Methods, devices and medium for communication

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, devices and computer readable storage medium for communication. In a method, an intermediate device receives, from an application server, a first request for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices; performs, based on the first request, the operation towards the one or more terminal devices; and sends, to the application server, a first response for the first request, the first response including information related to the operation.

Description

METHODS, DEVICES AND MEDIUM FOR COMMUNICATIONFIELDS

[0001] Various embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices and computer readable storage medium for communication.BACKGROUND

[0002] This section introduces aspects that may facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.

[0003] 3GPP TR 23.700-13 Version 0.2.0: “Study on Architecture support of Ambient power- enabled Internet of Thing (Release-19)” was agreed in 3GPP SA2#161. Within the Technical Report (TR), the architecture assumptions and requirements, and three issues were agreed and included. For architectural assumptions, there are two traffic types for Ambient loT (A-IoT) device: Device-terminated (DT) and Device-originated-device-terminated triggered (DO-DTT). It is to be noted that the DO-DTT additionally includes traffic from A-IoT devices, which is triggered by radio access node (RAN) or user equipment (UE) as reader, without core network (CN) sending traffic towards the A-IoT devices, and the final decision for including Device- originated-autonomous (DO-A) in the study depends on RAN decision.SUMMARY

[0004] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0005] Conventionally, an application function (AF) may send an A-IoT operation request or command to A-IoT devices via UE reader or RAN reader via a control plane. There are some issues in the control plane based solution: if CN aggregates the device IDs and command execution results, the aggregated results are no longer small data, which will bring considerable loads towards control plane NFs, and if CN does not aggregate the device IDs and command execution results, it needs to send a notification to the AF for the response (containing the device ID or command execution result) it received from each device. It will also bring high load towards the control plane NFs. Considering the load towards the control plane NFs, it may require the additional control plane NF instances to be deployed to handle such data.

[0006] To overcome or mitigate at least one of the above-mentioned problems or other problems or provide a useful solution, embodiments of the present disclosure propose methods, devices and storage medium for A-IoT operations.

[0007] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method at an intermediate device. In the method, the intermediate device receives, from an application server, a first request for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices. The intermediate device performs, based on the first request, the operation towards the one or more terminal devices. The intermediate device sends, to the application server, a first response for the first request, the first response including information related to the operation.

[0008] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method at a first network device. In the method, the first network device receives, from an intermediate device, a second request for a communication resource for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices, the operation being requested by an application server, the first network device sends, to a second network device, a third request for the operation, the first network device receives, from the second network device, a third response for the third request, the third response including a result of authorization for the operation, the first network device transmits, to the intermediate device, a second response for the second request, based on the third response from the second network device.

[0009] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method at a second network device. In the method, the second network device receives, from a first network device, a third request for an operation towards one or more terminal devices, the operation being requested by an application server to be performed by an intermediated device, the second network device sends, to the first network device, a third response for the third request, the third response including a result of authorization for the operation.

[0010] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an intermediate device. The intermediate device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor, whereby the terminal device is operative to perform the method according to the first aspect.

[0011] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first network device. The first network device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor, whereby the terminal device is operative to perform the method according to the second aspect.

[0012] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second network device. The second network device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor, whereby the terminal device is operative to perform the method according to the third aspect.

[0013] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor of a device, cause the device to perform the method according to the first or second or third aspect.

[0014] With the present disclosure, an application server may be in charge of an intermediate device for the A-IoT operations, including determining intermediate devices, sending operation commands to and receiving results from intermediate devices, thereby improving efficiency of transport the A-IoT operation request and response information between AF and A-IoT devices.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Through the more detailed description of some embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings, the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent, where the same reference generally refers to the same components in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

[0017] FIG. 2A illustrates the system architecture for AF based solution.

[0018] FIG. 2B illustrates the protocol stack for AF based solution.

[0019] FIG. 3 is a signal diagram showing a communication process between a terminal device, an intermediate device, an application server, a first network device, a second network device, a third network device and a fourth network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example process for inventory procedure.

[0021] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example process for command procedure.

[0022] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example process for enhancement for charging and authorization in accordance with some embodiments.

[0023] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example method at an intermediate device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0024] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example method at an application server in accordance with some embodiments.

[0025] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example method at a first network device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0026] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example method at a second network device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0027] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example method at a third network device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0028] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example method at a fourth network device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0029] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a communication device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0030] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a computer readable storage medium in accordance with some embodiments.

[0031] FIG. 15 shows an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments.

[0032] FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a UE in accordance with some embodiments.

[0033] FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing a network node in accordance with some embodiments.

[0034] FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0036] Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and / or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a / an / the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and / or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

[0037] Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present disclosure should be or are in any single embodiment of the disclosure. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the disclosure.

[0038] As used herein, the terms "first", "second" and so forth refer to different elements. Thesingular forms "a" and "an" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises", "comprising", "has", "having", "includes" and / or "including" as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components and the like, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof. The term "based on" is to be read as "based at least in part on". The term "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" are to be read as "at least one embodiment". The term "another embodiment" is to be read as "at least one other embodiment". Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below.

[0039] As used herein, the term “terminal device” refers to a device which is intended for accessing services via an access network and configured to communicate over the access network. The terminal device may be able to communicate with a network node, such as a base station, or with another terminal device by transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals. For instance, the terminal device may include, but is not limited to: a mobile phone, a smart phone, a sensor device, a meter, a vehicle, a household appliance, a medical appliance, a media player, a camera, or any type of consumer electronic, for instance, but not limited to, a television, radio, lighting arrangement, a tablet computer, a laptop, a personal computer (PC), or an Internet of Thing (loT) device. The terminal device may also include a portable, pocketstorable, hand-held, computer- comprised, or vehicle-mounted mobile device, enabled to communicate voice and / or data, via a wireless connection. In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0040] As used herein, the term “network device” or “network node” refers to a device in a communication network via which a terminal device receives services from the network. The terms “network node”, “network function” may be used interchangeably. A network function can be implemented either as a network element on a dedicated hardware, as a software instance running on a dedicated hardware, or as a virtualised function instantiated on an appropriate platform, e.g., on a cloud infrastructure. The network node comprises an access network node via which a terminal device accesses an access network. Examples of access network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and newNR NodeBs (gNBs)). In the following description, the terms “network device”, “network node”, “base station” and “BS” may be used interchangeably.

[0041] As used herein, the term “communication device” refers to a device capable of communications. Examples of a communication device may comprise a terminal device and a network device.

[0042] In addition, TR 38.848 Version 1.0.0 defines two connectivity topologies. In the topology 1, the A-IoT device directly and bidirectionally communicates with a base station (BS). In Topology 2, the A-IoT device communicates bidirectionally with an intermediate node betweenthe A-IoT device and the BS. The intermediate node transfers A-IoT data and / or signaling between the BS and the A-IoT device. Only a UE can act as an intermediate node which is under the network control.

[0043] Furthermore, in this architectural, the communication spectrum is assumed to be licensed, handover is not supported, radio resource control (RRC) states are not supported by A- loT Devices, and no mobility (i.e. at least no cell selection / re-selection-like function) supported by A-IoT Devices in TR 38.769 Version 14.0.0. It is to be noted that coordination with RAN is required to determine the A-IoT device capabilities in relation to system level of functionality (considering e.g., traffic scenarios, connectivity topologies etc.), the security aspects for A-IoT requires coordination with SA WG3, the charging aspects for A-IoT will be studied by SA WG5, and the NAS based congestion control is not in the scope of this study.

[0044] For architectural requirements, it is to be noted that support for A-IoT services needs to adhere to the nature of the A-IoT devices (e.g. ultra-low complexity, power, cost and resource- constrained), and support of the security aspects needs to consider the nature of the A-IoT devices (e.g. ultra-low complexity power, cost and resource-constrained) while addressing e.g. confidentiality, integrity, etc.

[0045] The Issue #1 will address the system architecture to support A-IoT devices, especially on the following aspects: System architecture identified along with the solutions for Issue#2 and Issue#3. Authentication and authorization for the A-IoT device. And validation of the A-IoT device identifier. It is to be noted that format of the A-IoT device identifier is addressed in Issue#2, whether and how to secure device operations and services for an A-IoT device or a group of A- loT devices. It is also to be noted that the Issue #1 will take into account the outcome of RAN study in TR 38.769 Version 14.0.0, and the security aspects related to the issue #1, including the enable / disable device operation, requires coordination with SAWG3.

[0046] The Issue #2 pertains to the authorization and management of A-IoT devices to support A-IoT services. Considering that A-IoT devices are a new type of reduced capabilities devices, the existing subscription model may not be suitable. Specifically, there is the need to study the device identification method to support A-IoT devices which are under operator control. Based on the above consideration, the aspects to be studied in the issue #2 include: studying whether subscription management, registration management and / or connection management are necessary for an A-IoT device or a group of A-IoT devices, and if so identifying the necessary state machine(s), procedures and functionality considering the A-IoT devices capability and characteristics; studying whether and how reachability and paging apply to A-IoT device(s) considering the A-IoT devices capability and characteristics, and if so, what are the impacts; and studying how to identify Ambient loT Device or group of devices and how to format the identifier.

[0047] The Issue #3 pertains to the A-IoT services. Considering that A-IoT devices are a new type of devices with reduced capabilities, the inventory and command need to be supported. It isto be noted that further detailing of the inventory and commands will be addressed by solutions. The Issue #3 will study the following aspects: studying how to support information transfer for A-IoT services and related system functionality, including the information transfer for an A-IoT device and for a group of A-IoT devices, and it is to be noted that the above aspect includes studying whether there is a need to support session based transfer between A-IoT device and the network considering the device types and capabilities; studying which of the enabled A-IoT services are exposed to application function (AF) and how, e.g. for the case AF requests A-IoT service for an A-IoT device and for a group of A-IoT devices.

[0048] The conventional solutions are control plane based solutions. For example, the AF may send Inventory / Command request towards CN via service based interface (SBI), CN may deliver those Inventory / Command to the A-IoT devices via UE reader or RAN reader via control plane. The A-IoT devices may send back device IDs and command execution results to CN, and CN delivers back towards the AF.

[0049] There are some issues in the control plane based solution: if CN aggregates the device IDs and command execution results, the aggregated results are no longer small data, which will bring considerable loads towards control plane NFs, and if CN does not aggregate the device IDs and command execution results, it needs to send a notification to the AF for the response (containing the device ID or command execution result) it received from each device. It will also bring high load towards the control plane NFs. Considering the load towards the control plane NFs, it may require the additional control plane NF instances to be deployed to handle such data.

[0050] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. Some embodiments of the present disclosure propose a solution for A-IoT operations. This solution allows an intermediate device to receive, from an application server, a first request for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices, perform, based on the first request, the operation towards the one or more terminal devices; and send, to the application server, a first response for the first request, the first response including information related to the operation.

[0051] With this solution, an AF is in charge of the intermediate UE for the A-IoT operations, including determining intermediate UEs, sending operation commands to and receiving results from intermediate UEs. As the licensed spectrum is owned by Mobile Network Operator (MNO), it is proposed to let network provide the radio resource information towards the intermediate UEs about the spectrum information for the over-the-air interface between intermediate UEs and A- loT devices. Such that improving efficiency of transport the A-IoT operation request and response information between AF and A-IoT devices.

[0052] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 1, the communication environment 100 includes a terminal device102 (e.g., A-IoT device or tag), the terminal device 102 may communicate with a first network device 106 (e.g., a base station or gNB) via an intermediate device 104. The intermediate device 104 may be implemented by a terminal device such as a UE or a RAN node.

[0054] The communication environment 100 further comprises an application server 108 and core network devices including a second network device 110, a third network device 112 and a fourth network device 114. The application server 108 may communication with the intermediate device 104 and may provide the instruction to operate the intermediate device 104 to perform A- loT operation. The core network devices may perform a management function for the communications or services of the terminal device 102. For example, the second network device 110 may operate as Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) for managing the access of UE to the network and ensuring the mobility of these devices as they move within the network coverage area. The third network device 112 may operate as Unified Data Management (UDM) / Unified Data Repository (UDR) for managing and storing subscription and device-related data for 5G and future generations of cellular networks, and also playing a role in authentication and authorization processes, ensuring secure access to network services. The fourth network device 114 may operate as Charging Function (CHF) for managing the charging aspects of network services and usage. The intermediate device 104 may communicate with the second network device 110 via the first network device 106 and may provide A-IoT capability information to the second network device 110. The third network device 112 and the fourth network device 114 may communicate with the second network device 110, the third network device 112 may store the authorization information of the intermediate device 104 for A-IoT in UE subscription data and provide the subscription data to the second network device 110.

[0055] Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocols and technologies. It is to be understood that the numbers of devices are illustrated in FIG. 1 only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable numbers of terminal devices and network devices for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0056] In the following, use cases with ultra-low power devices, zero-energy (based on backscattering or energy harvesting, or both backscattering and energy harvesting), or loT devices may be considered and assumed. However, the proposal mechanisms may not be limited to such devices, and can be extended to other service or device classes or categories, e.g., related to Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), massive-MTC, Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC), Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN), etc.

[0057] In the following, the procedures which the terminal device 102 conducts covering DL reception and UL transmission includes measurements for radio link monitoring and / or mobility purposes, paging monitoring, logging / reporting measurement results, tracking area update, searching for a new Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) or Standalone Non-Public Network(SNPN), random access or other access scheme, camping on a cell, cell change, data transmission and reception etc. In a general view, these procedures will consume power in devices.

[0058] In some embodiments, the term “radio access network node” or “RAN node” used may be a network node (e.g., the first network device 106) or a UE (e.g., the terminal device 102). Examples of network nodes are NodeB, base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, gNodeB, MeNB, SeNB, location measurement unit (LMU), integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BCS), relay, IAB, repeater, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), Central Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Distributed Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Baseband Unit, Centralized Baseband, C-RAN, access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, transmission reception point (TRP), RRU, RRH, nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g. MCS, MME, etc.), O&M, OSS, SON, positioning node (e.g. E-SMLC), etc. In particular, in A-IoT scenario the RAN nodes comprise intermediate node / UE (e.g., relay UE, IAB, repeater etc.) and assisting node / UE (e.g., relay UE, IAB, repeater etc.). In particular, in A-IoT scenarios the RAN nodes comprise intermediate node / UE (e.g., relay UE, IAB, repeater etc.) and assisting node / UE (e.g., relay UE, IAB, repeater etc.).

[0059] The term time resource used herein may correspond to any type of physical resource or radio resource expressed in terms of length of time. An example of time resources is a symbol, a time slot, a subframe, a radio frame, a transmit time interval (TTI), an interleaving time, a slot, a sub-slot, a mini-slot, a system frame number (SFN) cycle, a hyper-SFN (H-SFN) cycle etc.

[0060] In this present disclosure, the terms “polling”, “poll”, “paging”, “page”, “inventory”, “query” and “interrogate” may be used to represent one or more than one signal transmitted by a network node broadcast wise or specially to a dedicated UE. The purpose of the signal is to facilitate / serve / manage / command one or more than one UE to synchronize to the network node (DL / UL synchronize to a reference time / frame / symbol, or synchronize to one or more than one signal which the UE receives from the network node, or synchronize based on a pre-defined rule), receive DL data, response and transmit UL data correctly in intended resources. The content of such signal may be a particular reference signal or a signal carrying control information and / or data. Such signal may be transmitted periodically or a periodically configured by the network node. In this present disclosure, “A-IoT UE”, “A-IoT device”, “device”, or “UE” may be used interchangeably. In the following, these terms “polling”, “poll”, “paging”, “page”, “inventory”, “query” and “interrogate” may be used interchangeably.

[0061] In the present disclosure, “intermediate node”, “intermediate UE”, “UE” are applied interchangeably without losing the meaning. The embodiments are applicable to an A-IoT device of any device type, which indicates one of the below: whether the device is a passive device or an active device; whether the device is equipped with energy storage; whether the device is capable of performing amplification for the transmitted signal; whether the device is capable ofperforming transmissions in a backscattered fashion or generated by the device itself; a power class / level that the device operates; whether the device is capable of frequency shift.

[0062] FIG. 2A illustrates the system architecture for AF based solution.

[0063] The functional entities defined in TS 23.501 Version 18.5.0 are reused with the exception for the following additions:

[0064] The UDM / UDR 212 may store the authorization information of the intermediate UE 204 for A-IoT in UE subscription data. The AMF 210 may receive A-IoT capability information from the intermediate UE 204 and authorize based on the subscription data in the UDM / UDR 212. The NG-RAN 206 may provide spectrum information towards authorized intermediate UE 204. The intermediate UE 204 may provide A-IoT capability information to the AMF 210 and receive the authorization information. Furthermore, the intermediate UE 204 may receive the instruction from the AF 208 and perform A-IoT operations (e.g., inventory, command, etc.) on the proper spectrum. As mentioned above, the radio resource information is received from NG-RAN 206.

[0065] FIG. 2B illustrates the protocol stack for AF based solution.

[0066] Within the protocol stack, the UE A-IoT layer 240 may be between the AF 208 and the intermediate UE 204 (or UE reader). The AF 208 provides A-IoT operation commands to the intermediate UEs 204 via the UE A-IoT layer 240.

[0067] The App layer 230 may be between A-IoT devices 202 and the AF 208. It is assumed that the end-to-end protection is implemented between the AF 208 and A-IoT devices 202. It is to be noted that the details of the end-to-end protection are assumed to be addressed by SA3.

[0068] The Registration procedure for UE is performed as defined in clause 4.2.2.2 of TS 23.502 Version 16.0.0 with the following additions: UE includes the A-IoT intermediate node capability as part of “5GMM capability” in Registration Request message. The AMF 210 obtains the A-IoT Subscription data as part of the user subscription data from UDM 212 using Nudm SDM service. The AMF 210 determines whether the UE is authorized to work as intermediate UE for A-IoT based on UE’s A-IoT intermediate node capability and the A-IoT Subscription data. The AMF 210 includes the authorization information as part of UE context in NGAP message sent to NG-RAN 206.

[0069] In Service Request procedure, N2 Handover procedure, Xn Handover procedure, and when receiving Subscriber Data Update to AMF 210, the AMF 210 includes the authorization information in NGAP message sent to NG-RAN 206.

[0070] The user plane solution for topology 2 can avoid the performance issue which is caused by the device ID and command execution result reporting. With the user plane solution, intermediate UE 204 may report its location towards the AF 208 via UE A-IoT layer 240, which is an application layer protocol. Based on the reported location and the intended area (i.e. area that the AF 208 wants to check which A-IoT devices 202 e.g. are available), the AF 208 may determine the intermediate UE(s) 204 to perform the inventory / command operation. The AF 208may send the inventory / command request towards the intermediate UE 204 over PDU session user plane. The intermediate UE 204 may check with NG-RAN 206 for the radio resource to be used for the communication between the intermediate UE 204 and A-IoT devices 202. The intermediate UE 204 may perform Inventory / Command towards the A-IoT device 202. To avoid that all devices have to report device IDs every time, the intermediate UE 204 may need to provide its identifier over the area, which is a combination of its application layer 230 ID together with the location information (considering that intermediate UE 204 can move). So, next time, when the A-IoT device 202 recognizes that it has reported to the same intermediate UE 204 in the same location, and the instruction indicates a delta inventory, it can skip its reporting. The A-IoT device 202 may report its device ID or command execution result. The intermediate UE 204 may aggregate the device ID or command execution results. The intermediate UE 204 may send the aggregated report towards the AF 208.

[0071] For the user plane solution for topology 2, as the inventory / command request and response are delivered over user plane, which is transparent towards core network and NG-RAN 206. There are also charging issue and filtering criteria authorization issue to be resolved. The charging can be done based on the subscription of the intermediate UE 204, but it cannot be performed per inventory / command transaction from the AF 208. The filtering criteria is sent from the AF 208 to the intermediate UE 204 directly without the control from the network.

[0072] As discussed above, the user plane solution can be developed as follow: When intermediate UE 204 requests NG-RAN 206 for radio resource allocation, it needs to provide the information of the A-IoT operation to NG-RAN 206 (information required to authorize the usage of the spectrum as well as information that can be used for enabling billing of the spectrum usage), including the AF ID (i.e. billing party), the device information (i.e., the filtering criteria to select the target devices), its location information, etc. For charging and authorization, NG-RAN 206 sends a request (e.g. Ambient Internet of Things Function (AIOTF) Operation Request) or a notification request towards the AMF 210. The AMF 210 can collect the information received from NG-RAN 206 and send a charging request towards CHF 214 for charging. For filtering criteria authorization, Mobile Network Operator (MNO) needs to provision the allowed device information (i.e. allowed filtering criteria) and allowed area for the AF 208 in Unified Data Management (UDM) / Unified Data Repository (UDR) 212. The AMF 210 can fetch the allowed device information and allowed area based on AF ID from UDM / UDR 212, and determine whether the A-IoT operation is allowed or not. The AMF 210 responds to NG-RAN 206 the decision in the response (e.g. AIOTF Operation Response) or a notification response. Only when receiving a positive feedback from the AMF 210, the NG-RAN 206 provides the radio resource allocation information to the intermediate UE 204.

[0073] Furthermore, the user plane solution is new in A-IoT context. So far, all the solutions in the TR are control plane based solution. However, there are quite many AF based solutions inother domains. In an example, to avoid that all devices have to report device IDs every time, the intermediate UE 204 needs to provide its identifier over the area, which is a combination of its application layer ID together with the location information (considering that intermediate UE 204 can move). So, next time, when the A-IoT device 202 recognizes that it has reported to the same intermediate UE in the same location, and the instruction indicates a delta inventory, the device 202 can skip its reporting. In addition, the AF based solution can also be used in charging solution and filtering criteria and area authorization.

[0074] It is to be noted that although the issue is originating from a mechanism for A-IoT or ZE-IoT devices, the proposed solution herein may be applied in general for different types of terminal devices including both low power devices and normal devices.

[0075] FIG. 3 is a signal diagram showing a communication process between a terminal device, an intermediate device, an application server, a first network device, a second network device, a third network device and a fourth network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The process 300 may be implemented by the intermediate device 104, the application server 108, the first network device 106, the second network device 110, the third network device 112 and a fourth network device 114 as shown in FIG. 1.

[0076] As shown in FIG. 3, the application server 108 transmits (301) a first request for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices 102 to the intermediate device 104. Correspondingly, the intermediate device 104 receives (303), from the application server 108, a first request for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices 102. The intermediate device 104 performs (337), based on the first request, the operation towards the one or more terminal devices 102. The intermediate device 104 sends (339), to the application server 108, a first response for the first request, the first response including information related to the operation (305). Correspondingly, the application server 108 receives (341) the first response.

[0077] In some embodiments, at least one of the first request or the first response may be carried via a data packet. For example, the application server 108 provides the first request (e.g., A-IoT operation commands) to the intermediate device 104 via UE A-IoT layer 240.

[0078] In some embodiments, the intermediate device 104 may send, to the application server 108, location information of the intermediate device.

[0079] In some embodiments, the application server 108 may receive, from the intermediate device, location information of the intermediate device; the application server 108 may determine the intermediate device 104 for performing the operation, based on the location information and an area associated with the operation.

[0080] In some embodiments, the first request may include device information of the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0081] In some embodiments, the device information of the one or more terminal devices 102 may include at least one of: a respective identifier of each of the one or more terminal devices102, an identifier of a device group, the one or more terminal devices 102 belonging to the device group, or one or more device type of the one or more terminal devices 102. For example, the device information could be device ID, device group ID, and / or device type. The device type refers to type 1, 2A or 2B in TR 38.769 Version 14.0.0. It is to be noted that RAN may determine whether the device type is useful or not for Intermediate UE, based on the assumption of harmonized air interface.

[0082] In some embodiments, the first request may include report aggregation information, the report aggregation information including at least one of: an indication whether information from the one or more terminal devices 102 is to be aggregated by the intermediate device, an aggregation period, or an indication whether the information from the one or more terminal devices 102 is to be transmitted by the intermediate device 104 to the application server 108 after the aggregation period. For example, the report aggregation information indicates whether the reports need to be aggregated or not for a specific aggregation period, and whether the reports are needed after the aggregation period.

[0083] In some embodiments, after receiving the first request from the application server 108, the intermediate device 104 may transmit (305), to the first network device 106, a second request for a communication resource for performing the operation towards the one or more terminal device. The intermediate device 104 may receive (335), from the first network device 106, a second response for the second request, the second response including information related to the resource.

[0084] In some embodiments, the intermediate device 104 may perform aggregating of information received from the one or more terminal devices 102; send, to the application server 108, the first response including the aggregated information.

[0085] In some embodiments, the intermediate device 104 may buffer the information received from the one or more terminal devices 102. The first response may include the aggregated information is sent to the application server 108, based on at least one of: a determination that no further information is to be received from the one or more terminal devices 102, expiration of an aggregation period, an amount of data buffered in the intermediate device 104 being greater than or equal to a threshold amount, or a buffer delay of the buffered data being greater than or equal to a threshold delay.

[0086] In some embodiments, the intermediate device 104 may receive further information from the one or more terminal devices 102 after the aggregation period; and drop the further information.

[0087] In some embodiments, the further information may be dropped in accordance with a determination that the further information is unrequired by the application server 108.

[0088] In some embodiments, the first request may comprise a request for an inventory operation towards the one or more terminal devices 102, the first response may include at leastone identifier of at least one terminal device 102 of the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0089] In some embodiments, the first request may include inventory strategy information, the inventory strategy information including at least one of: an inventory period, an inventory frequency, an indication whether each of the one or more terminal devices 102 may be required to respond, or an indication that a terminal device of the one or more terminal devices 102 with no inventory procedure having been performed with the intermediate device 104 is required to respond. For example, the inventory strategy information contains, e.g., the inventory frequency and inventory period to guide the reader to perform the inventory periodically. It also indicates whether all the targeted devices need to respond (full inventory), or only those who haven’t performed the inventory procedure (delta inventory) should respond.

[0090] In some embodiments, the intermediate device 104 may transmit identity information of the intermediate device 104 to the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0091] In some embodiments, the identity information of the intermediate device 104 may comprise at least one of an identifier or location information of the intermediate device 104.

[0092] In some embodiments, the intermediate device 104 may transmit, to the one or more terminal devices 102, an indication that a terminal device 102 with no inventory procedure having been performed with the intermediate device 104 is required to respond.

[0093] In some embodiments, the intermediate device 104 may receive, from the at least one terminal device of the one or more terminal devices 102, the at least one identifier of the at least one terminal device 102.

[0094] For example, the Inventory procedure can be initiated by the application server 108 to discover one or more terminal devices 102 (e.g., A-IoT devices 202) in a specific area via intermediate device 104.

[0095] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example process for inventory procedure in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, the terminal devices 102 operates as A-IoT devices 202, the intermediate device 104 operates as intermediate UE 204, the first network device 106 operates as NG-RAN 206, the application server 108 operates as AF 208, the second network device 110, the third network device 112 and the fourth network device 114 operate as Core Network 416.

[0096] As shown in FIG. 4, the intermediate UE 204 may register (410) towards network and establish PDU session. And via the PDU session, the intermediate UE 204 may communicate with the AF 208 via application layer 230 messages, including location information reporting.

[0097] The AF 208 may determine (420) intermediate UEs 204 based on the location information reported by the intermediate UEs 204, as well as the area AF 208 intended to perform inventory. The AF 208 sends (430) Inventory Request towards the selected intermediate UEs 204 via Core Network 416 and NG-RAN 206 over user plane. The Inventory Request includes the device information, inventory strategy information.

[0098] The intermediate UE 204 may interact (440) with NG-RAN 206 for radio resource allocation. The intermediate UE 204 may initiate (450) inventory based on device information as well as the inventory strategy information provided by the AF 208. The intermediate UE may provide reader identity information to enable the A-IoT devices 202 to understand they are read by which intermediate UE 204. Considering the mobility of the intermediate UE 204, the reader identity information can be a combination of an application layer reader ID and the location information (the location information can be used to enable that the A-IoT devices 202 reply to inventory only when the A-IoT device 202 moved to a new location).

[0099] The A-IoT Device 202 may report (460) the device ID. If the Inventory procedure indicates only those who haven’t performed the inventory procedure (e.g. by indicating delta inventory) should respond, and if the A-IoT Device 202 has performed the inventory procedure towards this reader, it should skip the reporting.

[0100] The intermediate UE 204 may perform (470) aggregation for the device ID, based on the report aggregation information provided by the AF 208. Within the aggregation period, the intermediate UE 204 will buffer the device IDs reported from the A-IoT devices 202. The intermediate UE may stop buffering and send report immediately, if it determines no further report from devices. When the aggregation period expires, the intermediate UE 204 may send the report. For those device ID report after the aggregation period, if it is needed by the AF 208, the intermediate UE may send the report. Otherwise, it will be dropped. The intermediate UE may send (480) Inventory Response or Notification Request towards the AF 208 for the device ID or the aggregated device ID information.

[0101] Still with reference to FIG. 3, in some embodiments, the first request may comprise a request for a command operation towards the one or more terminal devices 102, the first response may include at least one result of command execution of at least one of terminal device of the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0102] In some embodiments, the first request may include a command to be executed by the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0103] In some embodiments, the intermediate device 104 may transmit a command to the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0104] In some embodiments, the intermediate device 104 may receive, from the at least one terminal device of the one or more terminal devices 102, the at least one result of the command execution of the at least one terminal device 102.

[0105] In some embodiments, the intermediate device 104 may send, to the application server 108, location information of the intermediate device 104.

[0106] For example, the Command procedure is initiated by the application server 108 (e.g., AF 208) to request one or more terminal devices 102 (e.g., A-IoT devices 202) in a specific area to execute a command via the intermediate device 104 (e.g., intermediate UEs 204). The A-IoTdevices 202 may or may not send back the command results depends on the command.

[0107] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example process for command procedure. As shown in FIG. 5, the terminal devices 102 operates as A-IoT devices 202, the intermediate device 104 operates as intermediate UE 204, the first network device 106 operates as NG-RAN 206, the application server 108 operates as AF 208, the second network device 110, the third network device 112 and the fourth network device 114 operate as Core Network 416.

[0108] In FIG. 5, the intermediate UEs 204 may communicate (510) with the AF 208 via application layer messages, including location information reporting. The AF 208 may determine (520) the intermediate UEs 204 based on the location information reported by the intermediate UEs 204, as well as the area AF intended to perform command.

[0109] The AF 208 may send (530) Command Request towards the selected intermediate UEs 204 via Core Network 416 and NG-RAN 206 over user plane. The Command Request includes the command, device information, result aggregation information. For example, the command is the command to be executed in the device, including read, write, enable, disable, or other application specific command. In addition, the device information could be device ID, device group ID, and / or device type. The device type refers to type 1, 2A or 2B in TR 38.769 Version 14.0.0. Furthermore, the result aggregation information may indicate whether the results need to be aggregated or not for a specific aggregation period, and whether the reports are needed after the aggregation period.

[0110] The Intermediate UE 204 may interact (540) with NG-RAN 206 for radio resource allocation. It is to be noted that the detail of this function is assumed to be defined by RAN. The intermediate UE 204 may deliver (550) the command to the A-IoT devices 202. The A-IoT device 202 may execute (560) the command and send back the result to the intermediate UE if needed.

[0111] The intermediate UE 204 may perform (570) aggregation for the result, based on the report aggregation information provided by the AF 208. Within the aggregation period, the intermediate UE 204 will buffer the results from the A-IoT devices 202. The intermediate UE 204 may stop buffering and send report immediately, if it determines no further results from devices. When the aggregation period expires, the intermediate UE 204 may send (580) the report. For those results after the aggregation period, if it is needed by the AF, the Intermediate UE sends the report. Otherwise, they will be dropped. The intermediate UE may send Command Response or Notification Request towards the AF 208 for the result or the aggregated results.

[0112] Still with reference to FIG. 3, in some embodiments, the first network device 106 receives (307), from the intermediate device 104, a second request for a communication resource for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices 102, the operation being requested by an application server 108. The first network device 106 sends (309), to a second network device 110, a third request for the operation. The first network device 106 receives (331), from the second network device 110, a third response for the third request, the third responseincluding a result of authorization for the operation. The first network device 106 transmits (333), to the intermediate device 104, a second response for the second request, based on the third response from the second network device 110.

[0113] In some embodiments, the second request may include at least one of: an identifier of the application server 108, an identifier of the intermediate device 104, device information of the one or more terminal devices 102, or a type of an operation to be performed for the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0114] In some embodiments, the third request may include at least one of: an identifier of the application server 108, device information of the one or more terminal devices 102, a type of an operation to be performed for the one or more terminal devices 102, an identifier of the intermediate device 104, or location information of the intermediate device 104.

[0115] In some embodiments, in response to receiving (311) the third request from the first network device 106, the second network device 110 may send (313), to a third network device 112, a fourth request related to the authorization for the operation. After the third network device 112 receives (315) the fourth request, the third network device 112 sends (317), to the second network device 110, a fourth response for the fourth request, the fourth response including information related to the authorization. Correspondingly, The second network device 110 may receive (319), from the third network device 112, a fourth response for the fourth request, the fourth response including information related to the authorization. The third response may be sent to the first network device 106 based on the fourth response from the third network device 112.

[0116] In some embodiments, the fourth request may comprise a request for authorized information of the application server 108, the fourth response may include the authorized information of the application server 108. In some embodiments, the fourth request may include an identifier of the application server 108.

[0117] In some embodiments, the authorized information of the application server 108 may include at least one of: an allowed radio access type, an allowed area for the operation, allowed device information for the operation, or an allowed period for the operation.

[0118] In some embodiments, the second network device 110 may perform, based on the authorized information, the authorization for the operation.

[0119] In some embodiments, the fourth request may comprise a request for authorizing the operation, the fourth response may include the result of the authorization. In some embodiments, the fourth request may include at least one of: an identifier of the application server 108, device information of the one or more terminal devices 102, or location information of the intermediate device 104. In these embodiments, the third network device 120 may perform, based on authorized information of the application server, the authorization for the operation and then send (317) the fourth response including the result of the authorization.

[0120] In some embodiments, at least one of the third response or the fourth response may include the result of the authorization indicating that the operation may be authorized, an allowed period for the operation.

[0121] In some embodiments, the second network device 110 may send (313), to the fourth network device 114, a fifth request for charging the operation. The second network device 110 may receive (319), from the fourth network device 114, a fifth response for the fifth request, the fifth response including a result of the charging.

[0122] In some embodiments, the fifth request may include at least one of: an identifier of the application server 108, device information of the one or more terminal devices 102, a type of an operation to be performed for the one or more terminal devices 102, an identifier of the intermediate device 104, or location information of the intermediate device 104.

[0123] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example process for enhancement for charging and authorization in accordance with some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 6, the terminal devices 102 operates as A-IoT devices 202, the intermediate device 104 operates as intermediate UE 204, the first network device 106 operates as NG-RAN 206, the application server 108 operates as AF 208, the second network device 110 operates as AMF 210, the third network device 112 operates as UDM / UDR 212 and the fourth network device 114 operates as CHF 214.

[0124] As shown in FIG. 6, the intermediate UE 204 may (5401) send radio resource request towards NG-RAN 206, including AF ID, the device information (filtering criteria), the operation type (inventory or command). The NG-RAN 206 may send (5402) A-IOT Operation Request to the AMF 210 over NG-AP, including UE ID, AF ID, the device information (filtering criteria), the operation type (inventory or command) and UE location.

[0125] If the AMF 210 perform the authorization, the AMF 210 may send (5403) a Get AF Authorized Request to the UDM 212. The AMF 210 may get (5404) Authorized Information for the AF 208. The AMF 210 may provide AF ID. Based on AF ID, the UDM 212 query UDR 212 and respond the allowed area, allowed device info (filtering criteria) and allowed period. The AMF 210 may check (5405) whether the intermediate UE 204 is within the allowed area, and whether the device info is allowed.

[0126] If the UDM 212 perform the authorization, the AMF 210 may send (5406) Authorization Request to the UDM 212 with AF ID, UE location and device info (filtering criteria). Based on AF ID, UDM 212 may query UDR 212 and get the allowed area and allowed device info (filtering criteria). UDM 212 may check (5407) whether the intermediate UE 204 is within the allowed area, and whether the device info is allowed. The UDM 212 may respond the authorization result to the AMF 210 in Authorization Response. If allowed, allowed period will be returned (5408).

[0127] If authorized, the AMF 210 may send (5409) Charging Request to CHF 214, including UE ID, AF ID, the device information (filtering criteria), the operation type (inventory orcommand) and UE location. The CHF 214 may send (5410) Charging Response to the AMF 210, including the charging result.

[0128] The AMF 210 may consolidate the authorization result and charging result, and send (5411) A-IOT Operation Response including the result, to NG-RAN 206. If the result is OK, allowed period will be included. Based on positive result, NG-RAN 206 may respond (5412) intermediate UE 204 with radio resource information to be used between intermediate UE 204 and A-IoT devices 202, and the allowed period.

[0129] Within on the allowed period, intermediate UE 204 may be able to reuse the allocated radio resource for the same A-IoT operation (within the same location, the same inventory / command with the same device info). Within the allowed period, if UE sends the request for the same A-IoT operation, NG-RAN 206 may grant the radio source without checking with Core Network. And within the allowed period, if NG-RAN 206 sends the request indicating the intermediate UE 204 is requesting for the same A-IoT operation, the AMF 210 can skip the authorization towards UDM / UDR 212, while the charging can be done or skipped based on local policy.

[0130] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example method at an intermediate device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0131] As shown in FIG. 7, at block 710, the intermediate device 104 receives, from an application server 108, a first request for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices 102. At block 720, the intermediate device 104 performs, based on the first request, the operation towards the one or more terminal devices 102. At block 730, the intermediate device 104 sends, to the application server 108, a first response for the first request, the first response including information related to the operation.

[0132] In an example, at least one of the first request or the first response may be carried via a data packet.

[0133] In an example, the first request may include device information of the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0134] In an example, the device information of the one or more terminal devices 102 may include at least one of: a respective identifier of each of the one or more terminal devices 102, an identifier of a device group, the one or more terminal devices 102 belonging to the device group, or one or more device type of the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0135] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may perform aggregating of information received from the one or more terminal devices 102; send, to the application server 108, the first response including the aggregated information.

[0136] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may buffer the information received from the one or more terminal devices 102. The first response may include the aggregated information is sent to the application server 108, based on at least one of: a determination that no furtherinformation is to be received from the one or more terminal devices 102, expiration of an aggregation period, an amount of data buffered in the intermediate device 104 being greater than or equal to a threshold amount, or a buffer delay of the buffered data being greater than or equal to a threshold delay.

[0137] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may receive further information from the one or more terminal devices 102 after the aggregation period; and drop the further information.

[0138] In an example, the further information may be dropped in accordance with a determination that the further information is unrequired by the application server 108.

[0139] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may receive further information from the one or more terminal devices 102 after the aggregation period; and send the further information to the application server 108.

[0140] In an example, the first request may include report aggregation information, the report aggregation information including at least one of: an indication whether information from the one or more terminal devices 102 is to be aggregated by the intermediate device, an aggregation period, or an indication whether the information from the one or more terminal devices 102 is to be transmitted by the intermediate device 104 to the application server 108 after the aggregation period.

[0141] In an example, the first request may comprise a request for an inventory operation towards the one or more terminal devices 102, the first response may include at least one identifier of at least one terminal device of the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0142] In an example, the first request may include inventory strategy information, the inventory strategy information including at least one of: an inventory period, an inventory frequency, an indication whether each of the one or more terminal devices 102 may be required to respond, or an indication that a terminal device of the one or more terminal devices 102 with no inventory procedure having been performed with the intermediate device 104 is required to respond.

[0143] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may transmit identity information of the intermediate device 104 to the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0144] In an example, the identity information of the intermediate device 104 may comprise at least one of an identifier or location information of the intermediate device 104.

[0145] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may transmit, to the one or more terminal devices 102, an indication that a terminal device 102 with no inventory procedure having been performed with the intermediate device 104 is required to respond.

[0146] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may receive, from the at least one terminal device of the one or more terminal devices 102, the at least one identifier of the at least one terminal device 102.

[0147] In an example, the first request may comprise a request for a command operationtowards the one or more terminal devices 102, the first response may include at least one result of command execution of at least one of terminal device of the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0148] In an example, the first request may include a command to be executed by the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0149] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may transmit a command to the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0150] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may receive, from the at least one terminal device of the one or more terminal devices 102, the at least one result of the command execution of the at least one terminal device 102.

[0151] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may send, to the application server 108, location information of the intermediate device 104.

[0152] In an example, after receiving the first request from the application server 108, the intermediate device 104 may transmit, to a first network device 106, a second request for a communication resource for performing the operation towards the one or more terminal device; the intermediate device 104 may receive, from the first network device 106, a second response for the second request, the second response including information related to the resource.

[0153] In an example, the second request may include at least one of: an identifier of the application server 108, device information of the one or more terminal devices 102, or a type of the operation.

[0154] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may comprise user equipment or a radio access network node.

[0155] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example method at an application server in accordance with some embodiments.

[0156] As shown in FIG. 8, at block 810, the application server 108 sends, to an intermediate device 104, a first request for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices 102. At block 820, the application server 108 receives, from the intermediate device 104, a first response for the first request, the first response including information related to the operation.

[0157] In an example, at least one of the first request or the first response may be carried via a data packet.

[0158] In an example, the first request may include device information of the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0159] In an example, the device information of the one or more terminal devices 102 may include at least one of: a respective identifier of each of the one or more terminal devices 102, an identifier of a device group, the one or more terminal devices 102 belonging to the device group, or one or more device type of the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0160] In an example, the information related to the operation may be generated by the intermediate device 104 by aggregating information received from the one or more terminaldevices 102.

[0161] In an example, the first request may include report aggregation information, the report aggregation information may include at least one of: an indication whether information from the one or more terminal devices 102 may be to be aggregated by the intermediate device 104 to report to the application server 108, an aggregation period, or an indication whether the information from the one or more terminal devices 102 may be to be transmitted by the intermediate device 104 to the application server 108 after the aggregation period.

[0162] In an example, the first request may comprise a request for an inventory operation towards the one or more terminal devices 102, the first response may include at least one identifier of at least one terminal device of the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0163] In an example, the first request may include inventory strategy information, the inventory strategy information may include at least one of: an inventory period, an inventory frequency, an indication whether each of the one or more terminal devices 102 may be required to respond, or an indication that a terminal device of the one or more terminal devices 102 with no inventory procedure having been performed with the intermediate device 104 may be required to respond.

[0164] In an example, the first request may comprise a request for a command operation towards the one or more terminal devices 102, the first response may include at least one result of command execution of at least one terminal device of the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0165] In an example, the first request may include a command to be executed by the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0166] In an example, the application server 108 may receive, from the intermediate device 104, location information of the intermediate device; the application server 108 may determine the intermediate device 104 for performing the operation, based on the location information and an area associated with the operation.

[0167] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may comprise user equipment or a radio access network node.

[0168] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example method at a first network device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0169] As shown in FIG. 9, at block 910, a first network device 106 receives, from an intermediate device 104, a second request for a communication resource for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices 102, the operation being requested by an application server 108. At block 920, the first network device 106 sends, to a second network device 110, a third request for the operation. At block 930, the first network device 106 receives, from the second network device 110, a third response for the third request, the third response including a result of authorization for the operation. At block 940, the first network device 106 transmits, to the intermediate device, a second response for the second request, based on the thirdresponse from the second network device 110.

[0170] In an example, the second request may include at least one of: an identifier of the application server 108, an identifier of the intermediate device, device information of the one or more terminal devices 102, or a type of an operation to be performed for the one or more terminal devices 102.

[0171] In an example, the third request may include at least one of: an identifier of the application server 108, device information of the one or more terminal devices 102, a type of an operation to be performed for the one or more terminal devices 102, an identifier of the intermediate device 104, or location information of the intermediate device 104.

[0172] In an example, the first network device 106 may transmit, to the intermediate device 104, the second response including information related to the resource, based on the result of the authorization indicating that the operation may be authorized.

[0173] In an example, the second response may further include an allowed period for the operation.

[0174] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may comprise user equipment or a radio access network node.

[0175] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example method at a second network device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0176] As shown in FIG. 10, at block 1010, the second network device 110 receives, from a first network device 106, a third request for an operation towards one or more terminal devices 102, the operation being requested by an application server 108 to be performed by an intermediated device. At block 1020, the second network device 110 sends, to the first network device 106, a third response for the third request, the third response including a result of authorization for the operation.

[0177] In an example, the third request may include at least one of: an identifier of the application server 108, device information of the one or more terminal devices 102, a type of an operation to be performed for the one or more terminal devices 102, an identifier of the intermediate device 104, or location information of the intermediate device 104.

[0178] In an example, in response to receiving the third request from the first network device 106, the second network device 110 may send, to a third network device 112, a fourth request related to the authorization for the operation; and the second network device 110 may receive, from the third network device 112, a fourth response for the fourth request, the fourth response including information related to the authorization, the third response may be sent to the first network device 106 based on the fourth response from the third network device 112.

[0179] In an example, the fourth request may comprise a request for authorized information of the application server 108, the fourth response may include the authorized information of the application server 108.

[0180] In an example, the fourth request may include an identifier of the application server 108.

[0181] In an example, the authorized information of the application server 108 may include at least one of: an allowed radio access type, an allowed area for the operation, allowed device information for the operation, or an allowed period for the operation.

[0182] In an example, the second network device 110 may perform, based on the authorized information, the authorization for the operation.

[0183] In an example, the fourth request may comprise a request for authorizing the operation, the fourth response may include the result of the authorization.

[0184] In an example, the fourth request may include at least one of: an identifier of the application server 108, device information of the one or more terminal devices 102, or location information of the intermediate device.

[0185] In an example, at least one of the third response or the fourth response may include the result of the authorization indicating that the operation may be authorized, an allowed period for the operation.

[0186] In an example, the second network device 110 may send, to a fourth network device 114, a fifth request for charging the operation; and receive, from the fourth network device 114, a fifth response for the fifth request, the fifth response including a result of the charging.

[0187] In an example, the fifth request may include at least one of: an identifier of the application server 108, device information of the one or more terminal devices 102, a type of an operation to be performed for the one or more terminal devices 102, an identifier of the intermediate device 104, or location information of the intermediate device 104.

[0188] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may comprise user equipment or a radio access network node.

[0189] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example method at a third network device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0190] As shown in FIG. 11, at block 1110, the third network device 112 receives, from a second network device 110, a fourth request related to authorization for an operation towards one or more terminal devices 102, the operation being requested by an application server 108 to be performed by an intermediated device. At block 1120, the third network device 112 sends, to the second network device 110, a fourth response for the fourth request, the fourth response including information related to the authorization.

[0191] In an example, the fourth request may comprise a request for authorized information of the application server 108, the fourth response may include the authorized information of the application server 108.

[0192] In an example, the fourth request may include an identifier of the application server 108.

[0193] In an example, the third network device 112 may perform, based on authorized information of the application server 108, the authorization for the operation. The fourth response may include the result of the authorization.

[0194] In an example, the fourth request may include at least one of: an identifier of the application server 108, device information of the one or more terminal devices 102, or location information of the intermediate device 104.

[0195] In an example, the authorized information of the application server 108 may include at least one of: an allowed area for the operation, allowed device information for the operation, or an allowed period for the operation.

[0196] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may comprise user equipment or a radio access network node.

[0197] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example method at a fourth network device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0198] As shown in FIG. 12, at block 1210, the fourth network device 114 receives, from a second network device 110, a fifth request for charging an operation towards one or more terminal devices 102, the operation being requested by an application server 108 to be performed by an intermediated device. At block 1220, the fourth network device 114 sends, to the second network device 110, a fifth response for the fifth request, the fifth response including a result of the charging.

[0199] In an example, the fifth request may include at least one of: an identifier of the application server 108, device information of the one or more terminal devices 102, a type of an operation to be performed for the one or more terminal devices 102, an identifier of the intermediate device 104, or location information of the intermediate device 104.

[0200] In an example, the intermediate device 104 may comprise user equipment or a radio access network node.

[0201] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a communication device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0202] As shown in FIG. 13, the communication device 1300 may comprise a processor 1305 and a memory 1310. The memory 1310 may contain instructions 1315 executable by the processor 1305, whereby the communication device 1300 may be operative to implement actions or operations according to any of the above-mentioned embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 12.

[0203] In some embodiments, the communication device 1300 may operate as an intermediate device. In these embodiments, the communication device 1300 may be operative to: receive, from an application server 108, a first request for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices 102; perform, based on the first request, the operation towards the one or more terminal devices; and send, to the application server, a first response for the first request, the first responseincluding information related to the operation.

[0204] In some embodiments, the communication device 1300 may operate as at an application server. In these embodiments, the communication device 1300 may be operative to: send, to an intermediate device, a first request for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices, and receive, from the intermediate device, a first response for the first request, the first response including information related to the operation.

[0205] In some embodiments, the communication device 1300 may operate as a first network device. In these embodiments, the communication device 1300 may be operative to: receive, from an intermediate device, a second request for a communication resource for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices, the operation being requested by an application server; send, to a second network device, a third request for the operation; receive, from the second network device, a third response for the third request, the third response including a result of authorization for the operation; and transmit, to the intermediate device, a second response for the second request, based on the third response from the second network device

[0206] In some embodiments, the communication device 1300 may operate as a second network device. In these embodiments, the communication device 1300 may be operative to: receive, from a first network device, a third request for an operation towards one or more terminal devices, the operation being requested by an application server to be performed by an intermediated device; and send, to the first network device, a third response for the third request, the third response including a result of authorization for the operation.

[0207] In some embodiments, the communication device 1300 may operate as a third network device. In these embodiments, the communication device 1300 may be operative to: receive, from a second network device, a fourth request related to authorization for an operation towards one or more terminal devices, the operation being requested by an application server to be performed by an intermediated device; and send, to the second network device, a fourth response for the fourth request, the fourth response including information related to the authorization.

[0208] In some embodiments, the communication device 1300 may operate as a fourth network device. In these embodiments, the communication device 1300 may be operative to: receive, from a seond network device, a fifth request for charging an operation towards one or more terminal devices, the operation being requested by an application server to be performed by an intermediated device; and send, to the second network device, a fifth response for the fifth request, the fifth response including a result of the charging.

[0209] The processor 1305 may be any kind of processing component, such as one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The memory 1310 may be any kind of storage component, such as read-only memory (ROM), random -access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc.

[0210] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a computer readable storage medium in accordance with some embodiments.

[0211] As shown in FIG. 14, the computer readable storage medium 1400 comprising instructions 1315 which when executed by a processor of a device, cause the device to perform any above-mentioned embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 12.

[0212] The computer readable storage medium 1400 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable readonly memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives.

[0213] In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100, or 1200 may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100, or 1200. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.

[0214] FIG. 15 shows an example of a communication system 1500 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0215] In the example, the communication system 1500 includes a telecommunication network 1502 that includes an access network 1504, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 1506, which includes one or more core network nodes 1508. The access network 1504 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 1510a and 1510b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 1510), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 1502 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 1502 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network 1502, including one or more network nodes 1510 and / or core network nodes 1508.

[0216] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU- CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may supporta specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the 0-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 1510 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 1512a, 1512b, 1512c, and 1512d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 1512) to the core network 1506 over one or more wireless connections.

[0217] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 1500 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 1500 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0218] The UEs 1512 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 1510 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 1510 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 1512 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 1502 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 1502.

[0219] In the depicted example, the core network 1506 connects the network nodes 1510 to one or more host computing systems, such as host 1516. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 1506 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 1508) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 1508. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF),Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0220] The host 1516 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 1504 and / or the telecommunication network 1502. The host 1516 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0221] As a whole, the communication system 1500 of Figure 15 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low -power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0222] In some examples, the telecommunication network 1502 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 1502 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 1502. For example, the telecommunications network 1502 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0223] In some examples, the UEs 1512 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 1504 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 1504. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0224] In the example, the hub 1514 communicates with the access network 1504 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 1512c and / or 1512d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 1510b). In some examples, the hub 1514 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 1514 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 1506 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 1514 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 1510, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 1514. As another example, the hub 1514 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 1514 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR device, display, loudspeaker, or other media delivery device, the hub 1514 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 1514 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 1514 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0225] The hub 1514 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 1510b. The hub 1514 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 1514 and UEs (e.g., UE 1512c and / or 1512d), and between the hub 1514 and the core network 1506. In other examples, the hub 1514 is connected to the core network 1506 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 1514 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 1504 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 1510 while still connected via the hub 1514 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 1514 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 1510b. In other embodiments, the hub 1514 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 1510b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0226] FIG. 16 shows a UE 1600 in accordance with some embodiments. The UE 1600 presents additional details of some embodiments of the UE 1512 of Figure 15. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage / playback device, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet,laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), an Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle -mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0227] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle- to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0228] The UE 1600 includes processing circuitry 1602 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1604 to an input / output interface 1606, a power source 1608, a memory 1610, a communication interface 1612, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 16. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0229] The processing circuitry 1602 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine -readable computer programs in the memory 1610. The processing circuitry 1602 may be implemented as one or more hardware -implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 1602 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0230] In the example, the input / output interface 1606 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 1600. Examples ofan input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0231] In some embodiments, the power source 1608 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 1608 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 1608 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 1600 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 1608. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 1608 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 1600 to which power is supplied.

[0232] The memory 1610 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 1610 includes one or more application programs 1614, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1616. The memory 1610 may store, for use by the UE 1600, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0233] The memory 1610 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 1610 may allow the UE 1600 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. Anarticle of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 1610, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0234] The processing circuitry 1602 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 1612. The communication interface 1612 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1622. The communication interface 1612 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 1618 and / or a receiver 1620 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 1618 and receiver 1620 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1622) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0235] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 1612 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short- range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0236] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 1612, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0237] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0238] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 1600 shown in Figure 12.

[0239] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0240] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0241] FIG. 17 shows a network node 1700 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RANnode (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0242] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0243] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0244] The network node 1700 includes a processing circuitry 1702, a memory 1704, a communication interface 1706, and a power source 1708. The network node 1700 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 1700 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 1700 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1704 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1710 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1700 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1700, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1700.

[0245] The processing circuitry 1702 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor,application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1700 components, such as the memory 1704, to provide network node 1700 functionality.

[0246] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1702 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1702 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1712 and baseband processing circuitry 1714. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1712 and the baseband processing circuitry 1714 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1712 and baseband processing circuitry 1714 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0247] The memory 1704 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer- readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 1702. The memory 1704 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1702 and utilized by the network node 1700. The memory 1704 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1702 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1706. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1702 and memory 1704 is integrated.

[0248] The communication interface 1706 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 1706 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1716 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 1706 also includes radio front-end circuitry 1718 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 1710. Radio front-end circuitry 1718 comprises filters 1720 and amplifiers 1722. The radio front-end circuitry 1718 may be connected to an antenna 1710 and processing circuitry 1702. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1710 and processing circuitry 1702. The radio front-end circuitry 1718 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 1718 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1720 and / or amplifiers 1722. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1710. Similarly, whenreceiving data, the antenna 1710 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1718. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1702. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0249] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1700 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1718, instead, the processing circuitry 1702 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1710. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1712 is part of the communication interface 1706. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1706 includes one or more ports or terminals 1716, the radio front-end circuitry 1718, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1712, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1706 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1714, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0250] The antenna 1710 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1710 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1718 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1710 is separate from the network node 1700 and connectable to the network node 1700 through an interface or port.

[0251] The antenna 1710, communication interface 1706, and / or the processing circuitry 1702 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1710, the communication interface 1706, and / or the processing circuitry 1702 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0252] The power source 1708 provides power to the various components of network node 1700 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1708 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1700 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1700 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1708. As a further example, the power source 1708 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0253] Embodiments of the network node 1700 may include additional components beyondthose shown in Figure 13 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 1700 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1700 and to allow output of information from the network node 1700. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1700. In some embodiments providing a core network node, such as core network node 108 of FIG. 11, some components, such as the radio front-end circuitry 1718 and the RF transceiver circuitry 1712 may be omitted.

[0254] FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1800 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1800 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1800 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface. Virtualization may facilitate distributed implementations of a network node, UE, core network node, or host.

[0255] Applications 1802 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0256] Hardware 1804 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1806 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1808a and 1808b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1808), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1806 may present a virtual operating platform that appears likenetworking hardware to the VMs 1808.

[0257] The VMs 1808 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1806. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1802 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1808, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0258] In the context of NFV, a VM 1808 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1808, and that part of hardware 1804 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1808 on top of the hardware 1804 and corresponds to the application 1802.

[0259] Hardware 1804 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1804 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1804 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1810, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1802. In some embodiments, hardware 1804 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1812 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0260] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained informationor converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0261] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0262] Hereinafter, the solution will be further described with reference to text of contribution to be submitted to 3GPP TR 23.700-13 v0.2.0 as follows.Introduction

[0263] Ambient loT devices are loT devices powered by energy harvesting, being either battery-less or with limited energy storage capability (e.g. using a capacitor). It can have, e.g., lower complexity, smaller size, reduced capabilities and lower power consumption than previously defined 3GPP loT devices. The data rate of Ambient loT devices is usually low.

[0264] This present disclosure proposes an AF based solution to enable the support of Ambient loT devices.Proposal6.0 Mapping of Solutions to Key IssuesTable 6.0-1 : Mapping of Solutions to Key Issues6.X Solution #X: AF Based Solution6.X. 1 Description

[0265] This solution proposes an AF based solution, which addresses KI#1, KI#2 and KI#3.

[0266] In this solution, it is AF who is in charge of the intermediate UE for the Ambient loT operations, including determining intermediate UEs, sending operation commands to and receiving results from intermediate UEs. As the licensed spectrum is owned by MNO, it is proposed to let network provide the radio resource information towards the intermediate UEs about the spectrum information for the over-the-air interface between Intermediate UEs and AIoT devices.6.X. 1.1 Reference Architecture

[0267] FIG. 2A illustrates System Architecture of AF Based Solution.

[0268] This solution focuses on Topology 2.

[0269] The functional entities defined in TS 23.501 [4] are reused with the exception for the following additions:UDM / UDR: The authorization information of Intermediate UE for AIoT is stored in UE subscription dataAMF: Receive AIoT capability information from UE and authorize based on the subscription data in UDM / UDR.NG-RAN: Provide spectrum information towards authorized intermediate UE.Intermediate UE:Provide Ambient loT capability information to AMF and receive the authorization informationReceive the instruction from AF and perform Ambient loT operations (e.g., inventory, command, etc.) on the proper spectrum. The radio resource information is received from NG- RAN6.X. 1.2 Protocol Stack

[0270] FIG. 2B illustrates Protocol Stack for AF Based Solution.

[0271] Within the protocol stack:UE AIoT layer: between AF and UE reader. AF provides Ambient loT operation commandsto Intermeidate UEs via UE AIoT layer.App layer: The application layer protocol between AIoT devices and AF.

[0272] It is assumed that the end-to-end protection is implemented between AF and AIoT devices.

[0273] NOTE: The Details of the end-to-end protection are assumed to be addressed by SA3. 6.X.2 Procedures

[0274] NOTE: The message names in the procedures below are descriptive. It is assumed that the names are updated with corresponding SBI based names where applicable during the normative phase.6.X.2.1 AIoT Service Authorization for Intermediate UE

[0275] The Registration procedure for UE is performed as defined in clause 4.2.2.2 of TS 23.502 with the following additions:UE includes the AIoT Intermediate node capability as part of “5GMM capability” in Registration Request message.The AMF obtains the AIoT Subscription data as part of the user subscription data from UDM using Nudm SDM serviceThe AMF determines whether the UE is authorized to work as Intermediate UE for AIoT based on UE’s AIoT Intermediate node capability and the AIoT Subscription data. The AMF includes the authorization information as part of UE context in NGAP message sent to NG-RAN.

[0276] In Service Request procedure, N2 Handover prodcure, Xn Handover procedure, and when receiving Subscriber Data Update to AMF, the AMF includes the authorization information in NGAP message sent to NG-RAN.6.X.2.2 Inventory Procedure

[0277] The Inventory procedure can be initiated by the AF to discover one or more AIoT devices in a specific area via Intermediate UEs. FIG. 4 illustrates Inventory Procedure.1. The Intermediate UE registers towards network and establish PDU session. And via the PDU session, the Intermediate UE communicates with the AF via application layer messages, including location information reporting.2. The AF determines Intermediate UEs based on the location information reported by the Intermediate UEs, as well as the area AF intended to perform inventory.3. The AF sends Inventory Request towards the selected Intermediate UEs via Core Network and NG-RAN over user plane. The Inventory Request includes the device information, inventory strategy information.The device information could be device ID, device group ID, and / or device type. The device type refers to type 1, 2A or 2B in TR 38.769 [8],

[0278] NOTE: It’s up to RAN to determine whether the device type is useful or not for Intermediate UE, based on the assumptionon of harmonized air interface.The inventory strategy information contains, e.g., the inventory frequency and inventory period to guide the reader to perform the inventory periodically. It also indicates whether all the targeted devices need to respond (full inventory), or only those who haven’t performed the inventory procedure (delta inventory) should respond.The report aggregation info indicates whether the reports need to be aggregated or not for a specific aggregation period, and whether the reports are needed after the aggregation period.4. The Intermediate UE interacts with NG-RAN for radio resource allocation

[0279] NOTE: The details of this function is assumed to be defined by RAN.5. The Intermediate UE initiates inventory based on device information as well as the inventory strategy information provided by the AF. The Intermediate UE may provide reader identity information to enable the AIoT devices to understand they are read by which Intermediate UE. Considering the mobility of the Intermediate UE, the reader identity information can be a combination of an application layer reader ID and the location information.6. The AIoT Device reports the device ID. If the Inventory procedure indicates only who haven’t performed the inventory procedure should respond, and if the AIoT Device has performed the inventory procedure towards this reader, it should skip the reporting.7. The Intermediate UE may perform aggregation for the device ID, based on the report aggregation information provided by the AF. Within the aggregation period, the Intermediate UE will buffer the device IDs reported from the AIoT devices. The Intermediate UE may stop buffering and send report immediately, if it determines no further report from devices. When the aggregation period expires, the Intermediate UE sends the report. For those device ID report after the aggregation period, if it is needed by the AF, the Intermediate UE sends the report. Otherwise, it will be dropped.8. The Intermediate UE sends Inventory Response or Notification Request towards the AF for the device ID or the aggregated device ID information.

[0280] The Intermediate UE may perform periodic inventory following the instructions from AF, as described in Solution#8.6.X.2.3 Command Procedure

[0281] The Command procedure is initiated by the AF to request one or more AIoT devices in a specific area to execute a command via Intermediate UEs. The device may or may not send back the command results depends on the command. FIG. 5: Command Procedure1. The Intermediate UEs communicate with the AF via application layer messages, including location information reporting.2. The AF determines Intermediate UEs based on the location information reported by the Intermediate UEs, as well as the area AF intended to perform command.3. The AF sends Command Request towards the selected Intermediate UEs via Core Network and NG-RAN over user plane. The Command Request includes the command, device information,result aggregation information.The command is the command to be executed in the device, including read, write, enable, disable, or other application specific command.The device information could be device ID, device group ID, and / or device type. The device type refers to type 1, 2A or 2B in TR 38.769 [8],

[0282] NOTE: It’s up to RAN to determine whether the device type is useful or not for Intermediate UE, based on the assumptionon of harmonized air interface.The result aggregation info indicates whether the results need to be aggregated or not for a specific aggregation period, and whether the reports are needed after the aggregation period.4. The Intermeidate UE interacts with NG-RAN for radio resource allocation

[0283] NOTE: The detail of this function is assumed to be defined by RAN.5. The Intermediate UE delivers the command to the AIoT devices.6. The AIoT Device executes the command and send back the result to the Intermediate UE if needed.7. The Intermediate UE may perform aggregation for the result, based on the report aggregation information provided by the AF. Within the aggregation period, the Intermediate UE will buffer the results from the AIoT devices. The Intermediate UE may stop buffering and send report immediately, if it determines no further results from devices. When the aggregation period expires, the Intermediate UE sends the report. For those results after the aggregation period, if it is needed by the AF, the Intermediate UE sends the report. Otherwise, they will be dropped.8. The Intermediate UE sends Command Response or Notification Request towards the AF for the result or the aggredated results.6.X.3 Impacts on services, entities and interfaces

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method (700) at an intermediate device (104), comprising: receiving (303, 710), from an application server (108), a first request for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices (102); performing (337, 720), based on the first request, the operation towards the one or more terminal devices (102); and sending (339, 730), to the application server (108), a first response for the first request, the first response including information related to the operation.

2. The method (700) of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first request or the first response is carried via a data packet.

3. The method (700) of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first request includes device information of the one or more terminal devices (102).

4. The method (700) of claim 3, wherein the device information of the one or more terminal devices (102) including at least one of: a respective identifier of each of the one or more terminal devices (102), an identifier of a device group, the one or more terminal devices (102) belonging to the device group, or one or more device type of the one or more terminal devices (102).

5. The method (700) of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein sending the first response comprises: performing aggregating of information received from the one or more terminal devices(102); and sending, to the application server (108), the first response including the aggregated information.

6. The method (700) of claim 5, wherein the first request includes report aggregation information, the report aggregation information including at least one of: an indication whether information from the one or more terminal devices (102) is to be aggregated by the intermediate device (104), an aggregation period, or an indication whether the information from the one or more terminal devices (102) is to be transmitted by the intermediate device (104) to the application server (108) after the aggregation period.

7. The method (700) of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first request comprises a request for an inventory operation towards the one or more terminal devices (102), and the first response includes at least one identifier of at least one terminal device (102) of the one or more terminal devices (102).

8. The method (700) of claim 7, wherein performing (337) the operation towards the one or more terminal devices (102) comprises: transmitting identity information of the intermediate device (104) to the one or more terminal devices (102).

9. The method (700) of claim 7 or 8, wherein performing (337) the operation towards the one or more terminal devices (102) comprises: transmitting, to the one or more terminal devices (102), an indication that a terminal device with no inventory procedure having been performed with the intermediate device (104) is required to respond.

10. The method (700) of any of claims 7 to 9, wherein performing (337) the operation towards the one or more terminal devices (102) comprises: receiving, from the at least one terminal device (102) of the one or more terminal devices (102), the at least one identifier of the at least one terminal device (102).

11. The method (700) of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the first request comprises a request for a command operation towards the one or more terminal devices (102), and the first response includes at least one result of command execution of at least one of terminal device of the one or more terminal devices (102).

12. The method (700) of claim 11, wherein the first request includes a command to be executed by the one or more terminal devices (102).

13. The method (700) of claim 11 or 12, wherein performing (337) the operation towards the one or more terminal devices (102) comprises: transmitting a command to the one or more terminal devices (102).

14. The method (700) of any of claims 11 to 13, wherein performing (337) the operation towards the one or more terminal devices (102) comprises: receiving, from the at least one terminal device of the one or more terminal devices (102), the at least one result of the command execution of the at least one terminal device.

15. The method (700) of any of claims 1 to 14, further comprising: sending, to the application server (108), location information of the intermediate device (104).

16. The method (700) of any of claims 1 to 15, further comprising: after receiving (303) the first request from the application server (108), transmitting (305), to a first network device (106), a second request for a communication resource for performing the operation towards the one or more terminal device (102); and receiving (335), from the first network device (106), a second response for the second request, the second response including information related to the resource.

17. The method (700) of claim 16, wherein the second request includes at least one of:an identifier of the application server (108), device information of the one or more terminal devices (102), or a type of the operation.

18. The method (700) of any of claims 1 to 17, wherein the intermediate device (104) comprises user equipment or a radio access network node.

19. A method (900) at a first network device (106), comprising: receiving (307, 910), from an intermediate device (104), a second request for a communication resource for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices (102), the operation being requested by an application server (108); sending (309, 920), to a second network device (110), a third request for the operation; receiving (331, 930), from the second network device (110), a third response for the third request, the third response including a result of authorization for the operation; and transmitting (333, 940), to the intermediate device (104), a second response for the second request, based on the third response from the second network device (110).

20. The method (900) of claim 19, wherein the third request includes at least one of: an identifier of the application server (108), device information of the one or more terminal devices (102), a type of an operation to be performed for the one or more terminal devices (102), an identifier of the intermediate device (104), or location information of the intermediate device (104).

21. The method (900) of claim 18 or 19, wherein transmitting (333) the second response comprises: transmitting, to the intermediate device (104), the second response including information related to the resource, based on the result of the authorization indicating that the operation is authorized.

22. The method (900) of claim 21, wherein the second response further includes an allowed period for the operation.

23. A method (1000) at a second network device (110), comprising: receiving (311, 1010), from a first network device (106), a third request for an operation towards one or more terminal devices (102), the operation being requested by an application server (108) to be performed by an intermediated device; and sending (329, 1020), to the first network device (106), a third response for the third request, the third response including a result of authorization for the operation.

24. The method (1000) of claim 23, further comprising: in response to receiving (311) the third request from the first network device (106), sending (313), to a third network device (112), a fourth request related to the authorization for the operation; and receiving (319), from the third network device (112), a fourth response for the fourth request, the fourth response including information related to the authorization, wherein the third response is sent (329) to the first network device (106) based on the fourth response from the third network device (112).

25. The method (1000) of claim 24, wherein the fourth request comprises a request for authorized information of the application server (108), and the fourth response includes the authorized information of the application server (108).

26. The method (1000) of claim 25, wherein the fourth request includes an identifier of the application server (108).

27. The method (1000) of claim 25 or 26, wherein the authorized information of the application server (108) includes at least one of: an allowed radio access type,an allowed area for the operation, allowed device information for the operation, or an allowed period for the operation.

28. The method (1000) of any of claims 25 to 27, further comprising: performing, based on the authorized information, the authorization for the operation.

29. The method (1000) of claim 24, wherein the fourth request comprises a request for authorizing the operation, and the fourth response includes the result of the authorization.

30. The method (1000) of claim 29, wherein the fourth request includes at least one of: an identifier of the application server (108), device information of the one or more terminal devices (102), or location information of the intermediate device (104).

31. The method (1000) of claim 29 or 30, wherein at least one of the third response or the fourth response includes the result of the authorization indicating that the operation is authorized, and an allowed period for the operation.

32. The method (1000) of any of claims 23 to 31, further comprising: sending (321), to a fourth network device (114), a fifth request for charging the operation; and receiving (327), from the fourth network device (114), a fifth response for the fifth request, the fifth response including a result of the charging.

33. The method (1000) of claim 32, wherein the fifth request includes at least one of: an identifier of the application server (108), device information of the one or more terminal devices (102), a type of an operation to be performed for the one or more terminal devices (102),an identifier of the intermediate device (104), or location information of the intermediate device (104).

34. An intermediated device (104, 1300), comprising: a processor (1305); and a memory (1310), the memory (1310) containing instructions (1315) executable by the processor (1305), whereby the intermediated device (104, 1300) is operative to: receive (303, 710), from an application server (108), a first request for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices (102); perform (337, 720), based on the first request, the operation towards the one or more terminal devices (102); and send (339, 730), to the application server (108), a first response for the first request, the first response including information related to the operation.

35. The intermediated device (104, 1300) of claim 34, wherein the intermediated device (104, 1300) is further operative to implement the method according to any of claims 2 to 18.

36. A first network device (106,1300), comprising: a processor (1305); and a memory (1310), the memory (1310) containing instructions (1315) executable by the processor (1305), whereby the first network device (106,1300) is operative to: receive (307, 910), from an intermediate device (104), a second request for a communication resource for performing an operation towards one or more terminal devices (102), the operation being requested by an application server (108); send (309, 920), to a second network device (110), a third request for the operation; receive (331, 930), from the second network device (110), a third response for the third request, the third response including a result of authorization for the operation; and transmit (333, 940), to the intermediate device (104), a second response for the second request, based on the third response from the second network device (110).

37. The first network device (106, 1300) of claim 36, wherein the first network device (106,1300) is further operative to implement the method according to any of claims 20 to 22.

38. A second network device (110, 1300), comprising: a processor (1305); and a memory (1310), the memory (1310) containing instructions (1315) executable by the processor (1305), whereby the second network device (110,1300) is operative to: receive (311,1010), from a first network device (106), a third request for an operation towards one or more terminal devices (102), the operation being requested by an application server (108) to be performed by an intermediated device; and send (329, 1020), to the first network device (106), a third response for the third request, the third response including a result of authorization for the operation.

39. The second network device (110, 1300) of claim 38, wherein the second network device (110, 1300) is further operative to implement the method according to any of claims 24 to 33.

40. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions (1315) stored thereon, the instructions (1315), which, when executed by at least one processor of a device, causes the device to perform the method (700) according to any of claims 1-18, the method (800) according to any of claims 19-22, or the method (900) according to any of claims 23-33.

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