Method and apparatus for energy reporting and notification with multi-access media delivery in a wireless communication system

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. Methods, apparatuses, and computer readable media for energy reporting and notification with multi-access media delivery. A method for monitoring energy consumption includes receiving, from a user equipment (UE), first energy consumption information associated with an application session for a service in a multi-access network, receiving, from a plurality of network entities in a plurality of access paths between the UE and the multi-access network, second energy consumption information, and determining, based on the first and second energy consumption information, a total energy consumption value for access paths from a list of access paths. The first and second energy consumption information includes a service identifier corresponding to the service, a start time, an end time, and an access energy consumption map indicating the list of access paths, including access end points or network functions used to access the service between the start and end times and measured energy consumption attributed.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENERGY REPORTING AND NOTIFICATION WITH MULTI-ACCESS MEDIA DELIVERY IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

[0001] This disclosure relates generally to wireless networks. More specifically, this disclosure relates to energy reporting and notification with multi-access media delivery.

[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 energy reporting and notification with multi-access media delivery 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] For a more complete understanding of this disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication system according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates example electronic devices according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates example electronic devices according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates examples of intra-PLMN and inter-PLMN scenarios for using multiple access networks according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0016] FIG. 5 illustrates an example dual steering architecture according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 6 illustrates an example steering functionalities architecture according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 7 illustrates an example 5G media streaming session with multi-access media delivery according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 8 illustrates another example 5G media streaming session with multi-access media delivery according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 9 illustrates an example dynamic policy procedure for a 5G media streaming session with multi-access media delivery according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0021] FIG. 10 illustrates an example 5GMS architecture according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] FIG. 11 illustrates an example architecture for reporting energy consumption information according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] FIG. 12A illustrates example architectures for energy notification to a UE according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0024] FIG. 12B illustrates example architectures for energy notification to a UE according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] FIG. 13 illustrates an example architecture for energy notification to a UE for requested actions according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0026] FIG. 14A illustrates example architectures for providing recommended actions by an application service provider according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0027] FIG. 14B illustrates example architectures for providing recommended actions by an application service provider according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0028] FIG. 15 illustrates an example architecture for energy policy configuration by an application service provider (ASP) according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0029] FIG. 16 illustrates an example architecture for energy management of RAN nodes with multi-access media delivery according to embodiments of the present disclosure

[0030] FIG. 17 illustrates an example architecture for a DNS based procedure for application server lookup according to embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0031] FIG. 18 illustrates an example method for a method for monitoring energy consumption according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a terminal or user equipment (UE) 1900 according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0033] FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a base station (BS) 2000 according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

[0034] FIG. 21 is a block diagram of a network entity 2100 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0035] This disclosure provides apparatuses and methods for energy reporting and notification with multi-access media delivery.

[0036] In one embodiment, a method for monitoring energy consumption is provided. The method includes receiving, from a user equipment (UE), first energy consumption information associated with an application session for a service in a multi-access network and receiving, from a plurality of network entities in a plurality of access paths between the UE and the multi-access network, second energy consumption information. The first and second energy consumption information includes a service identifier corresponding to the service, a start time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption began, an end time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption ended, and an access energy consumption map indicating a list of access paths, including access end points or network functions in each access path from the list of access paths, used to access the service between the start and end times and measured energy consumption attributed to the access end points or the network functions corresponding to the access paths from the list of access paths. The method further includes determining, based on the first and second energy consumption information, a total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths.

[0037] In another embodiment, an apparatus for monitoring energy consumption is provided. The apparatus includes a communication interface configured to receive, from a UE, first energy consumption information associated with an application session for a service in a multi-access network and receive, from a plurality of network entities in a plurality of access paths between the UE and the multi-access network, second energy consumption information. The first and second energy consumption information includes a service identifier corresponding to the service, a start time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption began, an end time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption ended, and an access energy consumption map indicating a list of access paths, including access end points or network functions in each access path from the list of access paths, used to access the service between the start and end times and measured energy consumption attributed to the access end points or the network functions corresponding to the access paths from the list of access paths. The apparatus further includes a processor operably coupled with the communication interface. The processor is configured to determine, based on the first and second energy consumption information, a total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths.

[0038] In yet another embodiment, a non-transitory, computer readable medium is provided. The computer readable medium comprises program code that, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to receive, from a UE, first energy consumption information associated with an application session for a service in a multi-access network, receive, from a plurality of network entities in a plurality of access paths between the UE and the multi-access network, second energy consumption information, and determine, based on the first and second energy consumption information, a total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths. The first and second energy consumption information includes a service identifier corresponding to the service, a start time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption began, an end time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption ended, and an access energy consumption map indicating a list of access paths, including access end points or network functions in each access path from the list of access paths, used to access the service between the start and end times and measured energy consumption attributed to the access end points or the network functions corresponding to the access paths from the list of access paths.

[0039] Other technical features may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following figures, descriptions, and claims.

[0040] Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document. The term “couple” and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether or not those elements are in physical contact with one another. The terms “transmit”, “receive”, and “communicate”, as well as derivatives thereof, encompass both direct and indirect communication. The terms “include” and “comprise”, as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation. The term “or” is inclusive, meaning and / or. The phrase “associated with,” as well as derivatives thereof, means to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, have a relationship to or with, or the like. The term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation. Such a controller may be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and / or firmware. The functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. The phrase “at least one of,” when used with a list of items, means that different combinations of one or more of the listed items may be used, and only one item in the list may be needed. For example, “at least one of: A, B, and C” includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and A and B and C.

[0041] Moreover, various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer readable program code and embodied in a computer readable medium. The terms “application” and “program” refer to one or more computer programs, software components, sets of instructions, procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or a portion thereof adapted for implementation in a suitable computer readable program code. The phrase “computer readable program code” includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code, and executable code. The phrase “computer readable medium” includes any type of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), or any other type of memory. A “non-transitory” computer readable medium excludes wired, wireless, optical, or other communication links that transport transitory electrical or other signals. A non-transitory computer readable medium includes media where data can be permanently stored and media where data can be stored and later overwritten, such as a rewritable optical disc or an erasable memory device.

[0042] Definitions for other certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

[0043] Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0044] 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.

[0045] 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.

[0046] 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.

[0047] 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).

[0048] 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.

[0049] 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.

[0050] 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.

[0051] 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.

[0052] 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.

[0053] 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.

[0054] 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.

[0055] 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.

[0056] 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.

[0057] 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.

[0058] 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.

[0059] 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.

[0060] 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.

[0061] 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.

[0062] 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.

[0063] 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.

[0064] 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.

[0065] 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.

[0066] 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.

[0067] 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.

[0068] 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.

[0069] 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.

[0070] 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.

[0071] 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.

[0072] 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.

[0073] 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.

[0074] 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.

[0075] 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.

[0076] 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.

[0077] 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.

[0078] 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.

[0079] 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.

[0080] 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

[0081] 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."

[0082] 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.

[0083] 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.

[0084] 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.

[0085] Hereinafter, the operational principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0086] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 713,390 filed on October 29, 2024, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 718,262 filed on November 8, 2024. The above-identified provisional patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

[0087] The use of computing technology for media processing is greatly expanding, largely due to the usability, convenience, computing power of computing devices, and the like. Portable electronic devices, such as laptops and mobile smart phones are becoming increasingly popular as a result of the devices becoming more compact, while the processing power and resources included in a given device is increasing. Even with the increase of processing power, portable electronic devices often struggle to provide the processing capabilities to handle new services and applications, as newer services and applications often require more resources than are included in a portable electronic device. Improved methods and apparatuses for configuring and deploying media processing in the network are desirable.

[0088] Cloud media processing is gaining traction where media processing workloads are setup in the network (e.g., cloud) to take advantage of benefits offered by the cloud such as (theoretically) infinite compute capacity, auto-scaling based on demand, and on-demand processing. An end user client can request a network media processing provider for provisioning and configuration of media processing functions.

[0089] FIGS. 1 through 18, discussed below, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of this disclosure in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of this disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged system or device.

[0090] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication system 100 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the communication system 100 can be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0091] The communication system　100 includes a network　102 that facilitates communication between various components in the communication system　100. For example, the network　102 can communicate IP packets, frame relay frames, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) cells, or other information between network addresses. The network　102 includes one or more local area networks (LANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs), wide area networks (WANs), all or a portion of a global network such as the Internet, or any other communication system or systems at one or more locations.

[0092] In this example, the network　102 facilitates communications between a server 104 and various client devices 106-116. The client devices 106-116 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop, a personal computer, a wearable device, a HMD, or the like. The server　104 can represent one or more servers. Each server　104 includes any suitable computing or processing device that can provide computing services for one or more client devices, such as the client devices 106-116. Each server　104 could, for example, include one or more processing devices, one or more memories storing instructions and data, and one or more network interfaces facilitating communication over the network　102. In certain embodiments, each server 104 can include an encoder.

[0093] Each client device　106-116 represents any suitable computing or processing device that interacts with at least one server (such as the server 104) or other computing device(s) over the network　102. The client devices 106-116 include a desktop computer　106, a mobile telephone or mobile device　108 (such as a smartphone), a PDA　110, a laptop computer　112, a tablet computer　114, and a HMD 116. However, any other or additional client devices could be used in the communication system　100. A client device may also be referred to herein as a user equipment (UE). Smartphones represent a class of mobile devices 108 that are handheld devices with mobile operating systems and integrated mobile broadband cellular network connections for voice, short message service (SMS), and Internet data communications.

[0094] In this example, some client devices 108-116 communicate indirectly with the network 102. For example, the mobile device 108 and PDA　110 communicate via one or more base stations 118, such as cellular base stations, eNodeBs (eNBs), or gNodeBs (gNBs). Also, the laptop computer　112, the tablet computer　114, and the HMD 116 communicate via one or more wireless access points　120, such as IEEE 802.11 wireless access points. Note that these are for illustration only and that each client device　106-116 could communicate directly with the network 102 or indirectly with the network　102 via any suitable intermediate device(s) or network(s).

[0095] In certain embodiments, any of the client devices 106-114 transmit information securely and efficiently to another device, such as, for example, the server 104. Also, any of the client devices 106-116 can trigger the information transmission between itself and the server 104. Any of the client devices 106-114 can function as a VR display when attached to a headset via brackets, and function similar to HMD　116. For example, the mobile device 108 when attached to a bracket system and worn over the eyes of a user can function similarly as the HMD 116. The mobile device　108 (or any other client device 106-116) can trigger the information transmission between itself and the server 104.

[0096] Although FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a communication system　100, various changes can be made to FIG. 1. For example, the communication system　100 could include any number of each component in any suitable arrangement. In general, computing and communication systems come in a wide variety of configurations, and FIG. 1 does not limit the scope of this disclosure to any particular configuration. While FIG. 1 illustrates one operational environment in which various features disclosed in the present disclosure can be used, these features could be used in any other suitable system.

[0097] FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate example electronic devices according to embodiments of the present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 2 illustrates an example server 200, and the server　200 could represent the server 104 in FIG. 1. The server 200 can represent one or more encoders, decoders, local servers, remote servers, clustered computers, and components that act as a single pool of seamless resources, a cloud-based server, and the like. The server 200 may a network entity or perform functions on behalf or entities in the network 102. The server 200 can be accessed by one or more of the client devices 106-116 of FIG. 1 or another server.

[0098] As shown in FIG. 2, the server　200 includes a bus system 205 that supports communication between at least one processing device (such as a processor 210), at least one storage device 215, at least one communications interface　220, and at least one input / output (I / O) unit 225.

[0099] The processor 210 executes instructions that can be stored in a memory　230. The processor　210 can include any suitable number(s) and type(s) of processors or other devices in any suitable arrangement. Example types of processors　210 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, field programmable gate arrays, application specific integrated circuits, and discrete circuitry.

[0100] The memory 230 and a persistent storage 235 are examples of storage devices　215 that represent any structure(s) capable of storing and facilitating retrieval of information (such as data, program code, or other suitable information on a temporary or permanent basis). The memory　230 can represent a random access memory or any other suitable volatile or non-volatile storage device(s). The persistent storage 235 can contain one or more components or devices supporting longer-term storage of data, such as a read only memory, hard drive, Flash memory, or optical disc.

[0101] The communications interface 220 supports communications with other systems or devices. For example, the communications interface 220 could include a network interface card or a wireless transceiver facilitating communications over the network 102 of FIG. 1. The communications interface　220 can support communications through any suitable physical or wireless communication link(s). For example, the communications interface　220 can transmit a bitstream containing a 3D point cloud to another device such as one of the client devices　106-116.

[0102] The I / O unit 225 allows for input and output of data. For example, the I / O unit　225 can provide a connection for user input through a keyboard, mouse, keypad, touchscreen, or other suitable input device. The I / O unit 225 can also send output to a display, printer, or other suitable output device. Note, however, that the I / O unit 225 can be omitted, such as when I / O interactions with the server 200 occur via a network connection.

[0103] Note that while FIG. 2 is described as representing the server 104 of FIG. 1, the same or similar structure could be used in one or more of the various client devices　106-116. For example, a desktop computer 106 or a laptop computer 112 could have the same or similar structure as that shown in FIG. 2.

[0104] FIG. 3 illustrates an example electronic device 300, and the electronic device　300 could represent one or more of the client devices 106-116 in FIG. 1. The electronic device 300 can be a mobile communication device, such as, for example, a UE, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a wireless terminal, a desktop computer (similar to the desktop computer　106 of FIG. 1), a portable electronic device (similar to the mobile device 108, the PDA　110, the laptop computer 112, the tablet computer 114, or the HMD 116 of FIG. 1), and the like. In certain embodiments, one or more of the client devices 106-116 of FIG. 1 can include the same or similar configuration as the electronic device 300. In certain embodiments, the electronic device 300 is an encoder, a decoder, or both. For example, the electronic device 300 is usable with data transfer, image or video compression, image or video decompression, encoding, decoding, and media rendering applications.

[0105] As shown in FIG. 3, the electronic device 300 includes an antenna　305, a radio-frequency　(RF)　transceiver 310, transmit (TX) processing circuitry 315, a microphone 320, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 325. The RF transceiver 310 can include, for example, a RF transceiver, a BLUETOOTH transceiver, a WI-FI transceiver, a ZIGBEE transceiver, an infrared transceiver, and various other wireless communication signals. The electronic device　300 also includes a speaker　330, a processor 340, an input / output　(I / O) interface (IF) 345, an input 350, a display　355, a memory 360, and a sensor(s) 365. The memory 360 includes an operating system (OS)　361, and one or more applications 362.

[0106] The RF transceiver 310 receives, from the antenna 305, an incoming RF signal transmitted from an access point (such as a base station, WI-FI router, or BLUETOOTH device) or other device of the network 102 (such as a WI-FI, BLUETOOTH, cellular, 5G, LTE, LTE-A, WiMAX, or any other type of wireless network). The RF transceiver 310 down-converts the incoming RF signal to generate an intermediate frequency or baseband signal. The intermediate frequency or baseband signal is sent to the RX processing circuitry 325 that generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or intermediate frequency signal. The RX processing circuitry 325 transmits the processed baseband signal to the speaker　330 (such as for voice data) or to the processor 340 for further processing (such as for web browsing data).

[0107] The TX processing circuitry 315 receives analog or digital voice data from the microphone 320 or other outgoing baseband data from the processor 340. The outgoing baseband data can include web data, e-mail, or interactive video game data. The TX processing circuitry　315 encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or intermediate frequency signal. The RF transceiver　310 receives the outgoing processed baseband or intermediate frequency signal from the TX processing circuitry　315 and up-converts the baseband or intermediate frequency signal to an RF signal that is transmitted via the antenna 305.

[0108] The processor 340 can include one or more processors or other processing devices. The processor 340 can execute instructions that are stored in the memory 360, such as the OS　361 in order to control the overall operation of the electronic device 300. For example, the processor　340 could control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of reverse channel signals by the RF transceiver 310, the RX processing circuitry 325, and the　TX processing circuitry　315 in accordance with well-known principles. The processor　340 can include any suitable number(s) and type(s) of processors or other devices in any suitable arrangement. For example, in certain embodiments, the processor 340 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller. Example types of processor 340 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, field programmable gate arrays, application specific integrated circuits, and discrete circuitry.

[0109] The processor 340 is also capable of executing other processes and programs resident in the memory 360, such as operations that receive and store data. The processor 340 can move data into or out of the memory　360 as required by an executing process. In certain embodiments, the processor 340 is configured to execute the one or more applications 362 based on the OS 361 or in response to signals received from external source(s) or an operator. Example, applications 362 can include an encoder, a decoder, a VR or AR application, a camera application (for still images and videos), a video phone call application, an email client, a social media client, a SMS messaging client, a virtual assistant, and the like. In certain embodiments, the processor　340 is configured to receive and transmit media content.

[0110] The processor 340 is also coupled to the I / O interface 345 that provides the electronic device 300 with the ability to connect to other devices, such as client devices 106-114. The I / O interface 345 is the communication path between these accessories and the processor　340.

[0111] The processor 340 is also coupled to the input 350 and the display 355. The operator of the electronic device 300 can use the input 350 to enter data or inputs into the electronic device　300. The input 350 can be a keyboard, touchscreen, mouse, track ball, voice input, or other device capable of acting as a user interface to allow a user to interact with the electronic device　300. For example, the input 350 can include voice recognition processing, thereby allowing a user to input a voice command. In another example, the input 350 can include a touch panel, a (digital) pen sensor, a key, or an ultrasonic input device. The touch panel can recognize, for example, a touch input in at least one scheme, such as a capacitive scheme, a pressure sensitive scheme, an infrared scheme, or an ultrasonic scheme. The input　350 can be associated with the sensor(s)　365 and / or a camera　by providing additional input to the processor　340. In certain embodiments, the sensor　365 includes one or more inertial measurement units (IMUs) (such as accelerometers, gyroscope, and magnetometer), motion sensors, optical sensors, cameras, pressure sensors, heart rate sensors, altimeter, and the like. The input 350 can also include a control circuit. In the capacitive scheme, the input 350 can recognize touch or proximity.

[0112] The display 355 can be a liquid crystal display (LCD), light-emitting diode (LED) display, organic LED (OLED), active matrix OLED (AMOLED), or other display capable of rendering text and / or graphics, such as from websites, videos, games, images, and the like. The display　355 can be sized to fit within a HMD. The display 355 can be a singular display screen or multiple display screens capable of creating a stereoscopic display. In certain embodiments, the display　355 is a heads-up display (HUD). The display 355 can display 3D objects, such as a 3D point cloud.

[0113] The memory 360 is coupled to the processor 340. Part of the memory 360 could include a RAM, and another part of the memory 360 could include a Flash memory or other ROM. The memory　360 can include persistent storage (not shown) that represents any structure(s) capable of storing and facilitating retrieval of information (such as data, program code, and / or other suitable information). The memory 360 can contain one or more components or devices supporting longer-term storage of data, such as a read only memory, hard drive, Flash memory, or optical disc. The memory 360 also can contain media content. The media content can include various types of media such as images, videos, three-dimensional content, VR content, AR content, 3D point clouds, and the like.

[0114] The electronic device 300 further includes one or more sensors 365 that can meter a physical quantity or detect an activation state of the electronic device 300 and convert metered or detected information into an electrical signal. For example, the sensor 365 can include one or more buttons for touch input, a camera, a gesture sensor, an IMU sensors (such as a gyroscope or gyro sensor and an accelerometer), an eye tracking sensor, an air pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor or magnetometer, a grip sensor, a proximity sensor, a color sensor, a bio-physical sensor, a temperature / humidity sensor, an illumination sensor, an Ultraviolet (UV) sensor, an Electromyography (EMG) sensor, an Electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor, an Electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, an IR sensor, an ultrasound sensor, an iris sensor, a fingerprint sensor, a color sensor (such as a Red Green Blue [RGB] sensor), and the like. The sensor 365 can further include control circuits for controlling any of the sensors included therein.

[0115] Although FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate examples of electronic devices, various changes can be made to FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, various components in FIGS. 2 and 3 could be combined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components could be added according to particular needs. As a particular example, the processor 340 could be divided into multiple processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). In addition, as with computing and communication, electronic devices and servers can come in a wide variety of configurations, and FIGS. 2 and 3 do not limit this disclosure to any particular electronic device or server.

[0116] Various embodiments of the present disclosure recognize that for widespread adoption of multi-access delivery capabilities at the UE for an application level service, many aspects have to be carefully considered. One of the aspects that multi-access delivery procedures being developed today fail to consider is energy conservation. It is likely that an increase in throughput and bandwidth with multi-access delivery bring with it the challenge of higher energy costs at both the UE and the network. At the UE side, the device has to enable transmitting and receiving data over multiple access endpoints that take up UE energy cycles, and at the network side, additional network functions have to be provisioned by the network operator to process data from the UE over different access networks. In addition to this, processing has to be enabled to multiplex and de-multiplex data at both the UE and the network, so that application level endpoints do not see multiple access networks being used for delivering the service data.

[0117] Accordingly, various embodiments of the present disclosure describe aspects related to switching between single and multi-access sessions for media delivery services, and energy consumption and notification procedures to help with energy conservation during multi-access media delivery, including application configuration of multiple paths during multi-access media delivery and switching between single and multi-access sessions because of energy considerations, and energy consumption reporting and feedback notification to manage multi-access media delivery. Aspects include methods and apparatuses for reporting and computing energy consumption for multi-access paths delivering a media service, and methods and apparatuses for energy consumption notification and recommended actions for energy conservation in multi-access media delivery.

[0118] In various embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication system such as communications system 100 may include one or more of an Application Function (AF), Access and Mobility Function (AMF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Session Management Function (SMF), and a User Plane Function (UPF). As described herein, an AF, AMF, PCF, SMF, and a UPF can be implemented in various ways, including as hardware, software, or a combination of both. In a hardware-based implementation, the above functions may include one or more processors, communication interfaces, and memory elements. The communication interfaces may include wired or wireless interfaces to facilitate data exchange with other network elements. Alternatively, the above functions can be implemented as software modules. In a software-based implementation, the above functions can comprise program instructions stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as flash memory, hard disk drives, or solid-state drives. These program instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform the functions associated with the above functions.

[0119] In some embodiments, the above functions may be implemented using a combination of hardware and software. For example, certain functions may be executed by hardware components to achieve high performance, while other functions may be performed by software modules to provide flexibility and ease of updates.

[0120] The present disclosure describes aspects related to using multiple access for transporting an application level service such as 5G media streaming. A description of some of the functions described in this disclosure are follows:

[0121] -5GMS AF: An Application Function dedicated to 5G Media Streaming. In the present disclosure, a 5GMS AF may also be referred to simply as an Application Function or AF. Any other generic Application Function may also be referred to herein as AF.

[0122] -5GMS AS: An Application Server (AS) dedicated to 5G Media Streaming. In the present disclosure, a 5GMS AS may also be referred to simply as an Application Server or AS.

[0123] -5GMS Client: A UE internal function dedicated to 5G Media Streaming. The 5GMS Client is a logical function and its sub-functions may be distributed within the UE according to implementation choice.

[0124] -Media Stream Handler: A UE internal function that is part of the 5GMS Client and responsible for media stream handling functionality.

[0125] -3GPP Access Node: An access network node in a 3GPP RAN (e.g., 4G LTE, 5G, NR, etc. base station such as base station 118).

[0126] -Non-3GPP Access Node: An access network node that enables connectivity to a Non-3GPP access endpoint (such as wireless access point 120) to a 3GPP network (e.g., via a Non-3GPP Interworking Function [N3IWF] of a 3GPP network).

[0127] -5GMS Application Provider: A service provider providing 5G media streaming services.

[0128] -SMF: A Session Management Function in a 3GPP network.

[0129] -UPF: A User Plane Function in 3GPP network.

[0130] Wireless networks may support a set of use cases and service requirements related to 5G system support of traffic switching, splitting, and steering of a UE's user data across multiple 3GPP access networks. FIG. 4 shows examples of intra-public land mobile network (PLMN) and inter-PLMN scenarios for using multiple access networks.

[0131] FIG. 4 illustrates examples 402-404 of intra-PLMN and inter-PLMN scenarios for using multiple access networks according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiments of intra-PLMN and inter-PLMN scenarios of FIG. 4 are for illustration only. Different embodiments of intra-PLMN and inter-PLMN scenarios for using multiple 3GPP access networks.

[0132] In the examples of FIG. 4 the UE is connected to more than one access network at the same time. Traffic from different applications installed on the UE may use one or more access networks to connect to the UE's service endpoints, either inside the operator network, or through the operator network into the external Internet. The type of access networks are not limited to terrestrial mobile networks, but could also be satellite networks, non-public networks (NPNs) etc. In example 402, the UE is connected to multiple access networks of the same PLMN, while in example 404, the UE is connected to access networks of different PLMNs.

[0133] Although FIG. 4 illustrates examples 402-404 of intra-PLMN and inter-PLMN scenarios for using multiple 3GPP access networks, various changes may be made to FIG. 4. For example, examples 402-404 could include additional access networks, different access networks, etc. according to particular needs.

[0134] Wireless networks may support operation of a dual steering (DS) device that is capable of traffic steering and switching of user data for different services across two 3GPP access networks as shown in FIG. 5.

[0135] FIG. 5 illustrates an example dual steering architecture 500 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of a dual steering architecture of FIG. 5 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of a dual steering architecture could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0136] In the example of FIG. 5, the dual steering functionality (DS functionality) inside the DS device allows connection to the operator network UPF using multiple 3GPP access networks. With the DS functionality, the network may see that the network is interacting with two different 3GPP UE endpoints when in fact it is the same UE that has credentials to access content over multiple access networks. The DS functionality enables separate registration and UE session management over each of the connected 3GPP access networks. With dual steer and multipath delivery as shown in FIG. 5, clients are able to use the capabilities of two or more access networks to connect to application service endpoints (or application servers) through the operator network.

[0137] Although FIG. 5 illustrates an example dual steering architecture 1000, various changes may be made to FIG. 5. For example, architecture 500 could include additional interfaces, routes, etc. according to particular needs.

[0138] In the present disclosure, architecture and procedures are described with one or more access networks. Sometimes, the one or more access networks are described as being 3GPP access and non-3GPP access. However, all the aspects in this disclosure equally apply to any of multiple types of access networks.

[0139] Wireless networks may support operation of access traffic steering, switching, and splitting (ATSSS) as shown in FIG. 6.

[0140] FIG. 6 illustrates an example steering functionalities architecture 600 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of a steering functionalities architecture of FIG. 6 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of a steering functionalities architecture could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0141] In the example of FIG. 6, application control over data streams to be transmitted and received over multiple access endpoints on the UE are shown and discussed. Specifically, application considerations with MPTCP and MPQUIC are discussed.

[0142] Legacy Applications:These applications are unaware of MPTCP, and therefore use the existing TCP sockets API to interface with the MPTCP layer. This is the default case.

[0143] MPTCP-aware applications:These applications are aware of MPTCP functionality, and use an enhanced MPTCP API to interact with the MPTCP layer.

[0144] Following are some of the application interface capabilities with a basic API for an MPTCP-aware application while using MPTCP.

[0145] -The application may be able to request to turn on or turn off the usage of MPTCP.

[0146] -The application may restrict MPTCP to bind to a given set of IP addresses. The application possesses the capabilities to add a set of new local addresses to an existing MPTCP connection, or to remove a local address from an existing MPTCP connection.

[0147] -The application may be able to obtain information on the pairs of addresses used by the MPTCP subflows.

[0148] -The application may explicitly configure send and receive buffer sizes via the sockets API (SO_SNDBUF,SO_RCVBUF). These socket options can be used with MPTCP to affect the buffer sizes of the MPTCP connection.

[0149] -The application may be able to retrieve the local connection identifier for the MPTCP connection.

[0150] Following are some of the potential requirements on an advanced API beyond the features of the basic API listed above available to the application to interface with the MPTCP layer.

[0151] -The application may obtain usage information and statistics about all subflows (e.g., the ratio of traffic sent via this subflow).

[0152] -The application may request a change in the number of subflows in use, thus triggering removal or addition of subflows. Requesting establishment of a specific subflow to a provided destination, or a request for termination of specific existing subflow may be possible.

[0153] -The application may be able to inform the MPTCP implementation about its high-level performance requirements, e.g., in the form or a profile.

[0154] -The application may be able to indicate the communication characteristics of the connection (e.g., expected amount and data rate to be sent over MPTCP connection, expected duration of connection etc.). Similar heuristics may be used by the application to manage (create new, or terminate existing) MPTCP subflows.

[0155] -The application may be able to specify preferable subflows or subflow usage policies. This could change the behavior of MPTCP scheduler.

[0156] -The application may be able to specify redundancy levels (e.g., specify whether TCP segments are to be sent on one path or more than one path in parallel).

[0157] -The application may be able to register for callbacks to be informed when there are changes to subflows of the MPTCP connection.

[0158] Performance improvements for applications resulting from the use of MPTCP include throughput because the application is able to pool more than one path between two MPTCP endpoints. Another improvement is application resilience because if one path fails, the other paths are able to carry all the traffic, and if necessary any lost packets on a path may be retransmitted over one or more of the other available paths. However, two potential problems for applications using MPTCP , especially if they are applications with real-time requirements are as follows:

[0159] -If the delays of different MPTCP subflows of an MPTCP connection differ, the jitter perceivable to an application may appear higher as the data is spread across multiple subflows. Although MPTCP ensures in-order delivery to the application, the data delivery could be more bursty than with a single-path TCP connection.

[0160] -Some middleboxes may refuse to pass MPTCP data segments due to the presence of TCP options, or they may strip TCP options. In this case, MPTCP falls back to regular TCP operation. Although this is not a problem (because the corresponding application session is still ultimately usable for data exchange), there may be additional delays when the first handshake fails.

[0161] The following discuss a multipath extension for QUIC version　1 to enable simultaneous usage of multiple paths for a single QUIC connection, and the capabilities of an MPQUIC-aware application to interface with the MPQUIC implementation on the host / device.

[0162] -The application using the QUIC multipath extension may use algorithms to define and handle the number of active paths and how they are used to send QUIC packets.

[0163] -The application using the QUIC multipath extension may handle the IP addresses and the actual decision process to set up or tear down paths.

[0164] -The application using the QUIC multipath extension may specify the maximum number of paths for a QUIC connection by setting theinitial_max_path_idparameter or by sending aMAX_PATH_IDframe. The application may later revise the maximum number of paths for a QUIC connection.

[0165] -The application using the QUIC multipath extension may define strategies to keep one or more paths alive by sendingPINGframes on those paths before the idle timeout expires.

[0166] -The application using the QUIC multipath extension may use the capabilities of the MPQUIC implementation to maintain separate congestion state for each path to avoid sending more data on a given path than congestion control for that path indicates.

[0167] An MPQUIC endpoint may use multiple IP addresses simultaneously for a connection. The multipath extension for QUIC supports the following scenarios:

[0168] -The client uses multiple IP addresses, and the server listens on only one IP address.

[0169] -The client uses only one IP address, and the server listens on multiple IP addresses.

[0170] -The client uses multiple IP addresses, and the server listens on multiple IP addresses.

[0171] -The client uses only one IP address, and the server listens on only one IP address.

[0172] Wireless networks may support a multi-access PDU session. A multi-access PDU session may be set up in one of three different ways:

[0173] 1. The UE may set up a Single Access PDU Session over one access network and then register over another access network and request a Multi-access PDU Session to be set up using both the access networks.

[0174] 2. The UE may indicate its capability for ATSSS and request the setting up of a Multi-access PDU Session to begin with.

[0175] 3. The UE may request to set up a Single-Access PDU Session, but the network may transparently set up a Multi-access PDU Session instead.

[0176] For simplicity, for the high-level call flows for 5G Media Streaming with multi-access media delivery, the first option above is used.

[0177] FIG. 7 illustrates an example 5G media streaming session with multi-access media delivery 700 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of a 5G media streaming session with multi-access media delivery of FIG. 7 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of a 5G media streaming session with multi-access media delivery could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0178] In the example of FIG. 7, a high-level call flow for a 5G media streaming session over a multi-access PDU session that uses two different access networks: a 3GPP access and a non-3GPP access is shown. The following assumptions are made:

[0179] -The 5GMS Client is unaware of the UE ATSSS steering functionality.

[0180] -The 5G media streaming session is set up over 3GPP access first before the UE switches to a Multi-Access PDU Session to use both the access networks.

[0181] In the example of FIG. 7, the steps are as follows:

[0182] 1. The UE sets up a single-access PDU Session over the 3GPP access using a PDU Session establishment procedure. The 5GMS entities on the UE set up a 5G media streaming session over the single-access PDU Session.

[0183] 2. The media stream handler in the 5GMS client of the UE interacts with the 5GMS　AS for M4 media streaming over 3GPP access.

[0184] 3. The UE requests setting up a multi-access PDU session spanning both the 3GPP access network and the non-3GPP access network with the SMF. This request includes UE capabilities for ATSSS multi-access delivery and the UE's preferred steering functionalities.

[0185] 4. A decision is made by the SMF to switch the single-access PDU session of the UE to a multi-access PDU session. (The SMF may interact with the PCF to make this decision.)

[0186] 5. The SMF sends updated ATSSS rules to the UE.

[0187] 6. The SMF updates the forwarding behaviour of the UPF for the multi-access PDU session by sending updated N4 rules for multi-access delivery to the UPF. Based on the the received N4 rules, the UPF activates the required steering functionality.

[0188] 7. The UE-internal component processing the received ATSSS rules activates the UE ATSSS steering functionality in the UE.

[0189] 8. If the highest priority rule in the received ATSSS rules indicates steering of traffic towards a specific access nework (e.g., 3GPP access), then:

[0190] -In the uplink direction, the M4 media flows from the media stream handler are sent to the UE ATSSS steering functionality, which then forwards the media flows to the UPF over the 3GPP access network, and the UPF forwards the media flows to the 5GMS AS.

[0191] -In downlink direction, the M4 media flows from the 5GMS　AS are sent to the UPF, which then forwards them to the UE ATSSS steering functionality over the 3GPP access network, which then forwards them to the media stream handler in 5GMS client.

[0192] 9. If the high priority rule in the received ATSSS rules indicates switching of traffic towards a specific access network (e.g., from 3GPP access to non-3GPP access), then:

[0193] -In the uplink direction, the M4 media flows from the media stream handler are sent to the UE ATSSS steering functionality, which then forwards the media flows to the UPF over the non-3GPP access, and the UPF forwards the media flows to the 5GMS　AS.

[0194] -In the downlink direction, the M4 media flows from the 5GMS AS are sent to the UPF, which then forwards the media flows to the UE ATSSS steering functionality over the non-3GPP access network, which then forwards them to the media stream handler in 5GMS Client.

[0195] 10. If the highest priority rule in the received ATSSS rules indicates splitting of traffic between two access networks (e.g., 3GPP access and non-3GPP access), then:

[0196] -In the uplink direction, the M4 media flows from the media stream handler are sent to the UE ATSSS Functionality. The UE ATSSS steering functionality then splits the M4 media flow traffic according to the criteria defined in the ATSSS rules and distributes it between both the 3GPP access and the non-3GPP access networks when forwarding it to the UPF. The split M4 flows arrive at the UPF where the ATSSS steering functionality in the UPF aggregates the split M4 traffic, and then forwards the aggregated M4 flows to the 5GMS　AS.

[0197] -In the downlink direction, the M4 media flows from the 5GMS　AS are sent to the ATSSS steering functionality in the UPF. The ATSSS steering functionality in the UPF then splits the M4 media flow traffic according to the criteria defined in the N4 rules and distributes it between both the 3GPP access and non-3GPP access networks when forwarding it to the UE. The split M4 flows arrive at the UE. The UE ATSSS steering functionality aggregates the split M4 traffic, and then forwards the aggregated M4 flows to the media stream handler in the 5GMS client of the UE.

[0198] FIG. 8 illustrates another example 5G media streaming session with multi-access media delivery 800 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of a 5G media streaming session with multi-access media delivery of FIG. 8 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of a 5G media streaming session with multi-access media delivery could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0199] In the example of FIG. 8, a high-level call flow for a 5G media streaming session over a multi-access PDU session that uses two different access networks: a 3GPP access and a non-3GPP access, when the 5GMS-aware application is aware of ATSSS functionality in the UE is shown.

[0200] The steps are as follows:

[0201] 1. A 5G media streaming session over a multi-access PDU session is set up as described herein. This includes setting up ATSSS functionality in the UE for multi-access media delivery.

[0202] 2. The 5GMS-aware application receives information from the UE ATSSS steering functionality that multi-access delivery is being activated. The UE ATSSS steering functionality may provide information to the 5GMS-aware application about the multipath connection and associated subflows / paths.

[0203] 3. The 5GMS-aware application configures the UE ATSSS steering functionality as described herein.

[0204] 4. The media stream handler in the 5GMS client interacts with the 5GMS　AS using multiple access networks as described herein.

[0205] FIG. 9 illustrates an example dynamic policy procedure for a 5G media streaming session with multi-access media delivery 900 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of a dynamic policy procedure for a 5G media streaming session with multi-access media delivery of FIG. 9 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of a dynamic policy procedure for a 5G media streaming session with multi-access media delivery could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0206] In the example of FIG. 9, a high-level call flow of the dynamic policy procedure for 5G media streaming before and after activation of multi-access media delivery is shown. The steps are as follows:

[0207] 1. A 5G Media Streaming session over a multi-access PDU Session is set up, and M4 media flows are exchanged by the media stream handler in the UE and 5GMS　AS over an access network (e.g., 3GPP access) as described herein.

[0208] 2. The media session handler in the UE 5GMS client instantiates a dynamic policy in the 5GMS　AF to be applied to 5G media streaming session. In some cases, a QoS specification may be provided which contains the desired QoS information.

[0209] 3. The 5GMS　AF interacts with the PCF on behalf of the 5GMS client (directly if the 5GMS　AF is deployed in the trusted DN, or via the NEF if 5GMS　AF is in the external data network) to facilitate the application of the requested dynamic policy.

[0210] 4. The M4 media flows are transferred between the media stream handler and 5GMS AS over 3GPP access with the requested dynamic policy.

[0211] 5. A multi-access media delivery session is set up using 3GPP access and non-3GPP access networks as described herein. The 5GMS-aware application may or may not be aware of multi-access media delivery.

[0212] 6. M4 media flows are transferred over the 3GPP accesss and non-3GPP access, as described herein.

[0213] 7. The media session handler interacts with the 5GMS　AF to modify the dynamic policy so that it applies to the multi-access 5G media streaming session.

[0214] -If the M4 media flows are exchanged by the media stream handler in the UE and 5GMS　AS exclusively over the 3GPP access (as a result of using the high priority rule in the received ATSSS rules reflecting either a traffic steering or traffic switching decision to the 3GPP access), the requested QoS specified in the dynamic policy instance may be succesfully applied.

[0215] -If the M4 media flows are exchanged by the media stream handler in the UE and 5GMS　AS exclusively over the non-3GPP access (as a result of using the high priority rule in the received ATSSS rules reflecting either a traffic steering or traffic switching decision to non-3GPP access), the requested QoS specified in the dynamic policy instance may be succesfully applied if the non-3GPP access can guarantee and provide the required policy treatment.

[0216] -If the M4 media flows are exchanged by the media stream handler in the UE and 5GMS AS over both the 3GPP access and the non-3GPP access (as a result of using the high priority rule in the received ATSSS rules reflecting a traffic splitting decision to both 3GPP access and non-3GPP access), the requested QoS specified in the dynamic policy instance may be succesfully applied if the non-3GPP access can guarantee and provide the required policy treatment to the traffic it carries.

[0217] FIG. 10 illustrates an example 5GMS architecture 1000 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of a 5GMS architecture of FIG. 10 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of a 5GMS architecture could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0218] In various embodiments of the present disclosure, to address the above problem of application level control with multi-access delivery, a communication system such as communications system 100 may be used to perform 5G media streaming (5GMS) based on the 5GMS architecture shown in FIG. 10, which is to be extended with the following functionality:

[0219] 1. For the 5GMS-aware application to configure the following multipath delivery parameters at the 5GMSd Client:

[0220] -Enable / disable multipath media delivery.

[0221] -The number of MPQUIC paths or MPTCP subflows in the multipath delivery connection.

[0222] -Add new or remove existing MPQUIC path or MPTCP subflows to / from the multipath delivery connection.

[0223] -Which media application flows are mapped onto which MPQUIC path or MPTCP subflow.

[0224]

[0225] 2. For the 5GMS-Aware Application to be informed of the following by the 5GMSd Client:

[0226] -Connection endpoint information to each of the MPQUIC path or MPTCP subflow.

[0227] -Status information of multipath delivery connection.

[0228]

[0229] There exist applications today on the UE that indicate the power consumption of each of the apps on the UE device. Efforts are being made to decrease power consumption on different devices that participate in the service. Power consumption exposure and power savings aspects at different levels - starting from the UE to RAN nodes to core network nodes are also being worked on. Capabilities are being built where the UE reports power / energy consumption of each of its apps to some function in the network (e.g., 5G AF in the 3GPP core network, energy monitoring function), and in turn the network informs the energy consumption of the 3GPP network nodes to a designated node in the 3GPP (e.g., NWDAF in the 3GPP network , or the recently developed energy monitoring function) in the network. For example, energy consumption reporting architecture is as shown in FIG. 11.

[0230] FIG. 11 illustrates an example architecture 1100 for reporting energy consumption information according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of reporting energy consumption information of FIG. 11 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of an architecture for reporting energy consumption information could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0231] In the example of FIG. 11, a UE 1102 sends energy consumption information to an application function (AF) 1104 which resides in an operator core network 1106. The AF 1104, RAN nodes 1110, and network functions 1112 send energy consumption information to the energy monitoring function 1008.

[0232] Although FIG. 11 illustrates an example architecture 1100 for reporting energy consumption information, various changes may be made to FIG. 11. For example, architecture 1100 could include additional network functions, etc. according to particular needs.

[0233] After the power / energy consumption is available at a central node in the 3GPP network (e.g., energy monitoring function 1008), energy notification information may be provided back to the UE 1102 with some feedback information as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B.

[0234] FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate example architectures 1200, 1250 for energy notification to a UE according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiments of energy notification of FIGS. 12A and 12B are for illustration only. Different embodiments of an architecture for energy notification could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0235] In the example of FIG. 12A, an application function (e.g., a 5G media streaming application function) may inform the UE about energy notification information. The energy monitoring function informs the application function about the energy notification information to be forwarded to the UE. The client in the UE upon receiving the energy notification information can perform actions described in the notification information to conserve power / energy.

[0236] In the example of FIG. 12B, RAN nodes take the responsibility of informing the UE about energy notification. Existing RAN based mechanisms may be used in this option. Similar to the above option, the RAN nodes get the notification information from the energy monitoring function.

[0237] Various embodiments of the present disclosure describe aspects about energy consumption and notification during multi-access delivery services with a focus on media services. For the multi-access delivery procedures described earlier herein, the network may collect the following information. Below are the steps:

[0238] 1. For energy consumption reporting: Each UE that is taking part in a service reports its energy consumption to the AF and / or the energy monitoring function described earlier in the disclosure. If there are multiple UEs using the multi-access delivery, the energy monitoring function that is monitoring the energy consumption receives information from each of the UEs. Each of the UEs report the information in the following format for each of the services it reports:

[0239]

[0240] 2. In addition to each UE, each node on each of the access paths that each of the above data / media streams flow through report the energy consumption in the same format to the application function and / or the energy monitoring function. For example, nodes such as the N3IWF (inter working function), gNB, PSA UPF, I-UPF etc. that are on the access path report the energy consumption information to carry data / media streams

[0241] From the above information received from the UE and each of the nodes in each of the access paths (all the way from the UE to the AF / AS in Data Network), the energy monitoring function computes the total energy consumption for each access path for a media service that is being used by the UE. If the media service is run on “n” number of access paths using multi-access media delivery as described earlier in the disclosure, the energy monitoring function computes total energy usage along those “n” paths.

[0242] After computing energy / power consumption along each of the access paths for a multi-access delivery service, the energy monitoring function notifies feedback information to the UE using any of the two methods (application based or RAN based energy notification) described earlier herein. The format of the energy notification information is as follows:

[0243]

[0244]

[0245] When the UE receives the above energy notification information from the energy monitoring function, the UE may adopt any of the recommended actions to conserve energy consumption for the media service. If the UE intends to move from a single-access media delivery session to a multi-access media delivery session, it may do so using procedures described earlier herein.

[0246] FIG. 13 illustrates an example architecture 1300 for energy notification to a UE for requested actions according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of energy notification of FIG. 13 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of an architecture for energy notification could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0247] In the example of FIG. 13, the UE may also send a list of intended actions along with the energy consumption information, and the network may respond back with appropriate information to help with energy conservation. In this example, in addition to reporting energy consumption information as described earlier herein, the UE also includes the following information

[0248]

[0249]

[0250] When the energy monitoring function receives the above information along with energy consumption as described earlier in the disclosure, the energy monitoring function may respond back to the UE with the following notification information:

[0251]

[0252] FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate example architectures 1400, 1450 for providing recommended actions by an application service provider according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiments of providing recommended actions by an application service provider of FIGS. 14A and 14B are for illustration only. Different embodiments of an architecture for providing recommended actions by an application service provider could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0253] In the examples of FIGS. 14A and 14B, recommended actions may be provisioned by the application service provider at the energy monitoring application or via the application function. The configuration information from the application service provider is of the following format:

[0254]

[0255] When the energy monitoring function receives the above configuration information, it knows which actions to propose to the UE based on energy consumption over an access path.

[0256] In another embodiment, the energy monitoring function may be configured to provide to the UE, not only the energy / power consumption information corresponding to the currently utilized access path, but also energy report corresponding to a plurality of alternative access configurations. For example, the EMF may notify UE of the energy consumption or an estimated energy consumption associated with one or more of: (i) single-access media delivery, (ii) enabling multi-access media delivery, (iii) disabling multi-access media delivery; (iv) switching between access end points, and (v) applying different scheduling algorithms for packet distribution access the accesses. By making available energy reports for alternative operation conditionals, the EMF enables the UE to evaluate it's prospective energy consumption under several possible delivery modes. An advantage of this approach is that the UE can autonomously determine, without requiring additional network feedback, which access configuration to employ given it's local operating context (e.g., battery state, user preference, application requirements etc). Thus, the UE may prioritize goals such as energy efficiency, throughput, latency or continuity of service by independently selecting an appropriate access strategy informed by the EMF provided energy reports.

[0257] Various embodiments of the present disclosure recognize that with the benefit of multi-access delivery to increase data throughput and bandwidth comes a cost of using multiple access networks with varied QoS capabilities. While access endpoints such as 4G LTE and 5G NR provide a reliable service, WIFI is still a best effort channel. Another problem that arises out of multi-access delivery is the problem of energy consumption. The UE and network devices may expend much higher energy to facilitate data transfer across multiple paths, as these data streams from multiple paths have to be aggregated and dis-aggregated at different locations at the UE and operator network. In addition, different application service endpoints such as application functions, application servers, CDN servers, etc. expend different amounts of energy to cater to the needs of end UE devices. It is of benefit for the UE and network elements in the operator network to allow for selection and discovery of application service endpoints with minimal energy requirements, and if there are procedures and techniques that allow for minimal energy consumption at the UE.

[0258] Accordingly, various embodiments of the present disclosure describe aspects related to enhancing existing media access procedures with energy considerations to help with energy consumption at the UE, operator network elements, and the application service provider networks, including facilitating delivery of next generation media services to UE devices with an eye towards minimizing energy consumption, and procedures for multi-CDN and multi-access delivery keeping in view the energy requirements at the UE and network. Aspects include methods and apparatuses for UE media session management and UE policy management with energy policy specification for media services, and methods and apparatuses for selection of application services for multi-CDN and multi-access delivery keeping in view the energy requirements at the UE and network.

[0259] There may be multiple levels of energy consumption at any computing device. An energy profile can be defined based on energy consumption and energy availability of the computing device. An energy profile can be specified for a specific computing device by considering the average / min / max energy consumption and energy availability of similar computing devices, and defining a range of energy consumption and availability based on those values. With that as the reference, multiple levels within that range may be specified. Each level may be associated with a scalar value. For identifying energy profile of a specific computing device, its current energy consumption and availability can be checked to see which level it corresponds to, and then assigning the corresponding scalar value as the energy profile value of the computing device. This energy profile may be standardized or negotiated between the ASP, operator network, and the UE.

[0260] Table 1 shows policy provisioning information for media streaming sessions by the ASP for users of the 5GMS system. The policy information is configured at an AF in the 5GMS system to facilitate media streaming sessions by the network operator.

[0261]

[0262]

[0263] In addition to the existing policy provisioning parameters described in Table 1, for energy consumption and conservation, the ASP may provide the following energy policy information:

[0264]

[0265]

[0266]

[0267]

[0268]

[0269]

[0270] In some embodiments, a schematic for energy policy configuration by the ASP is as shown in FIG. 15.

[0271] FIG. 15 illustrates an example architecture 1500 for energy policy configuration by an ASP according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of energy policy configuration by an ASP of FIG. 15 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of an architecture for energy policy configuration by an ASP could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0272] In the example of FIG. 15, an application service provider 1502 sends energy policy information to an AF 1504 which resides in an operator core network 1506. Although FIG. 15 illustrates an example architecture 1500 for energy policy configuration by an ASP, various changes may be made to FIG. 15.

[0273] FIG. 16 illustrates an example architecture 1600 for energy management of RAN nodes with multi-access media delivery according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of energy management of RAN nodes with multi-access media delivery of FIG. 16 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of an architecture for energy management of RAN nodes with multi-access media delivery could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0274] In the example of FIG. 16, below are steps for managing access network RAN nodes during multi-access media delivery processes:

[0275] 1. UE reports energy consumption per access to the AF. Additionally, the AF also receives energy consumption for each access network RAN node. AF has information about all UEs receiving data traffic over access network RAN node using which it can estimate energy consumption per UE at each of the access network RAN node

[0276] 2. Based on energy consumption information of each UE, and energy consumption information per UE from each of the access network RAN nodes, AF infers / generates access network RAN node recommendation and informs the recommendation to other network functions in the operator network such as the PCF, AMF etc. The recommendation from the AF could be any of the options described below in Table 3.

[0277] 3. Based on the received recommendation from the AF, network functions in the operator network communicate with different access network RAN nodes to perform re-organization of access network paths as described in Table 3 below.

[0278]

[0279]

[0280]

[0281] In a multi-CDN environment, UE media streaming application is made aware of multiple CDN entry points from which content may be downloaded or streamed. One example of making the UE application aware of multiple CDN access nodes is using <BaseURL> inside a DASH MPD (media presentation document). This document is sent by the application service provider to the application server, which forwards the MPD to the UE application.

[0282] To facilitate selection of appropriate CDN node by the UE application, the DASH MPD may include the below information alongside each of the BaseURL property to indicate additional information about each of the CDN access nodes:

[0283]

[0284] Application servers may be configured or specified with energy profiles of UEs that can access content from them. In various embodiments of the present disclosure, a procedure is described for including the energy profile information of UEs that can access an application server in DNS TXT records. The procedure is described in FIG. 17.

[0285] FIG. 17 illustrates an example architecture 1700 for a DNS based procedure for application server lookup according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of a DNS based procedure for application server lookup of FIG. 17 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of an architecture for a DNS based procedure for application server lookup could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0286] The steps for the above procedure are described below:

[0287] (1) The external streaming service provider (application service provider) configures DNS entries of different CDN services in the operator DNS service. The CDN service endpoints are configured with energy related information as described later in this embodiment. For this configuration, the ASP may negotiate with the operator, and take assistance from network functions inside the operator network.

[0288] (2) The application service provider or streaming service provider ingests content into different CDN services / servers (application servers).

[0289] (3) The UE retrieves the media presentation document describing service locations of different CDN services from the ASP

[0290] (4) The UE performs DNS lookup with the operator DNS server to check the energy requirements to access each CDN server to decide which application server or CDN service to access

[0291] (5) The UE accesses the content from those application servers keeping in mind the energy requirements

[0292] The DNS entries in the operator network are populated for each CDN service. DNS TXT records for the CDN services provide information about energy considerations to access the specific CDN service.

[0293] For each CDN server / service, the DNS TXT records of following form are configured:

[0294]

[0295] The "value" field of DNS TXT records for each CDN Service may be enhanced with the following information:

[0296]

[0297] With the above DNS TXT information available for each CDN service application server, the UE can check each application server to see which server provides the optimal energy performance given UEs current energy profile and consumption needs. The UE may then proceed to request content from the chosen application server.

[0298] FIG. 18 illustrates an example method 1800 for monitoring energy consumption according to embodiments of the present disclosure. An embodiment of the method illustrated in FIG. 18 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 18 may be implemented in specialized circuitry configured to perform the noted functions or one or more of the components may be implemented by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the noted functions. In some examples, the method 1800 may be performed by the energy monitoring function 1008 and / or the server 200 collectively referred to as the device. Other embodiments of the method 1800 for edge computing with multi-access delivery could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0299] The method 1800 begins with the device receiving, from a UE, first energy consumption information associated with an application session for a service in a multi-access network (1810). The device then receives, from a plurality of network entities in a plurality of access paths between the UE and the multi-access network, second energy consumption information (1820). For example, in 1810 and 1820, the first and second energy consumption information includes a service identifier corresponding to the service, a start time, an end time, and an access energy consumption map indicating a list of access paths, including access end points or network functions in each access path from the list of access paths, used to access the service between the start and end times and measured energy consumption attributed to the access end points or the network functions corresponding to the access paths from the list of access paths.

[0300] The device then determines, based on the first and second energy consumption information, a total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths (1830).

[0301] In one or more embodiments, the device transmits, to the UE, a notification including the total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths and a list of recommended actions related to conserving energy. The list includes at least one of turning on a multi-access delivery, turning off the multi-access delivery, switching to alternative access endpoints, and changing a scheduling algorithm to schedule delivery of data flows over different access paths.

[0302] In one or more embodiments, the list further includes at least one of a first list of access end points over which the UE is to request session set-up in order to transition from single-access delivery to the multi-access delivery, a second list of access end points over which the UE is to request session modification in order to transition from the multi-access delivery to the single-access delivery, and a third list of access end points for the UE to switch to, while maintaining the single-access delivery or multi-access delivery.

[0303] In one or more embodiments, the device receives, from the UE, one or more proposals related to energy conservation and transmits, to the UE, feedback for each of the one or more proposals. The feedback indicates predicted effects on service metrics including QoS and QoE. The one or more proposals include at least one of turning on or off a multi-access delivery, switching to alternative access endpoints, and changing a scheduling algorithm to schedule delivery of data flows over different access paths,

[0304] In one or more embodiments, the device receives, from an application service provider, configuration information. The configuration information includes a plurality of energy conditions, each indicating an access path and energy consumption threshold corresponding to the access path, and one or more actions corresponding to each of the energy conditions, receive, from the UE, an energy status. The device determines, based on the energy status, at least one action from the one or more actions and transmits, to the UE, the at least one action.

[0305] In one or more embodiments, the device receives, from an application service provider, energy policy information. The energy policy information includes at least one of a maximum energy consumption value per UE or per UE per slice for applying a policy, a minimum energy availability value per UE or per UE per slice for applying the policy, an energy offset value per UE or per UE per slice that modifies or adjusts a threshold for determination of the policy, an application session context energy tolerance specifying energy consumption levels below which corresponding session contexts are applicable, an excess energy application session context for application session migration when observed UE energy consumption exceeds a defined threshold, a charging specification energy tolerance specifying charging parameters based on energy consumption levels, a QoS specification energy tolerance for assigning QoS parameters based on reported UE energy consumption, and a BDT specification energy tolerance for configuration and management of data transfer operation based on energy consumption levels.

[0306] In one or more embodiments, the device transmits recommendations relating to energy conservation of RAN nodes in each of the access paths. The recommendations include at least one of turning off or pausing one or more of the RAN nodes for a defined time interval, converging one or more of the RAN nodes into a common hardware, and replacing one or more of the RAN nodes.

[0307] In one or more embodiments, the device transmits a MPD file including information about a number of CDN access nodes, the MPD file includes, for each CDN access node, metadata specifying average, minimum, and maximum energy consumption per UE or per media segment, and recommended energy profile. The metadata enables the UE to select the CDN access node for media delivery based on at least in part on energy status of the UE.

[0308] In one or more embodiments, the device transmits, to the UE, a notification including total energy consumption value for a currently utilized access configuration and total energy consumption value for a set of alternative access configurations. The set of alternative access configurations include at least one of single-access media delivery, multi-access media delivery, switching between the access end points or the network functions, and applying different scheduling algorithms for distributing a media traffic corresponding to the service.

[0309] Any of the above variation embodiments can be utilized independently or in combination with at least one other variation embodiment. The above flowcharts illustrate example methods that can be implemented in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure and various changes could be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts herein. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in each figure could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or occur multiple times. In another example, steps may be omitted or replaced by other steps.

[0310] Although the present disclosure has been described with exemplary embodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to one skilled in the art. It is intended that the present disclosure encompasses such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims. None of the description in this application should be read as implying that any particular element, step, or function is an essential element that must be included in the claim scope. The scope of patented subject matter is defined by the claims.

[0311] FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a terminal or user equipment (UE) 1900 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 19 corresponds to the example of the terminal or UE of FIG. 3.

[0312] 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.

[0313] Referring to FIG. 19, the UE 1900 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply “transceiver”) 1901, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply “processor”) 1902, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply “memory”) 1903. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1901, the processor 1902, and the memory 1903 of the UE 1900 may operate. However, components of the UE 1900 are not limited to the exemplary components illustrated in FIG. 19. In another embodiment, the UE 1900 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 1901, the processor 1902, or the memory 1903 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0314] The transceiver 1901 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the UE 1900 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1901 may enable the UE 1900 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 1901 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 (1901) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.

[0315] According to an embodiment, the UE 1900 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 1900 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 1900 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 1900 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).

[0316] According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1901 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 1901 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 1901 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1902 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1902.

[0317] The processor 1902 may control general operations of the UE 1900 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1902 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 1902 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1903, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1902 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.

[0318] The processor 1902 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1901 to control the transceiver 1901.

[0319] The processor 1902 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 1902 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 1902 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 1902 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1901 or the memory 1903.

[0320] The processor 1902 may perform or control or cause an operation of the UE 1900 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1902 may control operations of the UE 1900 for processing a downlink signal received from a BS or generating and transmitting an uplink signal to a BS. To this end, the processor 1902 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1903, so as to control other components of the UE 1900 to enable execution of various operations.

[0321] The memory 1903 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 1903 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.

[0322] The memory 1903 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 1902 and may be accessed by the processor 1902.

[0323] The memory 1903 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1902. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1902 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 1903, the processor 1902 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0324] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the UE 1900 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1903 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.

[0325] FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a base station (BS) 2000 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 20 corresponds to the example of the RAN node of FIG. 2.

[0326] The BS 2000 may perform wireless communication with at least one user equipment (UE) located within the area of the BS 2000 through a wireless channel.

[0327] Referring to FIG. 20, the BS 2000 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply “transceiver”) 2001, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply “processor”) 2002, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply “memory”) 2003. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 2001, the processor 2002, and the memory 2003 of the BS 2000 may operate. However, components of the BS 2000 are not limited to the exemplary components illustrated in FIG. 20. In another embodiment, the BS 2000 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 2001, the processor 2002, or the memory 2003 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0328] The transceiver 2001 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the BS 2000 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 2001 may enable the BS 2000 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 2001 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 (2001) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications. According to an embodiment, the transceiver 2001 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 2001 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 2001 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 2002 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 2002.

[0329] Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the BS 2000 may perform communication with a node or an entity of a network through wired or wireless communication. For example, the BS 2000 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. 20, when the BS 2000 performs wired communication, the BS 2000 may further include a separate network interface for wired communication in addition to the transceiver 2001. The network interface may be referred to as network interface circuitry or communication interface circuitry.

[0330] The processor 2002 may control general operations of the BS 2000 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 2002 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 2002 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 2003, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 2002 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.

[0331] The processor 2002 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 2001 to control the transceiver 2001.

[0332] The processor 2002 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 2002 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 2002 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 2001 or the memory 2003.

[0333] The processor 2002 may perform or control or cause an operation of the BS 2000 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 2002 may control operations of the BS 2000 for generating and transmitting a downlink signal to a UE or processing an uplink signal received from a UE. Otherwise, the BS 2000 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 2002 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 2003, so as to control other components of the BS 2000 to enable execution of various operations.

[0334] The memory 2003 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 2003 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.

[0335] The memory 2003 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 2002 and may be accessed by the processor 2002.

[0336] The memory 2003 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 2002. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 2002 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 2003, the processor 2002 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0337] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the BS 2000 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 2003 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.

[0338] 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.

[0339] The structure of the above-described network entity will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0340] FIG. 21 is a block diagram of a network entity 2100 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0341] The network entity 2100 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 2100.

[0342] 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.

[0343] 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).

[0344] Referring to FIG. 21, the network entity 2100 may include at least one network interface 2101, at least one processor 2102 (hereinafter, “processor”), and at least one memory 2103 (hereinafter, “memory”). As described above, a NF may be implemented in the form of a physical device such as the network entity 2100, 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. 21. In such a case, the instance may be logically represented as comprising one or more logical functional elements.

[0345] According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the network interface 2101, the processor 2102, and the memory 2103 of the network entity 2100 may operate. However, components of the network entity 2100 are not limited to the exemplary components illustrated in FIG. 21. In another embodiment, the network entity 2100 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 2101, the processor 2102, or the memory 2103 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0346] The network interface 2101 is a collective term for a transmitter part of the network entity 2100 and a receiver part of the network entity 2100, 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 2101 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 2101 may operate using various protocols (e.g., non-access stratum (NAS) protocol). The network interface 2101 may also be referred to, for convenience of description or depending on implementation, as communication circuitry, network interface circuitry, or a communication interface circuitry.

[0347] The processor 2102 may control general operations of the network entity 2100 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 2102 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 2102 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 2103, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 2102 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.

[0348] According to an embodiment, the processor 2102 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the network interface 2101 to control the network interface 2101.

[0349] The processor 2102 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 2102 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 2102 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the network interface 2101 or the memory 2103.

[0350] The processor 2102 may perform or control or cause an operation of the network entity 2100 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 2102 may control operations of the network entity 2100 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 2102 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 2103, so as to control other components of the network entity 2100 to enable execution of various operations.

[0351] The memory 2103 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 2103 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.

[0352] The memory 2103 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 2102 and may be accessed by the processor 2102.

[0353] The memory 2103 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 2102. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 2102 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 2103, the processor 2102 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0354] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the network entity 2100 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 2103 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.

[0355] In one embodiment, a method for monitoring energy consumption is provided. The method includes receiving, from a user equipment (UE), first energy consumption information associated with an application session for a service in a multi-access network; receiving, from a plurality of network entities in a plurality of access paths between the UE and the multi-access network, second energy consumption information, wherein the first and second energy consumption information includes: a service identifier corresponding to the service, a start time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption began, an end time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption ended, and an access energy consumption map indicating (i) a list of access paths, including access end points or network functions in each access path from the list of access paths, used to access the service between the start and end times and (ii) measured energy consumption attributed to the access end points or the network functions corresponding to the access paths from the list of access paths; and determining, based on the first and second energy consumption information, a total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths.

[0356] In another embodiment, the method further comprises transmitting, to the UE, a notification including: the total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths, and a list of recommended actions related to conserving energy, the list including at least one of: turning on a multi-access delivery, turning off the multi-access delivery,

[0357] switching to alternative access endpoints, and changing a scheduling algorithm to schedule delivery of data flows over different access paths.

[0358] In another embodiment, wherein the list further includes at least one of: a first list of access end points over which the UE is to request session set-up in order to transition from single-access delivery to the multi-access delivery, a second list of access end points over which the UE is to request session modification in order to transition from the multi-access delivery to the single-access delivery, and a third list of access end points for the UE to switch to, while maintaining the single-access delivery or multi-access delivery.

[0359] In another embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, from the UE, one or more proposals related to energy conservation, wherein the one or more proposals include at least one of: turning on or off a multi-access delivery, switching to alternative access endpoints, and changing a scheduling algorithm to schedule delivery of data flows over different access paths, and transmitting, to the UE, feedback for each of the one or more proposals, wherein the feedback indicates predicted effects on service metrics including quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE).

[0360] In another embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, from an application service provider, configuration information, wherein the configuration information includes: a plurality of energy conditions, each indicating an access path and energy consumption threshold corresponding to the access path, and one or more actions corresponding to each of the energy conditions, receiving, from the UE, an energy status; determining, based on the energy status, at least one action from the one or more actions; and transmitting, to the UE, the at least one action.

[0361] In another embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, from an application service provider, energy policy information, wherein the energy policy information includes at least one of: a maximum energy consumption value per UE or per UE per slice for applying a policy, a minimum energy availability value per UE or per UE per slice for applying the policy, an energy offset value per UE or per UE per slice that modifies or adjusts a threshold for determination of the policy, an application session context energy tolerance specifying energy consumption levels below which corresponding session contexts are applicable, an excess energy application session context for application session migration when observed UE energy consumption exceeds a defined threshold, a charging specification energy tolerance specifying charging parameters based on energy consumption levels, a quality of service (QoS) specification energy tolerance for assigning QoS parameters based on reported UE energy consumption, and a background data transfer (BDT) specification energy tolerance for configuration and management of data transfer operation based on energy consumption levels.

[0362] In another embodiment, the method further comprises transmitting recommendations relating to energy conservation of radio access network (RAN) nodes in each of the access paths,

[0363] wherein the recommendations include at least one of: turning off or pausing one or more of the RAN nodes for a defined time interval, converging one or more of the RAN nodes into a common hardware, and replacing one or more of the RAN nodes.

[0364] In another embodiment, the method further comprises transmitting a media presentation description (MPD) file including information about a number of content delivery network (CDN) access nodes, wherein: the MPD file includes, for each CDN access node, metadata specifying: average, minimum, and maximum energy consumption per UE or per media segment, and recommended energy profile, and the metadata enables the UE to select the CDN access node for media delivery based on at least in part on energy status of the UE.

[0365] In another embodiment, the method further comprises transmitting, to the UE, a notification including (i) total energy consumption value for a currently utilized access configuration, and (ii) total energy consumption value for a set of alternative access configurations,

[0366] wherein the set of alternative access configurations include at least one of: single-access media delivery, multi-access media delivery, switching between the access end points or the network functions, and applying different scheduling algorithms for distributing a media traffic corresponding to the service.

[0367] In another embodiment, an apparatus for monitoring energy consumption is provided. The apparatus for monitoring energy consumption includes a communication interface configured to: receive, from a user equipment (UE), first energy consumption information associated with an application session for a service in a multi-access network; and receive, from a plurality of network entities in a plurality of access paths between the UE and the multi-access network, second energy consumption information, wherein the first and second energy consumption information includes: a service identifier corresponding to the service, a start time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption began, an end time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption ended, and an access energy consumption map indicating (i) a list of access paths, including access end points or network functions in each access path from the list of access paths, used to access the service between the start and end times and (ii) measured energy consumption attributed to the access end points or the network functions corresponding to the access paths from the list of access paths; and a processor operably coupled with the communication interface, the processor configured to determine, based on the first and second energy consumption information, a total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths.

[0368] In another embodiment, wherein: the communication interface is further configured to transmit, to the UE, a notification including: the total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths, and a list of recommended actions related to conserving energy, the list including at least one of: turning on a multi-access delivery, turning off the multi-access delivery, switching to alternative access endpoints, and changing a scheduling algorithm to schedule delivery of data flows over different access paths.

[0369] In another embodiment, wherein the list further includes at least one of: a first list of access end points over which the UE is to request session set-up in order to transition from single-access delivery to the multi-access delivery, a second list of access end points over which the UE is to request session modification in order to transition from the multi-access delivery to the single-access delivery, and a third list of access end points for the UE to switch to, while maintaining the single-access delivery or multi-access delivery.

[0370] In another embodiment, wherein the communication interface is further configured to: receive, from the UE, one or more proposals related to energy conservation, wherein the one or more proposals include at least one of: turning on or off a multi-access delivery, switching to alternative access endpoints, and changing a scheduling algorithm to schedule delivery of data flows over different access paths, and transmit, to the UE, feedback for each of the one or more proposals, wherein the feedback indicates predicted effects on service metrics including quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE).

[0371] In another embodiment, wherein: the communication interface is further configured to: receive, from an application service provider, configuration information, wherein the configuration information includes: a plurality of energy conditions, each indicating an access path and energy consumption threshold corresponding to the access path, and one or more actions corresponding to each of the energy conditions, receive, from the UE, an energy status; the processor is further configured to determine, based on the energy status, at least one action from the one or more actions; and the communication interface is further configured to transmit, to the UE, the at least one action.

[0372] In another embodiment, wherein: the communication interface is further configured to receive, from an application service provider, energy policy information, and the energy policy information includes at least one of: a maximum energy consumption value per UE or per UE per slice for applying a policy, a minimum energy availability value per UE or per UE per slice for applying the policy, an energy offset value per UE or per UE per slice that modifies or adjusts a threshold for determination of the policy, an application session context energy tolerance specifying energy consumption levels below which corresponding session contexts are applicable, an excess energy application session context for application session migration when observed UE energy consumption exceeds a defined threshold, a charging specification energy tolerance specifying charging parameters based on energy consumption levels, a quality of service (QoS) specification energy tolerance for assigning QoS parameters based on reported UE energy consumption, and a background data transfer (BDT) specification energy tolerance for configuration and management of data transfer operation based on energy consumption levels.

[0373] In another embodiment, wherein: the communication interface is further configured to transmit recommendations relating to energy conservation of radio access network (RAN) nodes in each of the access paths, and the recommendations include at least one of: turning off or pausing one or more of the RAN nodes for a defined time interval, converging one or more of the RAN nodes into a common hardware, and replacing one or more of the RAN nodes.

[0374] In another embodiment, wherein: the communication interface is further configured to transmit a media presentation description (MPD) file including information about a number of content delivery network (CDN) access nodes, the MPD file includes, for each CDN access node, metadata specifying: average, minimum, and maximum energy consumption per UE or per media segment, and recommended energy profile, and the metadata enables the UE to select the CDN access node for media delivery based on at least in part on energy status of the UE.

[0375] In another embodiment, wherein: the communication interface is further configured to transmit, to the UE, a notification including (i) total energy consumption value for a currently utilized access configuration and (ii) total energy consumption value for a set of alternative access configurations, and the set of alternative access configurations include at least one of: single-access media delivery, multi-access media delivery, switching between the access end points or the network functions, and applying different scheduling algorithms for distributing a media traffic corresponding to the service.

[0376] In another embodiment, a non-transitory, computer readable medium is provided. The non-transitory, computer readable medium comprising program code that, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to: receive, from a user equipment (UE), first energy consumption information associated with an application session for a service in a multi-access network; receive, from a plurality of network entities in a plurality of access paths between the UE and the multi-access network, second energy consumption information, wherein the first and second energy consumption information includes: a service identifier corresponding to the service, a start time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption began, an end time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption ended, and an access energy consumption map indicating (i) a list of access paths, including access end points or network functions in each access path from the list of access paths, used to access the service between the start and end times and (ii) measured energy consumption attributed to the access end points or the network functions corresponding to the access paths from the list of access paths; and determine, based on the first and second energy consumption information, a total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths.

[0377] In another embodiment, a non-transitory, computer readable medium further comprising program code that, when executed by the processor of the apparatus, causes the apparatus to: transmit, to the UE, a notification including: the total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths, and a list of recommended actions related to conserving energy, the list including at least one of: turning on a multi-access delivery, turning off the multi-access delivery, switching to alternative access endpoints, and changing a scheduling algorithm to schedule delivery of data flows over different access paths.

[0378] 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 monitoring energy consumption, the method comprising:receiving, from a user equipment (UE), first energy consumption information associated with an application session for a service in a multi-access network;receiving, from a plurality of network entities in a plurality of access paths between the UE and the multi-access network, second energy consumption information, wherein the first and second energy consumption information includes:a service identifier corresponding to the service,a start time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption began,an end time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption ended, andan access energy consumption map indicating (i) a list of access paths, including access end points or network functions in each access path from the list of access paths, used to access the service between the start and end times and (ii) measured energy consumption attributed to the access end points or the network functions corresponding to the access paths from the list of access paths; anddetermining, based on the first and second energy consumption information, a total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths.2.The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting, to the UE, a notification including:the total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths, anda list of recommended actions related to conserving energy, the list including at least one of:turning on a multi-access delivery,turning off the multi-access delivery,switching to alternative access endpoints, andchanging a scheduling algorithm to schedule delivery of data flows over different access paths.3.The method of claim 2, wherein the list further includes at least one of:a first list of access end points over which the UE is to request session set-up in order to transition from single-access delivery to the multi-access delivery,a second list of access end points over which the UE is to request session modification in order to transition from the multi-access delivery to the single-access delivery, anda third list of access end points for the UE to switch to, while maintaining the single-access delivery or multi-access delivery.4.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, from the UE, one or more proposals related to energy conservation, wherein the one or more proposals include at least one of:turning on or off a multi-access delivery,switching to alternative access endpoints, andchanging a scheduling algorithm to schedule delivery of data flows over different access paths, andtransmitting, to the UE, feedback for each of the one or more proposals, wherein the feedback indicates predicted effects on service metrics including quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE).5.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, from an application service provider, configuration information, wherein the configuration information includes:a plurality of energy conditions, each indicating an access path and energy consumption threshold corresponding to the access path, andone or more actions corresponding to each of the energy conditions,receiving, from the UE, an energy status;determining, based on the energy status, at least one action from the one or more actions; andtransmitting, to the UE, the at least one action.6.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, from an application service provider, energy policy information,wherein the energy policy information includes at least one of:a maximum energy consumption value per UE or per UE per slice for applying a policy,a minimum energy availability value per UE or per UE per slice for applying the policy,an energy offset value per UE or per UE per slice that modifies or adjusts a threshold for determination of the policy,an application session context energy tolerance specifying energy consumption levels below which corresponding session contexts are applicable,an excess energy application session context for application session migration when observed UE energy consumption exceeds a defined threshold,a charging specification energy tolerance specifying charging parameters based on energy consumption levels,a quality of service (QoS) specification energy tolerance for assigning QoS parameters based on reported UE energy consumption, anda background data transfer (BDT) specification energy tolerance for configuration and management of data transfer operation based on energy consumption levels.7.The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting recommendations relating to energy conservation of radio access network (RAN) nodes in each of the access paths,wherein the recommendations include at least one of:turning off or pausing one or more of the RAN nodes for a defined time interval,converging one or more of the RAN nodes into a common hardware, andreplacing one or more of the RAN nodes.8.The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting a media presentation description (MPD) file including information about a number of content delivery network (CDN) access nodes, wherein:the MPD file includes, for each CDN access node, metadata specifying:average, minimum, and maximum energy consumption per UE or per media segment, andrecommended energy profile, andthe metadata enables the UE to select the CDN access node for media delivery based on at least in part on energy status of the UE.9.The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting, to the UE, a notification including (i) total energy consumption value for a currently utilized access configuration, and (ii) total energy consumption value for a set of alternative access configurations,wherein the set of alternative access configurations include at least one of:single-access media delivery,multi-access media delivery,switching between the access end points or the network functions, andapplying different scheduling algorithms for distributing a media traffic corresponding to the service.10.An apparatus for monitoring energy consumption, the apparatus comprising:a communication interface configured to:receive, from a user equipment (UE), first energy consumption information associated with an application session for a service in a multi-access network; andreceive, from a plurality of network entities in a plurality of access paths between the UE and the multi-access network, second energy consumption information, wherein the first and second energy consumption information includes:a service identifier corresponding to the service,a start time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption began,an end time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption ended, andan access energy consumption map indicating (i) a list of access paths, including access end points or network functions in each access path from the list of access paths, used to access the service between the start and end times and (ii) measured energy consumption attributed to the access end points or the network functions corresponding to the access paths from the list of access paths; anda processor operably coupled with the communication interface, the processor configured to determine, based on the first and second energy consumption information, a total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths.11.The apparatus of claim 10, wherein:the communication interface is further configured to transmit, to the UE, a notification including:the total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths, anda list of recommended actions related to conserving energy, the list including at least one of:turning on a multi-access delivery,turning off the multi-access delivery,switching to alternative access endpoints, andchanging a scheduling algorithm to schedule delivery of data flows over different access paths.12.The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the list further includes at least one of:a first list of access end points over which the UE is to request session set-up in order to transition from single-access delivery to the multi-access delivery,a second list of access end points over which the UE is to request session modification in order to transition from the multi-access delivery to the single-access delivery, anda third list of access end points for the UE to switch to, while maintaining the single-access delivery or multi-access delivery.13.The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the communication interface is further configured to:receive, from the UE, one or more proposals related to energy conservation, wherein the one or more proposals include at least one of:turning on or off a multi-access delivery,switching to alternative access endpoints, andchanging a scheduling algorithm to schedule delivery of data flows over different access paths, andtransmit, to the UE, feedback for each of the one or more proposals, wherein the feedback indicates predicted effects on service metrics including quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE).14.A non-transitory, computer readable medium comprising program code that, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to:receive, from a user equipment (UE), first energy consumption information associated with an application session for a service in a multi-access network;receive, from a plurality of network entities in a plurality of access paths between the UE and the multi-access network, second energy consumption information, wherein the first and second energy consumption information includes:a service identifier corresponding to the service,a start time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption began,an end time indicating a time at which measurement of energy consumption ended, andan access energy consumption map indicating (i) a list of access paths, including access end points or network functions in each access path from the list of access paths, used to access the service between the start and end times and (ii) measured energy consumption attributed to the access end points or the network functions corresponding to the access paths from the list of access paths; anddetermine, based on the first and second energy consumption information, a total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths.15.The computer readable medium of claim 19, further comprising program code that, when executed by the processor of the apparatus, causes the apparatus to:transmit, to the UE, a notification including:the total energy consumption value for each of the access paths from the list of access paths, anda list of recommended actions related to conserving energy, the list including at least one of:turning on a multi-access delivery,turning off the multi-access delivery,switching to alternative access endpoints, andchanging a scheduling algorithm to schedule delivery of data flows over different access paths.

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