Resource allocation and management of XRM services

Abstract

A method performed by an electronic device may include receiving, from an application service provider, a service / session configuration permitting a radio resource saving operation with a user equipment (UE) operating on a network of the network function. The method may include receiving, from the application service provider, a first indication indicating that the UE has completed an initial content fetch of extended reality media (XRM) content. The method may include in response to receiving the first indication, initiating the radio resource saving operation between the UE and the network. The method may include receiving, from the application service provider, a second indication indicating receipt of additional XRM content for the UE. The method may include in response to receiving the second indication, initiating a termination of the radio resource saving operation between the UE and the network.

Description

RESOURCE ALLOCATION AND MANAGEMENT OF XRM SERVICES

[0001] The disclosure relates generally to wireless networks. More specifically, the disclosure relates to resource allocation and management of extended reality media (XRM) services, for example in wireless networks such as 5G Networks.

[0002] Considering the development of wireless communication from generation to generation, the technologies have been developed mainly for services targeting humans, such as voice calls, multimedia services, and data services. Following the commercialization of 5G (5th-generation) communication systems, it is expected that the number of connected devices will exponentially grow. Increasingly, these will be connected to communication networks. Examples of connected things may include vehicles, robots, drones, home appliances, displays, smart sensors connected to various infrastructures, construction machines, and factory equipment. Mobile devices are expected to evolve in various form-factors, such as augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets, and hologram devices. In order to provide various services by connecting hundreds of billions of devices and things in the 6G (6th-generation) era, there have been ongoing efforts to develop improved 6G communication systems. For these reasons, 6G communication systems are referred to as beyond-5G systems.

[0003] 6G communication systems, which are expected to be commercialized around 2030, will have a peak data rate of tera (1,000 giga)-level bps and a radio latency less than 100μsec, and thus will be 50 times as fast as 5G communication systems and have the 1 / 10 radio latency thereof.

[0004] In order to accomplish such a high data rate and an ultra-low latency, it has been considered to implement 6G communication systems in a terahertz band (for example, 95GHz to 3THz bands). It is expected that, due to severer path loss and atmospheric absorption in the terahertz bands than those in mmWave bands introduced in 5G, technologies capable of securing the signal transmission distance (that is, coverage) will become more crucial. It is necessary to develop, as major technologies for securing the coverage, radio frequency (RF) elements, antennas, novel waveforms having a better coverage than orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), beamforming and massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO), full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, and multiantenna transmission technologies such as large-scale antennas. In addition, there has been ongoing discussion on new technologies for improving the coverage of terahertz-band signals, such as metamaterial-based lenses and antennas, orbital angular momentum (OAM), and reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS).

[0005] Moreover, in order to improve the spectral efficiency and the overall network performances, the following technologies have been developed for 6G communication systems: a full-duplex technology for enabling an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission to simultaneously use the same frequency resource at the same time; a network technology for utilizing satellites, high-altitude platform stations (HAPS), and the like in an integrated manner; an improved network structure for supporting mobile base stations and the like and enabling network operation optimization and automation and the like; a dynamic spectrum sharing technology via collison avoidance based on a prediction of spectrum usage; an use of artificial intelligence (AI) in wireless communication for improvement of overall network operation by utilizing AI from a designing phase for developing 6G and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions; and a next-generation distributed computing technology for overcoming the limit of UE computing ability through reachable super-high-performance communication and computing resources (such as mobile edge computing (MEC), clouds, and the like) over the network. In addition, through designing new protocols to be used in 6G communication systems, developing mecahnisms for implementing a hardware-based security environment and safe use of data, and developing technologies for maintaining privacy, attempts to strengthen the connectivity between devices, optimize the network, promote softwarization of network entities, and increase the openness of wireless communications are continuing.

[0006] It is expected that research and development of 6G communication systems in hyper-connectivity, including person to machine (P2M) as well as machine to machine (M2M), will allow the next hyper-connected experience. Particularly, it is expected that services such as truly immersive extended reality (XR), high-fidelity mobile hologram, and digital replica could be provided through 6G communication systems. In addition, services such as remote surgery for security and reliability enhancement, industrial automation, and emergency response will be provided through the 6G communication system such that the technologies could be applied in various fields such as industry, medical care, automobiles, and home appliances.

[0007] The disclosure may provide apparatuses and methods for resource allocation and management of XRM services, for example in wireless networks such as 5G networks.

[0008] In a first aspect of the disclosure, a method performed by an electronic device may be provided. The method may include receiving, from an application service provider, a service / session configuration permitting a radio resource saving operation with a user equipment (UE) operating on a network of the network function. The method may also include receiving, from the application service provider, a first indication indicating that the UE has completed an initial content fetch of extended reality media (XRM) content. The method may also include in response to receiving the first indication, initiating the radio resource saving operation between the UE and the network. The method may further include receiving, from the application service provider, a second indication indicating receipt of additional XRM content for the UE. The method may also include in response to receiving the second indication, initiating a termination of the radio resource saving operation between the UE and the network.

[0009] In a second aspect of the disclosure, an electronic device may be provided. The electronic device may include at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; and at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination. The electronic device may be caused to receive, from an application service provider, a service / session configuration permitting a radio resource saving operation with a UE operating on a network of the electronic device. The electronic device may be caused to receive, from the application service provider, a first indication indicating that the UE has completed an initial content fetch of XRM content. The electronic device may be caused to in response to receiving the first indication, initiate the radio resource saving operation between the UE and the network. The electronic device may be caused to receive, from the application service provider, a second indication indicating receipt of additional XRM content for the UE. The electronic device may be caused to in response to receiving the second indication, initiate a termination of the radio resource saving operation between the UE and the network.

[0010] For a more complete understanding of the disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication system according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0012] FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate example electronic devices according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 4 illustrates an example 5GMS architecture according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0014] FIG. 5 illustrates an example architecture for information exposure of XRM services according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0015] FIG. 6 illustrates an example procedure for XRM service configuration according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0016] FIG. 7 illustrates an example procedure for XRM service configuration for initial content fetch according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 8 illustrates an example procedure for XRM Service configuration for radio resource and power savings according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 9 illustrates an example procedure for managing PDUs in an NG-RAN based on UE application adaptation according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 10 illustrates an example procedure for managing PDUs in an NG-RAN based on UE application adaptation feedback according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 11 illustrates an example procedure for managing PDUs in an NG-RAN based on UE application adaptation feedback at the network / physical layer according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0021] FIG. 12 illustrates an example procedure for radio resource and power savings based on feedback from a UE according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0022] FIG. 13 illustrates an example procedure for radio resource and power savings in an NG-RAN and a UE based on application traffic characteristics according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0023] FIG. 14 illustrates an example procedure for a temporary service boost for XRM service according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0024] FIG. 15 illustrates an example procedure for radio resource and power savings in an NG-RAN and UE based on application burst configuration and UE feedback according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0025] FIG. 16 illustrates an example procedure for radio resource and power savings in an NG-RAN and UE based on traffic distribution information according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0026] FIG. 17 illustrates an example of tethered devices behind a UE for XRM services according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0027] FIG. 18 illustrates an example tethering agent in a UE managing tethered devices according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0028] FIG. 19 illustrates an example procedure for tethered device data management based on current QoS according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0029] FIG. 20 illustrates an example procedure for delegation of QoS management to a tethering UE according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0030] FIG. 21 illustrates an example exposure of capabilities of tethered devices and tethered links to the network according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0031] FIG. 22 illustrates an example procedure for delegation of content preparation to a tethering UE according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0032] FIG. 23 illustrates an example procedure for content hosting of media data of different tethered devices according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0033] FIG. 24 illustrates an example procedure for content management based on the energy status of tethered devices according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0034] FIG. 25 illustrates an example procedure for UE assisted content adaptation based on the energy status of tethered devices according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0035] FIG. 26 illustrates another example procedure for content management based on the energy status of tethered devices according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0036] FIG. 27 illustrates another example procedure for content management based on the energy status of tethered devices according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

[0037] FIG. 28 illustrates an example method for resource allocation and management of XRM services according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0038] Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0039] In describing the embodiments, while numerous details are set forth for the purpose of illustration, it is understood that some aspects of the disclosure may be practiced with less than all of these details. Numerous variations and alternatives to the details provided herein are possible and are considered within the scope of the disclosure. In some instances, descriptions related to technical contents well-known in the art may be omitted so as to not obscure an understanding of the disclosure, and such omitted descriptions are understood to be within the scope of the disclosure.

[0040] 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.

[0041] The advantages and features of the disclosure and ways to achieve them will be apparent by making reference to embodiments as described herein in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but may be implemented in various different forms. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the disclosure. The following embodiments are merely examples to aid in an understanding of the disclosure and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way, but on the contrary, the disclosure covers all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. Throughout the specification, the same or like reference numerals designate the same or like elements. Furthermore, terms which will be described herein 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.

[0042] Herein, it will be understood that each block of 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).

[0043] 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.

[0044] As used in embodiments of the disclosure, a "~unit / module" 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 / module" does not always have a meaning limited to software or hardware. The "~unit / module" may be constructed either to be stored in an addressable storage medium or to execute one or more processors. Therefore, the "~unit / module" 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 / module" may be either combined into a smaller number of components and a "~unit / module," or divided into additional components and a "~unit / module." Moreover, the components and "~units / modules" 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 / module" may include one or more processors.

[0045] 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.

[0046] 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, microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital　signal processors, FPGA, ASIC, a microprocessor unit (MPU), a system on chip (SoC), an IC, or the like. The one processor or the combination of processors executes instructions that can be stored in a memory, such as the　operating system, in order to control the overall operation of the device.　Also, the one processor or the combination of processors is also capable of executing other processes and programs　resident in the memory, such as processes for the disclosure.

[0047] 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.

[0048] 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. Additionally, or alternatively, such software may be a computer program [product] comprising instructions which, 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.

[0049] 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 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.

[0050] Hereinafter, the determination of priority between A and B in the 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.

[0051] Hereinafter, "A or B" as described in the disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0052] In addition, "at least one of A, B, and C" as described in the disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0053] In addition, "at least one of A, B, or C" as described in the disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0054] Furthermore, "A / B" as described in the disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0055] Furthermore, "A, B" as described in the disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0056] Furthermore, "A and B" as described in the disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0057] Furthermore, "if condition A and condition B are satisfied," as described in the 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.

[0058] 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, elements 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.

[0059] Furthermore, the terms "first ~", "second ~", etc., as described in the 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.

[0060] Furthermore, even if "first ~" and "second ~" are described in the 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.

[0061] 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 disclosure. If a method step (e.g. transmit a signal) is performed according to the disclosure of the application in connection with one of the above terms (such as "in case that ~" or the like), it may be interpreted to include the meanings (disclosure) of a prior determination that a feature has a specific state "~" (e.g. a bit length is above X), and then perform the method step in response to said determination.

[0062] 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.

[0063] In addition, the term "not perform" as used in the 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.

[0064] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and B" as described in the 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.

[0065] 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.

[0066] In the embodiments of the disclosure described herein, 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 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.

[0067] The drawings or flowcharts described herein illustrate example methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the disclosure, and various modifications may be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts of the 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.

[0068] The process of the flowchart may be performed by a device. One or more of the steps of the　flowchart can be implemented by one or more processors / computer programs executing　instructions to perform the noted functions.

[0069] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the disclosure may be disclosed in connection with drawings disclosing flowcharts to illustrate example methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the disclosure. Such flowcharts may contain different branches and / or sub-branches. It is understood that the principles of the disclosure do not only contain the combination of all branches / sub-branches disclosed in the embodiment, but the disclosure also contains at least one isolated branch / isolated sub-branch, in particular to a single branch / single sub-branch.

[0070] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the 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 disclosure may be modified and applied without significantly departing from the scope of the disclosure, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0071] 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.

[0072] 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 disclosure is not limited to the terms described herein, 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) or similar technical specifications, e.g., from the European telecommunications standards institute (ETSI), where appropriate.

[0073] Hereinafter, a base station (BS) 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 wireless access unit, a BS controller, or a node on a network.

[0074] Furthermore, the base station of the 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 disclosure may be equally applicable to 5th generation (5G) base station architectures in which such CU and DU functional splits are implemented.

[0075] A terminal may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or any other device / system capable of performing communication functions.

[0076] In the disclosure, a downlink (DL) refers to a radio link through which a BS transmits a signal to a terminal, and an uplink (UL) refers to a radio link through which a terminal transmits a signal to a BS.

[0077] Furthermore, hereinafter, 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 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 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 disclosure.

[0078] 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 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."

[0079] Hereinafter, in the context of the 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, ...), RRC, or 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 Layer 3 (L3) signaling.

[0080] 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), DCI, 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.

[0081] Hereinafter, the expression that information is configured by the BS, as used in the 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.

[0082] Hereinafter, the operational principle of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0083] Other technical features may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following figures, descriptions, and claims.

[0084] It may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout the disclosure. 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.

[0085] 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.

[0086] Definitions for other certain words and phrases are provided throughout the disclosure. 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.

[0087] FIGS. 1 through 28, discussed below, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the disclosure 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 the disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged system or device.

[0088] 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.

[0089] 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.

[0090] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication system 100 according to an embodiment of the 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 the disclosure.

[0091] The communication system 100 may include 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 may include 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 may include 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 may, 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. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, each server 104 can include an encoder.

[0093] Each client device 106-116 may represent 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 may 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 may 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 may 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 may 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] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, any of the client devices 106-114 may 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 the disclosure to any particular configuration. While FIG. 1 illustrates one operational environment in which various features disclosed in the 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 an embodiment of the 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 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 may include 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 may execute 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 may 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 may be 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 may support 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).

[0102] The I / O unit 225 may allow 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 terminal, an user equipment (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. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, one or more of the client devices 106-116 of FIG. 1 can include the same or similar configuration as the electronic device 300. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device 300 may be an encoder, a decoder, or both. For example, the electronic device 300 may be 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 may include 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 may also include 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 may include an operating system (OS) 361, and one or more applications 362.

[0106] The RF transceiver 310 may receive, 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 may down-convert the incoming RF signal to generate an intermediate frequency or baseband signal. The intermediate frequency or baseband signal may be 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 may transmit 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 may receive 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 may encode, multiplex, and / or digitize the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or intermediate frequency signal. The RF transceiver 310 may receive the outgoing processed baseband or intermediate frequency signal from the TX processing circuitry 315 and up-convert 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, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the processor 340 may include at least one microprocessor or microcontroller. Example types of processor 340 may include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, field programmable gate arrays, application specific integrated circuits, and discrete circuitry.

[0109] The processor 340 may be also capable of executing other processes and programs resident in the memory 360, such as processes for resource allocation and management of XRM services. The processor 340 can move data into or out of the memory 360 as required by an executing process. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the processor 340 may be 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. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the processor 340 may be configured to receive and transmit media content.

[0110] The processor 340 may be 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 may be the communication path between these accessories and the processor 340.

[0111] The processor 340 may be 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 in 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. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the sensor 365 may include 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. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the display 355 may be a heads-up display (HUD). The display 355 can display 3D objects, such as a 3D point cloud.

[0113] The memory 360 may be 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 may further include 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] The terminal is an electronic device capable of wireless communication and having various form factors, examples of the terminal may include a UE, a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or any other device / system capable of performing wireless communication with a base station (BS) and / or another terminal through a wireless channel.

[0116] Referring to FIG. 3, the UE 300 may include at least one RF transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply "transceiver") 310, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply "processor") 340, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply "memory") 360. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the disclosure, the transceiver 310, the processor 340, and the memory 360 of the UE 300 may operate. However, components of the UE 300 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 3. In another embodiment, the UE 300 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 310, the processor 340, or the memory 360 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0117] The transceiver 310 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the UE 300 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 310 may enable the UE 300 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 310 may support at least one of various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4thgeneration (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6thgeneration (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver 310 may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.

[0118] According to an embodiment, the UE 300 may include a plurality of transceivers. For example, in the case of supporting evolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio (E-UTRA-NR) dual connectivity (EN-DC), the UE 300 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 300 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 300 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).

[0119] According to an embodiment, the transceiver 310 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 310 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 310 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 340 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 340.

[0120] The processor 340 may control general operations of the UE 300 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 340 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 340 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 360, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 340 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.

[0121] The processor 340 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 310 to control the transceiver 310.

[0122] The processor 340 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 340 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 340 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 340 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 310 or the memory 360.

[0123] The processor 340 may perform or control or cause an operation of the UE 300 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 340 may control operations of the UE 300 for processing a downlink signal received from a BS or generating and transmitting an uplink signal to a BS. To this end, the processor 340 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 360, so as to control other components of the UE 300 to enable execution of various operations.

[0124] The memory 360 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 360 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.

[0125] The memory 360 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 340 and may be accessed by the processor 340.

[0126] The memory 360 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 340. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 340 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 360, the processor 340 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0127] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the UE 300 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 360 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.

[0128] 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 the disclosure to any particular electronic device or server.

[0129] Next generation applications and services with varied capabilities and requirements are being studied for deployment in 5G and 5G-Advanced networks. Applications with capabilities that were not possible for older 4G, and LTE networks are being investigated for deployment. The newer capabilities and inherent technologies of 5G networks such as differentiated service deployment with multi-level Quality of Service, network slicing, transmission and reception using multiple access networks etc. are driving such a demand of next generation complex application development. While the complexity of applications in next generation services have increased multifold, the hardware and software demand, network demands, and energy demands for these applications have also simultaneously increased. For successful deployment of next generation applications and services, it is not only imperative that application complexity be increased, but it is equally important that the applications be optimized and enhanced to work with lower hardware, software, and network demands.

[0130] For successful deployment of next generation applications and services with 5G and 5G-Advanced Networks, these applications and services have to be optimized when there are multiple demands. One such demand is energy, because performing complex actions and computations in these applications and services often requires an extreme amount of energy consumption to run the applications and services on end user devices and network locations. As a result of extreme carbon emissions and pollution, there has been increased awareness, and intent, from telecommunication service providers, network operators, UE device manufacturers, network equipment vendors etc. to develop hardware and software capabilities while decreasing energy requirements. Towards this effort, multiple standard organizations, academia, and enterprises have started building energy efficient architectures, products and solutions. Various embodiments of the disclosure provide methods for energy monitoring, exposure, and enforcement to optimize energy consumption in mobile network terminal devices.

[0131] The newer 5G networks, and soon to be arriving 6G networks, are enabling development of next generation applications and services across a wide spectrum of domains and fields. Applications and services are being developed to take advantage of the capabilities of these 5G and 6G networks. Further, adaptive capabilities are being introduced into the 5G system to help these applications adapt to changing network conditions and government regulations. End to end systems in the 5G and 6G network have to interwork to enable an adaptive cellular network environment where application requirements can be optimized, and at the same time, the cost for deployment and cost of operations are reduced for the network operator.

[0132] One of the important problems being discussed and worked on right now in the world is to tackle the problem global climate change. One of the issues the operators of 5G and 6G networks are looking into to reduce the impact on global climate change is energy conservation while deploying and operating next generation cellular network applications and services. Towards these objectives, steps are being taken to actively measure energy consumption of different entities involved in application traffic for next generation applications and services. Various embodiments of the disclosure provide methods for energy consumption measurement and providing feedback information to UE application components to help with application optimization while reducing application demands on energy.

[0133] According to an embodiment of the 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.

[0134] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, 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.

[0135] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, 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. 4.

[0136] FIG. 4 illustrates an example 5GMS architecture 400 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The embodiment of a 5GMS architecture of FIG. 4 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of a 5GMS architecture could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0137] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, 5GMS architecture 400 may include one or more of the following components (some of which are not shown in FIG. 4):

[0138] - 5GMS AF: An Application Function dedicated to 5G Media Streaming. In the 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.

[0139] - 5GMS AS: An Application Server (AS) dedicated to 5G Media Streaming. In the disclosure, a 5GMS AS may also be referred to simply as an Application Server or AS.

[0140] - 5GMS Client: A UE internal function dedicated to 5G Media Streaming. The 5GMS Client may be a logical function and its sub-functions may be distributed within the UE according to implementation choice.

[0141] - Media Stream Handler: A UE internal function that is part of the 5GMS Client and responsible for media stream handling functionality.

[0142] - 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).

[0143] - 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).

[0144] - 5GMS Application Provider: A service provider providing 5G media streaming services.

[0145] - SMF: A Session Management Function in a 3GPP network.

[0146] - UPF: A User Plane Function in 3GPP network.

[0147] - 5GMS ASP: An Application Service Provider (ASP) that provides 5G Media Streaming services to subscribed users using a 5GMS system. In the disclosure, a 5GMS ASP may also be referred to simply as an Application Service Provider or ASP.

[0148] By utilizing 5GMS architecture 400, media services can be provisioned by an application service provider at a 5G AF using the M1 interface and content may be ingested to a 5G AS using the M2 interface. After any processing to the ingested media (as provisioned by the application service provider and enforced by the 5G AF), the content may be then distributed to end users using the M4 interface. The end user device UE may use the M5 and M4 interfaces to communicate back with the control and user plane functions (i.e., the 5G AF and 5G AS) in the core network.

[0149] Although FIG. 4 illustrates an example 5GMS architecture 400, various changes may be made to FIG. 4. For example, architecture 400 could include additional core network functions, etc. according to particular needs.

[0150] Network operators are deploying 5G advanced networks. One of the main use cases of 5G advanced networks is XRM (Extended Reality Media) services. XRM services augment traditional media services with new media types or realities (e.g., VR, AR, XR). XRM services have high network bandwidth and throughput requirements, and at the same time require high compute resources to generate, distribute, and consume XR media content. Players such as application service providers, content generators and network equipment vendors are investing heavily into evolution of service architectures to facilitate deployment of next generation services. With next generation services such as XRM, it has become imperative that design of next generation networks (5G, 5G-Advanced and beyond) is carried out keeping in view detailed application requirements.

[0151] External application service providers may provide XRM services to operator subscribers using capabilities of a 5G System. Network operator users and subscribers of the above application service provider may use XR terminal devices such as the Apple VisionProTM, Meta OculusTM, etc. to receive XR content over a 5G network, or via a Non-3GPP access network connected to the 5G network. Existing enablers of the 5G system allow for delivery of XR content with required QoS and reliability. Methods exist where the 5G system network functions expose XR service information to interested parties to assist in better managing those XR services. Application level constructs are being used to manage XR user plane traffic in 5G system between the UPF, NG-RAN, and the UE.

[0152] A number of enablers for extended reality media (XRM) are described in the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project's (3GPP)'s technical specifications (TSs) 3GPP TS 23.501 and TS 23.502, which relate to 5G System support for Extended Reality Media services. Among other things, these specifications describe:

[0153] ㆍ Policy control enhancements to support multi-modality flows for single / multiple UEs: In this enabler, support for multi-modal service was added to the 5G system where multiple different types of flows of a single UE / multiple UEs (such as audio, video, sub-title, haptics etc.) that were necessary to be synchronized so the end users receive the true experience of the service were provided with the same type of QoS control using similar QoS configuration of those flows.

[0154] ㆍ 5G system information exposure for XR / media service: This enabler included two separate facilities as below. For both of these enablers, the motivation is for NG-RAN to inform the application layer endpoints (e.g., the UE and Application Server) of congestion information so that they may use application level constructs to initiate any rate adaptation logic to lessen the impact of a congested network.

[0155] o Explicit Congestion Marking for L4S (Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable Throughput) traffic: In this enabler, an NG-RAN performs congestion identification in the system, and would mark the IP packets with such congestion information, and forwards them to UE (downlink) and / or UPF (uplink). Further the congestion information may be shared with UPF which can also then initiate the congestion marking in the IP layer packets, in both the uplink and downlink direction.

[0156] o Network information exposure to SMF / PCF / AF: In this enabler, NG-RAN nodes share information such as congestion information, QoS notification control, and data rate are shared with other network entities such as PCF, SMF, NEF, AF so they can influence upcoming application traffic into the network.

[0157] ㆍ PDUSet based handling: In this enabler, support for QoS for a group of packets was added because application layer packets were usually transported as a group of lower layer IP packets, and thus these group of packets needed a singular mode of QoS control. To support this, the 5G system now can influence the QoS of a group of packets called a set of PDUs (PDUSet) through QoS configuration in the network. Parameters such as PDU Set information, including PDU Set Sequence Number, End PDU of the PDU Set, PDU Sequence Number within a PDU Set, PDU Set Size and PDU Set importance were added. Further PDU Set level QoS parameters such as PDU Set Delay Budget (PSDB) and PDU Set Error Rate (PSER) were introduced to control the delay and error rate on PDU Set level instead of PDU level.

[0158] ㆍ Uplink-downlink transmission coordination to meet round-trip latency requirements: In this enabler, support was added to indicate round-trip latency requirements by the application service providers, and the 5G system components would take responsibility to split the round-trip latency requirements to uplink latency requirements and downlink latency requirements based on network conditions, and configure the 5G system components to facilitate those requirements in both the directions.

[0159] ㆍ Packet Delay Variation: In this enabler, the application service provider, and / or the PCF may be able to provide the packet delay variation between packets of application service to other 5G system components so they may be able to follow the variation in packet delays.

[0160] ㆍ UE power savings based on network assistance information: In this enabler, 5G system network components may provide assistance information (e.g., periodicity and jitter) of application service packets to NG-RAN, so NG-RAN may perform some functionalities for power savings in the UE.

[0161] These various enablers are reflected in the architecture shown in FIG. 5.

[0162] FIG. 5 illustrates an example architecture for information exposure of XRM services 500 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The embodiment of an architecture for information exposure of XRM services of FIG. 5 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of an architecture for information exposure of XRM services could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0163] Although FIG. 5 illustrates one example an example architecture for information exposure of XRM services 500, various changes may be made to FIG. 5. For example, various changes to downlink XRM data could be made, etc., according to particular needs.

[0164] 3GPP technical report (TR) 23.700-70 also proposes a number of enablers for supporting XRM services in an operator network. Some of the enablers include:

[0165] ㆍ Identifying whether the incoming packet is to be discarded because the NG-RAN has successfully delivered the required number of PDUs within a PDUSet using forward error correction (FEC) to the UE.

[0166] ㆍ Sharing information about FEC coding from the Application Function in the network to the NG-RAN so that the NG-RAN may decide to discard some packets of a PDUSet.

[0167] ㆍ Including information about a PDUSet in transport protocol headers such as Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol), or in the encapsulation protocols such as GPRS Tunnelling Protocol (GTP), when the application packets are encrypted end-to-end. In this case, the network entities such as the UPF and NG-RAN use the transport layer headers to perform PDUSet management procedures similar as described in 3GPP TS 23.501 and 3GPP TS 23.502.

[0168] ㆍ Traffic detection of XRM service traffic when the XRM traffic is encrypted.

[0169] ㆍ Supporting Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable Throughput (L4S) and congestion marking in Non-3GPP networks.

[0170] ㆍ Alternative QoS profiles for a PDUSet if the currently configured QoS parameters of the PDUSet are unable to be satisfied.

[0171] Traditional media streaming services may be delivered using technologies such as Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH), HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), etc. Media applications (e.g., media players) on end user terminal devices may interact with a streaming server to stream content over 5G network to the terminal devices. XR streaming services may be deployed in a similar manner, where the XR devices interact with external XR streaming servers to receive content. When the XR service traffic is delivered to the end user terminals, the application level characteristics information may be used by the 5G system entities to optimize delivery of XR media content. Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide mechanisms for managing PDUs of XR media service flows to assist with resource management in the radio and core network, as well as provide power savings for the operator network entities and UEs.

[0172] Traditional media services did not play an important role in developing cellular distribution systems. Frequently, media service traffic was either delivered over-the-air (OTT) on cellular networks (so media service traffic had no impact on the cellular network design) or with minimal network operator deployment assistance (e.g., for media content caching at the operator edge). However, due to the complexities involved in developing service architectures to facilitate delivery of next generation services such as XRM, it is required that detailed application level constructs such as traffic characteristics, service requirements are considered. Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide constructs for utilizing application traffic characteristics to adopt suitable resource allocation and power management schemes while delivering services such as XRM.

[0173] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, an application service provider may provide an XRM service configuration information to an operator network (e.g., an NG-RAN). The XRM service information may then be shared with different network components within the operator network to aid with resource management while managing XR media traffic. For example, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, such as shown in FIG. 6, an application service provider may configure XR service information at an Application Function inside the operator network similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510. In embodiments such as these the XRM service configuration information may include any of the information from Table 1.

[0174] Table 1: XRM Service Configuration Information

[0175]

[0176]

[0177] FIG. 6 illustrates an example procedure for XRM service configuration 600 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 6 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 6 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for XRM service configuration could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0178] In the example of FIG. 6, the procedure 600 may begin at step 6-1. At step 6-1, an application service provider 602 may be aware of traffic patterns of XRM content to be ingested into an operator network for consumption by operator network subscribers (e.g., UE 614). The application service provider 602 may configure XRM service configuration information (for example, such as shown in Table 1) at an application function (AF) 604 in the operator network.

[0179] At step 6-2, when the AF 604 receives the XRM service configuration information, the AF 604 may parse the request and perform session QoS for the service (e.g., similar as described in 3GPP TS 23.501 and TS 23.502). For example, the AF 604 may request a PCF 606 to apply policy to the media streams of the XR stream in both the downlink and uplink direction. The AF 604 may provide traffic identification information to identify the QoS Flows of the XRM service.

[0180] At step 6-3, the network components (e.g., the PCF 606) may generate updated QoS policies and share them with the SMF 608, which in turn may share the policy information for the XRM traffic at a UPF 610 and an NG-RAN 612.

[0181] At step 6-4, after the XRM service provisioning, the application service provider 602 may ingest XRM service content into the operator network. The operator network functions such as UPF 610 and NG-RAN 612 may perform the policies and procedures configured by the PCF 606 via the SMF 608.

[0182] Although FIG. 6 illustrates one example procedure for XRM service configuration 600, various changes may be made to FIG. 6. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 6 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0183] When a UE runs some of the existing streaming applications such as YouTube, the UE, upon start of a session, can fetch some content that can be stored in the UE application buffer before the content gets played to the end user. Different streaming applications may use different amounts of time the content gets buffered before the content starts playing on the UE application player to the end user. To facilitate this procedure, it would be useful for the network to provide functionality for configuration and provisioning of the initial content fetch time similar as shown in FIG. 7, because the data requesting behavior of the UE during the time of the initial content fetch is different than the data requesting behavior of the UE during the period after fetching the initial content.

[0184] FIG. 7 illustrates an example procedure for XRM service configuration for initial content fetch 700 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 7 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 7 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for XRM Service configuration for Initial Content Fetch could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0185] In the example of FIG. 7, the procedure 700 may begin at step 7-1. At step 7-1, an application service provider 702 may be aware of an amount of initial_content_fetch times for different applications operating on different UEs in an operator network. If the application service provider 702 only supports a single application for XRM delivery, the service configuration information element "Initial_content_fetch_time" may be configured. Alternatively, if the Application service provider 702 supports multiple XRM applications, it may provide a map "Initial_content_fetch_map" with mapping information of Application Name / Application Identifier to the corresponding initial content fetch time for that application. In addition to the content fetch time, the application service provider 702 may also configure the "min / avg / max service_throughput_DL_content_fetch", "min / avg / max service_throughput_UL_content_fetch", "min / avg / max service_bandwidth_required_DL_content_fetch", "min / avg / max service_bandwidth_required_UL_content_fetch", "min / avg / max service_throughput_DL_post_content_fetch", "min / avg / max service_throughput_UL_post_content_fetch", "min / avg / max service_bandwidth_required_DL_post_content_fetch", "min / avg / max service_bandwidth_required_UL_post_content_fetch" parameters described earlier in the Table 1.

[0186] At step 7-2, an AF 704 may perform XRM session configuration with operator network functions 706 to configure the initial content fetch time for one or more UE applications (i.e., of UE 714) similar as described herein.

[0187] At step 7-3, the operator network functions 706 may configure 5G system components such as the UPF 708, and NG-RAN 710 as described herein to inform them of the initial content fetch time, and the throughput and bandwidth information provided by the "min / avg / max service_throughput_DL_content_fetch", "min / avg / max service_throughput_UL_content_fetch", "min / avg / max service_bandwidth_required_DL_content_fetch", "min / avg / max service_bandwidth_required_UL_content_fetch" parameters. Based on the received information, NG-RAN 710 may provide enough radio resources to satisfy the throughput and bandwidth requirements in both the uplink and downlink direction to allow the UEs (such as UE 714) to download the initial content fetch as below:

[0188] ㆍ If the "min / avg / max service_throughput_DL_content_fetch" parameter is configured, NG-RAN 710 may setup the radio resources in downlink direction to allow the given throughput requirements.

[0189] ㆍ If the "min / avg / max service_bandwidth_required_DL_content_fetch" parameter is configured, NG-RAN 710 may setup the radio resources in downlink direction to allow the given bandwidth requirements.

[0190] ㆍ If the "min / avg / max service_throughput_UL_content_fetch" parameter is configured, NG-RAN 710 may setup the radio resources in the uplink direction to allow the given throughput requirements for the XRM service.

[0191] ㆍ If the "min / avg / max service_bandwidth_required_UL_content_fetch" parameter is configured, NG-RAN 710 may setup the radio resources in the uplink direction to allow the given bandwidth requirements.

[0192] At step 7-4, the UE application (i.e., of UE 714) may retrieve the XRM service configuration information from the Application Function 704 (e.g., using the M5 interface similar as specified in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0193] At step 7-5, the UE 714 may receive XRM media content from the application server 712. Since enough radio bearer resources were setup in Step 7-3 above, the initial XRM content may be delivered to the UE 714.

[0194] At step 7-6, the UE 714 and / or the application of the UE 714 may inform the Application Function 704 that the UE 714 is done with initial content fetch, and enough content is buffered in the UE 714 application buffer. To provide this information, the UE 714 and / or the UE 714 application may use the M5 interface, similar as specified in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 265.10.

[0195] At step 7-7, the Application Function 704 may perform an update of the XRM service configuration at the network operator functions 706 to indicate that the initial content fetch is complete, and that the user may not need the allocated radio resources in NG-RAN 710. The Application Function 704 may then inform the network operator network functions 706 to reduce the radio resources for the continuation of XRM service to the end users.

[0196] ㆍ According to an embodiment of the disclosure, if the "min / avg / max service_throughput_DL_post_content_fetch" parameter is configured by the application service provider 702, the Application Function 704 may inform the network operators 706 to reduce the allocated radio resources to accommodate the updated throughput in downlink direction.

[0197] ㆍ According to an embodiment of the disclosure, if the "min / avg / max service_throughput_UL_post_content_fetch" parameter is configured by the application service provider 702, the Application Function 704 may inform the network operators 706 to reduce the allocated radio resources to accommodate the updated throughput in uplink direction.

[0198] ㆍ According to an embodiment of the disclosure, if the "min / avg / max service_bandwidth_required_DL_post_content_fetch" parameter is configured by the application service provider 702, the Application Function 704 may inform the network operators 706 to reduce the allocated radio resources to accommodate the updated bandwidth requirement in downlink direction.

[0199] ㆍ According to an embodiment of the disclosure, if the "min / avg / max service_bandwidth_required_UL_post_content_fetch" parameter is configured by the application service provider 702, the Application Function 704 may inform the network operators 706 to reduce the allocated radio resources to accommodate the updated bandwidth requirement in the uplink direction.

[0200] At step 7-8, Based on the new throughput and bandwidth requirements from the Application Function 704 for fetching content post initial content, the network operator network functions 706 may perform an XRM configuration update at UPF 708 and / or NG-RAN 710 to facilitate setup / teardown of radio resources of the XRM service.

[0201] Although FIG. 7 illustrates one example procedure for XRM Service configuration for Initial Content Fetch 700, various changes may be made to FIG. 7. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 7 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0202] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, radio resource savings in an NG-RAN and / or power savings in the network and / or the UE during XRM delivery procedures may be configured similar as shown in FIG. 8.

[0203] FIG. 8 illustrates an example procedure for XRM Service configuration for radio resource and power savings 800 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 8 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 8 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for XRM Service configuration for radio resource and power savings could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0204] In the example of FIG. 8, the procedure 800 may begin at step 8-1. At step 8-1, an application service provider 802 may be aware of an amount of initial_content_fetch times for different applications on different UEs (such as UE 814) in the operator network and configure those parameters similar as described herein. Along with the initial content fetch time, the application service provider may also enable a "suspend_for_savings" boolean flag in the service configuration information.

[0205] At step 8-2, the UE application (i.e., of UE 814) may retrieve the XRM service configuration information from the Application Function 804 (for example, using the M5 interface specified in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0206] At step 8-3, the UE 814 may receive XRM media content from the application server 812. Since enough radio bearer resources were setup in step 8-2, the initial XRM content may be delivered to the UE 814.

[0207] At step 8-4, the UE 814 and / or the application of the UE 814 may inform the Application Function 804 that it is done with initial content fetch, and enough content is buffered in the UE 814 application buffer. To provide this information, the UE 814 and / or the UE 814 application may use the M5 interface, similar as specified in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510.

[0208] At step 8-5, the Application Function 804 may perform an update of the XRM service configuration at the network operator functions 806 to indicate that the initial content fetch is complete, and it may be some time before radio resources are necessary to transmit XRM content to the end user. The Application Function may recommend the network operator functions such as NG-RAN 810 to suspend radio resources allocated to the UE 814.

[0209] At step 8-6, based on the above information from the Application Function 804, the network operator functions 806 may suspend radio resources allocated to the UE 814 by requesting NG-RAN 810 and UPF 808 to initiate such procedures. When the NG-RAN 810 receives this information, the network operation functions 806 may suspend the radio resources allocated to the UE 814. Alternatively, the NG-RAN 810 may initiate power saving schemes (e.g., similar described in 3GPP TS 23.501 and TR 23.700-70). Optionally, the network operator functions 806 may also include a flag called "activate-upon-new-media" to signal to NG-RAN 810 that if it sees new media content for this service, then it is to re-activate the radio resources or stop the power saving schemes.

[0210] At step 8-7, after some time, when the new media content of XRM service reaches the NG-RAN 810 (e.g., when a new PDUSet is received by NG-RAN 810), the NG-RAN 810 may reactivate the radio resources so the UE 814 continues to receive new media content for the XRM service.

[0211] Although FIG. 8 illustrates one example procedure for XRM Service configuration for radio resource and power savings 800, various changes may be made to FIG. 8. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 8 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0212] In Adaptive Bit Rate (ABR) streaming of media content (e.g., XR media content), a media player may request a higher adaptation / representation when the media player sees that the available bandwidth has increased, or may request a lower adaptation / representation when the media player sees that the available bandwidth has decreased. This may be the design behind ABR streaming, and standardized in technologies such as MPEG DASH and Apple HLS. Some ABR media content players, after noticing an increase or decrease in available bandwidth, do not instantly request for new bandwidth / throughput, but wait for certain amount of time before requesting the new adaptation / representation. This behavior of the ABR media players can be taken into consideration to help with management of PDUSets in a 5G core network and NG-RAN, similar as shown in FIG. 9.

[0213] FIG. 9 illustrates an example procedure for Managing PDUs in an NG-RAN based on UE application adaptation 900 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 9 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 9 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for Managing PDUs in an NG-RAN based on UE Application Adaptation could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0214] In the example of FIG. 9, the procedure 900 may begin at step 9-1. At step 9-1, an application service provider 902 may configure XRM service configuration information at the Application Function 904 in the operator network similar as described herein. As part of the service configuration information, the application service provider 902 may include the min / max / avg catch_up_time for the XR media content. Alternatively, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the application service provider 902 may configure a separate min / max / avg catch_up_time for each flow in the XR media service. The catch_up_time may represent the amount of time the UE application (e.g., of UE 914) waits before it requests for new adaptation / representation. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the XR service configuration may occur based on the service configuration procedure specified in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510.

[0215] At step 9-2, when the Application Function 904 receives the XRM service configuration information, it may parse the request and perform session QoS for the service as described herein. As part of this session configuration, the Application Function 904 may inform the 5G system network functions 906 about the above configured catch_up_time information for the service, or for each individual flow in the XR media service.

[0216] At step 9-3, the network components 906 (e.g., the PCF) may generate updated QoS policies (e.g., PDUSet QoS parameters similar as specified in 3GPP TS 23.501 and TS 23.502) and share them with the other network components 906 (e.g., the SMF), which in turn may share the policy information at the UPF 908 and NG-RAN 910 for the XRM traffic. As part of this configuration, the NG-RAN 910 and / or UPF 908 may be informed of the UE application (i.e., of UE 914) catch_up_time.

[0217] At step 9-4, the UE application (i.e., of UE 914) may retrieve the XR media service configuration information from the Application Function 904 (for example, using the ServiceAccessConfiguration procedure specified in 3GPPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0218] At step 9-5, after the XRM service provisioning, the Application Service Provider 902 may ingest XRM service content into the operator network. Application PDUSets may be transmitted between the Application Server 912 and the UE 914. The operator network functions such as UPF 908 and NG-RAN 910 may perform the policies and procedures configured by the network components 906 (e.g., the PCF via the SMF) on the above PDUSet traffic.

[0219] Sometime later, at step 9-6, when the operator network functions 906 and / or NG-RAN 910 see a change in network performance (e.g., the network performance has gone down), the operator network functions 906 and / or NG-RAN 910 may know that the UE application (i.e., of UE 914) is going to shortly request for lower quality representations. At this stage, if the NG-RAN 910 sees that it is currently in the middle of transporting PDUs of a PDUSet, the NG-RAN 910 may decide to drop the remaining PDUs as the UE 914 is going to request for PDUs with lower quality representation. Alternatively, if the network performance has increased, the NG-RAN 910 may perform dropping of PDUs in PDUSet delivering current quality as it expects the UE 914 to request higher quality representations / adaptations.

[0220] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the operator network functions 906 and / or NG-RAN 910 may actually delay the process of dropping of PDUs in PDUSet of current quality based on the configured catch_up_time configuration information it received from other operator network functions. This delay time may be equal to the configured catch_up_time, or a fraction of the catch_up_time where the fraction is a scalar value that is configured by the 5G System components. In some applications, the fraction scalar can also be configured by the application service provider 902 for the XR media service.

[0221] Although FIG. 9 illustrates one example procedure for Managing PDUs in an NG-RAN based on UE Application Adaptation 900, various changes may be made to FIG. 9. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 9 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0222] In the embodiment of FIG. 9, network adaptation of PDUSet delivery may be based on configuration information from the Application service provider to operator network functions. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, it is possible that information such as catch up time to request for new adaptation / representation may be provided by the UE to operator network functions and / or NG-RAN, similar as shown in FIG. 10.

[0223] FIG. 10 illustrates an example procedure for managing PDUs in an NG-RAN based on UE application adaptation feedback 1000 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 10 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 10 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for managing PDUs in an NG-RAN based on UE application adaptation feedback could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0224] In the example of FIG. 10, it is assumed that an XR media streaming service is configured by the application service provider 1002 at the Application Function 1004, and the Application Function 1004 has informed the network operator of the XR session configuration information. Further, the network operator functions 1006 have provided QoS policies including PDUSet QoS parameters (for example, similar as specified in 3GPP TS 23.501) to NG-RAN 1010 and / or UPF 1008, similar as described herein.

[0225] The procedure 1000 may begin at step 10-1. At step 10-1, a UE application (i.e., of UE 1014) may retrieve the XR media service configuration information from the Application Function 1004 (e.g., using the ServiceAccessConfiguration procedure similar as specified in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0226] At step 10-2, based on the service configuration information (e.g., types of available adaptations / representations, media types, codec type etc.), the UE 1014 may know the sizes of application buffers, and therefore may have information about catch_up_time for XR media service, and / or for each of the XR media service flows. The UE 1014 may provide such catch_up_time information to the Application Function 1004 (for example using the M5 interface similar as specified in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0227] At step 10-3, the Application Function 1004 may share the catch_up_time information it receives from the UE 1014 to the network operator functions 1006 similar as described herein by performing an XR session update procedure.

[0228] At step 10-4, the network components 1006 (e.g., the PCF) may generate updated QoS policies (e.g., PDUSet QoS parameters similar specified in 3GPP TS 23.501 and TS 23.502) and share them with the SMF, which in turn may share the policy information at the UPF 1008 and NG-RAN 1010 for the XRM traffic. As part of this configuration, the NG-RAN 1010 and / or UPF 1008 may be informed of the UE application catch_up_time.

[0229] At step 10-5, the application service provider 1002 may ingest XRM service content into the operator network. Application PDUSets may be transmitted between the Application Server 1012 and the UE 1014. The operator network functions such as UPF 1008 and NG-RAN 1010 may perform the policies and procedures configured by network components 1006 (i.e., the PCF via the SMF) on the above PDUSet traffic.

[0230] Sometime later, at step 10-6, when the operator network functions 1006 and / or NG-RAN 1010 see a change in network performance (e.g., network performance has gone down), the operator network functions 1006 and / or NG-RAN 1010 may know that the UE application is going to shortly request for lower quality representations. At this stage, if the NG-RAN 1010 sees that it is currently in the middle of transporting PDUs of a PDUSet, the NG-RAN 1010 may decide to drop the remaining PDUs as the UE 1014 is going to request for PDUs with lower quality representation. Alternatively, if the network performance has increased, the NG-RAN 1010 may perform dropping of PDUs in the PDUSet delivering the current quality as it expects the UE 1014 to request higher quality representations / adaptations.

[0231] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the operator network functions 1006 and / or NG-RAN 1010 may actually delay the process of dropping of PDUs in the PDUSet of current quality based on the configured catch_up_time configuration information it received from other operator network functions. The UE application may include this catch_up_time information in an RTP header and send it to UPF 1008. The UPF 1008 may run a RTP proxy, in which case it may read the catch_up_time information. The UPF 1008 may in-turn share this information with NG-RAN 1010 and / or other 5G System network functions 1006. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the fraction scalar can also be configured by the application service provider 1002 for the XR media service.

[0232] Although FIG. 10 illustrates one example procedure for managing PDUs in an NG-RAN based on UE application adaptation feedback 1000, various changes may be made to FIG. 10. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 10 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0233] In the embodiment of FIG. 10, network adaptation of PDUSet delivery may be based on UE feedback at the application layer. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a similar procedure may use the services of the network and physical layer, similar as shown in FIG. 11.

[0234] FIG. 11 illustrates an example procedure for managing PDUs in an NG-RAN based on UE application adaptation feedback at the network / physical layer 1100 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 11 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 11 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for managing PDUs in an NG-RAN based on UE application adaptation feedback at the network / physical layer could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0235] In the example of FIG. 11, it is assumed that an XR media streaming service is configured by the application service provider 1102 at the Application Function 1104, and the Application Function 1104 has informed the network operator of XR session configuration information. Further, the network operator functions 1106 have provided QoS policies including PDUSet QoS parameters (for example, similar as specified in 3GPP TS 23.501) to NG-RAN 1110 and / or UPF 1108, similar as described herein.

[0236] The procedure 1100 may begin at step 11-1. At step 11-1, a UE application (i.e., of UE 1114) may retrieve the XR media service configuration information from the Application Function 1104 (e.g., using the ServiceAccessConfiguration procedure similar as specified in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0237] At step 11-2, based on the service configuration information (e.g., types of available adaptations / representations, media types, codec type etc.), the UE 1114 may know the sizes of application buffers, and therefore may have information about catch_up_time for the XR media service, and / or for each of the XR media service flows. The UE 1114 may provide the catch_up_time information to the following entities:

[0238] a. To the NG-RAN 1110, for example using the outbound GTP packet header. The NG-RAN 1110 may in-turn forward this information to the UPF 1108 and / or other 5G System network functions 1106.

[0239] b. To the UPF 1108, for example using UDP Options inside the UDP header. The UE application may include this catch_up_time information in UDP header and send it to UPF 1108. The UPF 1108 may run a UDP proxy, in which case it may read the catch_up_time information. The UPF 1108 may in-turn share this information with NG-RAN 1110 and / or other 5G System network functions 1106.

[0240] c. To the UPF 1108, for example using RTP Header Extensions. The UE application may include this catch_up_time information in RTP header and send it to UPF 1108. The UPF 1108 may run a RTP proxy, in which case it may read the catch_up_time information. The UPF 1108 may in-turn share this information with NG-RAN 1110 and / or other 5G System network functions 1106.

[0241] d. To the UPF 1108, for example using QUIC protocol headers. The UE application may include this catch_up_time information in QUIC header and send it to UPF 1108. The UPF 1108 may run a QUIC proxy, in which case it may read the catch_up_time information. The UPF 1108 may in-turn share this information with NG-RAN 1110 and / or other 5G System network functions 1106.

[0242] In all the above cases, the operator network functions may infer updated QoS policies and share them with NG-RAN 1110 and / or UPF 1108 (e.g., using existing procedures similar as specified in 3GPP TS 23.501 and TS 23.502).

[0243] At step 11-3, the application service provider 1102 may ingest XRM service content into the operator network. Application PDUSets may be transmitted between the Application Server 1112 and the UE 1114. The operator network functions such as UPF 1108 and NG-RAN 1110 may perform the policies and procedures configured by network components 1106 (i.e., the PCF via the SMF) on the above PDUSet traffic.

[0244] Sometime later, at step 11-4, when the operator network functions 1106 and / or NG-RAN 1110 see a change in network performance (e.g., the network performance has gone down), the operator network functions 1106 and / or NG-RAN 1110 may know that the UE application is going to shortly request for lower quality representations. At this stage, if the NG-RAN 1110 sees that it is currently in the middle of transporting PDUs of a PDUSet, the NG-RAN 1110 may decide to drop the remaining PDUs as the UE 1114 is going to request for PDUs with lower quality representation. Alternatively, if the network performance has increased, the NG-RAN 1110 may perform dropping of PDUs in the PDUSet delivering the current quality as it expects the UE 1114 to request higher quality representations / adaptations.

[0245] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the operator network functions 1106 and / or NG-RAN 1110 may actually delay the process of dropping of PDUs in a PDUSet of current quality based on the configured catch_up_time configuration information it received from other operator network functions. This delay time may be equal to the configured catch_up_time, or a fraction of the catch_up_time where the fraction is a scalar value that is configured by the 5G System components. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the fraction scalar can also be configured by the application service provider 11102 for the XR media service.

[0246] Although FIG. 11 illustrates one example procedure for managing PDUs in an NG-RAN based on UE application adaptation feedback at the network / physical layer 1100, various changes may be made to FIG. 11. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 11 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0247] The embodiment of FIG. 11 may be a procedure for saving radio resources in NG-RAN and / or power savings in the network and / or the UE during XRM delivery procedures. In FIG. 12, an embodiment of a similar procedure may be shown, but the UE feedback may be delivered via network / physical layer signaling.

[0248] FIG. 12 illustrates an example procedure for radio resource and power savings based on feedback from a UE 1200 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 12 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 12 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for radio resource and power savings based on feedback from a UE could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0249] In the example of FIG. 12, the procedure 1200 may begin at step 12-1. At step 12-1, an application service provider 1202 may enable a "suspend_for_savings" boolean flag in the service configuration information similar as described herein.

[0250] At step 12-2, a UE application (i.e., of UE 1214) may retrieve the XRM service configuration information from the Application Function 1204 (for example, using the M5 interface similar specified in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0251] At step 12-3, the UE 1214 may receive XRM media content from the application server 1208. Since enough radio bearer resources were setup in Step 12-2, the initial XRM content may be delivered to the UE 1214.

[0252] At step 12-4, the UE 1214 and / or the application of the UE 1214 may inform the following entities that it is done with initial content fetch, and enough content may be buffered in the UE application buffer.

[0253] ㆍ To the NG-RAN 1212, for example using the outbound GTP packet header. The NG-RAN 1212 may in-turn forward this information to the UPF 1210 and / or other 5G System network functions 1206.

[0254] ㆍ To the UPF 1210 , for example using UDP Options inside the UDP header. The UE application may include this catch_up_time information in UDP header and send it to UPF 1210. The UPF 1210 may run a UDP proxy, in which case it may read the catch_up_time information. The UPF 1210 may in-turn share this information with NG-RAN 1212 and / or other 5G System network functions 1206.

[0255] ㆍ To the UPF 1210, for example using RTP Header Extensions. The UE application may include this catch_up_time information in RTP header and send it to UPF 1210. The UPF 1210 may run a RTP proxy, in which case it may read the catch_up_time information. The UPF 1210 may in-turn share this information with NG-RAN 1212 and / or other 5G System network functions 1206.

[0256] ㆍ To the UPF 1210, for example using QUIC protocol headers. The UE application may include this catch_up_time information in QUIC header and send it to UPF 1210. The UPF 1210 may run a QUIC proxy, in which case it may read the catch_up_time information. The UPF 1210 may in-turn share this information with NG-RAN 1212 and / or other 5G System network functions 1206.

[0257] At step 12-5, based on the above information from NG-RAN 1212 and / or UPF 1210, the network operator functions 1206 may suspend radio resources allocated to the UE 1214 by requesting NG-RAN 1212 and UPF 1210 to initiate such procedures. When the NG-RAN 1212 receives this information, it may suspend the radio resources allocated to the UE 1214. Alternatively, the NG-RAN 1212 may initiate power saving schemes (for example, similar as described in 3GPP TS 23.501 and TR 23.700-70). Optionally, the network operator functions 1206 may also include a flag called "activate-upon-new-media" to signal to the NG-RAN 1212 that if it sees new media content for this service, then it is to re-activate the radio resources or stop the power saving schemes.

[0258] After some time, at step 12-6, when the new media content of XRM service reaches the NG-RAN 1212 (e.g., when a new PDUSet is received by NG-RAN 1212), the NG-RAN 1212 may reactivate the radio resources, so the UE 1214 continues to receive new media content for the XRM service.

[0259] Although FIG. 12 illustrates one example procedure for radio resource and power savings based on feedback from a UE 1200, various changes may be made to FIG. 12. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 12 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0260] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, procedures for XRM service configuration from the application service provider to the operator network as described herein can be extended by including the information in Table 2. This information can then share to different network components in a network (such as a 5G network) to help with resource management (for example, in an NG-RAN) while managing XR media traffic.

[0261] Table 2: Additional XRM Service Configuration Information

[0262]

[0263]

[0264] Some embodiments described herein may provide procedures for XRM service configuration where downlink and uplink throughput and required bandwidth values a configured / provisioned separately for initial content fetch and for post initial content fetch. Alternatively, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, instead of configuring / provisioning separate values, the Application service provider may only configure aggregate values. In embodiments such as these, the Application service provider may configure the following parameters (for example using the M1 interface similar as specified in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510) described previously herein:

[0265] ㆍ min / avg / max service_aggregate_throughput_DL

[0266] ㆍ min / avg / max service_aggregate_throughput_UL

[0267] ㆍ min / avg / max service_aggregate_bandwdth_required_DL

[0268] ㆍ min / avg / max service_aggregate_bandwidth_required_UL

[0269] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, in addition to the above throughput and bandwidth required parameters, the application service provider may also separately configure bit rate requirements in the downlink and uplink direction.

[0270] In traditional media streaming, and XR streaming use cases, it may be often observed that clients receive content at a higher bit rate or throughput for an initial time period. Then the clients may wait for some time to request next set of contents. A pattern can be seen here where after an initial content transfer, content may be requested and received by the client in application bursts. There can be a periodicity associated with the burst (i.e., media content is received as a burst after every few milli seconds or seconds). There can also be a burst interval (i.e., the amount of time for each burst.) According to an embodiment of the disclosure, all of this information may be used for resource saving and power saving schemes, similar shown in FIG. 13.

[0271] FIG. 13 illustrates an example procedure for radio resource and power savings in an NG-RAN and a UE based on application traffic characteristics 1300 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 13 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 13 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for radio resource and power savings in an NG-RAN and a UE based on application traffic characteristics could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0272] In the example of FIG. 13, the procedure 1300 may begin at step 13-1. At step 13-1, an application service provider 1302 may be aware of an amount of initial_content_fetch times for different applications on different UEs (e.g., UE 1314) in the operator network and configure those parameters as described herein. Along with the initial content fetch time, the application service provider 1302 may also enable a "suspend_for_savings" boolean flag in the service configuration information. In addition, the application service provider 1302 may also include burst configuration information. The following information may be configured as part of the burst configuration information:

[0273] ㆍ burst_periodicity_post_initial_content_fetch: The periodicity with which application content bursts may be expected to be seen by the data forwarding entities such as the UPF 1308 and NG-RAN 1310 nodes. Maximum / minimum / average values for this parameter may be configured by the application service provider in this procedure.

[0274] ㆍ burst_samples: Number of bursts based on which the other burst configuration parameters may be approximated or computed against.

[0275] ㆍ burst_interval or burst_size: Time period for each burst. Application service provider may configure maximum / average / minimum values of this parameter based on 'burst_samples' number of bursts.

[0276] ㆍ service_burst_bandwdth_required_DL: Bandwidth required in the downlink direction for application content burst. Maximum / minimum / average values for this parameter may be configured by the application service provider in this procedure.

[0277] ㆍ service_burst_bandwdth_required_UL: Bandwidth required in the uplink direction for application content burst. Maximum / minimum / average values for this parameter may be configured by the application service provider in this procedure.

[0278] Based on the received XRM service configuration information including the initial_content_fetch, suspend_savings, and burst_configuration information, the Application Function 1304 may provide these details to the other network functions 1306 (e.g., PCF) as described herein. The PCF and other network entities 1306, may then provide content processing policies and share with UPF 1308 and NG-RAN 1310 as described earlier in other embodiments. NG-RAN 1310 and UPF 1308 may perform radio and core network resource allocation as described herein.

[0279] At step 13-2 the UE application (i.e., of UE 1314) may retrieve the XRM service configuration information from the Application Function 1304 using the M5 interface (for example, as specified in TS 26.501 and TS 26.510 as described herein).

[0280] At step 13-3, the UE 1314 may receive XRM media content from the Application server 1312. Since enough radio bearer resources were setup in step 13-1 above, the initial XRM content may be delivered to the UE 1314.

[0281] At step 13-4, the UE 1314 and / or the application of the UE 1314 may inform the Application Function 1304 that it is done with initial content fetch, and enough content is buffered in the UE 1314 application buffer. To provide this information, the UE 1314 and / or the UE application may use the M5 interface (for example, as specified in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0282] At step 13-5, the Application Function 1304 may perform an update of the XRM service configuration at the network operator functions 1306 to indicate that the initial content fetch is complete, and it may be some time before radio resources are necessary to transmit XRM content to the end user. The Application Function 1304 may recommend the network operator functions such as NG-RAN 1310 to suspend radio resources allocated to the UE 1314. Furthermore, the Application Function 1304 may also send the burst_configuration information if it did not send the burst_configuration as described in Step-1 above.

[0283] At step 13-6, based on the above information from the Application Function 1304, the network operator functions 1306 may suspend radio resources allocated to the UE 1314 by requesting NG-RAN 1310 and UPF 1308 to initiate procedures such as the resource savings and power savings described herein. When the NG-RAN 1310 receives this information, it may suspend the radio resources allocated to the UE 1314. Alternatively, the NG-RAN 1310 may initiate power saving schemes (for example, similar as described in 3GPP TS 23.501 and TR 23.700-70). Optionally, the network operator functions 1306 may also include a flag called "activate-upon-new-media" to signal to NG-RAN 1310 that if it sees new media content for this service, then it is to re-activate the radio resources or stop the power saving schemes. In addition, the network functions 1306 may send updated media content processing policies based on the burst_configuration information they received from the Application Function 1304. The network functions 1306 may request UPF 1308 and NG-RAN 1310 to allocate required resources based on the burst parameters.

[0284] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, if the network functions 1306 provide burst periodicity information, NG-RAN 1310 may perform procedures to activate radio bearers during an upcoming burst. For example, NG-RAN 1310 may use the burst periodicity information, burst_samples, and burst_interval to estimate the time period to the next burst from the time the previous burst was observed. When the time period was computed, NG-RAN 1310 may then compute the time left before the burst is expected. Based on this, NG-RAN 1310 may de-activate the radio resources for the amount of time still left to the next application burst. When the time for next expected burst is reached, the NG-RAN 1310 may re-activate radio resources. The NG-RAN 1310 may follow similar computations to activate and de-activate power saving schemes as described herein in other embodiments.

[0285] At step 13-7, when the media content of the XRM service reaches the NG-RAN 1310 (e.g., when a new PDUSet is received by NG-RAN 1310), an application burst may be observed, and the NG-RAN 1310 may have radio resources allocated so the UE 1314 continues to receive new media content for the XRM service. When the transfer of the burst is complete, NG-RAN 1310 may de-activate radio resources or start the power saving schemes as described herein until the next burst based on the received burst parameters.

[0286] The activation and de-activation of radio resources by NG-RAN 1310, and / or the power saving schemes may repeat based on the burst configuration parameters received above.

[0287] Although FIG. 13 illustrates one example procedure for radio resource and power savings in an NG-RAN and a UE based on application traffic characteristics 1300, various changes may be made to FIG. 13. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 13 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0288] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a UE may request a temporary boost in network throughput for the application session from a network apparatus entity (e.g., the 5G Media Streaming Application Function, referred to here as AF) (for example, similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.401 and TS 26.512). The AF may then facilitate delivery of application traffic at a higher pace to satisfy the UE client's request for a temporary boost. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, this network boost procedure may accommodate traffic characteristics of XRM data to facilitate a temporary boost in XRM traffic delivery, similar as shown in FIG. 14.

[0289] FIG. 14 illustrates an example procedure for a temporary service boost for XRM service 1400 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 14 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 14 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for a temporary service boost for XRM service could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0290] In the example of FIG. 14, the procedure 1400 may begin at step 14-1. At step 14-1, an application service provider 1402 may perform service configuration for XRM service at the Application Function 1404 similar as described herein. Based on the configured service information, the AF 1404 may interact with other network functions 1406 such as a PCF, NEF, etc., to facilitate the QoS required for XRM service content delivery. The network functions 1406 may then inform data forwarding entities in the core network and radio network such as UPF 1408 and NG-RAN 1410 to facilitate QoS of the XRM service similar as described herein.

[0291] At step 14-2, after the XRM service configuration in the operator network, the application service provider 1402 may ingest XRM service content (e.g., using the M2 interface similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510). The ingested content may be then delivered to the UE 1414 (e.g., using the M4 interface similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.512).

[0292] After some time, at step 14-3, the UE 1414, or the client app on the UE 1414, may notice that it is not able to keep up with the consumption rate of the media content at the UE application (e.g., using buffer status information of different media components and the rate at which they are being consumed by the application on the UE). The UE 1414, or the UE client application, may request a temporary service boost (network boost) (e.g., using the M5 procedure similar as describe in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510). However, the existing M5 procedure for network boost may not include enough information for the AF 1404 to make informed decisions about XR data processing. To overcome this limitation, the network boost procedure of FIG. 14 may include at least one of the parameters in Table 3 in the request from the UE 1414 to the AF 1404.

[0293] Table 3: XRM Service Boost Information

[0294]

[0295] At step 14-4, based on the above request received from the UE 1414, the AF 1404 may then infer the delivery parameters to satisfy network boost request from the UE application. The delivery parameters could be one or more of the parameters from Table 4.

[0296] Table 4: Network Boost Delivery Parameters

[0297]

[0298] At step 14-5, based on the service / session update from the AF 1404, the network operator functions 1406 may derive updated QoS rules and inform them to the NG-RAN 1410 and / or UPF 1408 similar as described herein. The network functions 1406 may also inform NG-RAN 1410 and / or UPF 1408 of derived delivery parameters in step 14-4 to NG-RAN 1410 and / or UPF 1408 similar as described herein.

[0299] At step 14-6, the NG-RAN 1410 and / or UPF 1408 may perform radio resource management and power savings procedures similar as described herein based on information or delivery parameters received from the network functions 1406.

[0300] Although FIG. 14 illustrates one example procedure for a temporary service boost for XRM service 1400, various changes may be made to FIG. 14. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 14 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0301] In the embodiment of FIG. 13, resource savings in an NG-RAN and UE throughout the application session are based on application traffic characteristics. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a similar procedure may use the burst parameters received from the UE as opposed to the application service provider, similar as shown in FIG. 15.

[0302] FIG. 15 illustrates an example procedure for radio resource and power savings in an NG-RAN and UE based on application burst configuration and UE feedback 1500 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 15 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 15 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for radio resource and power savings in an NG-RAN and UE based on application burst configuration and UE feedback could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0303] In the example of FIG. 15, the procedure 1500 may begin at step 15-1. At step 15-1, an application service provider 1502 may be aware of amount of initial_content_fetch times for different applications on different UEs (e.g., UE 1514) in the operator network and configure those parameters as described herein. Along with the initial content fetch time, the application service provider 1502 may also enable a "suspend_for_savings" boolean flag in the service configuration information. Based on the received XRM service configuration information including the initial_content_fetch and suspend_savings, the Application Function 1504 may provide these details to the other network functions 1506 (e.g., a PCF) as described herein. The PCF and other network entities 1506 may then provide content processing policies and share with UPF 1508 and NG-RAN 1510 as described herein. NG-RAN 1510 and UPF 1508 may perform radio and core network resource allocation as described herein.

[0304] At step 15-2, the UE application (of UE 1514) may retrieve the XRM service configuration information from the Application Function 1504 (e.g., using the M5 interface similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0305] At step 15-3, the UE 1514 may receive XRM media content from the Application server 1512. Since enough radio bearer resources were setup in Step 14-1, the initial XRM content may be delivered to the UE 1514.

[0306] At step 15-4, the UE 1514 and / or the application of the UE 1514 may inform the Application Function 1504 that it has completed the initial content fetch, and enough content is buffered in the UE application buffer. To provide this information, the UE 1514 and / or the UE application may use the M5 interface (e.g., similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510). The UE 1514 may also send application burst information to the Application Function 1504. The burst information may include the following information:

[0307] ㆍ burst_periodicity_post_initial_content_fetch: The periodicity with which application content bursts are observed. Maximum / minimum / average values for this parameter may be sent to the Application in this procedure.

[0308] ㆍ burst_samples: Number of bursts based on which the other burst parameters may be approximated or computed against.

[0309] ㆍ burst_interval: Time period for each burst. UE 1514 may provide maximum / average / minimum values of this parameter based on 'burst_samples' number of bursts.

[0310] ㆍ service_burst_bandwdth_required_DL: Bandwidth required in the downlink direction for application content burst. Maximum / minimum / average values for this parameter may be provided by the UE 1514 or UE application in this procedure.

[0311] ㆍ service_burst_bandwdth_required_UL: Bandwidth required in the uplink direction for application content burst. Maximum / minimum / average values for this parameter may be provided by the UE 1514 or UE application in this procedure.

[0312] At step 15-5, the Application Function 1504 may perform an update of the XRM service configuration at the network operator functions 1506 to indicate that the initial content fetch is complete, and it may be some time before radio resources are necessary to transmit XRM content to the end user (UE 1514). The Application Function 1504 may recommend the network operator functions such as NG-RAN 1510 to suspend radio resources allocated to the UE 1514. Further, the Application Function 1504 may also send the burst related information it received from the UE 1514 to other network functions.

[0313] At step 15-6, based on the above information from the Application Function 1504, the network operator functions 1506 may suspend radio resources allocated to the UE 1514 by requesting NG-RAN 1510 and UPF 1508 to initiate resource savings and power saving procedures. When the NG-RAN 1510 receives this information, it may suspend the radio resources allocated to the UE 1514. Alternatively, the NG-RAN 1510 may initiate power saving schemes (e.g., similar as described in 3GPP TS 23.501 and TR 23.700-70). Optionally, the network operator functions 1506 may also include a flag called "activate-upon-new-media" to signal to the NG-RAN 1510 that if it sees new media content for this service, then it may be to re-activate the radio resources or stop the power saving schemes. In addition, the network functions 1506 may send updated media content processing policies based on the burst related information they received from the Application Function 1504. The network functions 1506 may request UPF 1508 and NG-RAN 1510 to allocate required resources based on the burst parameters.

[0314] If the network functions 1506 provide burst periodicity information, NG-RAN 1510 may perform procedures to activate radio bearers during upcoming burst. For example, NG-RAN 1510 may use the burst periodicity information, burst_samples, and burst_interval to estimate the time period to the next burst from the time the previous burst was observed. When the time period is computed, NG-RAN 1510 may then compute the time left before the burst is expected. Based on this, NG-RAN 1510 may de-activate the radio resources for the amount of time still left to the next application burst. When the time for next expected burst is reached, the NG-RAN 1510 may re-activate radio resources. NG-RAN 1510 may follow similar computations to activate and de-activate power saving schemes as described herein.

[0315] At step 15-7, when the media content of the XRM service reaches the NG-RAN 1510 (e.g., when a new PDUSet is received by NG-RAN 1510), an application burst may be observed, and the NG-RAN 1510 may have radio resources allocated so the UE 1514 continues to receive new media content for the XRM service. When the transfer of burst is complete, NG-RAN 1510 may de-activate radio resources or start the power saving schemes similar as described herein until the next burst based on the received burst parameters.

[0316] The activation and de-activation of radio resources by NG-RAN 1510, and / or the power saving schemes may repeat based on the burst configuration parameters received above.

[0317] Although FIG. 15 illustrates one example procedure for radio resource and power savings in an NG-RAN and UE based on application burst configuration and UE feedback 1500, various changes may be made to FIG. 15. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 15 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0318] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, traffic distribution functions may be used in a procedure for resource savings in an NG-RAN and UE, similar as shown in FIG. 16.

[0319] FIG. 16 illustrates an example procedure for radio resource and power savings in an NG-RAN and UE based on traffic distribution information 1600 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 16 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 16 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for radio resource and power savings in an NG-RAN and UE based on traffic distribution information could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0320] In the example of FIG. 16, the procedure 1600 may begin at step 16-1. At step 16-1, an application service provider 1602 may be aware of traffic distribution at the source. For example, the application service provider 1602 may do traffic modeling to infer the traffic distribution information of the content it intends to ingest into the 5G network for the XRM service. The application service provider 1602 may configure XRM service configuration information at the Application Function 1604 in the operator network as described herein. As part of the service configuration information, the Application service provider 1602 may include the traffic distribution function information.

[0321] The traffic distribution function may be modeled using a Probability Distribution Function (PDF) where for the PDF f(x,y), given an input parameter x representing the elapsed time for the service since the service begin time and time duration y, may generate the following information:

[0322] ㆍ Expected time stamps for upcoming PDUSets for the application service within time duration y.

[0323] ㆍ Expected inter-arrival packet time stamps within time duration y.

[0324] ㆍ Expected burst periodicity in application traffic within time duration y.

[0325] ㆍ Expected burst interval times within time duration y.

[0326] ㆍ Any other traffic characteristics information described herein.

[0327] At step 16-2, when the Application Function 1604 receives the XRM service configuration information with the above traffic distribution function, it may parse the request and derive expected traffic distribution information. The Application Function 1604 may inform the 5G system network functions 1606 about the above traffic distribution information.

[0328] At step 16-3, the network components 1606 (e.g., the PCF) may generate updated QoS policies to cater to the expected traffic distribution, and share them with the other network components 1606 (e.g., SMF), which in turn may share the policy information at the UPF 1608 and NG-RAN 1610 for the XRM traffic. As part of this configuration, the NG-RAN 1610 and / or UPF 1608 may be informed of the derived traffic distribution information. Optionally, the NG-RAN 1610 and / or the UPF 1608 may be informed of the traffic distribution PDF that may assist NG-RAN 1610 and / or UPF 1608 to derive traffic distribution information themselves.

[0329] At step 16-4, the UE application (of UE 1614) may retrieve the XR media service configuration information from the Application Function 1604 (e.g., using the ServiceAccessConfiguration procedure similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0330] After the XRM service provisioning, at step 16-5, the Application Service Provider 1602 may ingest XRM service content into the operator network. Application PDUSets may be transmitted between the Application Server 1612 and the UE 1614. The operator network functions such as UPF 1608 and NG-RAN 1610 may perform the policies and procedures configured by the network functions 1606 (i.e., the PCF via the SMF) on the above PDUSet traffic.

[0331] Based on the configured traffic distribution function, at step 16-6, when NG-RAN 1610 and / or UPF 1608 start seeing traffic of the application service, they may use the configured traffic distribution function to derive traffic characteristics information such as inter-arrival time, expected bursts for upcoming PDUSets, burst periodicities, burst interval times etc. as defined in earlier steps. When NG-RAN 1610 derives traffic characteristics information, and notices that it may be some time before the application traffic is again observed for the service, it may perform radio resource management or power saving schemes as described herein.

[0332] Although FIG. 16 illustrates one example procedure for radio resource and power savings in an NG-RAN and UE based on traffic distribution information 1600, various changes may be made to FIG. 16. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 16 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0333] When an external XR application service provider provides an XR service, and if a mobile user is interested in consuming that XR service, the user may connect / tether one or more XR companion devices to the UE to augment the XR application experience to the end user. Examples of such XR companion devices include Head Mounted Displays (HMDs), gloves and backpacks (for haptic signals), and displays for 3D rendering. For a fully functional experience of XR applications, all aspects related to management of such XR companion devices should be addressed.

[0334] The tethering of XR tethered devices to the tethering UE may happen using any communication technologies (wired connectivity, WIFI, Bluetooth etc.) depending on the capabilities of those tethered XR devices. Different connectivity technologies bring different features and challenges, and also have different QoS characteristics. So, when the UE is involved in an XR session, the QoS implications due to each different type of XR companion device could be different because of its capabilities, and the capabilities of the tether link.

[0335] One of the problems with using tethered devices in an application session may be that these devices come with a varied set of capabilities and QoS guarantees. Some of these tethered devices may be limited power devices where all the content processing happens outside the tethered device, while some tethered devices have complex content processing capabilities. So, methods and solutions have to be defined to facilitate content management at all levels. Existing media streaming solutions may focus on delivering content destined to one or more of these tethered devices from the network to the UE. Because of the nature of these tethered devices, and the real-time nature of application services, it may be sometimes feasible that content management is performed locally on the connected UE. Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide mechanisms for management of content destined to tethered devices connected to a UE given their current QoS and energy conditions.

[0336] As described herein, a tethered device behind a UE may be referred to as an XRM device or a tethered device, and the UE may be referred to as a tethering UE.

[0337] FIG. 17 illustrates an example of tethered devices behind a UE for XRM services 1700 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The embodiment of tethered devices behind a UE for XRM services of FIG. 17 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of tethered devices behind a UE for XRM services could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0338] In the example of FIG. 17, an overall connectivity architecture of different components in a 5G system is shown. This may include the following:

[0339] ㆍ One or more XRM devices 1702 may be tethered to a UE 1704. These devices communicate with the UE 1704 using a tethered link of different types and characteristics.

[0340] ㆍ The tethering UE 1704 may be connected to the 5G network 1706 using the traditional 5G RAN communication link 1708.

[0341] ㆍ The Application Function 1710 shown as part of the 5G core network 1706 could the 5GMS Application Function from 3GPP TR 26.501.

[0342] ㆍ The XRM Application Service Provider 1712 shown in FIG. 17 could be the 5GMS Application Provider from 3GPP TR 26.501 and that is providing XRM services to subscribed users.

[0343] Although FIG. 17 illustrates one example tethered devices behind a UE for XRM services 1700, various changes may be made to FIG. 17. For example, various changes to the number of tethered devices could be made, etc., according to particular needs.

[0344] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a tethering agent in a UE may manage one or more tethered devices behind the UE, similar as shown in FIG. 18.

[0345] FIG. 18 illustrates an example tethering agent in a UE managing tethered devices 1800 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The embodiment of a tethering agent of FIG. 18 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of a tethering agent could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0346] In the example of FIG. 18, two tethered devices 1802 and 1804 (XRM device A and XRM device B) may be connected to the UE 1806 using two different tethered links (communication links). The two types of tethered links may be of differing types. So, each link may exhibit different characteristics. The tethering agent 1808 of the UE 1806 may manage the tethered devices 1802 and 1804.

[0347] Although the example of FIG. 18 illustrates a connection of two tethered devices using two different tethered link types to the UE 1806, the procedures and functionalities described herein may be applicable for multiple tethered devices and multiple tethered link types.

[0348] Although FIG. 18 illustrates one example tethering agent in a UE managing tethered devices 1800, various changes may be made to FIG. 18. For example, various changes to the number of tethered devices could be made, etc., according to particular needs.

[0349] The disclosure may define the concept of a Client Tethered QoS Specification as a representation of QoS specifications given the QoS characteristics of all tethered devices and tethered links attached to the tethering UE.

[0350] To define the Client Tethered QoS Specification, an individual tethered QoS specification may be defined in the disclosure as the collection of all current QoS parameters pertaining to a single tethered device and the connecting tethered link. For example, in the example of FIG. 18, there are two individual tethered QoS specifications, one for each of tethered device 1802 [XRM device A, Tethered Link A] and 1804 [XRM device B, Tethered Link B] tether connections. An individual QoS specification may represent the QoS parameters of Table 5 in the collection.

[0351] Table 5: Individual Tethered QoS parameters

[0352]

[0353]

[0354] Given the one or more individual tethered QoS specifications, a Client Tethered QoS specification can be of the structure of Table 6.

[0355] Table 6: Client Tethered QoS parameters

[0356]

[0357] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, tethered device data management given current QoS conditions using may be similar as shown in FIG. 19.

[0358] FIG. 19 illustrates an example procedure for tethered device data management based on current QoS 1900 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 19 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 19 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for tethered device data management based on current QoS could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0359] The example of FIG. 19 may show a schematic of the tethered device data management given the current QoS using the facilities described herein.

[0360] In the example of FIG. 19, the procedure 1900 may begin at step 19-1. At step 19-1, An XRM Application Service provider 1902 may perform a session and service management at the Application Function 1904 (e.g., similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0361] At step 19-2, each XRM tethered device 1906 connected to a tethering UE 1908 may transmit individual tethered QoS specification to the Tethering Agent 1910 in the UE 1908. The individual tethered QoS specification for each tethered device 1906 and tethered link may be as described herein.

[0362] At step 19-3, the Tethering Agent 1910 in the UE 1908, upon receiving one or more individual tethered QoS specifications from each of the connected tethered devices 1906, may generate the Client Tethered QoS specification as described herein.

[0363] At step 19-4, the generated Client Tethered QoS specification may be shared / uploaded to the Application Function 1904 in the core network.

[0364] At step 19-5, the Application Function 1904, based on the received Client Tethered QoS specification, and the configured service / session parameters by the XRM Application Service Provider 1902, may infer the desired tethering configuration across all the connected tethered devices. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the tethering configuration may have the information from Table 7.

[0365] Table 7: Tethering Configuration Information

[0366]

[0367] At step 19-6, the tethering configuration may be then sent to the Tethering Agent 1910 in the UE 1908.

[0368] At step 19-7, the Tethering Agent 1910, based on the received tethering configuration, may perform procedures as described herein.

[0369] Although FIG. 19 illustrates one example procedure for tethered device data management based on current QoS 1900, various changes may be made to FIG. 19. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 19 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0370] As described earlier herein, an Application Function, upon receiving a Client Tethered QoS specification, may generate a tethered configuration and send it to the Tethering Agent in a UE. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, one of the details included in the tethered configuration can be the synchronization information.

[0371] The synchronization information may instruct the Tethering Agent how to synchronize data streams across one or more of the connected tethered devices. It may be desirable for the Tethering Agent at the UE to perform synchronization due to the following reasons:

[0372] ㆍ It may be possible that the Application Function, or an Application Server (e.g., similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510) do not know that the UE is using one or more tethered devices.

[0373] ㆍ Alternatively, it may be possible that the Application Function or the Application Server prefer to send data streams to the UE irrespective of the tethering setup at the UE. In essence, the Application Function or the Application Server may send data streams in the same format as if there were no tethered devices connected to the tethering UE.

[0374] ㆍ If the data streams are sent to the UE in a multiplexed format, e.g., MPEG2TS different types of data streams may be multiplexed and sent together.

[0375] Note that in the case of separate streams for different tethered devices (e.g. if the data streams are sent in different RTP streams (e.g., with a different SSRC)), then individual streams can be sent to individual tethered devices.

[0376] To help with synchronization of data streams destined to different tethered devices, the information from Table 8 may be included in the synchronization configuration information sent from the Application Function to the tethering UE.

[0377] Table 8: Synchronization Information

[0378]

[0379] As described earlier herein, an Application Function, upon receiving a Client Tethered QoS specification, may generate a tethered configuration and send it to the Tethering Agent in the UE. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, one of the details included in the tethered configuration can be the data management notification information.

[0380] The data management notification information may provide notification to the tethering UE about how individual data streams destined to each of the tethered devices given the current QoS conditions of each of the tethered devices and the tethered links are managed. The information from Table 9 may be provided by the Application Function to the tethering UE. In addition to notifying the tethering UE, the Application Function may interact with an Application Server to influence delivery decisions of data streams destined to one or more of tethered devices at the tethering UE.

[0381] Table 9: Data Management Notification Information

[0382]

[0383]

[0384] In the embodiment of FIG. 19, the tethering UE may collect individual tethered QoS specifications of all tethered devices, prepare the Client Tethered QoS specification, and send it to the Application Function for synchronization and data management guidance. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, instead of the Application Function receiving the Client Tethered QoS specification to perform synchronization and data management decisions, the Application Function may equip the tethering UE to perform the same decisions locally at the UE as shown in FIG. 20.

[0385] FIG. 20 illustrates an example procedure for delegation of QoS management to a tethering UE 2000 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 20 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 20 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for delegation of QoS management to a tethering UE could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0386] In the example of FIG. 20, the procedure 2000 may begin at step 20-1. At step 20-1, an XRM Application Service provider 2002 may perform a session and service management at the Application Function 2004 (e.g., similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0387] At step 20-2, the tethering UE 2008 may inform the capabilities of tethered devices 2006 and tether links to the Application Function 2004 as described herein.

[0388] At step 20-3, the Application Function 2004 may provide QoS configuration information to manage QoS of data streams of one or more tethered devices 2006 to the tethering UE 2008. By providing this information, the Application Function 2004 may be delegating QoS management of tethered device traffic to the UE 2008.

[0389] At step 20-4, each XRM tethered device 2006 connected to a tethering UE 2008 may transmit an individual tethered QoS specification to the Tethering Agent 2010 in the UE 2008. The individual tethered QoS specification for each tethered device 2006 and tethered link may be described herein.

[0390] At step 20-5, the Tethering Agent 2010 in the UE 2008, upon receiving one or more individual tethered QoS specifications from each of the connected tethered devices 206, may perform a QoS management procedure as herein.

[0391] The QoS configuration information from the Application Function 2004 may help configure QoS parameters at each of the tethered devices 2006. To facilitate QoS configuration at each of the tethered devices 2006, any of the information from Table 10 may be provided by the Application Function 2004 to the tethering agent 2010 in the UE 2008.

[0392] Table 10: QoS Configuration Information

[0393]

[0394]

[0395]

[0396]

[0397]

[0398] Although FIG. 20 illustrates one example procedure for delegation of QoS management to a tethering UE 2000, various changes may be made to FIG. 20. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 20 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0399] FIG. 21 illustrates an example exposure of capabilities of tethered devices and tethered links to the network 2100 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The embodiment of exposure of capabilities of tethered devices and tethered links to the network of FIG. 21 is for illustration only. Different embodiments of an exposure of capabilities of tethered devices and tethered links to the network could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0400] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, conveying the QoS specification of the tethered devices behind the UE to the network may be based on received capabilities / capacities of the devices and the communication links between the UE 2102 and tethered devices 2104. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the UE 2102, behind which there may be one or more tethered XRM devices 2104, may inform a network apparatus 2106 (e.g., an Application Function in the core network) about the capabilities of the following:

[0401] ㆍ Capabilities of each of the one or more tethered XRM devices 2104

[0402] o Type of tethering device

[0403] o Device capabilities (features, processing etc.)

[0404] ㆍ Capabilities / capacities of the communication link between the tethered devices 2104 and the UE 2102. For example, the UE 2102 may inform the Application Function 2106 about

[0405] o Link bandwidth and / or link throughput

[0406] o Link bit rate (min / max / mean / aggregate)

[0407] o Link latency (min / max / avg)

[0408] o Link packet loss (min / max / avg)

[0409] o Jitter (min / max / avg)

[0410] o Etc.

[0411] The network apparatus entity 2106 (i.e. the Application Function) may in turn expose the capabilities of the XRM devices 2104 and the communication links between the UE 2102 and the tethered devices 2104 to the XRM Application Service Provider 2108 based on operator and user preferences.

[0412] Although FIG. 21 illustrates one example exposure of capabilities of tethered devices and tethered links to the network 2100, various changes may be made to FIG. 21. For example, various changes to the number of tethered devices could be made, etc., according to particular needs.

[0413] In the embodiment of FIG. 19, a tethering UE may collect individual tethered QoS specifications of all tethered devices, prepare the Client Tethered QoS specification, and send it to the Application Function for synchronization and data management guidance. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the Application Function may equip the tethering UE on the content preparation for one or more tethered devices as shown in FIG. 22.

[0414] FIG. 22 illustrates an example procedure for delegation of content preparation to a tethering UE 2200 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 22 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 22 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for delegation of content preparation to a tethering UE could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0415] In the example of FIG. 22, the procedure 2200 may begin at step 22-1. At step 22-1, an XRM Application Service provider 2202 may perform a session and service management at the Application Function 2204 (e.g., similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510). The XRM Application Service Provider 2202 may provision a content preparation template to instruct how the content is to be processed, updated, and distributed to the UE 2208.

[0416] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the type of processing that needs to be performed to the media streams before they are streamed to the end user devices can include the additional content preparation information element of Table 11 when the service details are provisioned in to the Application Function.

[0417] Table 11: Content Preparation Information Element

[0418]

[0419] At step 22-2, the tethering UE 2208 may inform the capabilities of tethered devices 2206 and tether links to the Application Function 2204 as described in herein. The capabilities of the one or more tethered devices 2206 connected to the UE 2208 may influence the type of content preparation that happens to the tethered device content.

[0420] At step 22-3, the Application Function 2204 may provide content preparation configuration information to manage content preparation of data streams of one or more tethered devices 2206 to the tethering UE 2208. By providing this information, the Application Function 2204 may be delegating content preparation of media streams destined to one or more tethered devices to the UE 2208.

[0421] At step 22-4, each XRM tethered device 2206 connected to a tethering UE 2208 may transmit individual tethered QoS specifications to the Tethering Agent 2210 in the UE 2208. The individual tethered QoS specifications for each tethered device 2206 and tethered link may be as described herein.

[0422] At step 22-5, the Tethering Agent 2210 in the UE 2208, upon receiving one or more individual tethered QoS specifications from each of the connected tethered devices 2206, may perform the content preparation procedure based on the configured content preparation configuration as described herein.

[0423] The content preparation configuration information from the Application Function 2204 may help process the content before it is sent to the connected tethered devices 2206. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, at least some of the information from Table 12 can be provided by the Application Function 2204 as part of the content preparation configuration information.

[0424] Table 12: Content Preparation Configuration Information

[0425]

[0426]

[0427]

[0428] Although FIG. 22 illustrates one example procedure for delegation of content preparation to a tethering UE 2200, various changes may be made to FIG. 22. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 22 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0429] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a tethering UE may collect individual tethered QoS specifications of all tethered devices, prepare the Client Tethered QoS specification, and send it to the Application Function for synchronization and data management guidance. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the Application Function may provision the UE with content hosting capabilities as shown in FIG. 23.

[0430] FIG. 23 illustrates an example procedure for content hosting of media data of different tethered devices 2300 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 23 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 23 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for content hosting of media data of different tethered devices could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0431] In the example of FIG. 23, the procedure 2300 may begin at step 23-1. At step 23-1, an XRM Application Service provider 2302 may perform a session and service management at the Application Function 2304 (e.g., similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510). The XRM Application Service Provider 2302 may provision a content hosting configuration to instruct how the content is to be hosted for distribution to one or more UEs.

[0432] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, content hosting capacity that needs to be provisioned in the network before the media data destined for one or more tethered devices 2306 in the UE 2308 are sent to the UE 208 may include the additional content hosting information element of Table 13 when the service details are provisioned in to the Application Function 2304.

[0433] Table 13: Content hosting information element

[0434]

[0435] As step 23-2, the tethering UE 2308 may inform the capabilities of tethered devices 2306 and tether links to the Application Function 2304 as described herein. The capabilities of one or more tethered devices 2306 connected to the UE 2308 may influence the type of content hosting that happens to the tethered device content.

[0436] At step 23-3, the Application Function 2304 may provide content hosting configuration information to manage content of data streams of one or more tethered devices 2306 to the tethering UE 2308. By providing this information, the Application Function 2304 may be delegating content hosting of media streams destined to one or more tethered devices 2306 of the UE 2308 to the UE 2308.

[0437] At step 23-4, each XRM tethered device 2306 connected to a tethering UE 2308 may transmit individual tethered QoS specifications to the Tethering Agent 2310 in the UE 2308. The individual tethered QoS specification for each tethered device 2306 and tethered link can be as described herein.

[0438] At step 23-4, the Tethering Agent 2310 in the UE 2308, upon receiving one or more individual tethered QoS specifications from each of the connected tethered devices 2306, may perform the content hosting procedure based on the configured content hosting configuration as described herein.

[0439] At step 23-5, the content hosting configuration information from the Application Function 2304 may help host the content in the UE 2308 before it is sent to the connected tethered devices 2306. At least some of the following information can provided by the Application Function 2304 as part of the content hosting configuration information.

[0440] Table 14: Content configuration information

[0441]

[0442]

[0443] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the rate adaptation at the UE 2308 for each of the tethered devices 2306 can be performed as follows:

[0444] 1. UE 2308 may receive the above content hosting configuration information with different media content types for each of the tethered devices 2306 from Application Function 2304 or Application Server.

[0445] 2. UE 2308 may check the current QoS conditions for data streams destined for each tethered device 2306. The QoS conditions for different QoS parameters such as packet loss, packet delay, packet jitter, bit rate etc. could be checked for each tethered device 2306.

[0446] 3. Based on the current observed QoS conditions, and the received content adaptation map, the UE 2308 can extract the unique media content identifier to send to the tethered device 2306 based on current QoS conditions of the tethered device 2306.

[0447] 4. Based on the extracted unique content encoding identifier, UE 2308 may extract the information of media stream it needs to send to the tethered device 2306. The UE 2308 may use this information to send the rate adapted media stream content to the tethered device 2306.

[0448] 5. The UE 2308 may constantly check the current QoS conditions to check if a different version of media content is to be sent to the tethered devices.

[0449] 6. The Application Function 2304 may provide an updated content hosting configuration to change the type of media content and QoS criteria to be sent to change how media content is sent to the tethered device 2306 from the hosted content on the UE 2308.

[0450] Optionally, each of the tethered devices 2306 may request content based on its own content adaptation algorithm. In this case, the UE 2308 may serve the content requested by the tethered device 2306.

[0451] Although FIG. 23 illustrates one example procedure for content hosting of media data of different tethered devices 2300, various changes may be made to FIG. 23. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 23 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0452] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the tethering UE may collect individual tethered QoS specifications of all tethered devices, prepare the Client Tethered QoS specification, and send it to the Application Function for synchronization and data management guidance. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the Application Function may provide content management guidance based on energy consumption at the UE and the tethered devices as described in FIG. 24.

[0453] FIG. 24 illustrates an example procedure for content management based on the energy status of tethered devices 2400 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 24 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 24 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for content management based on the energy status of tethered devices could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0454] In the example of FIG. 24, the procedure 2400 may begin at step 24-1. At step 24-1, an XRM Application Service provider 2402 may perform a session and service management at the Application Function 2404 (e.g., similar as described 3GPP in TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0455] At step 24-2, each XRM tethered device 2406 connected to the tethering UE 2408 may transmit its current energy status information to the Tethering Agent 2410 in the UE 2408.

[0456] The energy status information of each tethering device 2406 may include at least some of the information from Table 15.

[0457] Table 15: Current energy status information

[0458]

[0459] At step 24-3, the tethering agent 2410 in the UE 2408 may collect the energy status information of all the tethered devices 2406 and send it to the Application Function 2404 along with the capabilities of each of those tethered devices 2406 and the tethered links. The capabilities of tethered devices 2406 and tethered links can be as described herein.

[0460] At step 24-4, the Application Function 2404, based on the received energy status information and the detailed information about capabilities of tethered devices 2406 and tethered links, may provide content management configuration to the UE 2408. The details of the content management configuration can be as described herein.

[0461] At step 25-5, The tethering agent 2410 in the UE 2408, or the UE 2408 itself, may perform content management procedure as described in the embodiment.

[0462] As part of this procedure, the tethering UE 2408 may also optionally send the collection of individual tethered QoS specifications, or the generated Client tethered QoS specification described earlier, to the Application Function 2404.

[0463] The content management configuration information may help UE 2408 regulate content to one or more tethered devices 2406. To facilitate content management to tethered devices 2406 at the UE 2408, as least some of the information of Table 16 may be provided as part of the content management configuration.

[0464] Table 16:

[0465]

[0466]

[0467] Although FIG. 24 illustrates one example procedure for content management based on the energy status of tethered devices 2400, various changes may be made to FIG. 24. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 24 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0468] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, content adaptation can be based on an energy status of tethered devices and UE assistance, as shown in FIG. 25.

[0469] FIG. 25 illustrates an example procedure for UE assisted content adaptation based on the energy status of tethered devices 2500 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 25 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 25 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for UE assisted content adaptation based on the energy status of tethered devices could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0470] In the example of FIG. 25, the procedure 2500 may begin at step 25-1. At step 25-1, an XRM Application Service provider 2502 may perform a session and service management at the Application Function 2504 (e.g., similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0471] At step 25-2, the tethering agent 2510 in the UE 2508 may forward the capabilities of each of the tethered devices 2506 and the tethered links to the Application Function 2504. The capabilities of tethered devices 2506 and tethered links may be as described herein.

[0472] At step 25-3, the Application Function 2504, based on the received capabilities of tethered devices 2506 and tethered links, may provide a content adaptation configuration to the UE 2508 which the UE 2508 can use for content adaptation to the tethered devices 2506 based on the current tethered device energy status. The details of the content adaptation configuration may be as described herein.

[0473] At step 25-4, each XRM tethered device 2506 connected to the tethering UE 2508 may transmit its current energy status information along with its current individual tethered QoS specification to the tethering agent 2510 in the UE 2508. The energy status information and individual tethered QoS specification information may be similar as described herein.

[0474] At step 25-5, the tethering agent 2510 may also check the current energy status of the UE 2508. The energy status of the UE 2508 may have similar parameters as that of the tethered device 2506 as described herein.

[0475] At step 25-6, the UE 2508 may perform content retrieval from the Application Server 2512. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the UE 2508 may receive a limited set of content adaptations / representations (for example, similar as described in ISO / IEC 23009: MPEG DASH).

[0476] At step 25-7, the UE 2508 may perform content adaptation for a tethered device 2506 as described herein.

[0477] At step 25-8, the adapted content may be sent to the tethered device 2506 for consumption.

[0478] The content adaptation configuration from the Application function 2504 provided in step 25-3 may facilitate preparation of appropriate content encoding to the tethered device 2506 if the content retrieved from the Application server 2512 does not have the desired quality that is appropriate based on the current energy status of the tethered device 2506. At least some of the information form Table 17 may be included in the content adaptation configuration.

[0479] Table 17: Content Adaptation Configuration Information

[0480]

[0481]

[0482] Although FIG. 25 illustrates one example procedure for UE assisted content adaptation based on the energy status of tethered devices 2500, various changes may be made to FIG. 25. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 25 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0483] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, when a UE receives the content adaptation configuration information of Table 17, it may perform the content adaptation for each tethered device as shown in FIG. 26.

[0484] FIG. 26 illustrates another example procedure for content management based on the energy status of tethered devices 2600 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 26 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 26 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for content management based on the energy status of tethered devices could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0485] In the example of FIG. 26, the procedure 2600 may begin at step 2602. At step 2602, a UE (such as UE 2508) may receive energy status information of a tethered device, or optionally in some embodiments, use applications installed on the UE to infer the energy status of the tethered device.

[0486] At step 2604, the UE may infer the current energy status of the UE.

[0487] At step 2606, the UE may receive content with limited representations from an Application server (e.g., 512kbps, 8mpbs).

[0488] At step 2608, the UE may prepares adapted content for the tethered device. This may include the UE:

[0489] 1. Estimating the target content quality based on the current energy status of tethered device, and the energy status of UE (e.g., 1 mbps which is not available from content retrieved from Application Server);

[0490] 2. Decoding content retrieved from Application server (preferably the representation that is closer in quality to the estimated target);

[0491] 3. Re-encoding the content to the target content quality; and

[0492] 4. delivering the content to the tethered device.

[0493] Although FIG. 26 illustrates one example procedure for content management based on the energy status of tethered devices 2600, various changes may be made to FIG. 26. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 26 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0494] In the embodiment of FIG. 25, content management in the tethering UE may be based on a content management configuration from the Application Function that was generated based on reception of energy status information of each of the tethered devices. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, more control for content management can be provided by the Application Function to the UE (i.e., the responsibility for content management is delegated to the UE) as shown in FIG. 27.

[0495] As part of this alternative procedure for content management based on energy status information of tethered devices, the Application Function may send a content management configuration information that helps UE decide what type of content, if any, to be delivered to one or more tethered devices based on their current energy status information.

[0496] FIG. 27 illustrates another example procedure for content management based on the energy status of tethered devices 2700 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the procedure illustrated in FIG. 27 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 27 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. Other embodiments of a procedure for content management based on the energy status of tethered devices could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0497] In the example of FIG. 27, the procedure 2700 may begin at step 27-1. At step 27-1, an XRM Application Service provider 2702 may perform a session and service management at the Application Function 2704 (e.g., similar as described in 3GPP TS 26.501 and TS 26.510).

[0498] At step 27-2, the tethering agent 2710 in the UE 2708 may forward the capabilities of each of the tethered devices 2706 and the tethered links to the Application Function 2704. The capabilities of tethered devices 2706 and tethered links can be as described herein.

[0499] At step 27-3, the Application Function 2704, based on the received capabilities of tethered devices 2706 and tethered links, may provide a content management configuration to the UE 2708 which the UE 2708 can use to regulate content to the tethered devices 2706 based on the current tethered device energy status. The details of the content management configuration can be as described herein.

[0500] At step 27-4, each tethered device 2706 may forward its energy status information to the UE 2708. Optionally, the UE 2708 may have mechanisms in place to read the current energy status of the tethered devices 2706.

[0501] At step 27-5, the tethering agent 2710 in the UE 2708, or the UE 2708 itself, may perform a content management procedure based on the current energy status of the tethered devices 2706 as described herein.

[0502] As part of this procedure, the tethering UE 2708 may also optionally send the collection of individual tethered QoS specifications, or the generated Client tethered QoS specification described herein to the Application Function 2704.

[0503] The content management configuration information helps UE 2708 regulate content to one or more tethered devices 2706 based on their current energy status. The information from Table 18 may be provided as part of the content management configuration from the Application Function 2704 to the tethering UE 2708.

[0504] Table 18: Content Management Configuration Information

[0505]

[0506]

[0507]

[0508] When the UE 2708 receives this configuration information, it may check the current energy status (energy consumption / availability) of the tethered device 2706, extract the object of which max and min energy values surround the current energy status information of the tethered device 2706, check for the recommended action, and perform the recommended action.

[0509] Although FIG. 27 illustrates one example procedure for content management based on the energy status of tethered devices 2700, various changes may be made to FIG. 27. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 27 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0510] FIG. 28 illustrates an example method for resource allocation and management of XRM services 2800 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. An embodiment of the method illustrated in FIG. 28 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 28 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. Other embodiments of a method for resource allocation and management of XRM services could be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0511] In the example of FIG. 28, method 2800 may begin at step 2810. At step 2810, an electronic device, for example operating as a network function (such as the AF 804 of FIG. 8 or another network function), may receive from an application service provider (such as application service provider 802 of FIG. 8), a service / session configuration permitting a radio resource saving operation with a UE (such as UE 814 of FIG. 8) operating on a network of the network function.

[0512] At step 2820, the electronic device may receive a first indication that the UE has completed an initial content fetch of XRM content from the application service provider.

[0513] At step 2830, in response to receiving the first indication, the electronic devices may initiate the radio resource saving operation between the UE and the network.

[0514] At step 2840, the electronic device may receive a second indication indicating receipt of additional XRM content for the UE from the application service provider.

[0515] At step 2850, in response to receiving the second indication, the electronic device may initiate a termination of the radio resource saving operation between the UE and the network of the network function.

[0516] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may also receive or determine burst configuration information for the network. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, after receiving the second indication, the electronic device may observe an application burst based on the burst configuration information, and in response to observing the application burst, initiate an allocation of radio resources that permits the UE to continuously receive XRM content during the application burst. The burst configuration information can include at least one of burst_periodicity_post_initial_content_fetch, burst_samples, burst_interval, burst_size, service_burst_bandwdth_required_DL, and service_burst_bandwdth_required_UL.

[0517] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may also receive, from the UE, application burst information. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, after receiving the second indication, the electronic device may observe an application burst based on the application burst information, and in response to observing the application burst, the electronic device may initiate an allocation of radio resources that permits the UE to continuously receive XRM content during the application burst.

[0518] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may also receive catch up time information for the XRM content, and detect a change in performance of the network. In response to the change in performance of the network, the electronic device may initiate a dropping by the network of remaining PDUs in a PDU set transporting XRM content of a current quality to the UE based on the catch up time information. The catch up time information can include at least one of a minimum, average, or maximum amount of time expected to be elapsed before the UE requests updated stream media components of the XRM content.

[0519] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may also receive, from the UE, a request for a temporary service boost. The request can include one or more of the following parameters associated with the XRM content: a current resolution, current representation information, current adaptation information, a desired number of bursts, a current catch up time, a current burst periodicity, an initial content fetch interest, a desired service boost time, UE client information, or UE client application information. The electronic device may determine one or more delivery parameters for the temporary service boost based on the one or more parameters associated with the XRM content, and provide the one or more delivery parameters to one or more other network functions of the network.

[0520] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may also receive, from the UE, a client tethered QoS specification, and determine a tethering configuration based on (i) the client tethered QoS specification, and (ii) the service / session configuration. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may also provide the tethering configuration to the UE, the tethering configuration facilitating QoS management of tethered devices by the network function. The tethering configuration can include at least one of a synchronization configuration of tethered devices and data management notification information for data streams destined for the tethered devices.

[0521] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may also receive, from the UE, capability information of tethered devices and tethered links, and determine a QoS configuration for the UE based on the capability information of the tethered devices and tethered links. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may also provide the QoS configuration to the UE, the QoS configuration delegating QoS management of the tethered devices to the UE. The QoS configuration can include at least one of: a packet loss requirement action map, a packet delay requirement action map, an inter stream delay requirement action map, and a bit rate requirement action map.

[0522] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may also receive, from the UE, capability information of tethered devices and tethered links, and determine a content preparation configuration for the UE based on the capability information of tethered devices and tethered links. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may provide the content preparation configuration to the UE. The UE may be configured to perform a content preparation procedure to send content to at least one of the tethered devices based on the content preparation configuration.

[0523] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may also receive, from the UE, (i) energy status information of tethered devices, and (ii) capability information of the tethered devices and tethered links, and determine determining a content management configuration for the UE based on (i) the energy status information of the tethered devices, and (ii) the capability information of tethered devices and tethered links. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may provide the content management configuration to the UE. The UE may be configured to perform a content management procedure based on the content management configuration.

[0524] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may also receive, from the UE, capability information of tethered devices and tethered links, and determine a content adaptation configuration for the UE based on the capability information of tethered devices and tethered links. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may provide the content adaptation configuration to the UE. The UE may be configured to perform a content adaptation procedure based on the content adaptation configuration and a current tethered device energy status.

[0525] Although FIG. 28 illustrates one example method for resource allocation and management of XRM services 2800, various changes may be made to FIG. 28. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 28 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, occur any number of times, be omitted, or replaced by other steps.

[0526] 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 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.

[0527] Although the 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 disclosure encompass such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims. None of the description in the disclosure 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.

[0528] Meanwhile, although specific embodiments of the disclosure have been described in detail, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

A method performed by an electronic device, the method comprising:receiving, from an application service provider, a service / session configuration permitting a radio resource saving operation with a user equipment (UE) operating on a network of a network function;receiving, from the application service provider, a first indication indicating that the UE has completed an initial content fetch of extended reality media (XRM) content;in response to receiving the first indication, initiating the radio resource saving operation between the UE and the network;receiving, from the application service provider, a second indication indicating receipt of additional XRM content for the UE; andin response to receiving the second indication, initiating a termination of the radio resource saving operation between the UE and the network.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving or determining burst configuration information for the network;after receiving the second indication, observing an application burst based on the burst configuration information; andin response to observing the application burst, initiating an allocation of radio resources that permits the UE to continuously receive XRM content during the application burst,wherein the burst configuration information includes at least one of:burst_periodicity_post_initial_content_fetch;burst_samples;burst_interval;burst_size;service_burst_bandwdth_required_DL; orservice_burst_bandwdth_required_UL.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, from the UE, application burst information;after receiving the second indication, observing an application burst based on the application burst information; andin response to observing the application burst, initiating an allocation of radio resources that permits the UE to continuously receive XRM content during the application burst.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving catch up time information for the XRM content;detecting a change in a performance of the network; andin response to the change in performance of the network, initiating a dropping by the network of remaining protocol data units (PDUs) in a PDU set transporting XRM content of a current quality to the UE based on the catch up time information,wherein the catch up time information includes at least one of a minimum, average, or maximum amount of time expected to be elapsed before the UE requests updated stream media components of the XRM content.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, from the UE, a request for a temporary service boost, wherein the request includes one or more of the following parameters associated with the XRM content:a current resolution;current representation information;current adaptation information;a desired number of bursts;a current catch up time;a current burst periodicity;an initial content fetch interest;a desired service boost time;UE client information; orUE client application information;determining one or more delivery parameters for the temporary service boost based on the one or more parameters associated with the XRM content; andproviding the one or more delivery parameters to one or more other network functions of the network.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, from the UE, a client tethered quality of service (QoS) specification;determining a tethering configuration based on the client tethered QoS specification, and the service / session configuration; andproviding the tethering configuration to the UE, the tethering configuration facilitating QoS management of tethered devices by the network function,wherein the tethering configuration includes at least one of a synchronization configuration of tethered devices, or data management notification information for data streams destined for the tethered devices.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, from the UE, capability information of tethered devices and tethered links;determining a quality of service (QoS) configuration for the UE based on the capability information of the tethered devices and tethered links; andproviding the QoS configuration to the UE, the QoS configuration delegating QoS management of the tethered devices to the UE,wherein the QoS configuration includes at least one of:a packet loss requirement action map;a packet delay requirement action map;an inter stream delay requirement action map; ora bit rate requirement action map.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, from the UE, capability information of tethered devices and tethered links;determining a content preparation configuration for the UE based on the capability information of tethered devices and tethered links; andproviding the content preparation configuration to the UE,wherein the UE is configured to perform a content preparation procedure to send content to at least one of the tethered devices based on the content preparation configuration.An electronic device comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; andat least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the electronic device to:receive, from an application service provider, a service / session configuration permitting a radio resource saving operation with a user equipment (UE) operating on a network of the electronic device;receive, from the application service provider, a first indication indicating that the UE has completed an initial content fetch of extended reality media (XRM) content;in response to receiving the first indication, initiate the radio resource saving operation between the UE and the network;receive, from the application service provider, a second indication indicating receipt of additional XRM content for the UE; andin response to receiving the second indication, initiate a termination of the radio resource saving operation between the UE and the network.The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the electronic device is further caused to:receive or determine burst configuration information for the network;after receiving the second indication, observe an application burst based on the burst configuration information; andin response to observing the application burst, initiate an allocation of radio resources that permits the UE to continuously receive XRM content during the application burst,wherein the burst configuration information includes at least one of:burst_periodicity_post_initial_content_fetch;burst_samples;burst_interval;burst_size;service_burst_bandwdth_required_DL; orservice_burst_bandwdth_required_UL.The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the electronic device is further caused to:receive, from the UE, application burst information;after receiving the second indication, observe an application burst based on the application burst information; andin response to observing the application burst, initiate an allocation of radio resources that permits the UE to continuously receive XRM content during the application burst.The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the electronic device is further caused to:receive catch up time information for the XRM content;detect a change in a performance of the network; andin response to the change in performance of the network, initiate a dropping by the network of remaining protocol data units (PDUs) in a PDU set transporting XRM content of a current quality to the UE based on the catch up time information,wherein the catch up time information includes at least one of a minimum, average, or maximum amount of time expected to be elapsed before the UE requests updated stream media components of the XRM content.The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the electronic device is further caused to:receive, from the UE, a request for a temporary service boost, wherein the request includes one or more of the following parameters associated with the XRM content:a current resolution;current representation information;current adaptation information;a desired number of bursts;a current catch up time;a current burst periodicity;an initial content fetch interest;a desired service boost time;UE client information; orUE client application information;determine one or more delivery parameters for the temporary service boost based on the one or more parameters associated with the XRM content; andprovide the one or more delivery parameters to one or more other network functions of the network.The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the electronic device is further caused to:receive, from the UE, a client tethered quality of service (QoS) specification;determine a tethering configuration based on the client tethered QoS specification, and the service / session configuration; andprovide the tethering configuration to the UE, the tethering configuration facilitating QoS management of tethered devices by the electronic device,wherein the tethering configuration includes at least one of a synchronization configuration of tethered devices, or data management notification information for data streams destined for the tethered devices.The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the electronic device is further caused to:receive, from the UE, capability information of tethered devices and tethered links;determine a quality of service (QoS) configuration for the UE based on the capability information of the tethered devices and tethered links; andprovide the QoS configuration to the UE, the QoS configuration delegating QoS management of the tethered devices to the UE,wherein the QoS configuration includes at least one of:a packet loss requirement action map;a packet delay requirement action map;an inter stream delay requirement action map; ora bit rate requirement action map.

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