessionWithQoS service, to explicitly notify that the application's traffic is related to a multi-modal service.

[0639] A service such as Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create provided by the NEF 542 may optionally include a multi-modal service requirement, which includes, for example, information about multiple media flows handled by a multi-modal application.

[0640] Here, the information regarding the plurality of media flows may include information regarding the flow direction, i.e., uplink or downlink, for each media flow, and may further include the number of media flows for each flow direction.

[0641] The information relating to multiple media flows may include information on the QoS ID, for example, 5QI, requested for each media flow.

[0642] The information regarding the multiple media flows may include a requirement for time synchronization between the multiple media flows in the uplink.

[0643] The information regarding the multiple media flows may include a requirement for time synchronization between the multiple downlink media flows.

[0644] The time synchronization requirement may be, for example, an allowable time difference between the reception timings of data bursts among a plurality of media flows, where the media flows may be the above-mentioned data flows.

[0645] By the above processing, even when an XR media distribution service is provided to multiple users, it is possible to eliminate degradation of QoE caused by differences in BAT between base stations 30 (for example, between base stations 30 connected to different user plane processing functions, or between base stations 30 belonging to different registration areas or TAIs).

[0646] <5-6. Fifth Example> In the above-described examples (first to third examples), the server 10 (e.g., application server) controlled the data transmission timing. For example, in the examples of FIGS. 19 and 20, the server 10 changed either the first transmission timing or the second transmission timing of the XR content data in step S705 / step S806. However, the server 10 may request the core network CN / base station 30 to control the data transmission timing in advance.

[0647] For example, instead of changing either the first transmission timing or the second transmission timing, the server 10 may request the NEF 542 to cooperatively control the transmission timing in the UPF 520 in advance using the Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create request message in step S501 / step S601 of Figures 16 / 17.

[0648] In step S501 / step S601, the AF 548 transmits an Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create request message to the NEF 542. This Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create request message includes an instruction for cooperative control of the transmission timing in the UPF 520.

[0649] In step S503, the PCF 545 receives an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request message via the NEF 542. Alternatively, in step S604, the PCF 545 receives an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request message via the NEF 542 and the TSCTSF 551. This Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request message includes an instruction for cooperative control of transmission timing in the UPF 520. Upon receiving the Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request message, the PCF 545 generates a policy for cooperative control of transmission timing in the UPF 520.

[0650] The PCF 545 can provide the SMF 546 with a policy for cooperative control of transmission timing in the UPF 520 via the SM policy association established in step S206 shown in FIG. 13A.

[0651] When coordinated control of transmission timing in the UPF 520 is configured, the SMF 546 acquires the first BAT of the first TSC assistance information, the second BAT of the second TSC assistance information, the QoS monitoring measurement result for the first TSC assistance information, and the QoS monitoring measurement result for the second TSC assistance information, and then calculates the offset (relative delay shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 18 ) of the timing of receiving the first packet of the data burst based on this information.

[0652] The offset calculated by the SMF 546 is used as an adjustment parameter for cooperative control of transmission timing in the UPF 520. The SMF 546 sets the control of transmission timing using the adjustment parameter in the UPF 520 as an N4 rule.

[0653] For example, the adjustment parameters calculated by the SMF 546 are transmitted to the first base station 30 connected to the first user plane processing function. １ and a second base station 30 connected to a second user plane processing function. ２ In this case, the SMF 546 is the first user plane processing function, the first UPF 520. １ , or a second user plane processing function, the second UPF 520 ２ Here, the control of the transmission timing is set to the first UPF 520 based on the adjustment parameter. １ In this case, the SMF 546 controls the transmission timing by delaying the first transmission timing of the data (XR content data) transmitted from the first UPF 520. １ On the other hand, the control of the transmission timing is set to the second UPF 520 based on the adjustment parameter. ２ In this case, the SMF 546 controls the transmission timing by delaying the second transmission timing of the data (XR content data) transmitted from the second UPF 520. ２ The control to delay the transmission timing is realized, for example, by the UPF 520 buffering the data.

[0654] Similarly, the adjustment parameters calculated by the SMF 546 are used by the first base station 30 connected to the first user plane to which the first DNAI (Data Network Access Identifier) ​​is assigned. １ and a second base station 30 connected to a second user plane to which a second DNAI is assigned. ２In this case, the SMF 546 is the first UPF 520 connected to the first user plane to which the first DNAI is assigned. １ or a second UPF 520 connected to a second user plane to which a second DNAI is assigned. ２ , and the above-mentioned transmission timing control is set. Here, the server 10 can distribute part or all of the processing to an edge application server (not shown). The server 10 and the connection with the edge application server can be identified by DNAI.

[0655] For example, the adjustment parameters calculated by the SMF 546 are used by the first base station 30 belonging to the first registration area. １ and a second base station 30 belonging to a second registration area. ２ Assume that the delay is due to an offset with respect to the second BAT. In this case, the transmission timing control set in the UPF 520 includes information specifying the registration area to be controlled (i.e., the first registration area or the second registration area). The UPF 520 for which the transmission timing control is set delays the transmission timing of data (XR content data) transmitted via the base station 30 belonging to the specified registration area (i.e., the first registration area or the second registration area) based on the adjustment parameter.

[0656] Similarly, the adjustment parameters calculated by the SMF 546 are used by the first base station 30 belonging to the first Tracking Area Identity (TAI). １ and a second base station 30 belonging to a second TAI. ２ Assume that the delay is due to the second BAT relative to the first BAT and the offset of the second BAT relative to the first BAT. In this case, the transmission timing control set in the UPF 520 includes information specifying the TAI to be controlled (i.e., the first TAI or the second TAI). The UPF 520 set for the transmission timing control delays the transmission timing of data (XR content data) transmitted via the base station 30 belonging to the specified TAI (i.e., the first TAI or the second TAI) based on the adjustment parameter.

[0657] In the above example, the server 10 has previously requested the NEF 542 to perform cooperative control of the transmission timing in the UPF 520 by using the Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create request message in step S501 / step S601 in Fig. 16 / Fig. 17. The server 10 may request the NEF 542 to perform cooperative control of the transmission timing in the base station 30 instead of cooperative control of the transmission timing in the UPF 520.

[0658] In step S503, the PCF 545 receives an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request message via the NEF 542. Alternatively, in step S604, the PCF 545 receives an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request message via the NEF 542 and the TSCTSF 551. This Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request message includes an instruction for cooperative control of transmission timing in the base station 30. Upon receiving the Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request message, the PCF 545 generates a policy for cooperative control of transmission timing in the base station 30.

[0659] The PCF 545 can provide the SMF 546 with a policy for cooperative control of transmission timing in the base station 30 via the SM policy association established in step S206 shown in FIG. 13A.

[0660] When coordinated control of transmission timing is configured in the base station 30, the SMF 546 acquires the first BAT of the first TSC assistance information, the second BAT of the second TSC assistance information, the QoS monitoring measurement result for the first TSC assistance information, and the QoS monitoring measurement result for the second TSC assistance information, and then calculates the offset (relative delay shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 18 ) of the timing of receiving the first packet of the data burst based on this information.

[0661] The offset calculated by the SMF 546 is used as an adjustment parameter for cooperative control of transmission timing in the base station 30. The SMF 546 sets the control of transmission timing using the adjustment parameter in the base station 30 via the N2SM information.

[0662] For example, the adjustment parameters calculated by the SMF 546 may be used to adjust the first base station 30 connected to the function of processing the first user plane. １ and a second base station 30 connected to the first BAT for the second user plane. ２ In this case, the SMF 546 is set to the first base station 30. １ , or the second base station 30 ２ Here, the control of the transmission timing is set by the first base station 30 based on the adjustment parameter. １ In this case, the SMF 546 controls the transmission timing by delaying the first transmission timing of the data (XR content data) transmitted from the first base station 30. １ On the other hand, the control of the transmission timing is set by the second base station 30 based on the adjustment parameter. ２ In this case, the SMF 546 controls the transmission timing by delaying the second transmission timing of the data (XR content data) transmitted from the second base station 30. ２ The control to delay the transmission timing is realized, for example, by the base station 30 buffering the data.

[0663] Similarly, the adjustment parameters calculated by the SMF 546 are applied to the first base station 30 connected to the first user plane to which the first DNAI is assigned. １ and a second base station 30 connected to a second user plane to which a second DNAI is assigned. ２ In this case, the SMF 546 is the first base station 30. １ , or the second base station 30 ２The server 10 can distribute part or all of the processing to an edge application server (not shown). The server 10 and the connection with the edge application server can be identified by the DNAI.

[0664] For example, the adjustment parameters calculated by the SMF 546 are used by the first base station 30 belonging to the first registration area. １ and a second base station 30 belonging to a second registration area. ２ Assume that the delay is due to an offset with respect to the second BAT. In this case, the transmission timing control set in the base station 30 includes information specifying the registration area to be controlled (i.e., the first registration area or the second registration area). The base station 30 for which the transmission timing control is set delays the transmission timing of data (XR content data) transmitted from the base station 30 belonging to the specified registration area (i.e., the first registration area or the second registration area) based on the adjustment parameter.

[0665] Similarly, the adjustment parameters calculated by the SMF 546 are used by the first base station 30 belonging to the first Tracking Area Identity (TAI). １ and a second base station 30 belonging to a second TAI. ２ Assume that the delay is due to an offset with respect to the second BAT. In this case, the transmission timing control set in the base station 30 includes information specifying the TAI to be controlled (i.e., the first TAI or the second TAI). The base station 30 to which the transmission timing control is set delays the transmission timing of data (XR content data) transmitted from the base station 30 belonging to the specified TAI (i.e., the first TAI or the second TAI) based on the adjustment parameter.

[0666] The server 10 can make the above request for each media flow that constitutes a multimodal flow using one or more messages.

[0667] The AF 548 can provide a Multi-modal Service ID to the PCF 545 using a service provided by the NEF 542, for example, the Nnef_AfsessionWithQoS service, to explicitly notify that the application's traffic is related to a multi-modal service.

[0668] A service such as Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create provided by the NEF 542 may optionally include a multi-modal service requirement, which includes, for example, information about multiple media flows handled by a multi-modal application.

[0669] Here, the information regarding the plurality of media flows may include information regarding the flow direction, i.e., uplink or downlink, for each media flow, and may further include the number of media flows for each flow direction.

[0670] The information relating to multiple media flows may include information on the QoS ID, for example, 5QI, requested for each media flow.

[0671] The information regarding the multiple media flows may include a requirement for time synchronization between the multiple media flows in the uplink.

[0672] The information regarding the multiple media flows may include a requirement for time synchronization between the multiple downlink media flows.

[0673] The time synchronization requirement may be, for example, an allowable time difference between the reception timings of data bursts among a plurality of media flows, where the media flows may be the above-mentioned data flows.

[0674] FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of cooperative control processing of transmission timing according to the allowable time difference.

[0675] The Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create request message in step S501 / step S601 may include information about the allowable time difference. The SMF 546 obtains the information about the allowable time difference from the AF 548 via the NEF 542 (step S1001).

[0676] The SMF 546 monitors the offset (relative delay shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 18) in the timing of receiving the first packet of a data burst between any of the terminal devices 40 in the set of terminal devices 40 that make up the multi-member (step S1002). Then, the SMF 546 determines whether the offset is within the allowable time difference (step S1003).

[0677] If it is determined that the offset is within the allowable time difference (step S1003: Yes), the SMF 546 returns the process to step S1002.

[0678] If the offset exceeds the allowable time difference (step S1003: No), the SMF 546 acquires information related to the route of the data burst to the target terminal device 40 (step S1004).

[0679] The SMF 546 identifies the node to instruct to control the transmission timing based on the information related to the route of the data burst (step S1005).

[0680] For example, assume that the target terminal devices 40 are connected to different UPFs 520. In this case, the SMF 546 identifies the UPF 520 as the node that instructs control of the transmission timing.

[0681] For example, assume that the target terminal devices 40 are connected to the same UPF 520 and are connected to base stations 30 that belong to different registration areas or tracking area identities (TAIs). In this case, the SMF 546 identifies the UPF 520 or the base station 30 as the node that instructs control of the transmission timing.

[0682] The SMF 546 instructs the identified node to control the transmission timing using the method described above (step S1006). Once the instruction is complete, the SMF 546 ends the process.

[0683] The above process can also achieve the same effects as those of the fourth embodiment, and can also reduce the signaling load for disclosing various information (e.g., parameters of multiple different TSC assistance information and measurement results of differences) to the AF 548.

[0684] <<6. Modifications>> The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and various modifications and applications are possible.

[0685] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the server 10 is a third-party application function (AF) located outside the core network CN. However, the server 10 is not limited to this example. For example, the server 10 may be an AF (e.g., AF 548) located within the core network CN. Furthermore, the server 10 does not have to be a server including a third-party AF. The server 10 may be a server including an AF provided by a PLMN operator that manages the core network CN.

[0686] The server 10 may also have the functions of the AF 548 in the above-described embodiment. In this case, the above-described description of "AF 548" can be replaced with "server 10." The AF 548 may also have the functions of the server 10 in the above-described embodiment. In this case, the above-described description of "server 10" can be replaced with "AF 548."

[0687] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the data (data belonging to one application) transmitted from the server 10 to the multiple terminal devices 40 is assumed to be data of XR content. However, the data transmitted from the server 10 to the multiple terminal devices 40 is not limited to data of XR content. The data transmitted from the server 10 to the multiple terminal devices 40 may be data other than XR content. In this case, the method of this embodiment can also be applied.

[0688] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been shown in which synchronization is mainly performed with respect to the timing of receiving the first packet of a data burst. However, this embodiment is not limited to this example. For example, the technique of this embodiment can be applied to the timing of receiving the last packet of a data burst (i.e., the timing when all packets are received). The technique of this embodiment can also be applied to the timing of receiving a preset percentage of packets in a data burst. Alternatively, the technique of this embodiment can also be applied to statistics of these timings (e.g., the timing of receiving the first packet of a data burst, the timing of receiving the last packet of a data burst, or the timing of receiving a preset percentage of packets in a data burst).

[0689] The server 10, the management device 20, the base station 30, or the control device that controls the terminal device 40 in this embodiment may be realized by a dedicated computer system or a general-purpose computer system.

[0690] For example, a program for executing the above-described operations may be stored and distributed on a computer-readable recording medium such as an optical disk, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic tape, or a flexible disk. Then, for example, the program may be installed on a computer and the above-described process may be executed to configure a control device. In this case, the control device may be a device (e.g., a personal computer) external to the server 10, the management device 20, the base station 30, or the terminal device 40. Alternatively, the control device may be a device (e.g., the control unit 13, the control unit 23, the control unit 33, or the control unit 43) internal to the server 10, the management device 20, the base station 30, or the terminal device 40.

[0691] The communication program may also be stored in a disk device provided in a server device on a network such as the Internet, and may be downloaded to a computer. The above-described functions may also be realized by a combination of an operating system (OS) and application software. In this case, the components other than the OS may be stored on a medium and distributed, or may be stored in a server device and downloaded to a computer.

[0692] Furthermore, among the processes described in the above embodiments, all or part of the processes described as being performed automatically can be performed manually, or all or part of the processes described as being performed manually can be performed automatically using a known method. In addition, the information including the processing procedures, specific names, various data, and parameters shown in the above documents and drawings can be changed as desired unless otherwise specified. For example, the various information shown in each drawing is not limited to the information shown in the drawings.

[0693] Furthermore, the components of each device shown in the figure are conceptual functional components and do not necessarily have to be physically configured as shown in the figure. In other words, the specific form of distribution and integration of each device is not limited to that shown in the figure, and all or part of them can be functionally or physically distributed and integrated in any unit depending on various loads, usage conditions, etc.

[0694] The above-described embodiments can be combined as appropriate within the scope of the present invention without causing any inconsistency in the processing content. The order of the steps shown in the sequence diagrams or flowcharts of the present embodiment can be changed as appropriate.

[0695] Furthermore, for example, the present embodiment can also be implemented as any configuration that constitutes an apparatus or system, such as a processor as a system LSI (Large Scale Integration), a module using multiple processors, a unit using multiple modules, a set in which other functions are added to a unit, or the like (i.e., a configuration of a part of an apparatus).

[0696] The functions performed by the components described herein may be implemented in circuitry or processing circuitry programmed to perform the described functions. Here, the circuitry or processing circuitry may be a general-purpose processor, an application-specific processor, an integrated circuit, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), a CPU (a Central Processing Unit), conventional circuitry, and / or a combination thereof. A processor includes transistors and other circuits. A processor may be considered to be circuitry or processing circuitry. A processor may also be a programmed processor that executes a program stored in a memory.

[0697] In this specification, a circuit, unit, or means may be hardware that is programmed to realize a described function or that performs a described function. The hardware may be any hardware disclosed in this specification or any hardware that is programmed to realize or known to perform the described function. If the hardware is a processor, which is considered a type of circuitry, the circuit, means, or unit may be a combination of hardware and software used to configure the hardware and / or processor.

[0698] Furthermore, for example, the present embodiment can be implemented as any configuration constituting an apparatus or system. For example, the present embodiment can be implemented as a processor as a system LSI (Large Scale Integration), a module using multiple processors, a unit using multiple modules, or a set in which a unit further has additional functions. In other words, the present embodiment can also be implemented as a part of the configuration of an apparatus.

[0699] The system LSI may also be referred to as an SOC (System on Chip). In other words, each of the above-described or later-described devices (e.g., the server 10, the management device 20, the base station 30, and the terminal device 40) may be interpreted as a processor (e.g., a CPU) serving as a system LSI (e.g., SoC), or as a module using or constituting the processor. Additionally or alternatively, the present embodiment may be implemented by any configuration constituting a device or system (e.g., a modem chip (baseband chip) or an RF (Radio Frequency) unit, or a combination thereof). The RF unit may include at least one of an RF circuit and an RF front-end. In other words, each of the above-described or later-described devices may be interpreted as a modem chip (baseband chip) or an RF unit, or a combination thereof. Additionally or alternatively, each of the above-described or later-described devices may be interpreted as a module using or constituting a modem chip or an RF unit.

[0700] The modem chip processes signals related to communications within a device (including the devices described above or below). The modem chip may have at least a modulator or demodulator function. The RF unit may have at least one of an RF transceiver (RF upconverter, RF downconverter), a power amplifier, and a low-noise amplifier function. The RF transceiver converts between baseband signals and RF frequencies. The power amplifier amplifies signals for transmission from an antenna. The low-noise amplifier amplifies weak signals received from the antenna. Additionally or alternatively, the RF unit (particularly, the RF front end) may include at least one of the above-mentioned power amplifier, low-noise amplifier, envelope tracker, filter, duplexer, multiplexer, antenna switch, and antenna tuner.

[0701] The combination of the modem chip and the RF unit may be referred to as a modem-RF system. At least a portion of the modem chip or the RF unit, or a combination thereof, may be included in a system LSI (e.g., SoC). For example, the processing performed by at least a portion of the modem chip or the RF unit, or a combination thereof (e.g., at least a portion of the MAC layer processing / PHY layer processing) may be realized by the system LSI. Here, the MAC layer processing or the PHY layer processing may be at least a portion of the processing performed by the devices (e.g., the server 10, the management device 20, the base station 30, and the terminal device 40) in the above-mentioned or later-described embodiments.

[0702] In this embodiment, a system refers to a collection of multiple components (devices, modules (components), etc.), regardless of whether all of the components are in the same housing. For example, multiple devices housed in separate housings and connected via a network, etc., and a single device in which multiple modules are housed in a single housing are both systems.

[0703] Furthermore, for example, this embodiment can have a cloud computing configuration in which one function is shared and processed jointly by a plurality of devices via a network.

[0704] <<7. Conclusion>> As described above, according to the present embodiment, the server 10 transmits a request for QoS monitoring for data belonging to one application and information related to the traffic pattern of the data to one or more core networks CN.

[0705] The core network generates information on the burst arrival time (BAT) of the data for each of the plurality of base stations based on the information on the traffic pattern. For example, the core network generates information on the burst arrival time (BAT) of the data for each of the plurality of base stations based on the information on the traffic pattern. １ and the information of the first BAT for the second base station 30 ２ and second BAT information for the second BAT.

[0706] The core network also acquires information on the measurement results of the QoS monitoring. For example, the core network acquires the measurement results of the first base station (at the first offset time) and the measurement results of the second base station (at the second offset time) as the measurement results of the QoS monitoring.

[0707] Then, the core network transmits BAT information (information on the first BAT and information on the second BAT) and information on the measurement results of QoS monitoring for each of the multiple base stations (information on the first offset time and information on the second offset time) to the server 10.

[0708] The server 10 acquires BAT information and information on measurement results of QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations from the core network. Then, the server 10 controls the transmission timing of data to be transmitted to the base station 30 via the user plane processing function of the core network, based on the BAT information (information on the first BAT and information on the second BAT) and information on measurement results of QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations 30 (information on the first offset time and information on the second offset time).

[0709] This allows the communication system 1 to reduce QoE degradation caused by differences in data arrival times between base stations 30 connected to different user plane processing functions. As a result, the communication system 1 can provide each user with high-quality communication services (e.g., uniform communication services with little relative delay).

[0710] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the present disclosure. Furthermore, components of different embodiments and modifications may be combined as appropriate.

[0711] Furthermore, the effects of each embodiment described in this specification are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting, and other effects may also be obtained.

[0712] Note that the present technology can also be configured as follows. (1) An information processing device connected to one or more core networks via a service-based interface, comprising: a transmitter that transmits a QoS monitoring request for data belonging to one application and information related to a traffic pattern of the data to the one or more core networks; and a timing controller that controls transmission timing of the data to the base station via a function that processes the user plane of the one or more core networks, based on information on burst arrival times of the data based on the information related to the traffic pattern, the information on the burst arrival times for each of a plurality of base stations, and information on measurement results of the QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations. (2) The information processing device according to (1), wherein the information on the burst arrival times is information included in assistance information that is notified to each of the plurality of base stations. (3) The information processing device according to (1) or (2), wherein the information on the measurement results of the QoS monitoring is an offset time for the burst arrival time measured by the base station.(4) The information processing device according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the one or more core networks include a first core network belonging to a first PLMN operator, the plurality of base stations are connected to the first core network, the burst arrival time information includes at least information on a first burst arrival time of the data related to a first base station among the plurality of base stations and information on a second burst arrival time of the data related to a second base station among the plurality of base stations, the QoS monitoring measurement result information includes at least information on a first measurement result of QoS monitoring related to the first base station and information on a second measurement result of QoS monitoring related to the second base station, and the timing control unit controls a second transmission timing of the data transmitted via the second base station relative to a first transmission timing of the data transmitted via the first base station, based on the first burst arrival time information, the second burst arrival time information, the first measurement result information, and the second measurement result information. (5) The information processing device according to (4), wherein a first base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to a function that processes a first user plane of the first core network, and a second base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to a function that processes a second user plane of the first core network. (6) The information processing device according to (4), wherein a first base station among the plurality of base stations belongs to a first registration area or a first TAI, and a second base station among the plurality of base stations belongs to a second registration area or a second TAI.(7) The one or more core networks include a first core network of a first PLMN and a second core network of a second PLMN, a first base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to the first core network, and a second base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to the second core network, the burst arrival time information includes at least information on a first burst arrival time of the data related to a first base station among the plurality of base stations and information on a second burst arrival time of the data related to a second base station among the plurality of base stations, and the QoS monitoring measurement result information includes at least information on a first measurement result of QoS monitoring related to the first base station and information on a second measurement result of QoS monitoring related to the second base station, The information processing device according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the timing control unit controls a second transmission timing of the data transmitted via the second base station relative to a first transmission timing of the data transmitted via the first base station, based on information on the first burst arrival time, information on the second burst arrival time, information on the first measurement result, and information on the second measurement result. (8) The information processing device according to (7), wherein the information on the first burst arrival time is information included in first assistance information notified to the first base station, and the information on the second burst arrival time is information included in second assistance information notified to the second base station. (9) The information processing device according to (7) or (8), wherein the information on the first measurement result is a first offset time with respect to the first burst arrival time measured by the first base station, and the information on the second measurement result is a second offset time with respect to the second burst arrival time measured by the second base station. (10) The information processing device according to any one of (1) to (9), wherein the timing control unit controls the timing at which the data is transmitted from an application server as the control of the transmission timing.(11) The information processing device according to any one of (1) to (9), wherein the timing control unit controls the timing at which the data is transmitted from a function processing the user plane as the control of the transmission timing. (12) An information processing device belonging to a core network, comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires a QoS monitoring request for data belonging to one application and information related to a traffic pattern of the data from another information processing device; a generation unit that generates information on burst arrival times of the data for each of a plurality of base stations based on the information related to the traffic pattern; and a transmission unit that transmits the information on burst arrival times and information on measurement results of the QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations to the other information processing device. (13) The information processing device according to (12), wherein the acquisition unit acquires, from the other information processing device, information specifying targets related to reporting the information on burst arrival times or information on the measurement results, and the transmission unit transmits the information on burst arrival times or information on the measurement results for each of the specified targets to the other information processing device. (14) The information processing device according to (13), wherein the acquisition unit acquires from the other information processing device an instruction to report a statistical value of the burst arrival time or a statistical value of the measurement result for each target as information on the burst arrival time or the measurement result of the QoS monitoring when a plurality of base stations are connected to or belong to the specified target, and the transmission unit transmits the statistical value of the burst arrival time or the statistical value of the measurement result for each target to the other information processing device when a plurality of base stations are connected to or belong to the specified target. (15) The information processing device according to (14), wherein the statistical value is at least one of a maximum value, a minimum value, an average value, and a standard deviation. (16) The information processing device according to any one of (13) to (15), wherein the target is a function that processes a user plane of the core network to which the base station corresponding to the burst arrival time is connected.(17) The information processing device according to any one of (13) to (15), wherein the target is a registration area or TAI to which the base station corresponding to the burst arrival time belongs. (18) A base station comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires information on the burst arrival time of the data based on information on a traffic pattern of data belonging to one application and instruction information for measurement related to the burst arrival time; and a transmission unit that transmits a result of the measurement based on the instruction information, wherein the instruction information includes an instruction to measure the difference between the burst arrival time and a timing at which a specified packet is received. (19) The base station according to (18), wherein the instruction information includes information indicating that the specified packet is the first packet of a data burst. (20) An information processing method executed by an information processing device connected to one or more core networks via a service-based interface, the information processing method comprising: transmitting a request for QoS monitoring for data belonging to one application and information related to a traffic pattern of the data to the one or more core networks; and controlling a transmission timing of the data transmitted to the base station via a function for processing the user plane of the one or more core networks based on information on a burst arrival time of the data based on the information related to the traffic pattern, the burst arrival time information being for each of a plurality of base stations, and information on the measurement results of the QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations.

[0713] <Application Server / AF Side> The present technology can also be configured as follows. (A1) An information processing device connected to one or more core networks via a service-based interface, comprising: a transmitter that transmits a QoS monitoring request for data belonging to one application and information related to a traffic pattern of the data to the one or more core networks; and a timing controller that controls transmission timing of the data to the base station via a function that processes the user plane of the one or more core networks, based on information on burst arrival times of the data based on the information related to the traffic pattern, the information on the burst arrival times for each of a plurality of base stations, and information on measurement results of the QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations. (A2) The information processing device described in (A1), wherein the information on the burst arrival times is information included in assistance information that is notified to each of the plurality of base stations. (A3) The information processing device described in (A1) or (A2), wherein the information on the measurement results of the QoS monitoring is an offset time for the burst arrival time measured by the base station.(A4) The information processing device according to any of (A1) to (A3), wherein the one or more core networks include a first core network belonging to a first PLMN operator, the multiple base stations are connected to the first core network, the burst arrival time information includes at least information on a first burst arrival time of the data related to a first base station among the multiple base stations and information on a second burst arrival time of the data related to a second base station among the multiple base stations, the QoS monitoring measurement result information includes at least information on a first measurement result of QoS monitoring related to the first base station and information on a second measurement result of QoS monitoring related to the second base station, and the timing control unit controls a second transmission timing of the data transmitted via the second base station relative to a first transmission timing of the data transmitted via the first base station, based on the first burst arrival time information, the second burst arrival time information, the first measurement result information, and the second measurement result information. (A5) The information processing device according to (A4), wherein a first base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to a function for processing a first user plane of the first core network, and a second base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to a function for processing a second user plane of the first core network. (A6) The information processing device according to (A4), wherein a first base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to a first user plane assigned a first data network access identifier of the first core network, and a second base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to a second user plane assigned a second data network access identifier of the first core network, and some or all of the data is processed by an edge application server connected to at least one of the first user plane and the second user plane. (A7) The information processing device according to (A4), wherein a first base station among the plurality of base stations belongs to a first registration area, and a second base station among the plurality of base stations belongs to a second registration area.(A8) The information processing device according to (A4), wherein a first base station among the plurality of base stations belongs to a first TAI, and a second base station among the plurality of base stations belongs to a second TAI. (A9) The one or more core networks include a first core network of a first PLMN and a second core network of a second PLMN, the first base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to the first core network, and the second base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to the second core network, the burst arrival time information includes at least information on a first burst arrival time of the data related to the first base station among the plurality of base stations and information on a second burst arrival time of the data related to the second base station among the plurality of base stations, and the QoS monitoring measurement result information includes at least information on a first measurement result of QoS monitoring related to the first base station and information on a second measurement result of QoS monitoring related to the second base station. The information processing device according to any one of (A1) to (A3), wherein the timing control unit controls a second transmission timing of the data transmitted via the second base station relative to a first transmission timing of the data transmitted via the first base station, based on information about the first burst arrival time, information about the second burst arrival time, information about the first measurement result, and information about the second measurement result. (A10) The information processing device according to (A9), wherein the information about the first burst arrival time is information included in first assistance information notified to the first base station, and the information about the second burst arrival time is information included in second assistance information notified to the second base station. (A11) The information processing device according to (A9) or (A10), wherein the information about the first measurement result is a first offset time with respect to the first burst arrival time measured by the first base station, and the information about the second measurement result is a second offset time with respect to the second burst arrival time measured by the second base station.(A12) The information processing device according to any of (A1) to (A11), further comprising an acquisition unit that acquires the burst arrival time information, wherein the transmission unit transmits, to the one or more core networks, information specifying targets related to reporting of the burst arrival time information, and the acquisition unit acquires the burst arrival time information for each of the specified targets from the one or more core networks. (A13) The information processing device according to (A12), wherein the transmission unit transmits, to the one or more core networks, an instruction to report, as the burst arrival time information when a plurality of base stations are connected to or belong to the specified targets, a statistical value of the burst arrival time for each of the targets, and the acquisition unit acquires, from the one or more core networks, the statistical value of the burst arrival time for each of the targets. (A14) The information processing device according to (A13), wherein the statistical value is at least one of a maximum value, a minimum value, an average value, and a standard deviation. (A15) The information processing device according to any of (A1) to (A14), further comprising an acquisition unit that acquires information on the measurement results of the QoS monitoring, wherein the transmission unit transmits, to the one or more core networks, information specifying targets related to reporting of the measurement result information of the QoS monitoring, and the acquisition unit acquires information on the burst arrival time for each of the specified targets from the one or more core networks. (A16) The information processing device according to (A14), wherein the transmission unit transmits, to the one or more core networks, an instruction to report, as the information on the measurement result when a plurality of base stations are connected to or belong to the specified targets, a statistical value of the measurement result for each of the targets, and the acquisition unit acquires, from the one or more core networks, the statistical value of the burst arrival time for each of the targets. (A17) The information processing device according to (A16), wherein the statistical value is at least one of a maximum value, a minimum value, an average value, and a standard deviation. (A18) The information processing device according to any one of (A12) to (A17), wherein the target is a function that processes the user plane of the core network to which the base station corresponding to the burst arrival time is connected.(A19) The information processing device according to any of (A12) to (A17), wherein the target is a registration area to which the base station corresponding to the burst arrival time belongs. (A20) The information processing device according to any of (A12) to (A17), wherein the target is a TAI to which the base station corresponding to the burst arrival time belongs. (A21) The information processing device according to any of (A1) to (A20), wherein the timing control unit controls the timing at which the data is transmitted from an application server as the control of the transmission timing. (A22) The information processing device according to any of (A1) to (A20), wherein the timing control unit controls the timing at which the data is transmitted from a function processing the user plane as the control of the transmission timing. (A23) The information processing device according to (A22), wherein the timing control unit requests the function processing the user plane to control the transmission timing of the data. (A24) The information processing device according to (A19) or (A20), wherein the timing control unit requests the base station belonging to the registration area or TAI to control the transmission timing of the data. (A25) An information processing method executed by an information processing device connected to one or more core networks via a service-based interface, the information processing method comprising: transmitting a request for QoS monitoring for data belonging to one application and information related to a traffic pattern of the data to the one or more core networks; and controlling the transmission timing of the data transmitted to the base station via a function of processing a user plane of the one or more core networks, based on information on a burst arrival time of the data based on the information related to the traffic pattern, the information on the burst arrival time for each of a plurality of base stations, and information on measurement results of the QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations.(A26) A program for causing an information processing device connected to one or more core networks via a service-based interface to function as: a transmitting unit that transmits a request for QoS monitoring for data belonging to one application and information related to the traffic pattern of the data to the one or more core networks; and a timing control unit that controls the transmission timing of the data transmitted to the base station via a function that processes the user plane of the one or more core networks, based on information on burst arrival times of the data based on the information related to the traffic pattern, the information on burst arrival times for each of a plurality of base stations, and information on the measurement results of the QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations.

[0714] <Core Network Side> The present technology can also be configured as follows. (B1) An information processing device belonging to a core network, comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires a QoS monitoring request for data belongin...

Claims

1. An information processing device that connects to one or more core networks via a service-based interface, comprising: a transmission unit that transmits a request for QoS monitoring for data belonging to one application and information related to the traffic pattern of the data to the one or more core networks; and a timing control unit that controls the transmission timing of the data to the base station via a function that processes the user plane of the one or more core networks, based on information on burst arrival times of the data based on the information related to the traffic pattern, the information on burst arrival times for each of a plurality of base stations, and information on measurement results of the QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the burst arrival time information is included in support information notified to each of the plurality of base stations.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the information on the measurement result of the QoS monitoring is an offset time measured by the base station relative to the burst arrival time.

4. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the one or more core networks include a first core network belonging to a first PLMN operator, the multiple base stations are connected to the first core network, the burst arrival time information includes at least information on a first burst arrival time of the data related to a first base station among the multiple base stations and information on a second burst arrival time of the data related to a second base station among the multiple base stations, the QoS monitoring measurement result information includes at least information on a first measurement result of QoS monitoring related to the first base station and information on a second measurement result of QoS monitoring related to the second base station, and the timing control unit controls a second transmission timing of the data transmitted via the second base station relative to a first transmission timing of the data transmitted via the first base station based on the first burst arrival time information, the second burst arrival time information, the first measurement result information, and the second measurement result information.

5. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein a first base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to a function for processing a first user plane of the first core network, and a second base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to a function for processing a second user plane of the first core network.

6. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein a first base station among the plurality of base stations belongs to a first registration area or a first TAI, and a second base station among the plurality of base stations belongs to a second registration area or a second TAI.

7. The one or more core networks include a first core network of a first PLMN and a second core network of a second PLMN, a first base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to the first core network, and a second base station among the plurality of base stations is connected to the second core network, the burst arrival time information includes at least information on a first burst arrival time of the data related to a first base station among the plurality of base stations and information on a second burst arrival time of the data related to a second base station among the plurality of base stations, the QoS monitoring measurement result information includes at least information on a first measurement result of QoS monitoring related to the first base station and information on a second measurement result of QoS monitoring related to the second base station, 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the timing control unit controls a second transmission timing of the data transmitted via the second base station relative to a first transmission timing of the data transmitted via the first base station based on information on the first burst arrival time, information on the second burst arrival time, information on the first measurement result, and information on the second measurement result.

8. An information processing device as described in claim 7, wherein the information on the first burst arrival time is information included in first support information notified to the first base station, and the information on the second burst arrival time is information included in second support information notified to the second base station.

9. An information processing device as described in claim 7, wherein the information on the first measurement result is a first offset time relative to the first burst arrival time measured by the first base station, and the information on the second measurement result is a second offset time relative to the second burst arrival time measured by the second base station.

10. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the timing control unit controls the timing at which the data is transmitted from an application server as the control of the transmission timing.

11. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the timing control unit controls the timing at which the data is transmitted from the function that processes the user plane, as the control of the transmission timing.

12. An information processing device belonging to a core network, comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires a request for QoS monitoring for data belonging to one application and information related to the traffic pattern of the data from another information processing device; a generation unit that generates information on the burst arrival time of the data for each of a plurality of base stations based on the information related to the traffic pattern; and a transmission unit that transmits the information on the burst arrival time and information on the measurement results of the QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations to the other information processing device.

13. The information processing device described in claim 12, wherein the acquisition unit acquires from the other information processing device designation information of targets related to the reporting of the burst arrival time information or the measurement result information, and the transmission unit transmits the burst arrival time information or the measurement result information for each designated target to the other information processing device.

14. The information processing device according to claim 13, wherein the acquisition unit acquires from the other information processing device an instruction to report a statistical value of the burst arrival time or a statistical value of the measurement result for each target as information on the burst arrival time or the measurement result of the QoS monitoring when multiple base stations are connected to or belong to the specified target, and the transmission unit transmits to the other information processing device the statistical value of the burst arrival time or the statistical value of the measurement result for each target when multiple base stations are connected to or belong to the specified target.

15. The information processing device according to claim 14, wherein the statistical value is at least one of a maximum value, a minimum value, an average value, and a standard deviation.

16. The information processing device according to claim 13, wherein the target is a function that processes a user plane of the core network to which the base station corresponding to the burst arrival time is connected.

17. The information processing device according to claim 13, wherein the target is a registration area or TAI to which the base station corresponding to the burst arrival time belongs.

18. A base station comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires information on burst arrival times of data belonging to a single application based on information related to the traffic pattern of the data, and instruction information for measurement related to the burst arrival times; and a transmission unit that transmits the results of measurement based on the instruction information, wherein the instruction information includes an instruction to measure the difference between the burst arrival times and the timing of receiving a specified packet.

19. The base station according to claim 18, wherein the instruction information includes information indicating that the specified packet is the first packet of a data burst.

20. An information processing method executed by an information processing device connected to one or more core networks via a service-based interface, comprising: transmitting a request for QoS monitoring for data belonging to one application and information related to the traffic pattern of the data to the one or more core networks; and controlling the transmission timing of the data transmitted to the base station via a function that processes the user plane of the one or more core networks based on information on the burst arrival time of the data based on the information related to the traffic pattern, the information being related to the burst arrival time for each of a plurality of base stations, and information on the measurement results of the QoS monitoring for each of the plurality of base stations.

Images