Method and system for application coordinated UE-to-UE communication requirements management in seal network resource management

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. Embodiments of the present disclosure relates methods (600, 700, 800), user equipment (UE) (400), and server (500) for enabling application-coordinated UE-to-UE communication over a 3GPP network using the SEAL (Service Enabler Architecture Layer) framework. A Vertical Application Layer (VAL) client (103) on an initiating UE (101) sends a first HTTP POST request with an XML document detailing service requirements to a SEAL Network Resource Management Server (SNRM-S) (107). The SNRM-S (107) processes the request, identifies VAL service requirements with the target UE (109), and initiates a multicast-broadcast (MBS) session via the 3GPP system. If needed, the SNRM-S (107) retrieves additional details from the target UE (109). After session establishment, the SNRM-S (107) sends a second HTTP POST notifies the initiating UE (101) representing an outcome of the application coordinated connectivity initiation.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR APPLICATION COORDINATED UE-TO-UE COMMUNICATION REQUIREMENTS MANAGEMENT IN SEAL NETWORK RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to field of Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management (NRM) service in a communication network.

[0002] 5G mobile communication technologies define broad frequency bands such that high transmission rates and new services are possible, and can be implemented not only in "Sub 6GHz" bands such as 3.5GHz, but also in "Above 6GHz" bands referred to as mmWave including 28GHz and 39GHz. In addition, it has been considered to implement 6G mobile communication technologies (referred to as Beyond 5G systems) in terahertz (THz) bands (for example, 95GHz to 3THz bands) in order to accomplish transmission rates fifty times faster than 5G mobile communication technologies and ultra-low latencies one-tenth of 5G mobile communication technologies.

[0003] At the beginning of the development of 5G mobile communication technologies, in order to support services and to satisfy performance requirements in connection with enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), there has been ongoing standardization regarding beamforming and massive MIMO for mitigating radio-wave path loss and increasing radio-wave transmission distances in mmWave, supporting numerologies (for example, operating multiple subcarrier spacings) for efficiently utilizing mmWave resources and dynamic operation of slot formats, initial access technologies for supporting multi-beam transmission and broadbands, definition and operation of BWP (BandWidth Part), new channel coding methods such as a LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code for large amount of data transmission and a polar code for highly reliable transmission of control information, L2 pre-processing, and network slicing for providing a dedicated network specialized to a specific service.

[0004] Currently, there are ongoing discussions regarding improvement and performance enhancement of initial 5G mobile communication technologies in view of services to be supported by 5G mobile communication technologies, and there has been physical layer standardization regarding technologies such as V2X (Vehicle-to-everything) for aiding driving determination by autonomous vehicles based on information regarding positions and states of vehicles transmitted by the vehicles and for enhancing user convenience, NR-U (New Radio Unlicensed) aimed at system operations conforming to various regulation-related requirements in unlicensed bands, NR UE Power Saving, Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) which is UE-satellite direct communication for providing coverage in an area in which communication with terrestrial networks is unavailable, and positioning.

[0005] Moreover, there has been ongoing standardization in air interface architecture / protocol regarding technologies such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for supporting new services through interworking and convergence with other industries, IAB (Integrated Access and Backhaul) for providing a node for network service area expansion by supporting a wireless backhaul link and an access link in an integrated manner, mobility enhancement including conditional handover and DAPS (Dual Active Protocol Stack) handover, and two-step random access for simplifying random access procedures (2-step RACH for NR). There also has been ongoing standardization in system architecture / service regarding a 5G baseline architecture (for example, service based architecture or service based interface) for combining Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) for receiving services based on UE positions.

[0006] As 5G mobile communication systems are commercialized, connected devices that have been exponentially increasing will be connected to communication networks, and it is accordingly expected that enhanced functions and performances of 5G mobile communication systems and integrated operations of connected devices will be necessary. To this end, new research is scheduled in connection with eXtended Reality (XR) for efficiently supporting AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), MR (Mixed Reality) and the like, 5G performance improvement and complexity reduction by utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), AI service support, metaverse service support, and drone communication.

[0007] Furthermore, such development of 5G mobile communication systems will serve as a basis for developing not only new waveforms for providing coverage in terahertz bands of 6G mobile communication technologies, multi-antenna transmission technologies such as Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas and large-scale antennas, metamaterial-based lenses and antennas for improving coverage of terahertz band signals, high-dimensional space multiplexing technology using OAM (Orbital Angular Momentum), and RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface), but also full-duplex technology for increasing frequency efficiency of 6G mobile communication technologies and improving system networks, AI-based communication technology for implementing system optimization by utilizing satellites and AI (Artificial Intelligence) from the design stage and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions, and next-generation distributed computing technology for implementing services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources.

[0008] The present disclosure relates to method and apparatus for "Application Coordinated Ue-To-Ue Communication Requirements Management In Seal Network Resource Management" in a wireless communication system.

[0009] According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a communication method in a wireless communication system.

[0010] Aspects of the present disclosure provide efficient communication methods in a wireless communication system.

[0011] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of at least one of device and methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an environment for setting up an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling diagram for initiating an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling diagram for an application coordinated connectivity context fetch, request for establishing user equipment (UE)-to UE communication, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a user equipment (UE) for setting up an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication and for sharing service requirements for setting up the application coordinated user equipment (UE) -to UE communication, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0016] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a server for processing an application-coordinated connectivity initiation request for establishing user equipment (UE)-to UE communication, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method for setting up an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication performed by a UE, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method for processing an application coordinated connectivity initiation request for establishing user equipment (UE)-to UE communication performed at a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S) and notify the outcome to SNRM-C, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0019] FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method for receiving an application coordinated connectivity context fetch performed by a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S) towards target UE, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of a user equipment, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a base station, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of a network entity, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0023] It may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

[0024] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

[0025] In an embodiment, a method for setting up an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication performed by a UE is disclosed. The method comprises generating a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request comprising of an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document. The method also comprises transmitting the first HTTP POST request to a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management-Server (SNRM-S) for application coordinated connectivity initiation. Lastly, the method also receiving a second HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S. The HTTP POST request comprises application connectivity notification information XML document representing an outcome of the application coordinated connectivity initiation.

[0026] In an embodiment, a method for processing an application coordinated connectivity initiation request for establishing user equipment (UE)-to UE communication performed at a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S) is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request from a user equipment (UE). The HTTP POST request comprises an application connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document. Further, the method also comprises determining whether the received first HTTP POST request comprises service requirements. The method also comprises processing the service requirements to identify common service requirements of the UE and a target UE. Moreover, the method comprises triggering a 3GPP system to establish an MBS session between the UE and the target UE at least based on the common service requirements. Lastly, in response to establishing the MBS session for application coordinated connectivity initiation, the method comprises transmitting a second HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity notification representing the MBS session established for the UE to UE communication between the UE and the target UE.

[0027] In an embodiment, a method for sharing service requirements to set up an application coordinated user equipment (UE) -to UE communication performed by a target UE is disclosed. The method comprises receiving, from a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S), a third HTTP POST request requesting application connectivity context fetch information of a Vertical Application Layer (VAL) client of the target UE. The application connectivity context information comprises the service requirements of the target UE. Lastly, the method comprises sending an application connectivity context fetch information response to the SNRM-S.

[0028] In an embodiment, a user equipment (UE) for setting up an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication performed by the UE is disclosed. The UE comprises a memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory. The at least one processor is configured to generate a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request comprising of an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document. The at least one processor is also configured to transmit the first HTTP POST request to a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management-Server (SNRM-S) for application coordinated connectivity initiation. Lastly, the at least one processor is configured to receive a second HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S wherein the HTTP POST request comprises application coordinated connectivity notification information XML document, which represents the outcome of the application coordinated connectivity initiation.

[0029] In an embodiment, a server for processing an application-coordinated connectivity initiation request for establishing user equipment (UE)-to UE communication, performed at a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S) is disclosed. The server comprises a memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory. The at least one processor is configured to receive a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request from a user equipment (UE). The HTTP POST request comprises an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document. Further, the at least one processor is also configured to determine the received first HTTP POST request comprises service requirements and process the service requirements to identify common service requirements of the UE and a target UE. Further, the at least one processor is configured to trigger the 3GPP system to establish an MBS session between the UE and the target UE at least based on the common service requirements. Lastly, in response to establishing the MBS session for application coordinated connectivity initiation, the at least one processor is configured to transmit a second HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity notification representing the MBS session established for the UE-to UE communication between the UE and the target UE.

[0030] In an embodiment, a user equipment (UE) for sharing service requirements for setting up an application coordinated user equipment (UE) -to UE communication performed by a target UE is disclosed. The UE comprises a memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory. The at least one processor is configured to receive, from a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S), a HTTP POST request requesting application coordinated connectivity context fetch information of a VAL client of the target UE. The application coordinated connectivity context information comprises the context information specific to a VAL service of the target UE. Lastly, the at least one processor is also configured to send the application coordinated connectivity context fetch information response to SNRM-S.

[0031] Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0032] In describing the embodiments, descriptions related to technical contents well-known in the art and not associated directly with the disclosure will be omitted. Such an omission of unnecessary descriptions is intended to prevent obscuring of the main idea of the disclosure and more clearly transfer the main idea.

[0033] For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some elements may be exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated. Further, the size of each element does not completely reflect the actual size. In the drawings, identical or corresponding elements are provided with identical reference numerals or different reference numerals.

[0034] The advantages and features of the disclosure and ways to achieve them will be apparent by making reference to embodiments as described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments set forth below, but may be implemented in various different forms. The following embodiments are provided only to completely disclose the disclosure and inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the disclosure, and the disclosure is defined only by the scope of the appended claims. Throughout the specification, the same or like reference numerals designate the same or like elements. Furthermore, in describing the disclosure, a detailed description of known functions or constitution incorporated herein will be omitted in the case that it is determined that the description may make the subject matter of the disclosure unnecessarily unclear. The terms which will be described below are terms defined in consideration of the functions in the disclosure, and may be different according to users, intentions of the operators, or customs. Therefore, the definitions of the terms should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

[0035] Herein, it will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, may be performed based on computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded collectively onto at least one processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which perform through any one of, or in any combination of, the at least one processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for performing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in a non-transitory computer usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that perform the function specified in the flowchart block(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a computer executed process such that the instructions that perform on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus provide steps for executing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s).

[0036] Further, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which includes one or more executable instructions for executing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order. For example, two blocks(or functions) shown in succession may in fact be performed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be performed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

[0037] As used in embodiments of the disclosure, a “~unit” may refer to a software element or a hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which performs a predetermined function. However, the term including the word “~unit” does not always have a meaning limited to software or hardware. The “~unit” may be constructed either to be stored in an addressable storage medium or to execute one or more processors. Therefore, the “~unit” includes, for example, software elements, object-oriented software elements, components such as class elements and task elements, processes, functions, properties, procedures, sub-routines, segments of a program code, drivers, firmware, micro-codes, circuits, data, database, data structures, tables, arrays, and parameters. The components and functions provided by the “~unit” may be either combined into a smaller number of components and a “~unit,” or divided into additional components and a “~unit.” Moreover, the components and “~units” may be implemented to reproduce one or more central processing units (CPUs) within a device or a security multimedia card. Further, in the embodiments, the “~unit” may include one or more processors.

[0038] It should be appreciated that the blocks in each flowchart and combinations of the flowcharts may be performed by one or more computer programs which include instructions. The entirety of the one or more computer programs may be stored in a single memory device or the one or more computer programs may be divided with different portions stored in different multiple memory devices.

[0039] Any of the functions or operations described herein can be processed by one processor or a combination of processors. The one processor or the combination of processors is circuitry performing processing and includes circuitry like an application processor (AP, e.g. a CPU), a communication processor (CP, e.g., a modem), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural processing unit (NPU) (e.g., an artificial intelligence (AI) chip), a Wi-Fi chip, a Bluetooth® chip, a global positioning system (GPS) chip, a near field communication (NFC) chip, connectivity chips, a sensor controller, a touch controller, a finger-print sensor controller, a display driver integrated circuit (IC), an audio CODEC chip, a universal serial bus (USB) controller, a camera controller, an image processing IC, a microprocessor unit (MPU), a system on chip (SoC), an IC, or the like.

[0040] It will be appreciated that various embodiments of the disclosure according to the claims and description in the specification can be realized in the form of hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software.

[0041] Any such software may be stored in non-transitory computer readable storage media. The non-transitory computer readable storage media store one or more computer programs (software modules), the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform a method of the disclosure.

[0042] Any such software may be stored in the form of volatile or non-volatile storage such as, for example, a storage device like read only memory (ROM), whether erasable or rewritable or not, or in the form of memory such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), memory chips, device or integrated circuits or on an optically or magnetically readable medium such as, for example, a compact disk (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk or magnetic tape or the like. It will be appreciated that the storage devices and storage media are various embodiments of non-transitory machine-readable storage that are suitable for storing a computer program or computer programs comprising instructions that, when executed, implement various embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a program comprising code for implementing apparatus or a method as claimed in any one of the claims of this specification and a non-transitory machine-readable storage storing such a program.

[0043] Hereinafter, the determination of priority between A and B in the present disclosure may refer to various actions such as selecting the one having a higher priority based on a predefined priority rule and performing an operation corresponding thereto, or omitting or dropping an operation corresponding to the one having a lower priority.

[0044] Hereinafter, "A or B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0045] In addition, "at least one of A, B, and C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0046] In addition, "at least one of A, B, or C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0047] Furthermore, "A / B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0048] Furthermore, "A, B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0049] Furthermore, "A and B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0050] Furthermore, “if condition A and condition B are satisfied,” as described in the present disclosure, may not be limited to a case where both condition A and condition B are satisfied, but may be understood to include a case where either condition A or condition B is individually satisfied, both condition A and condition B are satisfied, or one or more additional conditions are satisfied in combination.

[0051] Furthermore, throughout this disclosure, ordinal terms such as "first," "second," "third," etc., (and similar qualifiers) are used merely to distinguish between different instances, occurrences, configurations, messages, stages, or aspects of elements, operations, or information as described herein. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the use of such ordinal terms does not itself require that the elements, operations, or information distinguished by these terms be structurally different, numerically distinct, or substantively dissimilar. For example, a "first signal" and a "second signal" may refer to instances of the same signal transmitted at different times or containing the same core information despite minor variations, or they may refer to signals with different content or characteristics, depending on the specific context. Similarly, a "first value" and a "second value" may represent the same magnitude but measured or applied in different circumstances, or they may represent different magnitudes. The interpretation should be guided by the specific technical context, function, and relationship described in the relevant portion of the specification and claims.

[0052] Furthermore, the terms “first ~”, “second ~”, etc., as described in the present disclosure with respect to various elements (e.g., information, objects, operation, sequences, or the like), should not limit those elements. These terms may only be intended to distinguish one element from another, and may not be intended to indicate a specific order. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element.

[0053] Furthermore, even if “first ~” and “second ~” are described in the present disclosure, it may be understood that element(s) referred to by “first ~” and “second ~” may be the same or different. For example, in case of element(s) being information, first information and second information may both be same information and, in some cases, are separate and different information.

[0054] In addition, the terms “if ~” and “in case that ~” as used in the disclosure or claims may be interpreted to include the meanings of “when (or upon) ~,” “in response to ~,” “based on ~,” or “according to ~,” and may be used interchangeably with these expressions. In addition, expressions other than those exemplified herein may also be used, as long as they have substantially the same meaning and do not impair the technical features of the present disclosure.

[0055] For example, the physical layer signaling may be referred to as Layer 1 (L1) signaling and may include downlink control information (DCI). In addition, the higher layer signaling may include a medium access control (MAC) control message, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling message, a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as L3 (layer 3) signaling. It should be noted, however, that the higher layer signaling is not limited to the aforementioned examples.

[0056] In addition, the term "not perform" as used in the present disclosure or claims may, in context, be understood to mean that the corresponding step is omitted or skipped. Such a term may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0057] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and B" as described in the present disclosure, may be understood as encompassing both (i) transmitting A and B in a single message, and (ii) transmitting A and B separately via multiple messages (e.g., transmitting a first message including A and a second message including B). This interpretation may also apply to messages that include two or more items (e.g., A, B, C), transmitted either together or separately.

[0058] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and transmitting a message including B" may also be interpreted as transmitting a message including A and B in a single message.

[0059] In the specific embodiments of the present disclosure described below, terms or components included in the disclosure may be expressed in singular or plural form depending on the specific embodiments presented. However, such singular or plural expressions are selected appropriately for convenience of description, and the present disclosure is not limited to a singular or plural number of components. A component expressed in the plural form may be implemented as a single component, and a component expressed in the singular form may be implemented as multiple components.

[0060] The drawings or flowcharts described below illustrate exemplary methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various modifications may be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts of the present disclosure. For example, although illustrated as a series of steps, various steps in each drawing or flowchart may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or be repeated. In other examples, any step may be omitted or replaced with another step.

[0061] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to each embodiment individually, but may also be applied in combination of all or some of the embodiments proposed in the disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be modified and applied without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0062] In this case, even if certain wordings are described differently across embodiments, they may be used interchangeably or in substitution or in combination if their underlying concepts are equivalent. For example, for the same or equivalent concept, even if one embodiment uses the expression "A" and another embodiment uses the expression "B", such expressions may be understood interchangeably, in substitution, or in combination.

[0063] The terms used in the following description to refer to access nodes, network entities, messages, interfaces between network entities, various types of identification information, and the like, are provided merely for the convenience of explanation by way of example. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms described below, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may also be used. Such terms may also be interchangeable with terms defined in any 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) technical specifications (TS) where appropriate.

[0064] Hereinafter, a base station is an entity that allocates resources to terminals, and may be at least one of a gNode B, an eNode B, a Node B, a base station (BS), a wireless access unit, a BS controller, or a node on a network.

[0065] Furthermore, the base station of the present disclosure may include a split architecture comprising a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). In this structure, the CU is configured to process the higher layers of the control and user planes, while the DU is configured to process lower-layer radio resource functions. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be equally applicable to 5G base station architectures in which such CU and DU functional splits are implemented.

[0066] A terminal may include a UE, a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, or a multimedia system capable of performing communication functions.

[0067] In the disclosure, a downlink (DL) refers to a radio link through which a BS transmits a signal to a UE, and an uplink (UL) refers to a radio link through which a UE transmits a signal to a BS.

[0068] Furthermore, hereinafter, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication technologies (e.g., 5G new radio (NR)), 6th generation (6G) mobile communication technologies may be described by way of example, but the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds or channel types. For example, newly evolved mobile communication systems developed after 5G and 6G may be included. Furthermore, based on determinations by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems (e.g., Wi-Fi systems) through some modifications without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure

[0069] In the following description, the terms physical channel and signal may be used interchangeably with data or control signal. For example, the term physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) refers to a physical channel through which data is transmitted, but the term PDSCH may also be used to refer to the data itself. That is, in the present disclosure, the expression "transmit a physical channel" may be interpreted as being equivalent to the expression "transmit data or a signal via a physical channel."

[0070] Hereinafter, in the context of the present disclosure, higher layer signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of the following: master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB) or SIB M (M = 1, 2, ...), radio resource control (RRC), or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as L3 (layer 3) signaling.

[0071] In addition, L1 signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of signaling techniques using the at least one or any combination of the following physical layer channels or signaling: physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), downlink control information (DCI), user equipment (UE)-specific DCI, group-common DCI, common DCI, scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI used for scheduling downlink or uplink data), non-scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI not used for scheduling downlink or uplink data) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), or uplink control information (UCI). The L1 signaling message may be referred to as a physical layer signaling.

[0072] Hereinafter, the expression that information is configured by the BS, as used in the present disclosure or claims, may, in context, be understood to mean that the terminal receives the corresponding information from the BS via a physical layer signaling or a higher layer signaling. Such an expression may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0073] Hereinafter, the operational principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0074] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) TS 24.548 specifies the protocol aspects for the network resource management capability of SEAL to support vertical applications (e.g. V2X) over the 3GPP system, and is applicable to the user equipment (UE) supporting the network resource management client functionality as described in 3GPP TS 23.434, to the application server supporting the network resource management server functionality as described in 3GPP TS 23.434 and to the application server supporting the vertical application server (VAL server) functionality as defined in the specific vertical application service (VAL service) specifications.

[0075] 3GPP TS 24.548 specification enables a SEAL network resource management client (SNRM-C) and a VAL server that communicate with a SEAL network resource management server (SNRM-S). The SNRM-S obtains and controls multicast and broadcast resources from the underlying 3GPP network system via the BM-SC and controls unicast resources from the underlying 3GPP network system via the PCRF / PCF. However, existing procedures do not define any procedure for establishing Uu-based application-level direct communications between two UEs, with application service requirements.

[0076] The present disclosure facilitates multiple procedures to enable the VAL application to request a UE-to-UE communication over Uu interface as per the application specification requirements.

[0077] In an aspect a method for application coordinated UE-to-UE communication requirements management procedure is disclosed in accordance with the present disclosure. The present disclosure describes below the procedures for managing the application requirements necessary for UE-to-UE coordinated communication via Uu interface through steps 102-110.

[0078] Application coordinated connectivity initiation procedure.

[0079] At step 1,application coordinated connectivity initiation procedure is initiated as described below:

[0080] SNRM server HTTP procedures.

[0081] Upon receiving an HTTP POST request message containing Content-Type header field with "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" value; the SEAL network resource management SEAL server (SNRM-S):

[0082] a) shall determine the identity of the sender of the received HTTP POST request as specified in clause 6.2.1.1 of 3GPP TS 24.548, and:

[0083] 1) if the identity of the sender of the received HTTP POST request is not authorized to detect MBS session quality, shall respond with an HTTP 403 (Forbidden) response to the HTTP POST request and skip rest of the steps;

[0084] b) shall process the HTTP POST body carrying the XML specifying the application requirements for the coordinated communication as specified in Table 1;

[0085] c) shall determine if the source VAL UE identity shared by the SNRM-C is authorized for the coordinated UE to UE direct service communication with the UE(s) shared in the <target-val-ue-id-list> element and in case of "unauthorized" the SNRM-S shall respond with an HTTP 403 (Forbidden) response to the HTTP POST request and skip rest of the steps;

[0086] d) shall check for the presence of service requirements in the request:

[0087] 1) if not provided, the SNRM-S shall fetch the application context of the VAL UE shared in the <target-val-ue-id-list> as specified in "SNRM server HTTP procedures"; or

[0088] 2) if provided, the SNRM-S shall wait for service requirements from the VAL UE shared in the <target-val-ue-id-list>. If already available, the SNRM-S shall process the application requirements received from the current requested SNRM-C and the one shared by the SNRM-C residing on the VAL UE shared in the <target-val-ue-id-list> to determine common requirements; and

[0089] e) shall send the HTTP response towards the SEAL network resource management SEAL client (SNRM-C) according to IETF RFC 9110; and

[0090] f) shall trigger the 3GPP system to establish the Uu connectivity based on the common requirements determined in d).

[0091] 2) above and the SNRM-S shall send the notification to the SNRM-C(s) as specified in clause "SNRM server HTTP procedures" to all the SNRM-C.

[0092] SNRM client HTTP procedures.

[0093] Upon receiving request from VAL application client for the application connectivity request to start a UE to UE co-ordinated communication with other VAL UE, the SNRM-C shall generate an HTTP POST request message in accordance with IETF RFC 9110. In the HTTP POST request, the SNRM-C:

[0094] a) shall set the Request-URI to the URI corresponding to the identity of the SNRM-S;

[0095] b) shall include a Content-Type header field set to "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml";

[0096] c) shall include the XML specifying the application requirements for the coordinated communication in the HTTP POST body. The XML shall be generated as specified in Table 1, by including root element <seal-app-comm-info> with the <app-connectivity-request> child element. The <app-connectivity-request> element:

[0097] 1) shall include a <source-val-ue-id> sub-element set to the identity of the SNRM-C acting as the VAL UE and performing the request;

[0098] 2) shall include a <source-ip-address> sub-element set to the ip-address of the SNRM-C acting as the VAL UE and performing the request;

[0099] 3) shall include a <VAL-service-id> sub-element set to the VAL service identity of the VAL application performing the request;

[0100] 4) shall include a <target-val-ue-id-list> sub-element with one or more <VAL-ue-id> child elements set to the identities of the VAL UEs for whom the UE-to-UE coordinated communication is required.

[0101] 5) may include a <app-service-req> sub-element that provides the application requirements for the UE to UE co-ordinated communication and shall include at least one of the below sub-elements:

[0102] i) <packet-size> element set with the size of the packets to be transmitted;

[0103] ii) <packet-trans-interval> element set with the transmission interval between the consecutive packets;

[0104] iii) <packet-e2e-latency> element set with the end-to-end latency value for the packet 10 transmission;

[0105] iv) <packet-error-kpi> element set with the KPIs related to the packet error;

[0106] v) <bitrate> element set with the bit rate required for the communication; and

[0107] 6) may include a <app-connectivity-context> sub-element that may include the sub-elements:

[0108] i) <location> element set with the location coordinates information of the VAL UE as specified in clause 7.4.2 of 3GPP TS 24.545;

[0109] ii) <speed> element set with the speed information of the VAL UE;

[0110] iii) <direction> element set with the direction information of the VAL UE; and

[0111] d) shall send the HTTP POST request towards the SNRM-S according to IETF RFC 9110.

[0112] Application coordinated connectivity notification procedure.

[0113] At step 2, application coordinated connectivity notification procedure is initiated as described below:

[0114] SNRM server HTTP procedures.

[0115] To share the application connectivity requirement notification with the SNRM-C, the SNRM-S shall generate an HTTP POST request message in accordance with IETF RFC 9110. In the HTTP POST request message, the SNRM-S:

[0116] a) shall set the Request-URI to the URI corresponding to the identity of the SNRM-C;

[0117] b) shall include a Content-Type header field set to "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml";

[0118] c) shall include a XML representing the application connectivity notification in HTTP POST body, this notification XML shall be generated as specified in Table 1 by including the root element as <seal-app-comm-info> with the <app-connectivity-notify> sub-element and the <app-connectivity-notify> element:

[0119] 1) shall include a <session-info> sub-element set to the session information for the application coordinated communication session;

[0120] 2) shall include a <VAL-service-id> sub-element set to the VAL service identity of the VAL application performing the request;

[0121] 3) shall include a <requestor-val-ue-id> sub-element set to the identity of the SNRM-C that requested for coordinated application communication;

[0122] 4) may include a <VAL-ue-id-list> sub-element with one or more <VAL-ue-id> child elements set to the identities of the VAL UEs accepted by the SNRM-S for the direct UE-to-UE application coordinated communication.

[0123] d) shall send the HTTP POST request towards the SNRM-C according to IETF RFC 9110.

[0124] SNRM client HTTP procedures.

[0125] Upon receiving the HTTP POST request message from SNRM-S, the SNRM-C shall:

[0126] a) check if the Content-Type header field set to "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm- requirements-info+xml";

[0127] b) shall process the XML sent in the HTTP POST response, which represents the application connectivity notification as specified in Table 1 that includes:

[0128] 1) the session information for the established application coordinated communication;

[0129] 2) the VAL service identity, VAL UE ID associated with VAL application that requested the application coordinated communication;

[0130] 3) the optional list of those VAL UE identities accepted by the SNRM-S for the direct UE to UE application coordinated communication; and

[0131] c) shall send the HTTP POST response towards the SNRM-C according to IETF RFC 9110.

[0132] The SNRM-C notifies the corresponding VAL client of the established application-level direct UE-to-UE connection.

[0133] Application connectivity context fetch procedure.

[0134] At step 3, initiating application connectivity context fetch procedure is initiated as described below:

[0135] SNRM server HTTP procedures.

[0136] To fetch the application connectivity context of the SNRM-C, the SNRM-S shall generate an HTTP POST request message in accordance with IETF RFC 9110. In the HTTP POST request message, the SNRM-S:

[0137] a) shall set the Request-URI to the URI corresponding to the identity of the SNRM-C;

[0138] b) shall include a Content-Type header field set to "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml";

[0139] c) shall include a XML representing the application connectivity context fetch information in HTTP POST body, the XML shall be generated as specified in Table 1 by including the root element as <seal-app-comm-info> with the <app-connectivity-context-request> sub-element and the <app-connectivity-context-request> element:

[0140] 1) shall include a <requestor-val-ue-id> sub-element set to the identity of the SNRM-C that requested for coordinated application communication;

[0141] 2) shall include a <VAL-service-id> sub-element set to the VAL service identity associated with the request;

[0142] 3) may include a <VAL-specific-context> sub-element set to additional information required to identify the context (e.g. device type, device vendor etc.); and

[0143] d) shall send the HTTP POST request towards the SNRM-C according to IETF RFC 9110.

[0144] SNRM client HTTP procedures.

[0145] Upon receiving the HTTP POST request message from SNRM-S, the SNRM-C shall:

[0146] a) shall check if the Content-Type header field set to "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml";

[0147] b) shall process the XML sent in the HTTP POST request which represents the application connectivity context fetch operation part of the <app-connectivity-context-request> element as specified in Table 1 and notify the VAL client on the UE;

[0148] c) may generate HTTP POST response body; and

[0149] 1) shall set the Content-Type header field set to "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" value;

[0150] 2) shall include the XML representing the application connectivity context information as specified in Table 1. The XML shall be generated by including the root element as <seal-app-comm-info> with the <app-connectivity-context-response> sub-element that shall include the <app-connectivity-context> child element with the below sub-elements:

[0151] i) <location> element set with the location coordinates information of the VAL UE as specified in clause 7.4.2 of 3GPP TS 24.545;

[0152] ii) <speed> element set with the speed information of the VAL UE;

[0153] iii) <direction> element set with the direction information of the VAL UE; and

[0154] d) send the HTTP POST response towards the SNRM-C according to IETF RFC 9110.

[0155] A new XML schema for the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication comprising of:

[0156] 1. Application coordinated connectivity requirements information,

[0157] 2. Application coordinated connectivity notification information and

[0158] 3. Application coordinated connectivity context information as described below in Table 1:

[0159] At step 5, the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication requirements, application context is encoded and decoded as per the as per the newly defined XML schema.

[0160] In an aspect, application coordinated communication initiation procedure is disclosed in accordance with the present disclosure. In the aspect, the VAL Client may request for application connectivity initiation towards target UE:

[0161] 1. with "service requirements". In such scenario the SNRM-S shall check for such "service requirements" from target UE (if not available SNRM-S shall wait for application connectivity initiation form target UE) and compare both their service requirements to find the common requirements and shall create MBS session over 5G with quality as per the common requirements.

[0162] OR

[0163] 2. without "service requirements" as illustrated.

[0164] In an aspect, application coordinated communication context fetch procedure in accordance with the present disclosure, this procedure is performed when the SNRM-C sends an application connectivity initiation request without "service requirements" for establishing communication with target SNRM-C (target VAL UE). In an aspect, the SNRM-S shall perform the application context fetch procedure towards VAL Client on Target SNRM-C highlighted, using this context fetched at step. 4 the SNRM-S shall create MBS session with quality as per the context information

[0165] Finally, the notification is sent as shown in Step 4 of the aspect after SNRM-S has created MBS session over 5G and this is notified to VAL Client(s) as per step 4 of the aspect. The VAL client(s) start direct UE-to-UE communication over "Uu" interface.

[0166]

[0167]

[0168] In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration". Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

[0169] While thedisclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternativeforms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail below. It can be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover a plurality of modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the spirit and the scope of the disclosure.

[0170] The terms "comprise", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device, or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a device or system or apparatus proceeded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the device or system or apparatus.

[0171] In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part thereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0172] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, user equipment (UE) and a server to enable application-coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication over a 3GPP network using the SEAL (Service Enabler Architecture Layer) framework. A Vertical Application Layer (VAL) client of an initiating UE initiates a connectivity request prompting the UE to generate and transmit a first HTTP POST request. The first HTTP POST request comprises an XML document containing service requirements and contextual information. The first HTTP POST request is sent to a SEAL Network Resource Management Server (SNRM-S). The SNRM-S processes the first HTTP POST request, identifies common service requirements between the initiating and target UEs, and triggers the underlying 3GPP system to establish a multicast-broadcast (MBS) session for the UE-to-UE communication. If necessary, the server fetches additional service requirement details from a target UE. Once the session is established, a second HTTP POST request is sent to notify the initiating UE, which in turn informs the VAL client.

[0173] The 3GPP TS 24.548 specifies the protocol aspects for the network resource management capability of SEAL to support vertical applications over the 3GPP system. Further, the 3GPP TS 24.548 enables a SEAL network resource management client (SNRM-C) and a VAL server to communicate with a SEAL network resource management server (SNRM-S). However, the existing 3GPP TS 24.548 procedures do not define any procedure for establishing Uu-based application-level direct communications between two UEs with application service requirements. Thus, the present disclosure enables the VAL application to request a UE-to-UE communication over Uu interface as per the application specification requirements.

[0174] The SEAL Network Resource Management service in 5G network is a framework designed by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) to facilitate the efficient and flexible use of network resources across various vertical applications. SEAL aims to provide a standardized way to manage and optimize network resources, enabling different services to coexist and operate efficiently on the same infrastructure.

[0175] Network resource management is a SEAL service that provides the network resource management related capabilities (e.g. unicast and multicast network resources) to one or more vertical applications. The SEAL Network Resource Management (NRM) service in 5G networks focuses on the efficient allocation, monitoring, and optimization of network resources. Further, the SEAL NRM service provides protocols and mechanisms to manage the diverse and dynamic needs of different services and applications running over the 5G network.

[0176] However, yet 3GPP TS 24.548 specification for Network Resource Management (NRM), does not define any procedure for establishing Uu-based application-level direct communications between two UEs, with application service requirements.

[0177] The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the disclosure and may not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

[0178] FIG. 1 illustrates an environment 100 for setting up an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The environment 100 may include a user equipment (UE) 101, a server 115 and a target UE 109.

[0179] The UE 101 may refer to the device(s) used by end-users to access a 3GPP network system and its services. These devices, such as smartphones, IoT gadgets, or other wireless-enabled endpoints, may act as the entry point for communication with the network. However, the UE 101 is not limited to the above examples and any other device having 5G communication capability or higher may be well within the scope of present disclosure. The UE 101 may include a VAL client 103 and a SEAL Network Resource Management-Client (SNRM-C) 105. The UE 101 may play a critical role in initiating an application coordinated UE-to-UE communication. Further, the UE 101 may be configured to provide client-side functionalities corresponding to the vertical applications.

[0180] The UE 101 may be configured to initiate the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication by generating a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request and transmitting the first HTTP POST request to an SEAL Network Resource Management- Server (SNRM-S) 107 of the server 115. Further, the UE 101 may also be configured to receive a second HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S 107 representing an outcome of the application coordinated connectivity initiation. The setting up of the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication performed by the UE 101 is discussed in further detail in the embodiments below.

[0181] The server 115 may include the SNRM-S 107. The server 115 may be configured to process the application coordinated connectivity initiation request for establishing UE-to UE communication. For this purpose, the server 115 may be configured to receive the first HTTP POST request from the UE 101. Further, the server 115 may also be configured to transmit the second HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity notification to the UE. The second HTTP POST request may represent the MBS session established for the UE-to UE communication between the UE and the target UE. The processing of the application coordinated connectivity initiation request for establishing UE-to-UE communication is explained in further detail in the embodiments below.

[0182] The target UE 109 may include a target VAL client 111 and a target SNRM-C 113. The target UE 109 may refer to the device(s) used by end-users to access a 3GPP network system and its services. However, the target UE 109 is not limited to the above examples and any other device having 5G communication capability or higher may be well within the scope of present disclosure. The target UE 109 may be configured to share service requirements to set up an application coordinated UE -to UE communication. For this purpose, the target UE 109 may be configured to receive a third HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S 107. The third HTTP POST request may be for requesting application connectivity context fetch information specific to the target VAL client 111 of the target UE 107. The target UE 109 may be further configured to send an application connectivity context fetch information response to the SNRM-S 107. The sharing of service requirements to set up an application coordinated UE -to UE communication is discussed in further detail in the embodiments below.

[0183] FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling diagram for initiating an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0184] As shown in fig. 2, the VAL client 103 may send an application connectivity request to the SNRM-C 105 of the UE 101 for application coordinated UE-to-UE connectivity initiation (as shown in step S1). In response to receiving the application connectivity request from the VAL client 103, the SNRM-C 105 may generate a first HTTP POST request for setting up an application coordinated UE-to-UE communication. The first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request may comprise an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document.

[0185] Further, the SNRM-C 105 may send the first HTTP POST request to the SNRM-S 107 for application coordinated connectivity initiation (as shown in step S2). Upon receiving the first HTTP POST request from the SNRM-C 105, the SNRM-S 107 may send an application connectivity initiation response to the SNRM-C 105, to notify the UE 101 that the application coordinated connectivity initiation request has been received by the SNRM-S 107 (as shown in step S3).

[0186] The SNRM-S 107 may determine whether the received first HTTP POST request comprises service requirements. The process of determining the service requirements is discussed in further detail in the embodiments below. Further, the SNRM-S 107 may process the service requirements to identify common service requirements of the UE 101 and a target UE. Based on at least the common service requirements, the SNRM-S 107 may trigger a 3GPP system to establish a multicast and broadcast services (MBS) session between the UE 101 and the target UE.

[0187] In response to establishing the MBS session, the SNRM-S 107, may transmit a second HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity notification representing the MBS session established for the UE to UE communication between the UE and the target UE (as shown in step S4).

[0188] Upon receiving the second HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S 107, the SNRM-C 105 may send an application coordinated connectivity notification response to notify the SNRM-S 107 regarding the receipt of the second HTTP POST request (as shown in step S5). The second HTTP POST request may comprise an application connectivity notification information XML document which may represent an outcome of the application coordinated connectivity initiation. The SNRM-C 105 may process the second HTTP POST request to determine the outcome of the application coordinated connectivity initiation (as shown in step S6).

[0189] Lastly, the SNRM-C 105 may share an application coordinated connectivity initiation status with the VAL client 103 (as shown in step S7).

[0190] FIG. 3illustrates a signaling diagram for an application coordinated connectivity context fetch request for establishing user equipment (UE)-to-UE communication, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0191] The SNRM-S 107 may receive a first HTTP POST request from a UE. The SNRM-S 107 may determine whether the received first HTTP POST request comprises service requirements. As shown in fig 3, if the SNRM-S 107 determine an absence of the service requirements in the received first HTTP POST request for application connectivity initiation, the SNRM-S 107 may determine that fetching the service requirements from the target UE may be required (as shown in step S1).

[0192] Thereafter, the SNRM-S 107 may transmit a third HTTP POST request to the target SNRM-C 113 of the target UE 109 (as shown in step S2). The third HTTP POST request is for requesting application connectivity context information of the VAL service in target VAL client 111 of the target UE 109.

[0193] In response to receiving the third HTTP POST request, the target SNRM-C 113 may send a VAL client application context information request to the target VAL client 111 for requesting the VAL service requirements of the target UE (as shown in step S3). The target VAL client 111 may share a VAL client application context information response comprising the VAL service requirements with the target SNRM-C 113.

[0194] Thereafter, the target SNRM-C 113 may send a target HTTP POST response message representing an application connectivity context fetch response. The application connectivity context fetch response may comprise the VAL service requirements of the target UE (as shown in step S5).

[0195] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a user equipment (UE) 400 for setting up an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication and for sharing service requirements for setting up the application coordinated user equipment (UE) -to UE communication, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the UE 400 may be similar to the UE 101 of fig. 1.

[0196] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE 400 may comprise a memory 403, at least one processor 401, a transceiver 405, a communication interface 409 and an input / output (I / O) unit 407 communicatively coupled with each other.

[0197] It may be noted that, in some embodiments, the UE 400 may include more or fewer components than those depicted herein. The various components of the UE 400 may be implemented using hardware, software, firmware or any combinations thereof. Further, the various components of the UE 400 may be operably coupled with each other. More specifically, various components of the UE 400 may be capable of communicating with each other using communication channel media (such as buses, interconnects, etc.).

[0198] In one embodiment, the at least one processor 401 may be embodied as a multi-core processor, a single core processor, or a combination of one or more multi-core processors and one or more single core processors. For example, the at least one processor 401 may be embodied as one or more of various processing devices, such as a coprocessor, a microprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a processing circuitry with or without an accompanying DSP, or various other processing devices including, a microcontroller unit (MCU), a hardware accelerator, a special-purpose computer chip, or the like.

[0199] The processor 401 may include one or a plurality of processors. At this time, one or a plurality of processors may be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU), an application processor (AP), or the like, a graphics-only processing unit such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), a visual processing unit (VPU), and / or an AI-dedicated processor such as a neural processing unit (NPU).

[0200] In one embodiment, the memory 403 is capable of storing machine executable instructions, referred to herein as instructions. In an embodiment, the at least one processor 401 is embodied as an executor of software instructions. As such, the at least one processor 401 is capable of executing the instructions stored in the memory 403 to perform one or more operations described herein.

[0201] The memory 403 can be any type of storage accessible to the at least one processor 401 to perform respective functionalities. For example, the memory 403 may include one or more volatile or non-volatile memories, or a combination thereof. For example, the memory 403 may be embodied as semiconductor memories, such as flash memory, mask ROM, PROM (programmable ROM), EPROM (erasable PROM), RAM (random access memory), etc. and the like.

[0202] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one processor 401 may be configured to receive an application coordinated connectivity request from a Vertical Application Layer (VAL) client of the UE 400 for application coordinated UE-to-UE connectivity initiation. In response to receiving the application coordinated connectivity request, the at least one processor 401 may be configured to generate a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request.

[0203] The first HTTP POST request may comprise an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document. Further, the first HTTP POST request may also comprise service requirements for the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication.

[0204] The first HTTP POST request may comprise an application coordinated UE-to-UE communication requirements. The first HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity initiation information may comprise an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema. Furthermore, the XML document may include an app-connectivity-request xml element that comprises at least one of an VAL UE identity of the source UE 400, an IP address of the UE 400, a VAL service identity, a target UE identity, service requirements for connectivity and an application connectivity context. The service requirements for connectivity may comprise at least one of a packet size, a transmission interval between consecutive packets and an end-to-end latency value for packet transmission. The service requirements for connectivity may also comprise a key performance indicator (KPI) for packet errors, a required bitrate for application coordinated UE-to-UE communication, location coordinates information of the VAL client of the UE, and direction information of the VAL client of the UE.

[0205] Moreover, the at least one processor 401 may be configured to transmit the first HTTP POST request to a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management-Server (SNRM-S) for application coordinated connectivity initiation. Thereafter, the at least one processor 401 may be configured to receive a second HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S. The second HTTP POST request may comprise an application coordinated connectivity notification information XML document, which represents the outcome of the application coordinated connectivity initiation. Further, the application connectivity notification information XML document includes at least one of session information, a VAL service identity, an identity of the UE initiating the request and target UE identities that are part of the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication. Lastly, in response to receiving the second HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S, the at least one processor 401 may be configured to share an application coordinated connectivity initiation status to the VAL client of the UE 400.

[0206] In another embodiment, the user equipment (UE) 400 may be configured for sharing service requirements for setting up an application coordinated user equipment (UE) -to UE communication. In another embodiment, the UE 400 may be similar to the target UE 109 of fig. 1.

[0207] Further, in another embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one processor 401 may be configured to receive a third HTTP POST request requesting application coordinated connectivity context fetch information of a VAL client of the target UE from a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S). The application coordinated connectivity context information may comprise the service requirements of the target UE.

[0208] In response to receiving the third HTTP POST request, the at least one processor 401 may be configured to send the application coordinated connectivity context fetch information response to SNRM-S. The application coordinated connectivity context fetch information response may comprise an XML document encoded using an "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema. The XML document may include an"app-connectivity-context-response" element, that comprises an application context XML element. Furthermore, the application context XML element may further comprise at least one of a location, speed and direction.

[0209] Thus, the UE 400 enables the VAL application to request a UE-to-UE communication over Uu interface as per the application specification requirements.

[0210] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a server 500 for processing an application-coordinated connectivity initiation request for establishing user equipment (UE)-to UE communication, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the server 500 may be similar to the SNRM-S 103 of fig. 1.

[0211] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the server 500 may comprise a memory 503, at least one processor 501, a transceiver 505, a communication interface 409 and database 507 communicatively coupled with each other.

[0212] In an embodiment, the server 500 may be communicatively connected to a UE initiating an application coordinated

[0213] It may be noted that, in some embodiments, the server 500 may include more or fewer components than those depicted herein. The various components of the server 500 may be implemented using hardware, software, firmware or any combinations thereof. Further, the various components of the server 500 may be operably coupled with each other. More specifically, various components of the server 500 may be capable of communicating with each other using communication channel media (such as buses, interconnects, etc.).

[0214] In one embodiment, the at least one processor 501 may be embodied as a multi-core processor, a single core processor, or a combination of one or more multi-core processors and one or more single core processors. For example, the at least one processor 501 may be embodied as one or more of various processing devices, such as a coprocessor, a microprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a processing circuitry with or without an accompanying DSP, or various other processing devices including, a microcontroller unit (MCU), a hardware accelerator, a special-purpose computer chip, or the like.

[0215] The at least one processor 501 may include one or a plurality of processors. At this time, one or a plurality of processors may be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU), an application processor (AP), or the like, a graphics-only processing unit such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), a visual processing unit (VPU), and / or an AI-dedicated processor such as a neural processing unit (NPU).

[0216] In one embodiment, the memory 503 is capable of storing machine executable instructions, referred to herein as instructions. In an embodiment, the at least one processor 501 is embodied as an executor of software instructions. As such, the at least one processor 501 is capable of executing the instructions stored in the memory 503 to perform one or more operations described herein.

[0217] The memory 503 can be any type of storage accessible to the at least one processor 501 to perform respective functionalities. For example, the memory 503 may include one or more volatile or non-volatile memories, or a combination thereof. For example, the memory 503 may be embodied as semiconductor memories, such as flash memory, mask ROM, PROM (programmable ROM), EPROM (erasable PROM), RAM (random access memory), etc. and the like.

[0218] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one processor 501 may be configured to receive a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request from a user equipment (UE). The HTTP POST request may comprise an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document. Upon receiving the first HTTP POST request, the at least one processor 501 may be configured to check an identity of the UE against a predefined list of authorized UE. Further, the at least one processor 501 may be configured to reject the first HTTP POST request if the UE is unauthorized.

[0219] Moreover, the at least one processor 501 may be configured to determine whether the received first HTTP POST request comprises service requirements. In response to determining an absence of the service requirements in the received first HTTP POST request message for application connectivity initiation, the at least one processor 501 may be configured to fetch the service requirements from the target UE. For the purpose of fetching the service requirements from the target UE, the at least one processor 501 may be configured to transmit a third HTTP POST request to the target UE requesting application connectivity context fetch information of a VAL client of the target UE. The third HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity context fetch information may comprise an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema. Furthermore, the XML document may include a "app-connectivity-context-request" element that comprises at least one of a VAL UE identity, a VAL service identity and a VAL specific context.

[0220] The at least one processor 501 may also be configured to receive at least one or more third HTTP POST request. The at least one or more third HTTP POST request may comprise application connectivity context fetch information of the target UE. The application connectivity context information may comprise the service requirements of the target UE.

[0221] Furthermore, the at least one processor 501 may be configured to process the service requirements to identify common service requirements of the UE and a target UE. Thereafter, the at least one processor 501 may be configured to trigger the 3GPP system to establish an MBS session between the UE and the target UE at least based on the common service requirements.

[0222] Lastly, in response to establishing the MBS session for application coordinated connectivity initiation, the at least one processor 501 may be configured to transmit a second HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity notification representing the MBS session established for the UE-to UE communication between the UE and the target UE. The second HTTP POST request for Application coordinated connectivity notification may comprise an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema. Moreover, the XML document may comprise at least one of a "app-connectivity-notify" element, which further includes at least one of a session information, a VAL service identity, a VAL UE identity of the requestor and a target UE identity.

[0223] Thus, the server enables setting up UE-to-UE communication over Uu interface as per the application specification requirements.

[0224] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method 600 for setting up an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication performed by a UE, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0225] The method 600 discloses receive an application coordinated connectivity request from a Vertical Application Layer (VAL) client of the UE for application coordinated UE-to-UE connectivity initiation. In response to receiving the application coordinated connectivity request, at step 602, the method 600 discloses generating a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request comprising of an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document.

[0226] The first HTTP POST request may comprise an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document. Further, the first HTTP POST request may also comprise service requirements for the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication.

[0227] The first HTTP POST request may comprise an application coordinated UE-to-UE communication requirements. The first HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity initiation information may comprise an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema. Furthermore, the XML document may include an app-connectivity-request xml element that comprises at least one of an VAL UE identity of the source UE, an IP address of the UE, a VAL service identity, a target UE identity, service requirements for connectivity and an application connectivity context. The service requirements for connectivity may comprise at least one of a packet size, a transmission interval between consecutive packets and an end-to-end latency value for packet transmission. The service requirements for connectivity may also comprise a key performance indicator (KPI) for packet errors, a required bitrate for application coordinated UE-to-UE communication, location coordinates information of the VAL client of the UE, and direction information of the VAL client of the UE.

[0228] Moreover, at step 604, the method 600 discloses transmitting the first HTTP POST request to a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management-Server (SNRM-S) for application coordinated connectivity initiation. Thereafter, at step 606, the method 600 discloses receiving a second HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S. The second HTTP POST request may comprise an application coordinated connectivity notification information XML document, which represents the outcome of the application coordinated connectivity initiation. Further, the application connectivity notification information XML document may include at least one of session information, a VAL service identity, an identity of the UE initiating the request and target UE identities that are part of the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication.

[0229] Lastly, in response to receiving the second HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S, the method 600 discloses sharing an application coordinated connectivity initiation status to the VAL client of the UE.

[0230] Thus, the method 600 enables the VAL application to request a UE-to-UE communication over Uu interface as per the application specification requirements.

[0231] The sequence of operations of the method 600 need not be necessarily executed in the same order as they are presented. Further, one or more operations may be grouped together and performed in the form of a single step, or one operation may have several sub-steps that may be performed in parallel or in sequential manner.

[0232] The disclosed method with reference to Fig. 6, or one or more operations of the UE 400 explained with reference to fig. 4 may be implemented using software including computer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-readable media (e.g., non-transitory computer-readable media, such as one or more optical media discs, volatile memory components (e.g., DRAM or SRAM), or non-volatile memory or storage components (e.g., hard drives or solid-state non-volatile memory components, such as Flash memory components) and executed on a computer (e.g., any suitable computer, such as a laptop computer, net book, Web book, tablet computing device, smart phone, or other mobile computing device). Such software may be executed, for example, on a single local computer.

[0233] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method 700 for processing an application coordinated connectivity initiation request for establishing user equipment (UE)-to UE communication performed at a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S) and notify the outcome to SNRM-C, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0234] At step 702, the method 700 discloses receiving a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request from a user equipment (UE). The HTTP POST request may comprise an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document. Upon receiving the first HTTP POST request, method 700 discloses checking an identity of the UE against a predefined list of authorized UE. Further, the method 700 discloses rejecting the first HTTP POST request if the UE is unauthorized.

[0235] Moreover, at step 704, the method 700 discloses determining whether the received first HTTP POST request comprises service requirements. In response to determining an absence of the service requirements in the received first HTTP POST request message for application connectivity initiation, the method 700 discloses fetching the service requirements from the target UE.

[0236] For the purpose of fetching the service requirements from the target UE, the method 700 discloses transmitting a third HTTP POST request to the target UE requesting application connectivity context fetch information of a VAL client of the target UE. The third HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity context fetch information may comprise an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema. Furthermore, the XML document may include a "app-connectivity-context-request" element that comprises at least one of a VAL UE identity of the requestor, a VAL service identity and a VAL specific context.

[0237] The method 700 also discloses receiving at least one or more third HTTP POST request. The at least one or more third HTTP POST request may comprise application connectivity context fetch information of the target UE. The application connectivity context information may comprise the service requirements of the target UE.

[0238] Furthermore, at step 706, the method 700 discloses processing the service requirements to identify common service requirements of the UE and a target UE. Thereafter, at step 708, the method 700 discloses triggering the 3GPP system to establish an MBS session between the UE and the target UE at least based on the common service requirements.

[0239] Lastly, in response to establishing the MBS session for application coordinated connectivity initiation, at step 710, method 700 discloses transmitting a second HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity notification representing the MBS session established for the UE-to UE communication between the UE and the target UE. The second HTTP POST request for Application coordinated connectivity notification may comprise an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema. Moreover, the XML document may comprise at least one of a "app-connectivity-notify" element, which further includes at least one of a session information, a VAL service identity, a VAL UE identity of the requestor and a target UE identity.

[0240] Thus, the method 700 enables setting up of a UE-to-UE communication over Uu interface as per the application specification requirements.

[0241] The sequence of operations of the method 700 need not be necessarily executed in the same order as they are presented. Further, one or more operations may be grouped together and performed in the form of a single step, or one operation may have several sub-steps that may be performed in parallel or in sequential manner.

[0242] The disclosed method with reference to Fig. 7, or one or more operations of the server 500 explained with reference to fig. 5 may be implemented using software including computer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-readable media (e.g., non-transitory computer-readable media, such as one or more optical media discs, volatile memory components (e.g., DRAM or SRAM), or non-volatile memory or storage components (e.g., hard drives or solid-state non-volatile memory components, such as Flash memory components) and executed on a computer (e.g., any suitable computer, such as a laptop computer, net book, Web book, tablet computing device, smart phone, or other mobile computing device). Such software may be executed, for example, on a single local computer.

[0243] FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method 800 for an application coordinated connectivity context fetch performed by Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S) towards a target UE, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0244] At step 802, the method 800 discloses receiving a third HTTP POST request requesting application coordinated connectivity context fetch information of a VAL client of the target UE from a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management-Server (SNRM-S). The application coordinated connectivity context information may comprise the service requirements of the target UE.

[0245] In response to receiving the HTTP POST request, at step 804, the method 800 discloses sending an application coordinated connectivity context fetch information response to the SNRM-S. The application coordinated connectivity context fetch information response may comprise an XML document encoded using an "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema. The XML document may include an "app-connectivity-context-response" element, that comprises an application context XML element. Furthermore, the application context XML element may further comprise at least one of a location, speed and direction.

[0246] Thus, the methods 600, 700 and 800 of the present disclosure facilitate multiple procedures to enable the VAL application to request a UE-to-UE communication over Uu interface as per the application specification requirements.

[0247] The sequence of operations of the method 800 need not be necessarily executed in the same order as they are presented. Further, one or more operations may be grouped together and performed in the form of a single step, or one operation may have several sub-steps that may be performed in parallel or in a sequential manner. Meanwhile, the above-described method 800 may be performed by the AI model.

[0248] The disclosed method with reference to Fig. 8, or one or more operations of the user equipment 400 explained with reference to fig. 4 may be implemented using software including computer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-readable media (e.g., non-transitory computer-readable media, such as one or more optical media discs, volatile memory components (e.g., DRAM or SRAM), or non-volatile memory or storage components (e.g., hard drives or solid-state non-volatile memory components, such as Flash memory components) and executed on a computer (e.g., any suitable computer, such as a laptop computer, net book, Web book, tablet computing device, smart phone, or other mobile computing device). Such software may be executed, for example, on a single local computer.

[0249] Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be utilized in implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. A computer-readable storage medium refers to any type of physical memory on which information or data readable by a processor may be stored. Thus, a computer-readable storage medium may store instructions for execution by one or more processors, including instructions for causing the processor(s) to perform steps or stages consistent with the embodiments described herein. The term "computer-readable medium" may be understood to include tangible items and exclude carrier waves and transient signals, i.e., be non-transitory. Examples include Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), volatile memory, non-volatile memory, hard drives, CD (Compact Disc) ROMs, DVDs, flash drives, disks, and any other known physical storage media.

[0250] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a terminal or user equipment (UE) 900 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Furthermore, the UE of FIG. 9 may correspond to UE (or terminal) of FIG. 4.

[0251] The terminal is an electronic device capable of wireless communication, may include a User Equipment (UE), a portable phone, a smartphone, a tablet, an Internet of things (IoT) device, etc., having various form factors, and may perform wireless communication with a base station (BS) through a wireless channel.

[0252] Referring to FIG. 9, the UE 900 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply “transceiver”) 901, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply “processor”) 902, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply “memory”) 903. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 901, the processor 902, and the memory 903 of the UE 900 may operate. However, components of the UE 900 are not limited to the exemplary components illustrated in FIG. 9. In another embodiment, the UE 900 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 901, the processor 902, or the memory 903 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0253] The transceiver 901 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the UE 900 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 901 may enable the UE 900 to transmit or receive a signal to or from a BS through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another UE through cellular communication. For example, the transceiver 901 may support at least one of various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6th generation (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (901) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.

[0254] According to an embodiment, the UE 900 may include a plurality of transceivers. For example, in the case of supporting evolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio (E-UTRA-NR) sual connectivity (EN-DC), the UE 900 may include a first transceiver supporting the 4G LTE wireless communication and a second transceiver supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to another embodiment, in the case of supporting NR-dual connectivity (NR-DC), the UE 900 may include a plurality of transceivers supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to still another embodiment, in the case of supporting near field wireless communication, the UE 900 may separately include a transceiver supporting at least one standard in the group of wireless communication protocol standards as defined in the protocol standards for Bluetooth®, wireless local area network (WLAN) network (including institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11-2016 standard or its amendments, e.g., 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be, without being limited thereto).

[0255] According to an embodiment, the transceiver 901 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a BS through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 901 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 901 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 902 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 902.

[0256] The processor 902 may control general operations of the UE 900 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 902 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 902 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 903, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 902 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0257] The processor 902 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 901 to control the transceiver 901.

[0258] The processor 902 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. For example, the processor 902 may include a communication processor (CP) configured to control communication operations and an application processor (AP) configured to control execution of an upper layer (for example, an application layer) . In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 902 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 902 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 901 or the memory 903.

[0259] The processor 902 may perform or control or cause an operation of the UE 900 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 902 may control operations of the UE 900 for processing a downlink signal received from a BS or generating and transmitting an uplink signal to a BS. To this end, the processor 902 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 903, so as to control other components of the UE 900 to enable execution of various operations.

[0260] The memory 903 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 903 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0261] The memory 903 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 902 and may be accessed by the processor 902.

[0262] The memory 903 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 902. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 902 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 903, the processor 902 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0263] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the UE 900 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 903 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0264] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a base station (BS) 1000 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0265] The BS 1000 may perform wireless communication with at least one user equipment (UE) located within the area of the BS 1000 through a wireless channel.

[0266] Referring to FIG. 10, the BS 1000 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply “transceiver”) 1001, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply “processor”) 1002, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply “memory”) 1003. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1001, the processor 1002, and the memory 1003 of the BS 1000 may operate. However, components of the BS 1000 are not limited to the exemplary components illustrated in FIG. 10. In another embodiment, the BS 1000 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 1001, the processor 1002, or the memory 1003 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0267] The transceiver 1001 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the BS 1000 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1001 may enable the BS 1000 to transmit or receive a signal to or from the UE X00 through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another network entity through wireless communication. For example, the transceiver 1001 may support various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6th generation (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (1001) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.. According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1001 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a UE through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 1001 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 1001 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1002 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1002.

[0268] Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the BS 1000 may perform communication with a node or an entity of a network through wired or wireless communication. For example, the BS 1000 may perform wired or wireless communication with an adjacent BS, or a node or an entity of a core network through a backhaul network. Although not illustrated in FIG. 10, when the BS 1000 performs wired communication, the BS 1000 may further include a separate network interface for wired communication in addition to the transceiver 1001. The network interface may be referred to as network interface circuitry or communication interface circuitry.

[0269] The processor 1002 may control general operations of the BS 1000 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1002 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 1002 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1003, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1002 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0270] The processor 1002 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1001 to control the transceiver 1001.

[0271] The processor 1002 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1002 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 1002 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1001 or the memory 1003.

[0272] The processor 1002 may perform or control or cause an operation of the BS 1000 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1002 may control operations of the BS 1000 for generating and transmitting a downlink signal to a UE or processing an uplink signal received from a UE. Otherwise, the BS 1000 may transmit or receive a signal to or from a neighboring BS, transfer a signal received from a UE to an upper node of the network, or transmit a signal transferred from an upper node of the network to a UE. To this end, the processor 1002 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1003, so as to control other components of the BS 1000 to enable execution of various operations.

[0273] The memory 1003 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1003 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0274] The memory 1003 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 1002 and may be accessed by the processor 1002.

[0275] The memory 1003 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1002. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1002 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1003, the processor 1002 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0276] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the BS 1000 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1003 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0277] The UE or the base station may perform various communication procedures related to the control plane or the user plane by cooperating with one or more network entities based on wireless communication. For example, the UE may communicate with network entity such as an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) or a Session Management Function (SMF) via the base station, or the base station may perform at least one communication procedure by directly transmitting and receiving signals to / from, or relaying signals between, the network entities.

[0278] The structure of the above-described network entity will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0279] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a network entity 1100 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Furthermore, the network entity of FIG. 11 may correspond to the server of FIG. 5.

[0280] The network entity 1100 may include an entity (apparatus, device, or server, etc.) that performs one or more network functions (NFs) or a part of a network function constituting a core network (e.g., a 5th generation (5G) core (5GC)) in a communication system. In this case, multiple NFs may be implemented within a single network entity, or a single NF may be distributed and implemented across a plurality of network entities. In addition, when an NF is implemented within the network entity, the NF may be implemented in the form of software, and in such a case, a program for operating the NF may be stored in memory of the network entity 1100.

[0281] A single NF may be implemented by one or more instances, which may be deployed on the same network entity or distributed across multiple network entities to operate. The instance may be a software unit that logically executes a specific network function, and may be implemented in a form that is decoupled from physical hardware resources. Further, one or more NFs may be implemented in the form of one network slice to operate to satisfy specifications required by a particular service.

[0282] The NF may include at least one of an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a local session management function (L-SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a local user plane function (L-UPF), a policy control function (PCF), a unified data management (UDM), a unified data repository (UDR), a network exposure function (NEF), a network repository function (NRF), an application function (AF), a network slice selection function (NSSF), a network data analytics function (NWDAF), a network slice admission control function (NSACF), an authentication server function (AUSF), or a data network (DN).

[0283] Referring to FIG. 11, the network entity 1100 may include at least one network interface 1101, at least one processor 1102 (hereinafter, “processor”), and at least one memory 1103 (hereinafter, “memory”). As described above, a NF may be implemented in the form of a physical device such as the network entity 1100, or may be virtualized and executed in the form of an instance. When implemented as an instance, the NF need not necessarily include physical components as illustrated in FIG. 11. In such a case, the instance may be logically represented as comprising one or more logical functional elements.

[0284] According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the network interface 1101, the processor 1102, and the memory 1103 of the network entity 1100 may operate. However, components of the network entity 1100 are not limited to the exemplary components illustrated in FIG. 11. In another embodiment, the network entity 1100 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in an embodiment, the network interface 1101, the processor 1102, or the memory 1103 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0285] The network interface 1101 is a collective term for a transmitter part of the network entity 1100 and a receiver part of the network entity 1100, and may be a communication circuit for transmitting or receiving a signal to or from a user equipment (UE), a base station (BS), or another network entity. Here, the communication circuit may include both a communication circuit for wireless communication and a communication circuit for a wired communication. For example, the network interface 1101 may include a circuit, logic, hardware, etc., configured to exchange a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless communication or wired communication. The network interface 1101 may operate using various protocols (e.g., non-access stratum (NAS) protocol). The network interface 1101 may also be referred to, for convenience of description or depending on implementation, as communication circuitry, network interface circuitry, or a communication interface circuitry.

[0286] The processor 1102 may control general operations of the network entity 1100 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1102 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 1102 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1103, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1102 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme. Further, it should be noted that, according to another embodiment, in a case where NF is implemented in the form of an instance, the network function may be not necessarily configured by physical hardware.

[0287] According to an embodiment, the processor 1102 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the network interface 1101 to control the network interface 1101.

[0288] The processor 1102 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1102 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 1102 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the network interface 1101 or the memory 1103.

[0289] The processor 1102 may perform or control or cause an operation of the network entity 1100 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1102 may control operations of the network entity 1100 for exchanging a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless or wired communication, using various protocols (e.g., NAS protocol). To this end, the processor 1102 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1103, so as to control other components of the network entity 1100 to enable execution of various operations.

[0290] The memory 1103 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1103 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0291] The memory 1103 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 1102 and may be accessed by the processor 1102.

[0292] The memory 1103 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1102. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1102 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1103, the processor 1102 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0293] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the network entity 1100 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1103 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0294] In one embodiment, a method for setting up an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication performed by a UE is provided, which comprises generating a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request comprising of an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document; transmitting the first HTTP POST request to a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management-Server (SNRM-S) for application coordinated connectivity initiation; and receiving a second HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S, wherein the second HTTP POST request comprises application connectivity notification information XML document, representing an outcome of the application coordinated connectivity initiation.

[0295] In another embodiment, the method is provided, which further comprises receiving, an application connectivity request from a Vertical Application Layer (VAL) client of the UE for application coordinated UE-to-UE connectivity initiation.

[0296] In another embodiment, the method is provided, wherein the first HTTP POST request comprises service requirements for the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication.

[0297] In another embodiment, the method is provided, which comprises in response to receiving the application connectivity request from the VAL client, generating the first HTTP POST request comprising an application coordinated UE-to-UE communication requirements.

[0298] In another embodiment, the method is provided, which comprises in response to receiving the second HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S comprising the application connectivity notification information XML document, sharing an application coordinated connectivity initiation status to the VAL client of the UE.

[0299] In another embodiment, the method is provided, wherein the first HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity initiation information comprises an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema, wherein the XML document comprises an app-connectivity-request xml element that comprises at least one of an identity of the UE, an IP address of the UE, a VAL service identity, a target UE identity, service requirements for connectivity, and an application connectivity context, and wherein the service requirements for connectivity comprises at least one of a packet size, a transmission interval between consecutive packets, an end-to-end latency value for packet transmission, a key performance indicator (KPI) for packet errors, a required bitrate for application coordinated UE-to-UE communication, location coordinates information of the VAL client of the UE, and direction information of the VAL client of the UE.

[0300] In another embodiment, the method is provided, wherein the application connectivity notification information XML document comprises at least one of session information, a VAL client service identity, an identity of the UE initiating the request, and target UE identities that are part of the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication.

[0301] In one embodiment, a method for processing an application coordinated connectivity initiation request for establishing user equipment (UE)-to UE communication performed at a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S) is provided, which comprises receiving a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request from a user equipment (UE), wherein the HTTP POST request comprises an application connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document; determining whether the received first HTTP POST request comprises service requirements; processing the service requirements to identify common service requirements of the UE and a target UE; triggering a 3GPP system to establish a multicast and broadcast services (MBS) session between the UE and the target UE at least based on the common service requirements; and in response to establishing the MBS session for application coordinated connectivity initiation, transmitting a second HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity notification representing the MBS session established for the UE to UE communication between the UE and the target UE.

[0302] In another embodiment, the method is provided, wherein the second HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity notification comprises an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema, and wherein the XML document comprises at least one of a "app-connectivity-notify" element, which further includes at least one of a session information, a VAL service identity, a VAL UE identity, and a target UE identity.

[0303] In another embodiment, the method is provided, which further comprises in response to determining an absence of the service requirements in the received first HTTP POST request for application connectivity initiation, fetching the service requirements from the target UE.

[0304] In another embodiment, the method is provided, wherein fetching the service requirements comprises: transmitting a third HTTP POST request requesting application connectivity context fetch information of a VAL client to the target UE; and receiving, from the target UE, a HTTP POST response comprising application connectivity context fetch information of the target UE, wherein the application connectivity context information comprises the service requirements of the target UE.

[0305] In another embodiment, the method is provided, wherein the third HTTP POST request for application connectivity context fetch information comprises an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema, wherein the XML document comprises a "app-connectivity-context-request" element that comprises at least one of a VAL UE identity, a VAL service identity, and a VAL specific context.

[0306] In another embodiment, the method is provided, which further comprises: checking an identity of the UE against a predefined list of authorized SNRM-C; and rejecting the first HTTP POST request if the UE is unauthorized.

[0307] In one embodiment, a method for sharing service requirements to set up an application coordinated user equipment (UE) -to UE communication performed by a target UE is provided, which comprises: receiving, from a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S), a third HTTP POST request requesting application connectivity context fetch information of a VAL client of the target UE, wherein the application connectivity context information comprises the service requirements of the target UE; and sending an application connectivity context fetch information response to the SNRM-S.

[0308] In another embodiment, the method is provided, wherein the application connectivity context fetch information response comprises an XML document encoded using an "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema, wherein the XML document includes an "app-connectivity-context-response" element, that comprises an application context XML element, and wherein the application context XML element comprises at least one of a location, speed, and direction.

[0309] In one embodiment, a user equipment (UE) for setting up an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication performed by the UE is provided, which comprises: at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; and at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the UE to:generate a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request comprising of an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document; transmit the first HTTP POST request to a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management-Server (SNRM-S) for application coordinated connectivity initiation; and receive a second HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S wherein the HTTP POST request comprises application coordinated connectivity notification information XML document, which represents the outcome of the application coordinated connectivity initiation.

[0310] In another embodiment, the UE is provided, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive an application coordinated connectivity request from a Vertical Application Layer (VAL) client of the UE for application coordinated UE-to-UE connectivity initiation.

[0311] In another embodiment, the UE is provided, wherein the first HTTP POST request comprises service requirements for the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication.

[0312] In another embodiment, the UE is provided, wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate the first HTTP POST request comprising of application coordinated connectivity initiation information encoded XML document representing the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication requirements in response to receiving the application coordinated connectivity request from the VAL client.

[0313] In another embodiment, the UE is provided, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: in response to receiving the second HTTP POST request from SNRM-S, comprising the application coordinated connectivity notification XML document, sharing an application connectivity initiation status to the VAL client of the UE.

[0314] In another embodiment, the UE is provided, wherein the first HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity initiation comprises an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema, wherein the XML document comprises an app-connectivity-request xml element that comprises at least one of an identity of the UE , an IP address of the UE, a VAL service identity, a target UE identity, service requirements for connectivity and an application connectivity context, and wherein the service requirements for connectivity comprises at least one of a packet size, a transmission interval between consecutive packets, an end-to-end latency value for packet transmission, a KPI for packet errors, a required bitrate for application coordinated UE-to-UE communication, location coordinates information of the VAL client of the UE, and direction information of the VAL client of the UE.

[0315] In another embodiment, the UE is provided, wherein the application coordinated connectivity notification information XML document comprises at least one of a session information, a VAL client service identity, an identity of the UE initiating the request and target UE identity that are part of the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication.

[0316] In one embodiment, a server for processing an application-coordinated connectivity initiation request for establishing user equipment (UE)-to UE communication, performed at a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S) is provided, which comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the network entity to: receive a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request from a user equipment (UE), wherein the HTTP POST request comprises an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document; determine the received first HTTP POST request comprises service requirements; process the service requirements to identify common service requirements of the UE and a target UE; trigger the 3GPP system to establish an MBS session between the UE and the target UE at least based on the common service requirements; and in response to establishing the MBS session for application coordinated connectivity initiation, transmit a second HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity notification representing the MBS session established for the UE-to UE communication between the UE and the target UE.

[0317] In another embodiment, the server is provided, wherein the second HTTP POST request for Application coordinated connectivity notification comprises an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema, and wherein the XML document comprises at least one of a "app-connectivity-notify" element, which further includes at least one of a session information, a VAL service identity, a VAL UE identity and a target UE identity.

[0318] In another embodiment, the server is provided, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: in response to determining an absence of the service requirements in the received first HTTP POST request message for application connectivity initiation, fetch the service requirements from the target UE.

[0319] In another embodiment, the server is provided, wherein to fetch the service requirements, the at least one processor is configured to: transmit a third HTTP POST request requesting application connectivity context fetch information of a VAL client to the target UE; and receive from the at least one or more third HTTP POST request comprising application connectivity context fetch information of the target UE, wherein the application connectivity context information comprises the service requirements of the target UE.

[0320] In another embodiment, the server is provided, wherein the third HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity context fetch information comprises an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema,

[0321] wherein the XML document comprises a "app-connectivity-context-request" element that comprises at least one of a VAL UE identity, a VAL service identity and a VAL specific context.

[0322] In another embodiment, the server is provided, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: check an identity of the UE against a predefined list of authorized UE; and reject the first HTTP POST request if the UE is unauthorized.

[0323] In one embodiment, an user equipment (UE) for sharing service requirements for setting up an application coordinated user equipment (UE) -to UE communication performed by a target UE is provided, which comprises: at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; and at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the UE to: receive, from a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S), a HTTP POST request requesting application coordinated connectivity context fetch information of a VAL client of the target UE, wherein the application coordinated connectivity context information comprises context information specific to a VAL service of the target UE; and

[0324] send the application coordinated connectivity context fetch information response to SNRM-S.

[0325] In another embodiment, the UE is provided, wherein the application coordinated connectivity context fetch information response comprises an XML document encoded using an "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema, wherein the XML document includes an"app-connectivity-context-response" element, that comprises an application context XML element, and wherein the application context XML element comprises at least one of a location, speed and direction.

[0326] It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” may be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” may be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” may be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). For example, as an aid to understanding, the detail description may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce recitations. However, the use of such phrases may not be construed to imply that the introduction of a recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular part of description containing such introduced recitation to disclosure containing only one such recitation, even when the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and / or “an” may typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”) are included in the recitations; the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce such recitations. In addition, even if a specific part of the introduced description recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation may typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations or two or more recitations).

[0327] Meanwhile, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1.A method for setting up an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication performed by a UE, the method comprising:generating a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request comprising of an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document;transmitting the first HTTP POST request to a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management-Server (SNRM-S) for application coordinated connectivity initiation; andreceiving a second HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S, wherein the second HTTP POST request comprises application connectivity notification information XML document, representing an outcome of the application coordinated connectivity initiation.2.A user equipment (UE) for setting up an application coordinated User Equipment (UE)-to-UE communication performed by the UE, the UE comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; andat least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the UE to:generate a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request comprising of an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document;transmit the first HTTP POST request to a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management-Server (SNRM-S) for application coordinated connectivity initiation; andreceive a second HTTP POST request from the SNRM-S wherein the HTTP POST request comprises application coordinated connectivity notification information XML document, which represents the outcome of the application coordinated connectivity initiation.3.The UE as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:receive an application coordinated connectivity request from a Vertical Application Layer (VAL) client of the UE for application coordinated UE-to-UE connectivity initiation,wherein the first HTTP POST request comprises service requirements for the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication.4.The UE as claimed in claim 3, wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate the first HTTP POST request comprising of application coordinated connectivity initiation information encoded XML document representing the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication requirements in response to receiving the application coordinated connectivity request from the VAL client.5.The UE as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:in response to receiving the second HTTP POST request from SNRM-S, comprising the application coordinated connectivity notification XML document, sharing an application connectivity initiation status to the VAL client of the UE.6.The UE as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity initiation comprises an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema,wherein the XML document comprises an app-connectivity-request xml element that comprises at least one of an identity of the UE , an IP address of the UE, a VAL service identity, a target UE identity, service requirements for connectivity and an application connectivity context, andwherein the service requirements for connectivity comprises at least one of a packet size, a transmission interval between consecutive packets, an end-to-end latency value for packet transmission, a KPI for packet errors, a required bitrate for application coordinated UE-to-UE communication, location coordinates information of the VAL client of the UE, and direction information of the VAL client of the UE.7.The UE as claimed in claim 2, wherein the application coordinated connectivity notification information XML document comprises at least one of a session information, a VAL client service identity, an identity of the UE initiating the request and target UE identity that are part of the application coordinated UE-to-UE communication.8.A server for processing an application-coordinated connectivity initiation request for establishing user equipment (UE)-to UE communication, performed at a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S), the server comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the network entity to:receive a first Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) POST request from a user equipment (UE), wherein the HTTP POST request comprises an application coordinated connectivity initiation information Extensible Markup Language (XML) document;determine the received first HTTP POST request comprises service requirements;process the service requirements to identify common service requirements of the UE and a target UE;trigger the 3GPP system to establish an MBS session between the UE and the target UE at least based on the common service requirements; andin response to establishing the MBS session for application coordinated connectivity initiation, transmit a second HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity notification representing the MBS session established for the UE-to UE communication between the UE and the target UE.9.The server as claimed in claim 8, wherein the second HTTP POST request for Application coordinated connectivity notification comprises an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema, andwherein the XML document comprises at least one of a "app-connectivity-notify" element, which further includes at least one of a session information, a VAL service identity, a VAL UE identity and a target UE identity.10.The server as claimed in claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:in response to determining an absence of the service requirements in the received first HTTP POST request message for application connectivity initiation, fetch the service requirements from the target UE.11.The server as claimed in claim 5, wherein to fetch the service requirements, the at least one processor is configured to:transmit a third HTTP POST request requesting application connectivity context fetch information of a VAL client to the target UE; andreceive from the at least one or more third HTTP POST request comprising application connectivity context fetch information of the target UE, wherein the application connectivity context information comprises the service requirements of the target UE.12.The server as claimed in claim 8, wherein the third HTTP POST request for application coordinated connectivity context fetch information comprises an XML document encoded using the "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema,wherein the XML document comprises a "app-connectivity-context-request" element that comprises at least one of a VAL UE identity, a VAL service identity and a VAL specific context.13.The server as claimed in claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:check an identity of the UE against a predefined list of authorized UE; andreject the first HTTP POST request if the UE is unauthorized.14.A user equipment (UE) for sharing service requirements for setting up an application coordinated user equipment (UE) -to UE communication performed by a target UE, the UE comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; andat least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the UE to:receive, from a Service Enabler Architecture Layer (SEAL) Network Resource Management -Server (SNRM-S), a HTTP POST request requesting application coordinated connectivity context fetch information of a VAL client of the target UE, wherein the application coordinated connectivity context information comprises context information specific to a VAL service of the target UE; andsend the application coordinated connectivity context fetch information response to SNRM-S.15.The UE as claimed in claim 14, wherein the application coordinated connectivity context fetch information response comprises an XML document encoded using an "application / vnd.3gpp.seal-app-comm-requirements-info+xml" schema, wherein the XML document includes an"app-connectivity-context-response" element, that comprises an application context XML element, and wherein the application context XML element comprises at least one of a location, speed and direction.

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