Method and apparatus for supporting enhanced operations for managing spatial anchors in groups in a communication network system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a 5G communication system or a 6G communication system for supporting higher data rates beyond a 4G communication system such as LTE. Embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for managing a spatial anchor group create request operation, providing a human readable description text while creating a group of spatial anchors, mapping the spatial anchor group with the service area, retrieving spatial anchors using group ID as a separate group retrieval and retrieving only spatial anchor group information without retrieving the spatial anchor profiles, retrieving spatial anchors using the group ID as a separate group retrieval, enabling the discovery of spatial anchors using the group ID, enabling discovery of the list of available spatial anchor groups, managing subscription to the spatial anchors group, deleting only spatial anchor groups and preserving the spatial anchors, and deleting spatial anchor groups and the associated spatial anchors.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING ENHANCED OPERATIONS FOR MANAGING SPATIAL ANCHORS IN GROUPS IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK SYSTEM

[0001] Embodiments disclosed herein relate to wireless communication networks, and more particularly to supporting enhanced operations for managing spatial anchors in groups in wireless communication 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] Embodiments of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and method for effectively providing a service in a wireless communication system.

[0008] In an embodiment, a method performed by a first entity operating as a spatial anchors (SAn) server in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes: receiving, from a second entity operating as a SAn client or a vertical application layer (VAL) server, a spatial anchor group create request; based on the receiving the spatial anchor group create request, validating whether the second entity is authorized for a creation of a spatial anchor group associated with a list of spatial anchors; in case that the second entity is authorized, creating the spatial anchor group and assigning a unique identifier (ID) to the spatial anchor group; and sending a spatial anchor group create response to the second entity.

[0009] In an embodiment, a method performed by a second entity operating as a spatial anchors (SAn) client or a vertical application layer (VAL) serve in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes: sending a spatial anchor group create request to a first entity operating as a SAn server to create a spatial anchor group associated with a list of spatial anchors in case that the second entity is authorized; and in response to the sending the spatial anchor group create request, receiving, from the first entity, a spatial anchor group create response, wherein a unique identifier (ID) is assigned to the spatial anchor group.

[0010] In an embodiment, a first entity operating as a spatial anchors (SAn) server in a wireless communication system is provided. The first entity includes at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; and at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the first entity to receive, from a second entity operating as a SAn client or a vertical application layer (VAL) server, a spatial anchor group create request, based on the receiving spatial anchor group create request, validate whether the second entity is authorized for a creation of a spatial anchor group associated with a list of spatial anchors, in case that the second entity is authorized, create the spatial anchor group and assign a unique identifier (ID) to the spatial anchor group, and send a spatial anchor group create response to the second entity.

[0011] In an embodiment, a second entity operating as a spatial anchors (SAn) client or a vertical application layer (VAL) server in a wireless communication system is provided. The second entity includes at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; and at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the second entity to send a spatial anchor group create request to a first entity operating as a SAn server to create a spatial anchor group associated with a list of spatial anchors in case that the second entity is authorized, and in response to the sending the spatial anchor group create request, receive, from the first entity, a spatial anchor group create response, wherein a unique identifier (ID) is assigned to the spatial anchor group.

[0012] The principal object of embodiments herein is to disclose systems and methods for managing spatial anchors in groups in wireless communication networks.

[0013] Another object of embodiments herein is to disclose methods and systems for managing a spatial anchor group create request operation.

[0014] Another object of embodiments herein is to disclose methods and systems for providing a human readable description text while creating a group of spatial anchors.

[0015] Another object of embodiments herein is to disclose methods and systems for mapping the spatial anchor group with the service area (location co-ordinates).

[0016] Another object of embodiments herein is to disclose methods and systems for retrieving spatial anchors using a group ID as a separate group retrieval and retrieving only the spatial anchor group information without retrieving the spatial anchor profiles.

[0017] Another object of embodiments herein is to disclose methods and systems for retrieving spatial anchors along with the corresponding spatial anchor profiles using the group ID as a separate group retrieval.

[0018] Another object of embodiments herein is to disclose methods and systems for enabling the discovery of spatial anchors using the group ID.

[0019] Another object of embodiments herein is to disclose methods and systems for enabling the discovery of the list of available spatial anchor groups.

[0020] Another object of embodiments herein is to disclose methods and systems for managing the subscription to the spatial anchors group, thereby enabling the spatial anchor client to receive a notification, on a change related to spatial anchor group occurring.

[0021] Another object of embodiments herein is to disclose methods and systems for deleting only the spatial anchor groups and preserving the spatial anchors.

[0022] Another object of embodiments herein is to disclose methods and systems for deleting the spatial anchor groups and the associated spatial anchors.

[0023] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating at least one embodiment and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

[0024] Embodiments herein are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, throughout which like reference letters indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following description with reference to the following illustratory drawings. Embodiments herein are illustrated by way of examples in the accompanying drawings, and in which:

[0025] FIG. 1 depicts a wireless communication network, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;

[0026] FIG. 2 depicts a SAn server in a wireless communication network, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;

[0027] FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting the process of managing spatial anchors in the wireless network, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;

[0028] FIG. 4 illustrates the procedure for creating a spatial anchor group, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;

[0029] FIG. 5 illustrates the procedure for updating a spatial anchor group, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;

[0030] FIG. 6 illustrates the procedure for retrieving a group of spatial anchors, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;

[0031] FIG. 7 illustrates the procedure for deleting a spatial anchor group, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;

[0032] FIG. 8 illustrates the procedure for discovering a spatial anchor group, according to embodiments as disclosed herein; and

[0033] FIG. 9 illustrates the procedure for subscribing to a spatial anchor group, according to embodiments as disclosed herein.

[0034] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.

[0035] For the purposes of interpreting this specification, the definitions (as defined herein) will apply and whenever appropriate the terms used in singular will also include the plural and vice versa. It is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purposes of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. The terms "comprising", "having" and "including" are to be construed as open-ended terms unless otherwise noted.

[0036] The words / phrases "exemplary", "example", "illustration", "in an instance", "and the like", "and so on", "etc.", "etcetera", "e.g.," , "i.e.," are merely used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein using the words / phrases "exemplary", "example", "illustration", "in an instance", "and the like", "and so on", "etc.", "etcetera", "e.g.," , "i.e.," is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

[0037] Embodiments herein may be described and illustrated in terms of blocks which carry out a described function or functions.　These blocks, which may be referred to herein as managers, units, modules, hardware components or the like, are physically implemented by analog and / or digital circuits such as logic gates, integrated circuits, microprocessors, microcontrollers, memory circuits, passive electronic components, active electronic components, optical components, hardwired circuits and the like, and may optionally be driven by a firmware. The circuits may, for example, be embodied in one or more semiconductor chips, or on substrate supports such as printed circuit boards and the like.　The circuits constituting a block may be implemented by dedicated hardware, or by a processor (e.g., one or more programmed microprocessors and associated circuitry), or by a combination of dedicated hardware to perform some functions of the block and a processor to perform other functions of the block.　Each block of the embodiments may be physically separated into two or more interacting and discrete blocks without departing from the scope of the disclosure.　Likewise, the blocks of the embodiments may be physically combined into more complex blocks without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0038] It should be noted that elements in the drawings are illustrated for the purposes of this description and ease of understanding and may not have necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the flowcharts / sequence diagrams illustrate the method in terms of the steps required for understanding of aspects of the embodiments as disclosed herein. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the present embodiments so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Furthermore, in terms of the system, one or more components / modules which comprise the system may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the present embodiments so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

[0039] The accompanying drawings are used to help easily understand various technical features and it should be understood that the embodiments presented herein are not limited by the accompanying drawings. As such, the present disclosure should be construed to extend to any modifications, equivalents, and substitutes in addition to those which are particularly set out in the accompanying drawings and the corresponding description. Usage of words such as first, second, third etc., to describe components / elements / steps is for the purposes of this description and should not be construed as sequential ordering / placement / occurrence unless specified otherwise.

[0040] Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0041] In describing the embodiments, descriptions related to technical contents well-known in the art and not associated directly with the disclosure will be omitted. Such an omission of unnecessary descriptions is intended to prevent obscuring of the main idea of the disclosure and more clearly transfer the main idea.

[0042] 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.

[0043] The advantages and features of the disclosure and ways to achieve them will be apparent by making reference to embodiments as described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments set forth below, but may be implemented in various different forms. The following embodiments are provided only to completely disclose the disclosure and inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the disclosure, and the disclosure is defined only by the scope of the appended claims. Throughout the specification, the same or like reference numerals designate the same or like elements. Furthermore, in describing the disclosure, a detailed description of known functions or constitution incorporated herein will be omitted in the case that it is determined that the description may make the subject matter of the disclosure unnecessarily unclear. The terms which will be described below are terms defined in consideration of the functions in the disclosure, and may be different according to users, intentions of the operators, or customs. Therefore, the definitions of the terms should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

[0044] Herein, it will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, may be performed based on computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded individually or 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).

[0045] 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.

[0046] 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 / module" 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.

[0047] 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.

[0048] 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.

[0049] 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.

[0050] 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.

[0051] Any such software may be stored in the form of volatile or non-volatile storage such as, for example, a storage device like read only memory (ROM), whether erasable or rewritable or not, or in the form of memory such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), memory chips, device or integrated circuits or on an optically or magnetically readable medium such as, for example, a compact disk (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk or magnetic tape or the like. It will be appreciated that the storage devices and storage media are various embodiments of non-transitory machine-readable storage that are suitable for storing a computer program or computer programs comprising instructions that, when executed, implement various embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a program comprising code for implementing apparatus or a method as claimed in any one of the claims of this specification and a non-transitory machine-readable storage storing such a program.

[0052] Hereinafter, the determination of priority between A and B in the present disclosure may refer to various actions such as selecting the one having a higher priority based on a predefined priority rule and performing an operation corresponding thereto, or omitting or dropping an operation corresponding to the one having a lower priority.

[0053] Hereinafter, "A or B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0054] In addition, "at least one of A, B, and C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0055] In addition, "at least one of A, B, or C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

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

[0057] Furthermore, "A, B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0058] Furthermore, "A and B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0059] Furthermore, "if condition A and condition B are satisfied," as described in the present disclosure, may not be limited to a case where both condition A and condition B are satisfied, but may be understood to include a case where either condition A or condition B is individually satisfied, both condition A and condition B are satisfied, or one or more additional conditions are satisfied in combination.

[0060] 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.

[0061] Furthermore, the terms "first ~", "second ~", etc., as described in the present disclosure with respect to various elements (e.g., information, objects, operation, sequences, or the like), should not limit those elements. These terms may only be intended to distinguish one element from another, and may not be intended to indicate a specific order. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element.

[0062] Furthermore, even if "first ~" and "second ~" are described in the present disclosure, it may be understood that element(s) referred to by "first ~" and "second ~" may be the same or different. For example, in case of element(s) being information, first information and second information may both be the same information, and, in some cases, are separate and different information.

[0063] In addition, the terms "if ~" and "in case that ~" as used in the disclosure or claims may be interpreted to include the meanings of "when (or upon) ~," "in response to ~," "based on ~," or "according to ~," and may be used interchangeably with these expressions. In addition, expressions other than those exemplified herein may also be used, as long as they have substantially the same meaning and do not impair the technical features of the present disclosure. 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.

[0064] In addition, the term "not perform" as used in the present disclosure or claims may, in context, be understood to mean that the corresponding step is omitted or skipped. Such a term may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0065] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and B" as described in the present disclosure, may be understood as encompassing both (i) transmitting A and B in a single message, and (ii) transmitting A and B separately via multiple messages (e.g., transmitting a first message including A and a second message including B). This interpretation may also apply to messages that include two or more items (e.g., A, B, C), transmitted either together or separately.

[0066] 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.

[0067] In the specific embodiments of the present disclosure described below, terms or components included in the disclosure may be expressed in singular or plural form depending on the specific embodiments presented. However, such singular or plural expressions are selected appropriately for convenience of description, and the present disclosure is not limited to a singular or plural number of components. A component expressed in the plural form may be implemented as a single component, and a component expressed in the singular form may be implemented as multiple components.

[0068] The drawings or flowcharts described below illustrate example methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various modifications may be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts of the present disclosure. For example, although illustrated as a series of steps, various steps in each drawing or flowchart may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or be repeated. In other examples, any step may be omitted or replaced with another step.

[0069] 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.

[0070] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be disclosed in connection with drawings disclosing flowcharts to illustrate example methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure. Such flowcharts may contain different branches and / or sub-branches. It is understood that the principles of the present disclosure do not only contain the combination of all branches / sub-branches disclosed in the embodiment, but the present disclosure also contains at least one isolated branch / isolated sub-branch, in particular to a single branch / single sub-branch.

[0071] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to each embodiment individually, but may also be applied in combination of all or some of the embodiments proposed in the disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be modified and applied without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0072] 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.

[0073] The terms used in the following description to refer to access nodes, network entities, messages, interfaces between network entities, various types of identification information, and the like, are provided merely for the convenience of explanation by way of example. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms described below, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may also be used. Such terms may also be interchangeable with terms defined in any 3rd generation partnership project　(3GPP) technical specifications (TS) or similar technical specifications, e.g., from ETSI, where appropriate.

[0074] Hereinafter, a base station (BS) is an entity that allocates resources to terminals, and may be at least one of a gNodeB, an eNodeB, a NodeB, a wireless access unit, a BS controller, or a node on a network.

[0075] Furthermore, the base station of the present disclosure may include a split architecture comprising a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). In this structure, the CU is configured to process the higher layers of the control and user planes, while the DU is configured to process lower-layer radio resource functions. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be equally applicable to 5G base station architectures in which such CU and DU functional splits are implemented.

[0076] A 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 communication functions.

[0077] 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.

[0078] Furthermore, hereinafter, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication technologies (e.g., 5G new radio (NR)), 6th generation (6G) mobile communication technologies may be described by way of example, but the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds or channel types. For example, newly evolved mobile communication systems developed after 5G and 6G may be included. Furthermore, based on determinations by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems (e.g., Wi-Fi systems) through some modifications without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure

[0079] In the following description, the terms physical channel and signal may be used interchangeably with data or control signal. For example, the term physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) refers to a physical channel through which data is transmitted, but the term PDSCH may also be used to refer to the data itself. That is, in the present disclosure, the expression "transmit a physical channel" may be interpreted as being equivalent to the expression "transmit data or a signal via a physical channel."

[0080] Hereinafter, in the context of the present disclosure, higher layer signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of the following: master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB) or SIB M (M = 1, 2, ...), radio resource control (RRC), or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as Layer 3 (L3) signaling.

[0081] In addition, Layer 1 (L1) signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of signaling techniques using the at least one or any combination of the following physical layer channels or signaling: physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), downlink control information (DCI), user equipment (UE)-specific DCI, group-common DCI, common DCI, scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI used for scheduling downlink or uplink data), non-scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI not used for scheduling downlink or uplink data) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), or uplink control information (UCI). The L1 signaling message may be referred to as a physical layer signaling.

[0082] For example, the physical layer signaling (i.e., L1 signaling) 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 signaling. It should be noted, however, that the higher layer signaling is not limited to the aforementioned examples.

[0083] Hereinafter, the expression that information is configured by the BS, as used in the present disclosure or claims, may, in context, be understood to mean that the terminal receives the corresponding information from the BS via a physical layer signaling or a higher layer signaling. Such an expression may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0084] Hereinafter, the operational principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0085] 3GPP TS 23.437 defined functional model and procedures for managing spatial anchors. The spatial anchors functional entities on the UE, and in the network are the spatial anchors (SAn) client, and spatial anchors (SAn) server respectively. Through the Spatial Anchor client, the application clients residing on the UE can create, update or modify, delete and discover the spatial anchors. Spatial anchor related operations specified as part of 23.437 were either addressing them individually or by sending the list which is not an efficient mechanism to manage the spatial anchors and also for the consumers who are viewing them. This can result in an in-efficient management of spatial anchors. The user experience can result in a poor experience, since the user might end up viewing unwanted spatial anchors without any context. This does not make it possible for having a contextual view of spatial anchors. Further, managing spatial anchors individually becomes overhead.

[0086] Though the procedures support managing of more than one spatial anchors, the concept of grouping them and addressing them as group is not present. The process of managing the spatial anchors which has been disclosed in TS 23.437 is not efficient.

[0087] There are cases where a certain list of spatial anchors need to be managed in group. Example, in a shopping mall or an office scenario, there could be spatial anchors which are used to represent the exit symbols and during emergency scenario the user or UE application can discover the spatial anchors corresponding to the emergency exits. Another example could be a group of spatial anchors which represents the food outlets available in the shopping mall.

[0088] Consider the case of deleting the spatial anchors, wherein the SAn client or VAL server needs to provide a whole list of spatial anchors IDs in order to delete them. But if the grouping is available then they just need to pass only the group ID and same goes for update operations also. Also, when looking from the perspective of the spatial anchor consumers, absence of spatial anchor grouping can cause a bad end user experience. For example, consider that a user is walking into a huge shopping mall with Virtual Reality (VR) glasses, instead of providing the user with a cluttered view of all the existing spatial anchors it would be a great experience if he or she can be presented with the category of spatial anchors (e.g. restaurants, clothes shops, shoe shops etc.).

[0089] Hence, there is a need in the art for solutions which will overcome the above mentioned drawback(s), among others.

[0090] The embodiments herein achieve systems and methods for managing spatial anchors in groups in wireless communication networks. Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 9, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown embodiments.

[0091] Embodiments herein disclose systems and methods for managing spatial anchors in groups in wireless communication networks. Embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for managing a spatial anchor group create request operation. Embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for providing a human readable description text while creating a group of spatial anchors. Embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for mapping the spatial anchor group with the service area (location co-ordinates). Embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for retrieving spatial anchors using a group ID as a separate group retrieval and retrieving only the spatial anchor group information without retrieving the spatial anchor profiles. Embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for retrieving spatial anchors using the group ID as a separate group retrieval. Embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for enabling the discovery of spatial anchors using the group ID. Embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for enabling the discovery of the list of available spatial anchor groups. Embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for managing the subscription to the spatial anchors group, thereby enabling the spatial anchor client to receive a notification, on a change related to spatial anchor group occurring. Embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for deleting only the spatial anchor groups and preserving the spatial anchors. Embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for deleting the spatial anchor groups and the associated spatial anchors.

[0092] FIG. 1 depicts a wireless communication network. The network 100 comprises a spatial anchor server (SAn server) 101, and at least one requesting entity 102. Consider that the spatial anchor groups, spatial anchors and related information are stored at the SAn server 101, or at a separate repository managed by the SAn server 101. The requesting entity 102 as referred to herein can be an entity that communicates with the SAn server 101, related to at least one spatial anchor and / or spatial anchor group. Embodiments herein use the terms 'requesting entity', and 'requestor', interchangeably to refer to the requesting entity 102. Examples of the requesting entity 102 can be, but not limited to, a SAn client, a Vertical Application Layer (VAL) server, and so on.

[0093] FIG. 2 depicts a SAn server in a wireless communication network. The SAn server 101 may perform various communication procedures related to the control plane or the user plane by cooperating with one or more network entities based on wireless communication. For example, the SAn server 101 may communicate with a network entity (for example, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a Session Management Function (SMF), the requesting entity, etc.) via the base station, or the base station may perform at least one communication procedure by directly transmitting and receiving signals to / from, or relaying signals between, the network entities.

[0094] The structure of the above-described network entity will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0095] Referring to FIG. 2, the SAn server 101 may include at least one network interface 201, at least one processor 202 (hereinafter, "processor"), and at least one memory 203 (hereinafter, "memory"). As described above, the SAn server 101 may be implemented in the form of a physical device, or may be virtualized and executed in the form of an instance. When implemented as an instance, the SAn server 101 need not necessarily include physical components as illustrated in FIG. 2. In such a case, the instance may be logically represented as comprising one or more logical functional elements.

[0096] According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the network interface 201, the processor 202, and the memory 203 of the SAn server 101 may operate. However, components of the SAn server 101 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 2. In another embodiment, the SAn server 101 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in an embodiment, the network interface 201, the processor 202, or the memory 203 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0097] The network interface 201 is a collective term for a transmitter part of the SAn server 101 and a receiver part of the SAn server 101, and may be a communication circuit for transmitting or receiving a signal to or from a terminal, a base station (BS), or another network entity. Here, the communication circuit may include both a communication circuit for wireless communication and a communication circuit for a wired communication. For example, the network interface 201 may include a circuit, logic, hardware, etc., configured to exchange a control plane message or a user plane message with a terminal, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless communication or wired communication. The network interface 201 may operate using various protocols (e.g., non-access stratum (NAS) protocol). The network interface 201 may also be referred to, for convenience of description or depending on implementation, as communication circuitry, network interface circuitry, or a communication interface circuitry.

[0098] The processor 202 may control general operations of the SAn server 101 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 202 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing. The processor 202 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 203, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 202 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme. Further, it should be noted that, according to another embodiment, in a case where the SAn server 101 is implemented in the form of an instance, the SAn server 101 may be not necessarily configured by physical hardware.

[0099] According to an embodiment, the processor 202 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the network interface 201 to control the network interface 201.

[0100] The processor 202 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 202 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 202 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the network interface 201 or the memory 203.

[0101] The processor 202 may perform or control or cause an operation of the SAn server 101 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 202 may control operations of the SAn server 101 for exchanging a control plane message or a user plane message with a terminal, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless or wired communication, using various protocols (e.g., NAS protocol). To this end, the processor 202 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 203, so as to control other components of the SAn server 101 to enable execution of various operations.

[0102] The memory 203 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 203 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.

[0103] The memory 203 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 202 and may be accessed by the processor 202.

[0104] The memory 203 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 202. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 202 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and stored in a distributed manner in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 203, the processor 202 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0105] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the SAn server 101 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 203 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.

[0106] The SAn server 101 can manage spatial anchors in the wireless network. The processor 202 can manage at least one group of spatial anchors based on a request from the requesting entity 102. The at least one group of spatial anchors can comprise a plurality of spatial anchors. The request can be for one of creating the spatial anchor group, mapping the spatial anchor group with the service area, retrieving spatial anchors using a group ID as a separate group retrieval and retrieving only spatial anchor group information without retrieving the spatial anchor profiles, retrieving spatial anchors using the group ID as a separate group retrieval, enabling the discovery of spatial anchors using the group ID, enabling discovery of the list of available spatial anchor groups, managing subscription to the spatial anchors group, deleting only spatial anchor groups and preserving the spatial anchors, and deleting spatial anchor groups and the associated spatial anchors.

[0107] In an embodiment herein, the received request can be for creating at least one spatial anchor group, or linking at least one spatial group with at least one spatial anchor group. The request can comprise the identifier of the requesting entity, the at least one security credential of the requesting entity 102, a list comprising of at least one spatial anchor identified by their spatial anchor ID to be associated with the at least one spatial anchor group, a list comprising of at least one spatial anchor identified by their spatial anchor ID to be linked as part of the at least one spatial anchor group, a human readable description about the at least one spatial anchor group, VAL Service Information, access control rules, at least one Service ID, and a service area where the at least one spatial anchor group is accessible. The processor 202 can validate the requesting entity using the received security credentials. On successfully validating the requesting entity, based on the received request, the processor 202 can create the at least one spatial anchor group (as in the received request). The processor 202 can assign a spatial anchor group identifier to the at least created spatial anchor group; and store the at least one created spatial anchor group and the assigned spatial anchor group identifier. The processor 202 can send a response to the requesting entity 102. In an embodiment herein, the response can be an indication of success, the spatial anchor group identifier of created spatial anchor group, and the list of spatial anchor IDs associated with the created group, if the created spatial anchor group has been successfully created. In an embodiment herein, if the created spatial anchor group has not been successfully created, the response can be a failure indication and reason(s) for the failure.

[0108] In an embodiment herein, the received request can be for updating one or more spatial anchor groups. The received request can comprise the identifier of the requesting entity 102, the security credentials of the requesting entity 102, and an identifier of the spatial anchor group(s). In an embodiment herein, the request can comprise a list comprising of at least one spatial anchor identified by their spatial anchor ID, wherein the at least one spatial anchor has to be associated with the spatial anchor group. In an embodiment herein, the request can comprise a list of spatial anchors identified by the spatial anchor IDs to be dis-associated from the spatial anchor group. In an embodiment herein, the request can comprise an updated service area. The processor 202 can validate the requesting entity 102 using the received security credentials. On successfully validating the requesting entity, based on the received request, the processor 202 can update the at least one spatial anchor group (as in the received request). The processor 202 can send a response to the requesting entity 102. In an embodiment herein, if the created spatial anchor group has been successfully updated, the response can be an indication of success. In an embodiment herein, if the created spatial anchor group has not been successfully updated, the response can be a failure indication and reason(s) for the failure.

[0109] In an embodiment herein, the received request can be for deleting at least one spatial anchor group. The request comprises the identifier of the requesting entity 102, the security credentials of the requesting entity 102, and an identifier of the at least one spatial anchor group which has to be deleted. The processor 202 can validate the requesting entity using the received security credentials. On successfully validating the requesting entity, the processor 202 can delete the at least one spatial anchor group (as in the received request). The processor 202 can send a response to the requesting entity. In an embodiment herein, if the created spatial anchor group has been successfully deleted, the response can be an indication of success. In an embodiment herein, if the created spatial anchor group has not been successfully deleted, the response can be a failure indication and reason(s) for the failure.

[0110] In an embodiment herein, the received request can be for deleting the at least one spatial anchor group. The request comprises the identifier of the requesting entity 102, the security credentials of the requesting entity 102, an identifier of the at least one spatial anchor group that has to be deleted, and an indication to delete at least one spatial anchor associated with the spatial anchor group. The processor 202 can validate the requesting entity 102 using the received security credentials. On successfully validating the requesting entity, the processor 202 can delete the at least one spatial anchor group (as in the received request), and the at least one spatial anchor associated with the spatial anchor group. The processor 202 can send a response to the requesting entity 102. In an embodiment herein, if the created spatial anchor group, and the at least one spatial anchor have been successfully deleted, the response can be one of an indication of success. In an embodiment herein, if the created spatial anchor group, and the at least one spatial anchor have not been successfully deleted, the response can be a failure indication and reason(s) for the failure.

[0111] In an embodiment herein, the received request can be for retrieving at least one spatial anchor group. The request comprises the identifier of the requesting entity 102, the security credentials of the requesting entity 102, and an identifier of the at least one spatial anchor group that has to be retrieved. The processor 202 can validate the requesting entity 102 using the received security credentials. On successfully validating the requesting entity, the processor 202 can retrieve the at least one spatial anchor group (as in the received request). The processor 202 can send a response to the requesting entity 102. In an embodiment herein, if the created spatial anchor group has been successfully retrieved, the response can be an indication of success, wherein the response can comprise the spatial anchor group identifier of the retrieved spatial anchor group, the retrieved spatial anchor information, an identifier of at least one spatial anchor associated with the retrieved spatial anchor group, and profile of the at least one spatial anchor associated with the retrieved spatial anchor group, if the created spatial anchor group has been successfully retrieved. In an embodiment herein, if the created spatial anchor group has not been successfully retrieved, the response can be a failure indication and reason(s) for the failure to the requesting entity 102.

[0112] FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting the process of managing spatial anchors in the wireless network. In step 301, the SAn server 101 receives the request from the requesting entity 102. The request can be for one of the following actions:

[0113] - creating at least one spatial anchor group, or linking at least one spatial group with at least one spatial anchor group;

[0114] - updating one or more spatial anchor groups;

[0115] - deleting at least one spatial anchor group and / or one or more spatial anchors associated with the at least one spatial anchor group that has to be deleted;

[0116] - discovery of spatial anchors using the group ID;

[0117] - discovering the list of available spatial anchor groups;

[0118] - subscribing to the spatial anchors group enabling the Spatial anchor client to receive notification whenever any changes related to spatial anchor group occurs; and

[0119] - retrieving at least one spatial anchor group.

[0120] The received request can comprise the identifier of the requesting entity, and the at least one security credential of the requesting entity 102. Based on the actions, the response can comprise additional information related to the spatial group on which the action has to be performed. In step 302, the SAn server 101 validates the requesting entity using the received security credentials. On successfully validating the requesting entity, in step 303, the SAn server 101 performs one or more actions corresponding to the received request. If the SAn server 101 has successfully performed the action (step 304), in step 305, the SAn server 101 sends an indication of success, and additional data related to the action that has been successfully performed to the requesting entity 102. If the SAn server 101 has not successfully performed the action (step 304), in step 306, the SAn server 101 sends a failure indication and reason(s) for the failure to the requesting entity 102 (for example, failure to validate the requesting entity 102). The various actions in method 300 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG. 3 may be omitted.

[0121] Spatial anchor group creation:

[0122] Spatial anchor group creation enables the requesting entity 102 to create spatial anchor groups with the SAn server 101. Through this procedure, the requesting entity 102 can request the SAn server 101 to create a spatial anchor group associating or linking a list of spatial anchors with the group. The SAn server 101 creates and stores the spatial anchor group and assigns a unique identifier (Spatial anchor group ID) to enable the requesting entity 102 to perform spatial anchor group related operations.

[0123] FIG.　4 illustrates the spatial anchor group creation procedure. Consider that the requesting entity 102 has received information (e.g. URI, IP address) related to the SAn server 101, and the requesting entity 102 has received security credentials authorizing it to communicate with the SAn server 101. If the requesting entity 102 is the SAn client, the SAn client has further received the required information from the VAL client over a SAn-C interface.

[0124] In step 401, the requesting entity 102 (i.e., the requestor) sends a spatial anchor group create request to the SAn server 101. The spatial anchor group create request includes a requestor identifier, security credentials, list of spatial anchors identified by the spatial anchor IDs to be associated or linked as part of the spatial anchor group, human readable description about the spatial anchor group and service area (identified by location co-ordinates) where the spatial anchor group is accessible or discoverable as described in [Table　1] (which describes information elements for the spatial anchor group create request from the requesting entity 102 to the SAn server 101).

[0125] Information elementStatusDescriptionRequestor identifierMThe identifier of the requestor (e.g., VAL server or VAL UE and VAL user).Security credentialsMThe security credentials of the requestor.Group descriptionOHuman readable description about the spatial anchor group (e.g. List of restaurants)Service areaOService area where the spatial anchor group is visible or accessible.VAL service informationMInformation about the application service associated with the spatial anchor group.Access control rulesOAccess control rules defining which entities are permitted to discover the spatial anchor group.Service IDMThe identifier of the application service.List of spatial anchors IDsMList of spatial anchors IDs to be associated with the group.

[0126] Upon receiving the request, in step 402, the SAn server 101 validates if the requesting entity 102 is authorized for the creation of spatial anchor group. If the requesting entity 102 is authorized, the SAn server 101 creates the spatial anchor group, assigns a unique identifier to it and stores the spatial anchor group related information provided in the step 401. The spatial anchor group related information contains spatial anchor group ID, list of spatial anchor IDs associated with the group, service area, and so on.

[0127] In step 403, the SAn server 101 sends a spatial anchor group create response as described in [Table 2] (which describes information elements for the spatial anchor group create response from the SAn service) to the requesting entity 102. If the SAn server 101 has created the spatial anchor group, the response includes an indication of success and spatial anchor group identifier of newly created spatial anchor group and list of spatial anchor IDs associated with the created group. If the SAn server 101 has not created the spatial anchor group,, the response includes an indication of failure and can include a reason for failure.

[0128] Information elementStatusDescriptionSuccessful response (NOTE)OIndicates that the spatial anchor group create request was successful.>Spatial anchor group IDOThe unique identifier of the created spatial anchor group.>List of Spatial anchor IDsOList of spatial anchor IDs associated with the created spatial anchor groupFailure response (NOTE)OIndicates that the create spatial anchor request has failed.> CauseOThe cause for the request failure.NOTE: Only one of these IE shall be present.

[0129] Spatial anchor group update:

[0130] Spatial anchor group update enables the requesting entity 102 to update spatial anchor groups stored at the SAn server 101. Through this procedure, the requesting entity 102 can request the SAn server 101 to update a spatial anchor group in-order to update the information associated with the spatial anchor group. This operation can be used to associate / dis-associate the spatial anchors to / from the group, update the position information, group description etc.,

[0131] FIG.　5 illustrates the spatial anchor group update procedure. Consider that the requesting entity 102 has received information (for example, URI, IP address) related to the SAn server 101; and the requesting entity 102 has received security credentials authorizing it to communicate with the SAn server 101. If the requesting entity 102 is a SAn client, the SAn client would have received the required information from the VAL client over a SAn-C interface.

[0132] In step 501, the requesting entity 102 (i.e., the requestor) sends a spatial anchor group update request to the SAn server 101. The spatial anchor group update request as described in [Table 3] (which describes information elements for the spatial anchor group update request from the SAn client or VAL server to the SAn server) includes a requestor identifier, security credentials, identifier of the spatial anchor group, list of spatial anchors identified by the spatial anchor IDs to be associated / linked as part of the spatial anchor group, list of spatial anchors identified by the spatial anchor IDs to be dis-associated / de-linked as part of the spatial anchor group , updated service area, and so on.

[0133] Information elementStatusDescriptionRequestor identifierMThe identifier of the requestor (e.g., VAL server or VAL UE and VAL user).Security credentialsMThe security credentials of the requestor.Spatial anchor group IDMIdentity of the spatial anchor group to be updatedGroup descriptionOHuman readable description about the spatial anchor group (e.g. List of restaurants)Service areaOService area where the spatial anchor group is visible or accessible.VAL service informationOInformation about the application service associated with the spatial anchor group.Access control rulesOAccess control rules defining which entities are permitted to discover the spatial anchor group.Service IDMThe identifier of the application service.List of spatial anchors IDsOList of spatial anchors IDs to be associated with the group.List of spatial anchor IDsOList of spatial anchor IDs to be dis-associated / de-linked from the spatial anchor group

[0134] Upon receiving the request, in step 502, the SAn server 101 validates if the requesting entity 102 is authorized for the updating the spatial anchor group. If the requesting entity 102 is authorized, the SAn server 101 updates the stored spatial anchor group and its associated information based on the request received in step 501.

[0135] In step 503, the SAn server 101 sends a spatial anchor group update response to the requesting entity 102, as described in [Table 4] (which describes information elements for the spatial anchor group update response from the SAn server). If the SAn server 101 has updated the spatial anchor group, the response includes an indication of success. If the SAn server 101 has not updated the spatial anchor group, the response includes an indication of failure and can include a reason for failure.

[0136] Information elementStatusDescriptionSuccessful response (NOTE)OIndicates that the spatial anchor group create request was successful.>Spatial anchor group IDOThe unique identifier of the updated spatial anchor group.>List of Spatial anchor IDsOList of spatial anchor IDs associated with the spatial anchor group>List of spatial anchor IDsOList of spatial anchor IDs dis-associated / de-linked from the spatial anchor groupFailure response (NOTE)OIndicates that the create spatial anchor request has failed.> CauseOThe cause for the request failure.NOTE : Only one of these IE shall be present.

[0137] Retrieve Spatial anchors of group:

[0138] Retrieve Spatial anchors of group request enables the requesting entity 102 to retrieve the list spatial anchors associated with the spatial anchor group and its related information.

[0139] FIG.　6 illustrates the retrieve spatial anchors of group procedure. Consider that the requesting entity 102 (i.e., the requestor) has received information (e.g. URI, IP address) related to the SAn server 101; and the requesting entity 102 has received security credentials authorizing it to communicate with the SAn server 101. If the requesting entity 102 is a SAn client, the SAn client would have received the required information from the VAL client over a SAn-C interface.

[0140] In step 601, the requesting entity 102 (i.e., the requestor) sends a retrieve spatial anchors of group request to the SAn server 101. The retrieve spatial anchors of group request as described in [Table 5] (which describes information elements for the retrieve spatial anchors of group request from the SAn client or VAL server to the SAn server) includes a requestor identifier, security credentials, identifier of the spatial anchor group.

[0141] Information elementStatusDescriptionRequestor identifierMThe identifier of the requestor (e.g., VAL server or VAL UE and VAL user).Security credentialsMThe security credentials of the requestor.Spatial anchor group IDMIdentity of the spatial anchor group

[0142] Upon receiving the request, in step 602, the SAn server 101 validates if the requesting entity 102 is authorized for the retrieving the spatial anchors associated with the spatial anchor group. If the requesting entity 102 is authorized and if the spatial anchor group exists, the SAn server 101 retrieves the list of spatial anchors associated with the spatial anchor group received in the request and its information stored in its repository.

[0143] In step 603, the SAn server 101 sends a retrieve spatial anchors of group response as described in [Table 6] (which describes information elements for the retrieve spatial anchors of group response from the SAn server) to the requestor. If it is a success response, the response includes the list of spatial anchor IDs and its information. If it is a failure response, the response includes the reason for the failure.

[0144] Information elementStatusDescriptionSuccessful response (NOTE)OIndicates that the request was successful.>Spatial anchor group IDMThe spatial anchor group ID> List Spatial anchor information>> Spatial anchor IDOIdentify of the spatial anchor associated with the spatial anchor group>> Spatial anchor profileOInformation of the spatial anchor as described in Table　7.3.2.1-1 titled "spatial anchor profile" of 3GPP TS 23.437.Failure response (NOTE)OIndicates that the request has failed.> CauseOThe cause for the request failure.NOTE : Only one of these IE shall be present.

[0145] Spatial anchor group delete:

[0146] The spatial anchor group delete request enables the requesting entity 102 to delete the list spatial anchor groups and its related information stored at the SAn server 101 or at a SAn repository (not shown) managed by a spatial anchor.

[0147] FIG.　7 illustrates the spatial anchor group delete procedure. Consider that the requesting entity 102 has received information (e.g. URI, IP address) related to the SAn server 101; and the requesting entity 102 has received security credentials authorizing it to communicate with the SAn server 101. If the requesting entity 102 is a SAn client, the SAn client would have received the required information from the VAL client over a SAn-C interface.

[0148] In step 701, the requesting entity 102 (i.e., the requestor) sends a spatial anchor group delete request to the SAn server 101. The spatial anchor group delete request as described in [Table 7] (which describes information elements for the spatial anchor group delete request from the SAn client or VAL server to the SAn server) includes a requestor identifier, security credentials, identifier of the spatial anchor group. If the requesting entity 102 wants to delete more than one group, the request can carry the list of spatial anchor group IDs. If the requesting entity 102 wants to delete the spatial anchors and its information also, the request can include an indication to delete the spatial anchors.

[0149] Information elementStatusDescriptionRequestor identifierMThe identifier of the requestor (e.g., VAL server or VAL UE and VAL user).Security credentialsMThe security credentials of the requestor.List of Spatial anchor groupMInformation related to the spatial anchor groups to be deleted> Spatial anchor group IDMIdentify of the spatial anchor group> Delete spatial anchors indicationOIndicates whether the SAn server need to delete the spatial anchors associated with the spatial anchor group

[0150] Upon receiving the request, in step 702, the SAn server 101 validates if the spatial anchor group exists and if the requesting entity 102 is authorized to delete the spatial anchor group. If the requesting entity 102 is authorized, the SAn server 101 deletes the spatial anchor group and its associated information. If the request indicates to delete the spatial anchors associated with the group, the SAn server 101 deletes the spatial anchors associated with the group and the related information.

[0151] In step 703, the SAn server 101 sends a spatial anchor group delete response as described in [Table 8] (which describes information elements for the spatial anchor group delete response from the SAn server) to the requesting entity 102. If the response is a success response, the response includes the list of spatial anchor group IDs that are deleted. The response may also include the list of spatial anchors that are deleted if the request includes an indication to delete the spatial anchors. In case of failure, the response includes the reason for the failure.

[0152] Information elementStatusDescriptionSuccessful response (NOTE)OIndicates that the request was successful.>List of Spatial anchor group informationMInformation related to the spatial anchor groups>> Spatial anchor group IDMIdentify of the spatial anchor group deleted successfully>> List of Spatial anchor IDOIdentify of the spatial anchors associated with the spatial anchor group that are deleted. This IE shall be present if the request includes an indication to delete the spatial anchors also.Failure response (NOTE)OIndicates that the request has failed.> CauseOThe cause for the request failure.NOTE : Only one of these IE shall be present.

[0153] Spatial anchor group discovery:

[0154] Spatial anchor group discovery request enables the requesting entity 102 to discover the list spatial anchor groups, and its related information stored at the SAn server 101 or at the SAn repository managed by the spatial anchor. The discovery of spatial anchor group(s) is based on matching spatial anchor group discovery filters provided in the request received by the SAn server 101.

[0155] FIG.　8 illustrates the spatial anchor group discovery procedure. Consider that the requesting entity 102 has received information (e.g. URI, IP address) related to the SAn server 101; and the requesting entity 102 has received security credentials authorizing it to communicate with the SAn server 101. If the requesting entity 102 is a SAn client, the SAn client would have received the required information from the VAL client over a SAn-C interface.

[0156] In step 801, the requesting entity 102 sends a spatial anchor group discovery request to the SAn server 101 to obtain the spatial anchor groups of interest. The spatial anchor group discovery request as described in [Table 9] (which describes information elements for the spatial anchor group discovery request from the SAn client or VAL server to the SAn server) includes a requestor identifier, security credentials and spatial anchor discovery filters.

[0157] Information elementStatusDescriptionRequestor identifierMThe identifier of the requestor (e.g., VAL server or VAL UE and VAL user).Security credentialsMThe security credentials of the requestor.VAL client IDOThe identifier of the VAL client when the requestor is a SAn client.Discovery filtersOThe filters used for determining the spatial anchor groups.> List of spatial anchor group IDOThe list of spatial anchor group identifiers in-order to discover the list of spatial anchors associated with them.> Area of interestOThe area of interest (e.g., topological area and / or geographical area).> Service IDOThe identifier of a VAL service.

[0158] Upon receiving the request, in step 802, the SAn server 101 validates if the requesting entity 102 is authorized for the request. If the requesting entity 102 is authorized, the SAn server 101 identifies spatial anchor group(s) that satisfies the discovery filters provided in the request. For each matching spatial anchor group, the SAn server 101 checks whether the requesting entity 102 is authorized to obtain the spatial anchor group based on the identity and location of the requesting entity 102, and the access control rules. To determine the location of interest of the requesting entity 102, the SAn server 101 may use location information provided in the request. If the location information is not provided in the request, the SAn server 101 may obtain location information by invoking the 3GPP Core Network Location Services as described in 3GPP　TS　23.273, and 3GPP　TS　23.502　directly or via the NEF, or by invoking the SEAL Location Management APIs as described in 3GPP　TS　23.434.

[0159] In step 803, the SAn server 101 sends a spatial anchor group discovery response to the requesting entity 102. If the SAn server 101 has identified spatial anchor group(s), the response includes an indication of success and the identified spatial anchor group(s) and may include the list of spatial anchors associated with each of the group. Otherwise, the response includes an indication of failure and may include a reason for failure.

[0160] [Table　10] describes information elements for the spatial anchor group discovery response from the SAn server 101.

[0161] Information elementStatusDescriptionSuccessful responseOIndicates that the spatial anchor discovery request was successful.List of spatial anchor group(s)OList of discovered spatial anchor group(s).> Spatial anchor group IDMIdentifier of the discovered spatial anchor group.> Service areaMThe location information 3D position associated with the spatial anchor group (x, y and z coordinates).> Spatial anchor group descriptionOA human readable description about the spatial anchor group> List of spatial anchor IDsOList of identifiers of the spatial anchors associated with the spatial anchor group> VAL service informationMInformation about the application service associated with the spatial anchor group.>> Service IDMThe identifier of the application service.Failure responseOIndicates that the spatial anchor discovery request has failed.> CauseOThe cause for the request failure.

[0162] Spatial anchor group subscription:

[0163] The spatial anchor group subscription request enables the requesting entity 102 to subscribe to the list spatial anchor groups for any changes to the information associated with it.

[0164] FIG.　9 illustrates the spatial anchor group subscription procedure. Consider that the requesting entity 102 has received information (e.g. URI, IP address) related to the SAn server 101; and the requesting entity 102 has received security credentials authorizing it to communicate with the SAn server 101. If the requesting entity 102 is a SAn client, the SAn client would have received the required information from the VAL client over a SAn-C interface.

[0165] In step 901, the requesting entity 102 (i.e., the requestor) sends a spatial anchor group subscription request to the SAn server 101.The spatial anchor group subscription request includes a requestor identifier, security credentials, a notification endpoint, and event information for which the requestor is subscribing. The request may include an expiration time. In an embodiment herein, the requesting entity 102 may include the event type "spatial anchor association" to indicate the SAn server to notify the requesting entity 102 if there are any changes to the association of spatial anchors with the spatial anchor group (for example, if new spatial anchors are associated with the group or any spatial anchor is disassociated from the group). In an embodiment herein, the requesting entity 102 may include the event type "Spatial anchor groups in range" to indicate to the SAn server 101 to notify the requesting entity 102 when the SAn server 101 detects that spatial anchor groups (based on their position information) become in range or out of range of the subscriber according to range event filters provided in the request. Range event filters can include a range for detecting spatial anchors, an indication to enable persistent search, the pose of the subscriber. If the requesting entity 102 is a SAn client, the spatial anchor group subscribe request includes a VAL client identifier. In an embodiment herein, the requestor may include the event type "Spatial anchor group management" to indicate to the SAn server 101 to notify the requestor when the SAn server 101 detects if any new spatial anchor group is created, if any spatial anchor group is deleted or if any spatial anchor group related information (e.g., description, position information, application service ID etc.,).

[0166] Upon receiving the request, in step 902, the SAn server 101 validates if the requesting entity 102 is authorized for the request. If the requestor is authorized, the SAn server 101 starts monitoring for the event types as specified in the request. In an embodiment herein, if the event type is a "spatial anchor association", the SAn server 101 starts monitoring if any spatial anchors are being associated / disassociated with the spatial anchor group. request. In an embodiment herein, if the event type is "spatial anchor group management", the SAn server 101 starts monitoring for any spatial anchor group being created or deleted or updated. request. In an embodiment herein, if the event type is "Spatial anchor groups in range", and the requesting entity 102 is a SAn client, the SAn server 101 starts monitoring the corresponding UE location and direction corresponding to the pose information. The SAn server 101 can obtain the UE location information using capabilities of the 5GS or the SEAL Location Management service. Additionally, the SAn server 101 considers data analytics, such as UE mobility prediction. The SAn server 101 monitors the distance between a User Equipment (UE) and the spatial anchor groups of interest to determine whether the spatial anchor groups becomes in-range or out-of-range of the UE.

[0167] In step 903, the SAn server 101 sends a spatial anchor group subscription response to the requesting entity 102. The response includes an indication of success or failure and may include a reason for failure.

[0168] Based on the event type received in step 901 from the requesting entity 102, in step 904, the SAn server 101 detects an event that occurs at the SAn server 101 that satisfies trigger conditions for notifying a subscriber (e.g., the requestor) according to events subscribed by the requestor.

[0169] In step 905, the SAn server 101 sends a spatial anchor group notification to the requestor indicating the event. The notification includes a subscription identity and includes event-specific information. If the subscribed event is for " spatial anchor association", the notification includes the list of determined spatial anchors that are associated or disassociated with the spatial anchor group. Single notification message can contain both the list of associated or disassociated spatial anchors. If the subscribed event is for " spatial anchor group management ", the notification includes the list of spatial anchor group created or list of spatial anchor group deleted or the list of spatial anchor group updated. If the subscribed event is for "spatial anchor groups in range", the notification includes the list of determined spatial anchors group that become in range, out of range of the subscriber.

[0170] [Table　11] describes information elements for the spatial anchor group subscribe request from the requesting entity 102 to the SAn server 101.

[0171] Information elementStatusDescriptionRequestor identifierMThe identifier of the requestor (e.g., VAL server or VAL UE and VAL user).Security credentialsMThe security credentials of the requestor.VAL client IDOThe identifier of the VAL client when the requestor is a SAn client.Notification Target AddressMNotification target address (e.g. URL) where the notifications should be sent.Proposed expiration timeOProposed expiration time for the subscription.List of Spatial anchor group IDsORequestor can include the list of spatial anchor groups of interest if it intends to receive notifications related to only these spatial anchor groupsEvent typeMThe type of event for which the requestor is subscribing. Supported event types include:- "spatial anchor association"- "Spatial anchor group management"- "spatial anchor groups in range"Event detection filtersOEvent type specific detection filters.> Spatial anchor association event filtersOEvent filters applicable to the "spatial anchor association" event type. The event filter is considered by the SAn server for triggering the notification when the spatial anchors associate or disassociate with the group.> Spatial anchor group management filtersOEvent filters applicable to "spatial anchor group management" event type. The event filter is considered by the SAn server for triggering the notification whenever any new spatial anchor group is created or deleted or updated.> Spatial anchor groups in range event filtersOEvent filters applicable to "spatial anchor groups in range" event type. The event filter is considered by the SAn server for triggering the notification and can include an indication for spatial anchors groups becoming in range of the UE, out of range of the UE, or both and a value for the range.current locationOCurrent location of the user and direction.poseOCurrent pose of the userService ID listOIdentifiers of the associated application services of interest.Area of interestOThe area of interest (e.g., topological and / or geographical).

[0172] [Table　12] describes information elements for the spatial anchor group subscribe response sent by the SAn server 101 to the requesting entity 102.

[0173] Information elementStatusDescriptionSuccessful responseOIndicates that the subscription request was successful.> Subscription IDMSubscription identifier corresponding to the subscription.> Expiration timeOIndicates the expiration time of the subscription. To maintain an active subscription, a subscription update is required before the expiration time.Failure responseOIndicates that the subscription request failed.> CauseOIndicates the cause of subscription request failure

[0174] [Table　13] describes information elements for the spatial anchor group notification sent by the SAn server 101 to the requesting entity 102.

[0175] Information elementStatusDescriptionSubscription IDMSubscription identifier corresponding to the subscription.Event typeMThe type of event notification. Supported event types include:- "spatial anchor association"- "Spatial anchor group management"- "spatial anchor groups in range"Event dataMBased on the event type, SAn server includes the relevant data here :For the event "spatial anchor association" it includes the list of determined spatial anchors that are associated or disassociated with the spatial anchor group. Single notification message can contain both the list of associated or disassociated spatial anchors.For event "spatial anchor group management ", it includes the list of spatial anchor group created or list of spatial anchor group deleted, or the list of spatial anchor group updated.For "spatial anchor groups in range", it includes the list of determined spatial anchors group that become in range, out of range of the subscriber.

[0176] Also, when looking from the perspective of the spatial anchor consumers, spatial anchor grouping can improve the user experience. For example, consider that a user is walking into a huge shopping mall with Virtual Reality (VR) glasses, the user is provided with presented with the category of spatial anchors (e.g. restaurants, clothes shops, shoe shops etc.), and not a cluttered view of all the existing spatial anchors.

[0177] Meanwhile, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.

[0178] The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the network elements. The elements include blocks which can be at least one of a hardware device, or a combination of hardware device and software module.

[0179] The embodiments disclosed herein describe systems and methods for managing spatial anchors in groups in wireless communication networks. Therefore, it is understood that the scope of the protection is extended to such a program and in addition to a computer readable means having a message therein, such computer readable storage means contain program code means for implementation of one or more steps of the method, when the program runs on a server or mobile deviceor any suitable programmable device. The method is implemented in at least one embodiment through or together with a software program written in e.g., Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) another programming language, or implemented by one or more VHDL or several software modules being executed on at least one hardware device. The hardware device can be any kind of portable device that can be programmed. The device may also include means which could be e.g., hardware means like e.g., an ASIC, or a combination of hardware and software means, e.g., an ASIC and an FPGA, or at least one microprocessor and at least one memory with software modules located therein. The method embodiments described herein could be implemented partly in hardware and partly in software. Alternatively, the invention may be implemented on different hardware devices, e.g., using a plurality of CPUs.

[0180] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and / or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of embodiments and examples, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments and examples disclosed herein can be practised with modification within the scope of the embodiments as described herein.

Claims

1.A method performed by a first entity operating as a spatial anchors (SAn) server in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:receiving, from a second entity operating as a SAn client or a vertical application layer (VAL) server, a spatial anchor group create request;based on the receiving the spatial anchor group create request, validating whether the second entity is authorized for a creation of a spatial anchor group associated with a list of spatial anchors;in case that the second entity is authorized, creating the spatial anchor group and assigning a unique identifier (ID) to the spatial anchor group; andsending a spatial anchor group create response to the second entity.2.The method of claim 1,wherein the spatial anchor group create request includes at least one of:a requestor ID of the second entity;information on security credentials of the second entity;information on a group description about the spatial anchor group;information on a service area where the spatial anchor group is visible or accessible;VAL service information about an application service associated with the spatial anchor group;a service ID of the application service;information on access control rules defining which entities are permitted to discover the spatial anchor group; andinformation on a list of spatial anchors IDs to be associated with the spatial anchor group.3.The method of claim 1,wherein the spatial anchor group create response includes at least one of:information indicating a successful response;the unique ID of the spatial anchor group; andinformation on a list of spatial anchor IDs associated with the created spatial anchor group.4.The method of claim 1,wherein in case that the second entity is not authorized, the spatial anchor group create response includes at least one of:information indicating a failure response; andcause information for a request failure.5.A method performed by a second entity operating as a spatial anchors (SAn) client or a vertical application layer (VAL) server in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:sending a spatial anchor group create request to a first entity operating as a SAn server to create a spatial anchor group associated with a list of spatial anchors in case that the second entity is authorized; andin response to the sending the spatial anchor group create request, receiving, from the first entity, a spatial anchor group create response,wherein a unique identifier (ID) is assigned to the spatial anchor group.6.The method of claim 5,wherein the spatial anchor group create request includes at least one of:a requestor ID of the second entity;information on security credentials of the second entity;information on a group description about the spatial anchor group;information on a service area where the spatial anchor group is visible or accessible;VAL service information about an application service associated with the spatial anchor group;a service ID of the application service;information on access control rules defining which entities are permitted to discover the spatial anchor group; andinformation on a list of spatial anchors IDs to be associated with the spatial anchor group.7.The method of claim 5,wherein the spatial anchor group create response includes at least one of:information indicating a successful response;the unique ID of the spatial anchor group; andinformation on a list of spatial anchor IDs associated with the created spatial anchor group.8.The method of claim 5,wherein in case that the second entity is not authorized, the spatial anchor group create response includes at least one of:information indicating a failure response; andcause information for a request failure.9.A first entity operating as a spatial anchors (SAn) server in a wireless communication system, the first entity 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 first entity to:receive, from a second entity operating as a SAn client or a vertical application layer (VAL) server, a spatial anchor group create request,based on the receiving spatial anchor group create request, validate whether the second entity is authorized for a creation of a spatial anchor group associated with a list of spatial anchors,in case that the second entity is authorized, create the spatial anchor group and assign a unique identifier (ID) to the spatial anchor group, andsend a spatial anchor group create response to the second entity.10.The first entity of claim 9,wherein the spatial anchor group create request includes at least one of:a requestor ID of the second entity;information on security credentials of the second entity;information on a group description about the spatial anchor group;information on a service area where the spatial anchor group is visible or accessible;VAL service information about an application service associated with the spatial anchor group;a service ID of the application service;information on access control rules defining which entities are permitted to discover the spatial anchor group; andinformation on a list of spatial anchors IDs to be associated with the spatial anchor group.11.The first entity of claim 9,wherein the spatial anchor group create response includes at least one of:information indicating a successful response;the unique ID of the spatial anchor group; andinformation on a list of spatial anchor IDs associated with the created spatial anchor group.12.The first entity of claim 9,wherein in case that the second entity is not authorized, the spatial anchor group create response includes at least one of:information indicating a failure response; andcause information for a request failure.13.A second entity operating as a spatial anchors (SAn) client or a vertical application layer (VAL) server in a wireless communication system, the second entity 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 second entity to:send a spatial anchor group create request to a first entity operating as a SAn server to create a spatial anchor group associated with a list of spatial anchors in case that the second entity is authorized, andin response to the sending the spatial anchor group create request, receive, from the first entity, a spatial anchor group create response,wherein a unique identifier (ID) is assigned to the spatial anchor group.14.The second entity of claim 13,wherein the spatial anchor group create request includes at least one of:a requestor ID of the second entity;information on security credentials of the second entity;information on a group description about the spatial anchor group;information on a service area where the spatial anchor group is visible or accessible;VAL service information about an application service associated with the spatial anchor group;a service ID of the application service;information on access control rules defining which entities are permitted to discover the spatial anchor group; andinformation on a list of spatial anchors IDs to be associated with the spatial anchor group.15.The second entity of claim 13,wherein the spatial anchor group create response includes at least one of:information indicating a successful response;the unique ID of the spatial anchor group; andinformation on a list of spatial anchor IDs associated with the created spatial anchor group, andwherein in case that the second entity is not authorized, the spatial anchor group create response includes at least one of:information indicating a failure response; andcause information for a request failure.

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