Method and apparatus for enabling multi access PDU session

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. In an embodiment of the disclosure, a method performed by a first SMF entity in a wireless communication system, may comprise: receiving, from a second SMF entity, a request message for a home-routed PDU session between a UE and a DN; in case that a request type is a MA PDU request and a PDU session type is Ethernet, determining to exclude a MPQUIC-E indicator from ATSSS capability information of a MA PDU session; and transmitting, to a PCF entity, the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session from which the MPQUIC-E indicator is excluded.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENABLING MULTI ACCESS PDU SESSION

[0001] The disclosure relates to a wireless communication system. The disclosure relates to a method and an apparatus for enabling an MA(multi access) PDU(protocol data unit) session.

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

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

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

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

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

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

[0008] In an embodiment of the disclosure, a method performed by a first SMF (Session Management Function) entity in a wireless communication system, may comprise: receiving, from a second SMF entity, a request message for a home-routed PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session between a UE (User Equipment) and a DN (Data Network), wherein the request message may comprise a request type, a PDU session type and ATSSS (Access Traffic Steering, Switching and Splitting) capability information of the UE; in case that the request type is a MA (Multi Access) PDU request and the PDU session type is Ethernet, determining to exclude a MPQUIC-E (Multi Path Quick UDP (User Datagram Protocol) Internet Connections - Ethernet) indicator from ATSSS capability information of a MA PDU session; and transmitting, to a PCF (Policy Control Function) entity, the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session from which the MPQUIC-E indicator is excluded.

[0009] In an embodiment of the disclosure, a first SMF entity may comprise at least one transceiver; at least one processor coupled to the at least one transceiver; and at least one memory, coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the first SMF entity to: receive, from a second SMF entity, a request message for a home-routed PDU session between a UE and a DN, wherein the request message may comprise a request type, a PDU session type and ATSSS capability information of the UE; in case that the request type is a MA PDU request and the PDU session type is Ethernet, determine to exclude a MPQUIC-E indicator from ATSSS capability information of a MA PDU session; and transmit, to a PCF entity, the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session from which the MPQUIC-E indicator is excluded.

[0010] In an embodiment of the disclosure, one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media may store computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a first SMF entity, cause the first SMF entity to perform operations, wherein the operations may comprise: receiving, from a second SMF entity, a request message for a home-routed PDU session between a UE and a DN, wherein the request message may comprise a request type, a PDU session type and ATSSS capability information of the UE; in case that the request type is a MA PDU request and the PDU session type is Ethernet, determining to exclude a MPQUIC-E indicator from ATSSS capability information of a MA PDU session; and transmitting, to a PCF entity, the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session from which the MPQUIC-E indicator is excluded.

[0011] The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain embodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0012] Figure 1 illustrates an example of MA(Multi Access) PDU(Protocol Data Unit) session according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0013] Figure 2 illustrates an example of a protocol stack in case of MPQUIC-E according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0014] Figure 3 illustrates an example of an procedure for establishing a PDU Session in case of one or more roaming scenarios, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0015] Figure 4A illustrates an example of HR(Home-Routed) roaming for MPQUIC-E according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0016] Figure 4B illustrates an example of HR(Home-Routed) roaming for MPQUIC-E according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0017] Figure 5 illustrates a procedure in which an MA PDU Session is established of PDU Session type Ethernet and MPQUIC-E is enabled for the PDU Session and later an I-UPF is inserted in the path of the PDU Session, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0018] Figure 6 schematically illustrates a user equipment (UE) according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0019] Figure 7 schematically illustrates a network entity according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0020] Figure 8 is a block diagram of a network entity according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

[0021] Figure 9 is a flow chart of a method performed by a SMF entity according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0022] Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

[0023] Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0024] In describing the embodiments, while numerous details are set forth for the purpose of illustration, it is understood that some aspects of the disclosure may be practiced with less than all of these details. Numerous variations and alternatives to the details provided herein are possible and are considered within the scope of the disclosure. In some instances, descriptions related to technical contents well-known in the art may be omitted so as to not obscure an understanding of the disclosure, and such omitted descriptions are understood to be within the scope of the disclosure.

[0025] 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.

[0026] The advantages and features of the disclosure and ways to achieve them will be apparent by making reference to embodiments as described herein in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but may be implemented in various different forms. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the disclosure. The following embodiments are merely examples to aid in an understanding of the disclosure and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way, but on the contrary, the disclosure covers all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. Throughout the specification, the same or like reference numerals designate the same or like elements. Furthermore, terms which will be described herein are terms defined in consideration of the functions in the disclosure, and may be different according to users, intentions of the operators, or customs. Therefore, the definitions of the terms should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

[0027] Herein, it will be understood that each block of flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, may be performed based on computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded collectively onto at least one processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which perform through any one of, or in any combination of, the at least one processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for performing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in a non-transitory computer usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that perform the function specified in the flowchart block(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a computer executed process such that the instructions that perform on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus provide steps for executing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s).

[0028] 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.

[0029] As used in embodiments of the disclosure, a "~unit / module" may refer to a software element or a hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which performs a predetermined function. However, the term including the word "~unit / module" does not always have a meaning limited to software or hardware. The "~unit / module" may be constructed either to be stored in an addressable storage medium or to execute one or more processors. Therefore, the "~unit / module" includes, for example, software elements, object-oriented software elements, components such as class elements and task elements, processes, functions, properties, procedures, sub-routines, segments of a program code, drivers, firmware, micro-codes, circuits, data, database, data structures, tables, arrays, and parameters. The components and functions provided by the "~unit / module" may be either combined into a smaller number of components and a "~unit / module," or divided into additional components and a "~unit / module." Moreover, the components and "~units / modules" may be implemented to reproduce one or more central processing units (CPUs) within a device or a security multimedia card. Further, in the embodiments, the "~unit / module" may include one or more processors.

[0030] 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.

[0031] 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.

[0032] 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.

[0033] 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.

[0034] 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.

[0035] 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.

[0036] 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.

[0037] 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.

[0038] 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.

[0039] 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.

[0040] 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.

[0041] 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.

[0042] 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.

[0043] 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.

[0044] 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.

[0045] Furthermore, even if "first ~" and "second ~" are described in the present disclosure, it may be understood that element(s) referred to by "first ~" and "second ~" may be the same or different. For example, in case of element(s) being information, first information and second information may both be same information and, in some cases, are separate and different information.

[0046] 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.

[0047] For example, the physical layer signaling may be referred to as Layer 1 (L1) signaling and may include downlink control information (DCI). In addition, the higher layer signaling may include a medium access control (MAC) control message, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling message, a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as L3 (layer 3) signaling. It should be noted, however, that the higher layer signaling is not limited to the aforementioned examples.

[0048] 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.

[0049] 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.

[0050] 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.

[0051] In the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein, terms or components included in the disclosure may be expressed in singular or plural form depending on the specific embodiments presented. However, such singular or plural expressions are selected appropriately for convenience of description, and the 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.

[0052] The drawings or flowcharts described herein 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.

[0053] 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.

[0054] 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.

[0055] 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.

[0056] 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.

[0057] 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 herein, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may also be used. Such terms may also be interchangeable with terms defined in any 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) technical specifications (TS) or similar technical specifications, e.g., from the European telecommunications standards institute (ETSI), where appropriate.

[0058] Hereinafter, a base station (BS) is an entity that allocates resources to terminals, and may be at least one of a gNode B, an eNode B, a Node B, a wireless access unit, a BS controller, or a node on a network.

[0059] 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 5th generation (5G) base station architectures in which such CU and DU functional splits are implemented.

[0060] A terminal may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or any other device / system capable of performing communication functions.

[0061] 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.

[0062] Furthermore, hereinafter, 5G mobile communication technologies (e.g., 5G new radio (NR)), 6th generation (6G) mobile communication technologies may be described by way of example, but the embodiments of the 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

[0063] 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."

[0064] 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, ...), RRC, or MAC control element (CE), or a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as Layer 3 (L3) signaling.

[0065] In addition, L1 signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of signaling techniques using the at least one or any combination of the following physical layer channels or signaling: physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), DCI, UE-specific DCI, group-common DCI, common DCI, scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI used for scheduling downlink or uplink data), non-scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI not used for scheduling downlink or uplink data) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), or uplink control information (UCI). The L1 signaling message may be referred to as a physical layer signaling.

[0066] 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.

[0067] Hereinafter, the operational principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0068] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

[0069] The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the disclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0070] It is to be understood that the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a component surface" includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

[0071] Throughout the disclosure, the expression "at least one of a, b or c" indicates only a, only b, only c, both a and b, both a and c, both b and c, all of a, b, and c, or variations thereof. Throughout the specification, a layer (or a layer apparatus) may also be referred to as an entity. Hereinafter, operation principles of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.

[0072] In the following descriptions, well-known functions or configurations are not described in detail because they would obscure the disclosure with unnecessary details. The terms used in the specification are defined in consideration of functions used in the disclosure, and can be changed according to the intent or commonly used methods of users or operators. Accordingly, definitions of the terms are understood based on the entire descriptions of the present specification.

[0073] For the same reasons, in the drawings, some elements may be exaggerated, omitted, or roughly illustrated. Also, a size of each element does not exactly correspond to an actual size of each element. In each drawing, elements that are the same or are in correspondence are rendered the same reference numeral.

[0074] Advantages and features of the disclosure and methods of accomplishing the same may be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed descriptions of embodiments and accompanying drawings of the disclosure. The disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments of the disclosure are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to one of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, the scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims. Throughout the specification, like reference numerals refer to like elements. It will be understood that blocks in flowcharts or combinations of the flowcharts may be performed by computer program instructions. Because these computer program instructions may be loaded into a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or another programmable data processing apparatus, the instructions, which are performed by a processor of a computer or another programmable data processing apparatus, create units for performing functions described in the flowchart block(s).

[0075] The computer program instructions may be stored in a computer-usable or computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or another programmable data processing apparatus to implement a function in a particular manner, and thus the instructions stored in the computer-usable or computer-readable memory may also be capable of producing manufactured items containing instruction units for performing the functions described in the flowchart block(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded into a computer or another programmable data processing apparatus, and thus, instructions for operating the computer or the other programmable data processing apparatus by generating a computer-executed process when a series of operations are performed in the computer or the other programmable data processing apparatus may provide operations for performing the functions described in the flowchart block(s).

[0076] In addition, each block may represent a portion of a module, segment, or code that includes one or more executable instructions for executing specified logical function(s). It is also noted that, in some alternative implementations, functions mentioned in blocks may occur out of order. For example, two consecutive blocks may also be executed simultaneously or in reverse order depending on functions corresponding thereto.

[0077] As used herein, the term "unit" denotes a software element or a hardware element such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and performs a certain function. However, the term "unit" is not limited to software or hardware. The "unit" may be formed so as to be in an addressable storage medium, or may be formed so as to operate one or more processors. Thus, for example, the term "unit" may include elements (e.g., software elements, object-oriented software elements, class elements, and task elements), processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, micro-codes, circuits, data, a database, data structures, tables, arrays, or variables.

[0078] Functions provided by the elements and "units" may be combined into the smaller number of elements and "units", or may be divided into additional elements and "units". Furthermore, the elements and "units" may be embodied to reproduce one or more central processing units (CPUs) in a device or security multimedia card. Also, in an embodiment of the disclosure, the "unit" may include at least one processor. In the following descriptions of the disclosure, well-known functions or configurations are not described in detail because they would obscure the disclosure with unnecessary details.

[0079] Throughout the specification, function or an apparatus or a server for providing a service may also be referred to as an entity.

[0080] Examples of a terminal may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a multimedia system capable of performing a communication function, or the like.

[0081] Hereinafter, a base station is an entity that assigns resources of a terminal, and may be at least one of a node B (NB), a base station (BS), a next-generation node B (gNB), an evolved node B (eNB), a wireless access unit, a BS controller, or a node on a network. In addition, embodiments of the disclosure may be applied to other communication systems having a technical background or channel type similar to the embodiments of the disclosure described below. In addition, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that embodiments of the disclosure may be applied to other communication systems through some modifications without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

[0082] In addition, terms for identifying access nodes, terms denoting network entities or network functions (NFs), terms denoting messages, terms denoting an interface between network entities, terms denoting various types of identification information, and the like, used herein are exemplified for convenience of description. Thus, the terms used in the disclosure are not limited and other terms denoting targets having the same technical meanings may be used.

[0083] Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the disclosure uses terms and names defined by the 3rd generation partnership project long term evolution (3GPP LTE) and 5th generation (5G) standard. However, the disclosure is not limited by such terms and names, and may be equally applied to systems conforming to other standards.

[0084] Figure 1 illustrates an example of MA(Multi Access) PDU(Protocol Data Unit) session according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0085] MA PDU Session: An MA PDU session is a PDU session which can use one or more than one accesses at one time to send the data packets for the session. For example, the MA PDU session uses one 3GPP(3rd Generation Partnership Project) access network or one non-3GPP access network at a time, or simultaneously one 3GPP access network and one non-3GPP access network. An example is shown in figure 1.

[0086] Figure 2 illustrates an example of a protocol stack in case of MPQUIC-E according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0087] Link-specific IP addresses: they are used by a UE(User Equipment) to communicate with the proxy server (e.g. MPQUIC(MultiPath Quick UDP(User Datagram Protocol) Internet Connections) proxy). As in figure 2, the IP addresses used by the UE to communicate with the MPQUIC proxy in UPF(User Plane Function) are link-specific IP addresses. The UE is allocated a unique IP address for each of the accesses for an MA PDU Session. In an example, the UE is allocated one link-specific IP address for the 3GPP access of the MA PDU Session and one link-specific IP address for the non-3GPP access of the MA PDU session.

[0088] MPQUIC proxy: An MPQUIC proxy is used to interact with the UE via MPQUIC protocol and act as a proxy towards an application server by splitting or merging traffic coming from or towards UE via multiple accesses. It can further use different HTTP(Hypertext Transfer Protocol)s like connect-udp (to proxy udp traffic), connect-ethernet (to proxy Ethernet traffic) etc.

[0089] MPQUIC-E(Ethernet) functionality is a steering functionality which is used for Ethernet PDUs and is used in Ethernet PDU Session in 5GC. It uses connect-etherenet protocol. The protocol stack when MPQUIC-E is used is shown in figure 2.

[0090] ATSSS(Access Traffic Steering, Switching and Splitting) -LL(Lower Layer) : it is a steering functionality which does not use any additional header in order to transfer data between UE and UPF. In case for Ethernet PDU Session if ATSSS-LL is used.

[0091] PSA(PDU Session Anchor) UPF: the end UPF which is connected to the Data network for a UE's PDU Session. This role is taken by H(Home)-UPF in Home routing scenarios. This UPF takes care of aggregating the traffic from UE across multiple accesses and takes care of removing the MPQUIC protocol headers from the UE and combining them to a single flow, or splitting the flow coming in downlink for the UE and adding MPQUIC headers to the flow.

[0092] Intermediated UPF(s) / V(Visited)-UPF : UPF(s) which are in path of the PDU Session from the UE to the PSA UPF.

[0093] Figure 3 illustrates an example of an procedure for establishing a PDU Session in case of one or more roaming scenarios, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0094] For MPQUIC-E functionality, the PDU Session type of the DN or the actual application traffic being flown is of type Ethernet. UE and PSA UPF may set the PDU Session type as Ethernet for this PDU Session. But for the (R)AN((Radio) Access Network) and other UPF, the actual traffic flow for this PDU Session would be of type IP (IPv4, or v6 or v4v6) in case only MPQUIC-E is enabled for the PDU Session. The relevant PDU Session type (or the outer protocol) when both MPQUIC-E and ATSSL-LL are applied for a PDU Session should be Unstructured.

[0095] In case that PDU Session needs to be established as an MA PDU Session, and in case that MPQUIC-E need to be enabled for this PDU Session, (R)AN needs to be provided the updated PDU Session type since the original PDU Session type (Ethernet) is no longer valid for the outer protocol which flows over the RAN. Hence in case of roaming scenarios, H-SMF(Session management function) should indicate V-SMF to provide the appropriate PDU Session type to the R(AN) and or any UPF(s) which are in path of the UE to the H-UPF.

[0096] Similarly for the case when an I(Intermediate)-UPF is inserted in the path of a PDU Session, and if MPQUIC-E functionality is enabled for the PDU Session, I-UPF should be provided the PDU Session type according to the Outer protocol type used by the MPQUIC-E flows.

[0097] Figure 4A illustrates an example of HR(Home Routed) roaming for MPQUIC-E according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Figure 4B illustrates an example of HR(Home Routed) roaming for MPQUIC-E according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The procedure may also be applicable for one or more scenarios with I-SMF, with I-SMF taking the role of V-SMF, SMF taking the role of H-SMF, I-UPF taking the role of V-UPF and (PSA) UPF taking the role of H-UPF.

[0098] MPQUIC-E in Home routed roaming scenarios : combined. The procedure may also be applicable for one or more scenarios with I-SMF, with I-SMF taking the role of V-SMF, SMF taking the role of H-SMF, I-UPF taking the role of V-UPF and (PSA) UPF taking the role of H-UPF.

[0099] Referring to the figures 4A and 4B,

[0100] In Step 1, From UE to AMF:

[0101] In order to establish a new PDU Session, the UE may generate a new PDU Session ID.

[0102] The UE may initiate the UE Requested PDU Session Establishment procedure by the transmission of a NAS message containing S-NSSAI(single network slice selection assistance information)(s), Requested DNN(data network name), PDU Session ID(identifier), Request Type, PDU Session Type, a Requested SSC(service and session continuity) mode, 5GSM(5G session management) Capability, PCO(protocol configuration option), ATSSS capability.

[0103] PDU Session ID: It is an identification (e.g. in a form of a bit string) used to denote a specific PDU Session.

[0104] Request Type: Indicates what kind of Request it is. It maybe "Initial Request" to indicate that the message is to request a new PDU Session. It maybe "MA PDU Session" to indicate that the UE wants to establish a Multi-Access PDU Session.

[0105] PDU Session Type: Indicates what kind of PDU Session the UE wants to request. It maybe IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6 or Ethernet or Unstructured.

[0106] PCO: Protocol Control Options, It is used to send various protocol parameters to and from network.

[0107] 5GSM capability: This parameter is used to indicate various capabilities of the UE related to session management, e.g. whether UE supports reflective QoS or not; whether UE supports Multi-homed IPv6 PDU session or not, ATSSS (Access Traffic Steering-Switching-Splitting) capabilities of the UE.

[0108] UE may also include an indication that "Network Upgrade to MA PDU Session is allowed" and the Request type as "Initial Request" in case that UE requests a single access PDU Session but network is allowed to update it to an MA PDU Session.

[0109] ATSSS capabilities: indicates what ATSS functionalities can be supported by the UE, e.g. one or more of ATSSS-LL (lower layer), MPTCP(multipath TCP(transmission control protocol)) functionality, MPQUIC functionality for UDP traffic, MPQUIC-IP functionality, MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality, MPQCUI-TCP functionality etc. Information of supported ATSSS capabilities / functionalities may be included within the 5G SM(session management) capability parameter.

[0110] AMF(access and mobility management function) may determine if the UE can establish the PDU Session or not based on whether UE is allowed to use the specific S-NSSAI or not, and / or based on whether UE is allowed to use the Requested DNN or not.

[0111] For the case of MA PDU Sessions, UE may check URSP(UE route selection policy) rules in order to request an MA PDU Session by setting the Request Type as "MA PDU Session", or UE may set the Request Type as Initial Request and include the indication that "Network Upgrade to MA PDU Session is allowed".

[0112] For the current scenario assume:

[0113] UE may send a PDU Session establishment request with Request Type set to MA PDU Session, PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby.

[0114] Or, UE may send PDU Session establishment request with Request Type set to Initial Request, PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby, and UE includes an Indication of "MA PDU Session Upgrade allowed".

[0115] In Step 2, the AMF may select a V-SMF and H-SMF for the PDU session based on the AMF operation in Step 1.

[0116] AMF may request the NRF(network repository function) with specific SMF profiles based on the DNN, Request type, PDU Session type etc.

[0117] For example, if the Request type is MA PDU Session, AMF may try to select an SMF which supports MA PDU Sessions, or the SMF that supports ATSSS functionality.

[0118] Based on local configuration of particular Slice or DNN, AMF may be configured to select a particular V-SMF which supports handling of MPQUIC-E functionality.

[0119] In Step 3, From AMF to V-SMF:

[0120] AMF may send a message (e.g. Nsmf_PDUSession_Create / UpdateSMContext Request) to SMF based on the received message in Step 1.

[0121] The message may include one or more parameters of SUPI(subscription permanent identifier), Access type, GPSI(generic public subscription identifier), AMF ID, S-NSSAI(s), Requested DNN, PDU Session ID, Request Type, PDU Session Type, a Requested SSC mode, 5GSM Capability, PCO, ATSSS capability, MA PDU Session Indication, "Network Upgrade to MA PDU allowed" indication.

[0122] AMF may determine the Access type (e.g. 3GPP or Non-3GPP) based on the type of (R) AN from which AMF received the message in Step 1.

[0123] AMF may provide the GPSI if it is present locally in the SMF, or AMF obtained it before from some other network entity (e.g. UDM(unified data management)).

[0124] Other parameters in this message may be same as the one which UE sent to the AMF or may be modified by the AMF based on local policies. For example, AMF may modify the DNN received from the UE based on UE's subscription data and / or the polices received from the PCF(policy control function).

[0125] The message received from the AMF may include a PDU Session Establishment Request as received by the AMF from the UE in Step 1.

[0126] If the Request type provided by UE in Step 1 indicates MA PDU Session, AMF may then send an MA PDU Session Indication to the V-SMF.

[0127] If UE provided "Network Upgrade to MA PDU allowed" indication, AMF may forward the indication to the V-SMF.

[0128] As an example scenario:

[0129] AMF may send the message with Request Type set to MA PDU Session, PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby.

[0130] Or, AMF may send the message with Request Type set to Initial Request, PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby, and UE may include an Indication of "MA PDU Session Upgrade allowed".

[0131] In Step 4, V-SMF may select a UPF which meet the required criteria.

[0132] In the case of PDU Session Type IPv6 or IPv4v6, the SMF may also allocate an interface identifier to the UE for the UE to build its link-local address.

[0133] If Request Type indicates "initial request", the SMF may initiate an N4 Session Establishment procedure with the selected UPF(s).

[0134] In Step 5, the SMF(e.g., V-SMF) may send an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Request to the UPF and provides Packet detection, enforcement and reporting rules to be installed on the UPF for this PDU Session.

[0135] The UPF(e.g. V-UPF) may acknowledge by sending an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Response.

[0136] In Step 6, From V-SMF to H-SMF:

[0137] V-SMF may send a message (e.g. Nsmf_PDUSession_Create Request) to H-SMF based on the received message in Step 3.

[0138] The message may include one or more parameters of SUPI, Access type, GPSI, AMF ID, S-NSSAI(s), Requested DNN, PDU Session ID, Request Type, PDU Session Type, a Requested SSC mode, 5GSM Capability, PCO, ATSSS capability, N1 SM information from UE, MA PDU Indication, "Network upgrade to MA PDU allowed" indication, indication / capability to indicate of handling MPQUIC-E.

[0139] N1 SM information from UE may contain the parameters, which were provided by UE and need to be conveyed to the H-SMF. One or more of the other parameters present in the message in Step 6 may be present inside N1 SM information.

[0140] N1 SM information from UE may be further split into, known N1 SM information from UE and unknown N1 SM information from UE.

[0141] V-SMF may indicate to the H-SMF that it supports handling MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality. This may be indicated in the form of Supported features by the V-SMF. V-SMF may indicates this if PDU Session type provided by the UE is set to Ethernet and / or the PDU Session is requested for MA PDU Session (e.g. message from AMF includes MA PDU Indication or "Network upgrade to MA PDU allowed indication") and / or the UE indicated MPQUIC-E in the UE's supported ATSSS capabilities.

[0142] As an example scenario:

[0143] V-SMF may send the message with PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities (of UE) set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL, MA PDU Indication.

[0144] Or, V-SMF may send the message with PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL, and UE includes an Indication of "MA PDU Session Upgrade allowed".

[0145] In Step 7, SMF(e.g., H-SMF) may check the Session management subscription data for the corresponding SUPI, DNN and S-NSSAI.

[0146] If Session Management Subscription data for corresponding SUPI, DNN and S-NSSAI of the HPLMN(home public land mobile network) as received in Step 6 or otherwise determined by SMF is not available, then SMF may retrieve the Session Management Subscription data using a message (e.g.　Nudm_SDM_Get)　to UDM and including one or more of the SUPI, Session Management Subscription data, selected DNN, S-NSSAI of the HPLMN, Serving PLMN ID.

[0147] SMF may subscribes to be notified when this subscription data is modified using a message (e.g.Nudm_SDM_Subscribe) and including one or more of the parameters SUPI, Session Management Subscription data, selected DNN, S-NSSAI of the HPLMN, Serving PLMN ID).

[0148] The Subscription data (e.g., subscription data received from UDM) may include the Allowed PDU Session Type(s), Allowed SSC mode(s), default 5QI(5G QoS(quality of service) identifier) and ARP(address resolution protocol), subscribed Session-AMBR(aggregate maximum bit rate), SMF-Associated external parameters, IP Index or Static IP address / prefix, ATSSS allowed or not.

[0149] For example, if the ATSSS is allowed for the UE for the particular DNN / S-NSSAI, then UE may be allowed to create the particular MA PDU Session. If the UE requested for an MA PDU Session (i.e. Request type = MA PDU Request) and ATSSS is NOT allowed for the corresponding DNN, S-NSSAI for which the request is to establish PDU Session, SMF may reject the PDU Session establishment request.

[0150] In Step 8, If dynamic PCC(policy and charging control) is to be used for the PDU Session, the SMF(e.g., H-SMF) may perform PCF selection based on criteria as determined by SMF based on request from UE and / or information received from UDM and / or local policies in the SMF.

[0151] In an example, SMF may perform PCF selection for specific DNN, S-NSSAI, ATSSS capabilities supported for the PDU Session.

[0152] The SMF may perform an SM Policy Association Establishment procedure to establish an SM Policy Association with the PCF and get the default PCC Rules for the PDU Session.

[0153] SMF may send a message to the PCF including one or more of SUPI, DNN, S-NSSAI, MA PDU Session indication, IP address / prefix of the UE, ATSSS capabilities supported for the MA PDU Session etc.

[0154] In general, SMF may determine the ATSSS capabilities supported for the PDU Session based on ATSSS capabilities supported by the UE and the ATSSS capabilities according to the DNN configuration. For example, if UE indicates it supports MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality and ATSSS-LL functionality, and the DNN configuration allows MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality only, then the ATSSS capabilities supported for the PDU Session may include MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality.

[0155] In case of Ethernet PDU Session, and if MA PDU Session Indication or "Network Upgrade to MA PDU Allowed" indication is received, H-SMF may also determine the ATSSS capabilities based on the supported features by the V-SMF. For example, if V-SMF indicated that it can support handling MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality, and the UE and DNN configuration / subscription data indicates that MPQUIC-Ethernet can be allowed for the MA PDU Session, H-SMF may determine that ATSSS capabilities supported for the PDU Session includes MPQUIC-Ethernet. As an example, if UE indicates that it supports MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby, and H-SMF determines that V-SMF can support handling of MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality and / or DNN configuration allows it, H-SMF may determine that PDU Session is capable of MPQUIC-E functionality + ATSSS-LL active standby. As an example, in case that message from V-SMF indicates that it cannot support handling of MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality, H-SMF may not include MPQUIC-Ethernet in the ATSSS capabilities of the MA PDU Session.

[0156] H-SMF may determine whether the V-SMF supports handling of MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality based on:

[0157] - an indication received from the V-SMF, or

[0158] - by determining if V-SMF supports or understands ATSSS capability IE (which includes MPQUIC-Ethernet) sent by the UE to V-SMF. This may be determined by whether or not V-SMF included ATSSS capability IE in the known N1 SM information from UE or the unknown N1 SM information from UE in the message sent from V-SMF to H-SMF, or

[0159] - based on the supported features of V-SMF that may have been sent by the V-SMF to the H-SMF

[0160] - based on service agreement between roaming partners. For example, if the visited network (or the PLMN of V-SMF) supports handling of MPQUIC-E functionality or not.

[0161] - Based on local configuration in the H-SMF

[0162] In an embodiment of the disclosure, SMF (or H-SMF) may determine that only ATSSS-LL can be supported for the Home routed PDU Session regardless of the UE's supported ATSSS capability and DNN configuration.

[0163] PCF may provide policies for the PDU Session to the SMF.

[0164] In Step 9, H-SMF may select a H-UPF which meet the required criteria.

[0165] In the case of PDU Session Type IPv6 or IPv4v6, the SMF may also allocate an interface identifier to the UE for the UE to build its link-local address.

[0166] If Request Type indicates "initial request", the SMF may initiate an N4 Session Establishment procedure with the selected UPF(s).

[0167] The SMF may send an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Request to the UPF and provides Packet detection, enforcement and reporting rules to be installed on the UPF for this PDU Session.

[0168] The UPF may acknowledge by sending an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Response.

[0169] In Step 10, H-SMF to V-SMF:

[0170] H-SMF may send to V-SMF a message (e.g. Nsmf_PDUSession_Create response) which included ones or more of PDU Session ID, list of QoS flows to establish, Tunnel info for H-UPF, N1 information for UE, MA PDU Session indication, Outer protocol type (can be one of Ethernet, Ipv4, IPv6, IPv4v6, Unstructured), MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-E information).

[0171] The N1 information for UE may have the information that the H-SMF needs to provide to UE via V-SMF and include one or more parameters of QoS Rule(s) , selected SSC mode, S-NSSAI(s), UE Requested DNN, allocated IPv4 address, interface identifier, selected PDU Session Type, ATSSS information. Some of these parameters may be present not in N1 information but outside it.

[0172] H-SMF may include MA PDU Session Indication in order to indicate to V-SMF that the PDU Session is accepted as MA PDU Session.

[0173] ATSSS information may be included in case that H-SMF decides to establish MA PDU session and ATSSS information may include one or more of :

[0174] - ATSSS rule(s) (which specifies the steering functionality(e.g. ATSSS-LL or MPQUIC-Ethernet, or MPQUIC-IP, or MPQUIC etc) and other ATSSS parameters to be applied for a specific application flow).

[0175] - MPQUIC Proxy information : The list of IP addresses of MPQUIC proxy

[0176] o Proxy Address Information

[0177] ‥IP version : IPv4 or IPv6

[0178] ‥Proxy address : IPv4 address or IPv6 address

[0179] o Proxy Type : one or more of connect-udp, connect-ethernet, connect-tcp, connect-ip

[0180] - Link specific address(es) (the IP address that the UE should use for a specific access (e.g. for 3gpp access or non-3gpp access) for sending MPQUIC packets

[0181] o IP version : IPv4 or IPv6

[0182] o Address for Access 1 (e.g. 3gpp access)

[0183] o Address for Access 2 (e.g. Non-3GPP access)

[0184] Assume the case H-SMF received the MA PDU Session Indication, or, "Network upgrade to MA PDU allowed" indication and H-SMF decides to accept the PDU Session as MA PDU Session.

[0185] In case that PDU Session type is Ethernet, and H-SMF determines that MPQUIC-Ethernet needs to be enabled for the MA PDU Session, it may include Outer protocol type in the message to the V-SMF. Outer protocol type may be set to IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6 in order to inform V-SMF the outer protocol that would be used for MPQUIC proxying, i.e. to carry MPQUIC-Ethernet packets, or the outer protocol that would be relevant for the AN and or the V-UPF. In case that MPQUIC-Ethernet needs to be enabled for the MA PDU Session, H-SMF may determine Outer protocol type based on what IP version is to be used for MPQUIC proxying and it may be based on one or more of the following criteria:

[0186] - based on the local configuration, or

[0187] - based on the UE's supported IP version capabilities if it was included in the message from V-SMF, or

[0188] - based on the protocol type (i.e. IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6) of MPQUIC link specific IP addresses provided by the H-UPF in Step 9, or

[0189] - Or, SMF may always set the Outer protocol type to IPv4v6 in case MPQUIC-Ethernet needs to be enabled for the MA PDU Session.

[0190] In case that H-SMF determines that both MPQUIC-Ethernet and ATSSS-LL can be enabled for the MA PDU Session and PDU Session type is Ethernet, then H-SMF may include Outer protocol type in the message to V-SMF and may set its value to Unstructured, since both the IP packets (when MPQUIC-Ethernet is used) and the Ethernet frames (when ATSSS-LL is used) would be passed to V-UPF and the AN in case both steering functionalities are used.

[0191] In case that H-SMF determines that only ATSSS-LL can be enabled for the MA PDU Session and the PDU Session type as provided in the request is Ethernet, then H-SMF may set the Outer protocol type value to Ethernet, or alternatively or additionally H-SMF may choose not to include Outer Protocol type.

[0192] Alternatively or additionally instead of using the parameter Outer protocol type, in case that PDU Session type requested by the UE is Ethernet, H-SMF may set the value of Selected PDU Session Type based on how Outer Protocol Type is determined above, in the message sent from H-SMF to V-SMF.

[0193] As an example, if PDU Session type requested by UE is Ethernet, and H-SMF decides to establish MA PDU Session and determines that MPQUIC-Ethernet needs to be enabled then, H-SMF may set the Selected PDU Session type as IPv4 in the message sent from H-SMF to V-SMF (if H-SMF determines that IPV4 is to be used for MPQUIC proxying).

[0194] As an example, if PDU Session type requested by UE is Ethernet, and H-SMF decides to establish MA PDU Session and determines that MPQUIC-Ethernet and ATSSS_LL needs to be enabled then, H-SMF may set the Selected PDU Session type Unstructured in the message sent from H-SMF to V-SMF.

[0195] In an embodiment of the disclosure, H-SMF may enable only ATSSS-LL steering functionality in case that PDU Session is of type Ethernet and PDU Session is a Home routed PDU Session and PDU Session is requested for MA PDU Session.

[0196] Alternatively or additionally, in case that H-SMF determines that MPQUIC-E functionality needs to be enabled for the PDU Session, then H-SMF may send MPQUIC-E indicator or MPQUIC-E information to the V-SMF. MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-E information may indicate to V-SMF that MPQUIC-E is to be enabled for the PDU Session. V-SMF may determines the outer protocol type or the correct PDU Session to be used for AN / RAN and to V-UPF based on this information. In an embodiment of the disclosure, MPQUIC-E indicator / information may indicate that both MPQUIC-E and ATSSS-LL can be enabled for the PDU Session so that protocol type Unstructured be used in the information sent to AN / RAN and / or the V-UPF.

[0197] As described in Step 8 (e.g., for the case when PDU Session type is Ethernet), if H-SMF determines that only ATSSS-LL can be supported (or it determines that MPQUIC-E cannot be supported even though UE indicates the support of it) for this MA PDU Session, then H-SMF may send ATSSS information / rules only for ATSSS-LL functionality (or H-SMF does not sends ATSSS information / ATSSS rules for MPQUIC-E functionality).

[0198] In Step 10a, V-SMF may select the V-UPF based on the Outer Protocol type / MPQUIC-E indicator / information or modify the PDU Session type to H-UPF based on it and sets the PDU Session type in the N4 message, and in the N2 SM information according to the Outer Protocol type received from the H-SMF; V-SMF may set the Selected PDU Session type in the N1 information based on PDU Session type provided by H-SMF.

[0199] In Step 11, N4 session modification message to V-UPF

[0200] V-SMF may provide updated N4 rules to the V-UPF, and may provide the Tunnel information of the H-UPF for the uplink traffic.

[0201] In case that Outer protocol type is provided by the H-SMF to V-SMF, V-SMF may provide the new PDU Session type to the V-UPF in the N4 message based on the Outer Protocol type provided by the H-SMF. In an example, if PDU Session type provided by the V-SMF to the V-UPF in Step 5 was Ethernet, (this may be determined by the H-SMF based on the PDU Session type Requested by the UE as received in Step 3), and if the Outer protocol type received form the H-SMF indicates that is changed, then V-SMF may send N4 session modification message to V-UPF with updated PDU Session type as received in the Outer protocol type).

[0202] In case that selected PDU Session type provided by the H-SMF to V-SMF is changed (i.e. it is different from the one which was received by the V-SMF from the AMF, or which the V-SMF provided to V-UPF earlier or which the V-SMF provided to H-SMF earlier), then V-SMF may provide the new PDU Session type to the V-UPF using N4 session modification request message.

[0203] In an embodiment of the disclosure, V-SMF may perform a UPF selection in order to select an appropriate UPF which supports the Outer protocol type or the PDU Session type as provided by the H-SMF.

[0204] In an embodiment of the disclosure, V-SMF may determine the Outer protocol by checking the ATSSS information provided by H-SMF (to be sent to UE) in the similar way as described in Step 13.

[0205] In an embodiment of the disclosure, V-SMF may determine the outer protocol based on MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-E information provided by the H-SMF and may update the protocol type provided to V-UPF and perform V-UPF selection based on MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-E information. V-SMF may determine that Ipv4v6 needs to be used as the protocol type based on MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-e information.

[0206] In Step 12, V-SMF to AMF:

[0207] V-SMF may send to AMF a message (e.g. Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer) which included ones or more of PDU Session ID, N2 SM information, N1 SM container, "MA PDU Session Accepted" indication) based on the message received from H-SMF.

[0208] The N2 SM information may carry information which may be used by the (R) AN and that the AMF shall forward to the (R)AN which may include: PDU Session ID, QFI(QoS flow identifier)(s), QoS Profile(s), S-NSSAI from the Allowed NSSAI or Partially Allowed NSSAI, Session-AMBR, PDU Session Type, RSN(robust security network), PDU Session Pair ID. The parameters present in the N2 SM information need not be present in a specific container (e.g. N2 SM information). The PDU Session Type provided to the RAN may be determined based on the Selected PDU Session Type provided by the H-SMF.

[0209] The N1 SM container have the information that the SMF provides to the UE via AMF and include one or more parameters of QoS Rule(s) , selected SSC mode, S-NSSAI(s), UE Requested DNN, allocated IPv4 address, interface identifier, selected PDU Session Type, ATSSS information. This information may be present in the form of PDU Session Establishment Accept message within the N1 SM container. Selected PDU Session type in the N1 SM container present in the UE may be determined based on the Selected PDU Session type provided by H-SMF to the V-SMF.

[0210] In case that Outer protocol type is provided by the H-SMF, V-SMF may set the PDU Session type present in the N2 SM information based on the Outer Protocol type value in the message to the AMF.

[0211] For example. if Selected PDU Session type received from the H-SMF is Ethernet, and Outer protocol type received from the H-SMF is IPv4, H-SMF may set the PDU Session type in the N2 SM information to RAN / AN as IPv4 based on the Outer protocol type provided by the RAN. While in this case Selected PDU Session type present in the N1 SM container for the UE may be set by V-SMF based on the Selected PDU Session type provided by the H-SMF (i.e. to Ethernet).

[0212] Alternatively or additionally, V-SMF may receive MPQUIC-E indicator or MPQUIC-E information, from the H-SMF. Based on this indicator, V-SMF may determine that IPv4v6 needs to be used as the protocol type to the AN / RAN in the N2 SM information.

[0213] Alternatively or additionally, in some implementations and in specific cases (e.g. when PDU Session type is Ethernet and V-SMF received MA PDU Session indication from the H-SMF), V-SMF may determine the PDU Session type to be included in N2 SM information based on the interpretation of N1 SM information or ATSSS information to UE sent by the H-SMF to the V-SMF in step 10. V-SMF may check the ATSSS rules / ATSSS information to be provided by the H-SMF for the UE (ATSSS rules may be present in the N1 SM information to UE) in order to determine the protocol type which would be passed by the AN / RAN. In an example, V-SMF checks the ATSSS rules provided for the UE are set to MPQUIC-E and / or the MPQUIC link-specific IP addresses provided to the UE; If MPQUIC-link specific IP addresses are of IPv4 or IPv6 or Ipv4v6 type, then V-SMF may set the corresponding PDU Session type in N2 SM information provided to the RAN. V-SMF may do this only in case PDU Session type is Ethernet and PDU Session is an MA PDU Session.

[0214] After receiving the "MA PDU Session Accepted" indication, AMF may mark the PDU Session as MA PDU Session.

[0215] In Step 13, AMF to (R)AN:

[0216] The AMF may send to (R)AN a message containing PDU Session ID and PDU Session Establishment Accept targeted to the UE and the N2 SM information received from the SMF.

[0217] In Step 14, (R)AN to UE: The (R)AN may issue AN specific signalling exchange with the UE that is related with the information received from SMF.

[0218] (R)AN may forward the NAS message (PDU Session ID, N1 SM container (PDU Session Establishment Accept)) received in step 13 to the UE.

[0219] In an embodiment of the disclosure, in case that UE requested for an MA PDU Session of Ethernet PDU Session type, and in case that UE receives from network PDU session accept message (from V-SMF via AMF and (R)AN) the selected PDU Session type as IP (either IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6) and / or UE received the ATSSS information (which contains ATSSS / rules or proxy information for MPQUIC-E functionality), then UE may locally consider / store the PDU Session type for this PDU Session as Ethernet.

[0220] In an embodiment of the disclosure, in case that UE requested for an MA PDU Session of Ethernet PDU Session type, and in case that UE receives from network PDU session accept message (from V-SMF via AMF and (R)AN) the selected PDU Session type as Unstructured and / or UE received the ATSSS information (which contains ATSSS / rules or proxy information for MPQUIC-E functionality), then UE may locally consider / store the PDU Session type for this PDU Session as Ethernet.

[0221] MPQUIC-E in Home routed roaming scenarios : new parameter to V-SMF. The procedure may also be applicable for one or more scenarios with I-SMF, with I-SMF taking the role of V-SMF, SMF taking the role of H-SMF, I-UPF taking the role of V-UPF and (PSA) UPF taking the role of H-UPF.

[0222] Referring to the figures 4A and 4B,

[0223] In Step 1, From UE to AMF:

[0224] In order to establish a new PDU Session, the UE may generate a new PDU Session ID.

[0225] The UE may initiate the UE Requested PDU Session Establishment procedure by the transmission of a NAS message containing S-NSSAI(s), Requested DNN, PDU Session ID, Request Type, PDU Session Type, a Requested SSC mode, 5GSM Capability, PCO, ATSSS capability.

[0226] PDU Session ID: It is an identification (e.g. in a form of a bit string) used to denote a specific PDU Session.

[0227] Request Type: Indicates what kind of Request it is. It maybe "Initial Request" to indicate that the message is to request a new PDU Session. It maybe "MA PDU Session" to indicate that the UE wants to establish a Multi-Access PDU Session.

[0228] PDU Session Type: Indicates what kind of PDU Session the UE wants to request. It maybe IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6 or Ethernet or Unstructured.

[0229] PCO: Protocol Control Options, It is used to send various protocol parameters to and from network.

[0230] 5GSM capability: This parameter is used to indicate various capabilities of the UE related to session management, e.g. whether UE supports reflective QoS or not; whether UE supports Multi-homed IPv6 PDU session or not, ATSSS (Access Traffic Steering-Switching-Splitting) capabilities of the UE.

[0231] UE may also include an indication that "Network Upgrade to MA PDU Session is allowed" and the Request type as "Initial Request" in case that UE requests a single access PDU Session but network is allowed to update it to an MA PDU Session.

[0232] ATSSS capabilities: indicates what ATSS functionalities can be supported by the UE, e.g. one or more of ATSSS-LL (lower layer), MPTCP functionality, MPQUIC functionality for UDP traffic, MPQUIC-IP functionality, MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality, MPQCUI-TCP functionality etc. Information of supported ATSSS capabilities / functionalities may be included within the 5G SM capability parameter.

[0233] AMF may determine if the UE can establish the PDU Session or not based on whether UE is allowed to use the specific S-NSSAI or not, and / or based on whether UE is allowed to use the Requested DNN or not.

[0234] For the case of MA PDU Sessions, UE may check URSP rules in order to request an MA PDU Session by setting the Request Type as "MA PDU Session", or UE may set the Request Type as Initial Request and include the indication that "Network Upgrade to MA PDU Session is allowed"

[0235] For the current scenario assume:

[0236] UE may send a PDU Session establishment request with Request Type set to MA PDU Session, PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby.

[0237] Or, UE may send PDU Session establishment request with Request Type set to Initial Request, PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby, and UE includes an Indication of "MA PDU Session Upgrade allowed".

[0238] In Step 2, the AMF may select a V-SMF and H-SMF for the PDU session based on the AMF operation in Step 1.

[0239] AMF may request the NRF with specific SMF profiles based on the DNN, Request type, PDU Session type etc.

[0240] For example, if the Request type is MA PDU Session, AMF may try to select an SMF which supports MA PDU Sessions, or the SMF that supports ATSSS functionality.

[0241] Based on local configuration of particular Slice or DNN, AMF may be configured to select a particular V-SMF which supports handling of MPQUIC-E functionality.

[0242] In Step 3, From AMF to V-SMF:

[0243] AMF may send a message (e.g. Nsmf_PDUSession_Create / UpdateSMContext　Request) to SMF based on the received message in Step 1.

[0244] The message may include one or more parameters of SUPI, Access type, GPSI, AMF ID, S-NSSAI(s), Requested DNN, PDU Session ID, Request Type, PDU Session Type, a Requested SSC mode, 5GSM Capability, PCO, ATSSS capability, MA PDU Session Indication, "Network Upgrade to MA PDU allowed" indication.

[0245] AMF may determine the Access type (e.g. 3GPP or Non-3GPP) based on the type of (R) AN from which AMF received the message in Step 1.

[0246] AMF may provide the GPSI if it is present locally in the SMF, or AMF obtained it before from some other network entity (e.g. UDM).

[0247] Other parameters in this message may be same as the one which UE sent to the AMF or may be modified by the AMF based on local policies. For example, AMF may modify the DNN received from the UE based on UE's subscription data and / or the polices received from the PCF.

[0248] The message received from the AMF may include a PDU Session Establishment Request as received by the AMF from the UE in Step 1.

[0249] If the Request type provided by UE in Step 1 indicates MA PDU Session, AMF may then send an MA PDU Session Indication to the V-SMF.

[0250] If UE provided "Network Upgrade to MA PDU allowed" indication, AMF may forward the indication to the V-SMF.

[0251] As an example scenario:

[0252] AMF may send the message with Request Type set to MA PDU Session, PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby.

[0253] Or, AMF may send the message with Request Type set to Initial Request, PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby, and UE may include an Indication of "MA PDU Session Upgrade allowed".

[0254] In Step 4, V-SMF may select a UPF which meet the required criteria.

[0255] In the case of PDU Session Type IPv6 or IPv4v6, the SMF may also allocate an interface identifier to the UE for the UE to build its link-local address.

[0256] If Request Type indicates "initial request", the SMF may initiate an N4 Session Establishment procedure with the selected UPF(s).

[0257] In Step 5, the SMF(e.g., V-SMF) may send an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Request to the UPF and provides Packet detection, enforcement and reporting rules to be installed on the UPF for this PDU Session.

[0258] The UPF(e.g., V-UPF) may acknowledge by sending an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Response.

[0259] In Step 6, From V-SMF to H-SMF:

[0260] V-SMF may send a message (e.g. Nsmf_PDUSession_Create Request) to H-SMF based on the received message in Step 3.

[0261] The message may include one or more parameters of SUPI, Access type, GPSI, AMF ID, S-NSSAI(s), Requested DNN, PDU Session ID, Request Type, PDU Session Type, a Requested SSC mode, 5GSM Capability, PCO, ATSSS capability, N1 SM information from UE, MA PDU Indication, "Network upgrade to MA PDU allowed" indication, indication / capability to indicate of handling MPQUIC-E.

[0262] N1 SM information from UE may contain the parameters, which were provided by UE and need to be conveyed to the H-SMF. One or more of the other parameters present in the message in Step 6 may be present inside N1 SM information.

[0263] V-SMF may indicate to the H-SMF that it supports handling MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality. This may be indicated in the form of Supported features by the V-SMF. V-SMF may indicates this if PDU Session type provided by the UE is set to Ethernet and / or the PDU Session is requested for MA PDU Session (e.g. message from AMF includes MA PDU Indication or "Network upgrade to MA PDU allowed indication").

[0264] As an example scenario: V-SMF may send the message with PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities (of UE) set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL, MA PDU Indication.

[0265] Or, V-SMF may send the message with PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL, and UE includes an Indication of "MA PDU Session Upgrade allowed".

[0266] In Step 7, SMF(e.g., H-SMF) may check the Session management subscription data for the corresponding SUPI, DNN and S-NSSAI.

[0267] If Session Management Subscription data for corresponding SUPI, DNN and S-NSSAI of the HPLMN as received in Step 6 or otherwise determined by SMF is not available, then SMF may retrieve the Session Management Subscription data using a message (e.g. Nudm_SDM_Get) to UDM and including one or more of the SUPI, Session Management Subscription data, selected DNN, S-NSSAI of the HPLMN, Serving PLMN ID.

[0268] SMF may subscribes to be notified when this subscription data is modified using a message (e.g.Nudm_SDM_Subscribe) and including one or more of the parameters SUPI, Session Management Subscription data, selected DNN, S-NSSAI of the HPLMN, Serving PLMN ID).

[0269] The Subscription data (e.g., subscription data received from UDM) may include the Allowed PDU Session Type(s), Allowed SSC mode(s), default 5QI and ARP, subscribed Session-AMBR, SMF-Associated external parameters, IP Index or Static IP address / prefix, ATSSS allowed or not.

[0270] For example, if the ATSSS is allowed for the UE for the particular DNN / S-NSSAI, then UE may be allowed to create the particular MA PDU Session. If the UE requested for an MA PDU Session (i.e. Request type = MA PDU Request) and ATSSS is NOT allowed for the corresponding DNN, S-NSSAI for which the request is to establish PDU Session, SMF may reject the PDU Session establishment request.

[0271] In Step 8, If dynamic PCC is to be used for the PDU Session, the SMF(e.g., H-SMF) may perform PCF selection based on criteria as determined by SMF based on request from UE and / or information received from UDM and / or local policies in the SMF.

[0272] In an example, SMF may perform PCF selection for specific DNN, S-NSSAI, ATSSS capabilities supported for the PDU Session.

[0273] The SMF may perform an SM Policy Association Establishment procedure　to establish an SM Policy Association with the PCF and get the default PCC Rules for the PDU Session.

[0274] SMF may send a message to the PCF including one or more of SUPI, DNN, S-NSSAI, MA PDU Session indication, IP address / prefix of the UE, ATSSS capabilities supported for the MA PDU Session etc.

[0275] In general, SMF may determine the ATSSS capabilities supported for the PDU Session based on ATSSS capabilities supported by the UE and the ATSSS capabilities according to the DNN configuration. For example, if UE indicates it supports MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality and ATSSS-LL functionality, and the DNN configuration allows MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality only, then the ATSSS capabilities supported for the PDU Session may include MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality.

[0276] In case of Ethernet PDU Session, and if MA PDU Session Indication or "Network Upgrade to MA PDU Allowed" indication is received, H-SMF may also determine the ATSSS capabilities based on the supported features by the V-SMF. For example, if V-SMF indicated that it can support handling MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality, and the UE and DNN configuration / subscription data indicates that MPQUIC-Ethernet can be allowed for the MA PDU Session, H-SMF may determine that ATSSS capabilities supported for the PDU Session includes MPQUIC-Ethernet. As an example, if UE indicates that it supports MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby, and H-SMF determines that V-SMF can support handling of MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality and / or DNN configuration allows it, H-SMF may determine that PDU Session is capable of MPQUIC-E functionality + ATSSS-LL active standby. As an example, in case that message from V-SMF indicates that it cannot support handling of MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality, H-SMF may not include MPQUIC-Ethernet in the ATSSS capabilities of the MA PDU Session.

[0277] H-SMF may determine whether the V-SMF supports handling of MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality based on:

[0278] - an indication received from the V-SMF, or

[0279] - by determining if V-SMF supports or understands ATSSS capability IE (which includes MPQUIC-Ethernet) sent by the UE to V-SMF. This may be determined by whether or not V-SMF included ATSSS capability IE in the known N1 SM information from UE or the unknown N1 SM information from UE in the message sent from V-SMF to H-SMF, or

[0280] - based on the supported features of V-SMF that may have been sent by the V-SMF to the H-SMF

[0281] - based on service / roaming agreement between roaming partners. For example, if the visited network (or the PLMN of V-SMF) supports handling of MPQUIC-E functionality or not.

[0282] - Based on local configuration in the H-SMF

[0283] In an embodiment of the disclosure, SMF (or H-SMF) may determine that only ATSSS-LL can be supported for the Home routed PDU Session regardless of the UE's supported ATSSS capability and DNN configuration.

[0284] PCF may provide policies for the PDU Session to the SMF.

[0285] In Step 9, H-SMF may select a H-UPF which meet the required criteria.

[0286] In the case of PDU Session Type IPv6 or IPv4v6, the SMF may also allocate an interface identifier to the UE for the UE to build its link-local address.

[0287] If Request Type indicates "initial request", the SMF may initiate an N4 Session Establishment procedure with the selected UPF(s).

[0288] The SMF may send an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Request to the UPF and provides Packet detection, enforcement and reporting rules to be installed on the UPF for this PDU Session.

[0289] The UPF may acknowledge by sending an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Response.

[0290] In Step 10, H-SMF to V-SMF:

[0291] H-SMF may send to V-SMF a message (e.g. Nsmf_PDUSession_Create response) which included ones or more of PDU Session ID, list of QoS flows to establish, Tunnel info for H-UPF, N1 information for UE, MA PDU Session indication, Outer protocol type (can be one of Ethernet, Ipv4, IPv6, IPv4v6, Unstructured), MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-E information).

[0292] The N1 information for UE may have the information that the H-SMF needs to provide to UE via V-SMF and include one or more parameters of QoS Rule(s) , selected SSC mode, S-NSSAI(s), UE Requested DNN, allocated IPv4 address, interface identifier, selected PDU Session Type, ATSSS information. Some of these parameters may be present not in N1 information but outside it.

[0293] H-SMF may include MA PDU Session Indication in order to indicate to V-SMF that the PDU Session is accepted as MA PDU Session.

[0294] ATSSS information may be included in case that H-SMF decides to establish MA PDU session and ATSSS information may include one or more of :

[0295] - ATSSS rule(s) (which specifies the steering functionality(e.g. ATSSS-LL or MPQUIC-Ethernet, or MPQUIC-IP, or MPQUIC etc) and other ATSSS parameters to be applied for a specific application flow).

[0296] - MPQUIC Proxy information : The list of IP addresses of MPQUIC proxy

[0297] o Proxy Address Information

[0298] ‥IP version : IPv4 or IPv6

[0299] ‥Proxy address : IPv4 address or IPv6 address

[0300] o Proxy Type : one or more of connect-udp, connect-ethernet, connect-tcp, connect-ip

[0301] - Link specific address(es) (the IP address that the UE should use for a specific access (e.g. for 3gpp access or non-3gpp access) for sending MPQUIC packets

[0302] o IP version : IPv4 or IPv6

[0303] o Address for Access 1 (e.g. 3gpp access)

[0304] o Address for Access 2 (e.g. Non-3GPP access)

[0305] Assume the case H-SMF received the MA PDU Session Indication, or, "Network upgrade to MA PDU allowed" indication and H-SMF decides to accept the PDU Session as MA PDU Session.

[0306] In case that PDU Session type is Ethernet, and H-SMF determines that MPQUIC-Ethernet needs to be enabled for the MA PDU Session, it may include Outer protocol type in the message to the V-SMF. Outer protocol type may be set to IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6 in order to inform V-SMF the outer protocol that would be used for MPQUIC proxying, i.e. to carry MPQUIC-Ethernet packets, or the outer protocol that would be relevant for the AN and or the V-UPF. In case that both MPQUIC-E and ATSSS-LL needs to be enabled for the PDU Session, H-SMF may set the Outer protocol type as Unstructured. In case that MPQUIC-Ethernet needs to be enabled for the MA PDU Session, H-SMF may determine Outer protocol type based on what IP version is to be used for MPQUIC proxying and it may be based on one or more of the following criteria:

[0307] - based on the local configuration, or

[0308] - based on the UE's supported IP version capabilities if it was included in the message from V-SMF, or

[0309] - based on the protocol type (i.e. IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6) of MPQUIC link specific IP addresses provided by the H-UPF in Step 9, or

[0310] - Or, SMF may always set the Outer protocol type to IPv4v6 in case MPQUIC-Ethernet needs to be enabled for the MA PDU Session.

[0311] In case that H-SMF determines that both MPQUIC-Ethernet and ATSSS-LL can be enabled for the MA PDU Session and PDU Session type is Ethernet, then H-SMF may include Outer protocol type in the message to V-SMF and may set its value to Unstructured, since both the IP packets (when MPQUIC-Ethernet is used) and the Ethernet (when ATSSS-LL is used) frames would be passed to V-UPF and the AN in case both steering functionalities are used.

[0312] In case that H-SMF determines that only ATSSS-LL can be enabled for the MA PDU Session and the PDU Session type as provided in the request is Ethernet, then H-SMF may set the Outer protocol type value to Ethernet, or alternatively or additionally H-SMF may choose not to include Outer Protocol type.

[0313] In an embodiment of the disclosure, H-SMF may enable only ATSSS-LL steering functionality in case that PDU Session is of type Ethernet and PDU Session is a Home routed PDU Session and PDU Session is requested for MA PDU Session. In this case H-SMF may send the selected PDU Session type as Ethernet to V-SMF, and may provide ATSSS information only for ATSSS-LL steering functionality.

[0314] Alternatively or additionally, in case that H-SMF determines that MPQUIC-E functionality needs to be enabled for the PDU Session, then H-SMF may send MPQUIC-E indicator or MPQUIC-E information to the V-SMF. MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-E information may indicate to V-SMF that MPQUIC-E is to be enabled for the PDU Session. V-SMF may determines the outer protocol type or the correct PDU Session to be used for AN / RAN and to V-UPF based on this information. In an embodiment of the disclosure, MPQUIC-E indicator / information may indicate that both MPQUIC-E and ATSSS-LL can be enabled for the PDU Session so that protocol type Unstructured be used in the information sent to AN / RAN and / or the V-UPF.

[0315] As described in Step 8 (e.g., for the case when PDU Session type is Ethernet), if H-SMF determines that only ATSSS-LL can be supported (or it determines that MPQUIC-E cannot be supported even though UE indicates the support of it) for this MA PDU Session, then H-SMF may send ATSSS information / rules only for ATSSS-LL functionality (or H-SMF does not sends ATSSS information / ATSSS rules for MPQUIC-E functionality).

[0316] In Step 10a, V-SMF may select the V-UPF based on the Outer Protocol type / MPQUIC-E indicator / information or modify the PDU Session type to H-UPF based on it and sets the PDU Session type in the N4 message, and in the N2 SM information according to the Outer Protocol type received from the H-SMF; V-SMF may set the Selected PDU Session type in the N1 information based on Selected PDU Session type provided by H-SMF

[0317] In Step 11, N4 session modification message to V-UPF

[0318] V-SMF may provide updated N4 rules to the V-UPF, and may provide the Tunnel information of the H-UPF for the uplink traffic.

[0319] In case that Outer protocol type is provided by the H-SMF to V-SMF, V-SMF may provide the new PDU Session type to the V-UPF in the N4 message based on the Outer Protocol type provided by the H-SMF. For example, if PDU Session type provided by the V-SMF to the V-UPF in Step 5 was Ethernet, (this may be determined by the H-SMF based on the PDU Session type Requested by the UE as received in Step 3), and if the Outer protocol type received form the H-SMF indicates that is changed, then V-SMF may send N4 session modification message to V-UPF with updated PDU Session type as received in the Outer protocol type).

[0320] In an embodiment of the disclosure, V-SMF may perform a UPF selection in order to select an appropriate UPF which supports the Outer protocol type or the PDU Session type as provided by the H-SMF.

[0321] In an embodiment of the disclosure, V-SMF may determine the Outer protocol by checking the ATSSS information provided by H-SMF (to be sent to UE) in the similar way as described in Step 13.

[0322] In an embodiment of the disclosure, V-SMF may determine the outer protocol based on MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-E information provided by the H-SMF and may update the protocol type provided to V-UPF and perform V-UPF selection based on MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-E information. V-SMF may determine that Ipv4v6 needs to be used as the protocol type based on MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-e information.

[0323] In Step 12, V-SMF to AMF:

[0324] V-SMF may send to AMF a message (e.g. Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer) which included ones or more of PDU Session ID, N2 SM information, N1 SM container, "MA PDU Session Accepted" indication) based on the message received from H-SMF.

[0325] The N2 SM information may carry information which may be used by the (R) AN and that the AMF shall forward to the (R)AN which may include: PDU Session ID, QFI(s), QoS Profile(s), S-NSSAI from the Allowed NSSAI or Partially Allowed NSSAI, Session-AMBR, PDU Session Type, RSN, PDU Session Pair ID. The parameters present in the N2 SM information need not be present in a specific container (e.g. N2 SM information). The PDU Session Type provided to the RAN may be determined based on the Selected PDU Session Type provided by the H-SMF.

[0326] The N1 SM container have the information that the SMF provides to the UE via AMF and include one or more parameters of QoS Rule(s) , selected SSC mode, S-NSSAI(s), UE Requested DNN, allocated IPv4 address, interface identifier, selected PDU Session Type, ATSSS information. This information may be present in the form of PDU Session Establishment Accept message within the N1 SM container. Selected PDU Session type in the N1 SM container present in the UE may be determined based on the Selected PDU Session type provided by H-SMF to the V-SMF.

[0327] In case that Outer protocol type is provided by the H-SMF, V-SMF may set the PDU Session type present in the N2 SM information based on the Outer Protocol type value in the message to the AMF.

[0328] For example, if Selected PDU Session type received from the H-SMF is Ethernet, and Outer protocol type received from the H-SMF is IPv4, H-SMF may set the PDU Session type in the N2 SM information to RAN / AN as IPv4 based on the Outer protocol type provided by the RAN. While in this case Selected PDU Session type present in the N1 SM container for the UE may be set by V-SMF based on the Selected PDU Session type provided by the H-SMF (i.e. to Ethernet).

[0329] Alternatively or additionally, V-SMF may receive MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-E information from the H-SMF. Based on this indicator / information, V-SMF may determine that IPv4v6 needs to be used as the protocol type to the AN / RAN in the N2 SM information.

[0330] Alternatively or additionally, in some implementations and in specific cases (e.g. when PDU Session type is Ethernet and V-SMF received MA PDU Session indication from the H-SMF), V-SMF may determine the PDU Session type to be included in N2 SM information based on the interpretation of N1 SM information or ATSSS information to UE sent by the H-SMF to the V-SMF in step 10. V-SMF may check the ATSSS rules / ATSSS information to be provided by the H-SMF for the UE (ATSSS rules may be present in the N1 SM information to UE) in order to determine the protocol type which would be passed by the AN / RAN. In an example, V-SMF checks the ATSSS rules provided for the UE are set to MPQUIC-E and / or the MPQUIC link-specific IP addresses provided to the UE; If MPQUIC-link specific IP addresses are of IPv4 or IPv6 or Ipv4v6 type, then V-SMF may set the corresponding PDU Session type in N2 SM information provided to the RAN. V-SMF may do this only in case PDU Session type is Ethernet and PDU Session is an MA PDU Session.

[0331] After receiving the "MA PDU Session Accepted" indication, AMF may mark the PDU Session as MA PDU Session.

[0332] In Step 13, AMF to (R)AN:

[0333] The AMF may send to (R)AN a message containing PDU Session ID and PDU Session Establishment Accept targeted to the UE and the N2 SM information received from the SMF.

[0334] In Step 14, (R)AN to UE: The (R)AN may issue AN specific signalling exchange with the UE that is related with the information received from SMF.

[0335] (R)AN may forward the NAS message (PDU Session ID, N1 SM container (PDU Session Establishment Accept)) received in step 13 to the UE.

[0336] MPQUIC-E in Home routed roaming scenarios: Reusing PDU Session type. The procedure may also be applicable for one or more scenarios with I-SMF, with I-SMF taking the role of V-SMF, SMF taking the role of H-SMF, I-UPF taking the role of V-UPF and (PSA) UPF taking the role of H-UPF.

[0337] Referring to figures 4A and 4B:

[0338] In Step 1, From UE to AMF:

[0339] In order to establish a new PDU Session, the UE may generate a new PDU Session ID.

[0340] The UE may initiate the UE Requested PDU Session Establishment procedure by the transmission of a NAS message containing S-NSSAI(s), Requested DNN, PDU Session ID, Request Type, PDU Session Type, a Requested SSC mode, 5GSM Capability, PCO, ATSSS capability.

[0341] PDU Session ID: It is an identification (e.g. in a form of a bit string) used to denote a specific PDU Session.

[0342] Request Type: Indicates what kind of Request it is. It maybe "Initial Request" to indicate that the message is to request a new PDU Session. It maybe "MA PDU Session" to indicate that the UE wants to establish a Multi-Access PDU Session.

[0343] PDU Session Type: Indicates what kind of PDU Session the UE wants to request. It maybe IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6 or Ethernet or Unstructured.

[0344] PCO: Protocol Control Options, It is used to send various protocol parameters to and from network.

[0345] 5GSM capability: This parameter is used to indicate various capabilities of the UE related to session management, e.g. whether UE supports reflective QoS or not; whether UE supports Multi-homed IPv6 PDU session or not, ATSSS (Access Traffic Steering-Switching-Splitting) capabilities of the UE.

[0346] UE may also include an indication that "Network Upgrade to MA PDU Session is allowed" and the Request type as "Initial Request" in case that UE requests a single access PDU Session but network is allowed to update it to an MA PDU Session.

[0347] ATSSS capabilities: indicates what ATSS functionalities can be supported by the UE, e.g. one or more of ATSSS-LL (lower layer), MPTCP functionality, MPQUIC functionality for UDP traffic, MPQUIC-IP functionality, MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality, MPQCUI-TCP functionality etc. Information of supported ATSSS capabilities / functionalities may be included within the 5G SM capability parameter.

[0348] AMF may determine if the UE can establish the PDU Session or not based on whether UE is allowed to use the specific S-NSSAI or not, and / or based on whether UE is allowed to use the Requested DNN or not.

[0349] For the case of MA PDU Sessions, UE may check URSP rules in order to request an MA PDU Session by setting the Request Type as "MA PDU Session", or UE may set the Request Type as Initial Request and include the indication that "Network Upgrade to MA PDU Session is allowed"

[0350] For the current scenario assume:

[0351] UE may send a PDU Session establishment request with Request Type set to MA PDU Session, PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby.

[0352] Or, UE may send PDU Session establishment request with Request Type set to Initial Request, PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby, and UE includes an Indication of "MA PDU Session Upgrade allowed".

[0353] In Step 2, the AMF may select a V-SMF and H-SMF for the PDU session based on the AMF operation in Step 1.

[0354] AMF may request the NRF with specific SMF profiles based on the DNN, Request type, PDU Session type etc.

[0355] For example, if the Request type is MA PDU Session, AMF may try to select an SMF which supports MA PDU Sessions, or the SMF that supports ATSSS functionality.

[0356] Based on local configuration of particular Slice or DNN, AMF may be configured to select a particular V-SMF which supports handling of MPQUIC-E functionality.

[0357] In Step 3, From AMF to V-SMF:

[0358] AMF may send a message (e.g. Nsmf_PDUSession_Create / UpdateSMContext Request) to SMF based on the received message in Step 1.

[0359] The message may include one or more parameters of SUPI, Access type, GPSI, AMF ID, S-NSSAI(s), Requested DNN, PDU Session ID, Request Type, PDU Session Type, a Requested SSC mode, 5GSM Capability, PCO, ATSSS capability, MA PDU Session Indication, "Network Upgrade to MA PDU allowed" indication.

[0360] AMF may determine the Access type (e.g. 3GPP or Non-3GPP) based on the type of (R) AN from which AMF received the message in Step 1.

[0361] AMF may provide the GPSI if it is present locally in the SMF, or AMF obtained it before from some other network entity (e.g. UDM)

[0362] Other parameters in this message may be same as the one which UE sent to the AMF or may be modified by the AMF based on local policies. For example, AMF may modify the DNN received from the UE based on UE's subscription data and / or the polices received from the PCF.

[0363] The message received from the AMF may include a PDU Session Establishment Request as received by the AMF from the UE in Step 1.

[0364] If the Request type provided by UE in Step 1 indicates MA PDU Session, AMF may then send an MA PDU Session Indication to the V-SMF.

[0365] If UE provided "Network Upgrade to MA PDU allowed" indication, AMF may forward the indication to the V-SMF.

[0366] As an example scenario:

[0367] AMF may send the message with Request Type set to MA PDU Session, PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby.

[0368] Or, AMF may send the message with Request Type set to Initial Request, PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby, and UE may include an indication of "MA PDU Session Upgrade allowed".

[0369] In Step 4, V-SMF may select a UPF which meet the required criteria.

[0370] In the case of PDU Session Type IPv6 or IPv4v6, the SMF may also allocate an interface identifier to the UE for the UE to build its link-local address.

[0371] If Request Type indicates "initial request", the SMF may initiate an N4 Session Establishment procedure with the selected UPF(s).

[0372] In Step 5, the SMF(e.g., V-SMF) may send an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Request to the UPF and provides Packet detection, enforcement and reporting rules to be installed on the UPF for this PDU Session.

[0373] The UPF(e.g., V-UPF) may acknowledge by sending an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Response.

[0374] In Step 6, From V-SMF to H-SMF:

[0375] V-SMF may send a message (e.g. Nsmf_PDUSession_Create Request) to H-SMF based on the received message in Step 3.

[0376] The message may include one or more parameters of SUPI, Access type, GPSI, AMF ID, S-NSSAI(s), Requested DNN, PDU Session ID, Request Type, PDU Session Type, a Requested SSC mode, 5GSM Capability, PCO, ATSSS capability, N1 SM information from UE, MA PDU Indication, "Network upgrade to MA PDU allowed" indication, indication / capability to indicate of handling MPQUIC-E.

[0377] N1 SM information from UE may contain the parameters, which were provided by UE and need to be conveyed to the H-SMF. One or more of the other parameters present in the message in Step 6 may be present inside N1 SM information.

[0378] N1 SM information from UE may be further split into, known N1 SM information from UE and unknown N1 SM information from UE.

[0379] V-SMF may indicate to the H-SMF that it supports handling MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality. This may be indicated in the form of Supported features by the V-SMF. V-SMF may indicates this if PDU Session type provided by the UE is set to Ethernet and / or the PDU Session is requested for MA PDU Session (e.g. message from AMF includes MA PDU Indication or "Network upgrade to MA PDU allowed indication").

[0380] As an example scenario: V-SMF may send the message with PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities (of UE) set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL, MA PDU Indication.

[0381] Or, V-SMF may send the message with PDU Session type set to Ethernet, ATSSS capabilities set to MPQUIC-Ethernet or MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL, and UE includes an Indication of "MA PDU Session Upgrade allowed".

[0382] In Step 7, SMF(e.g., H-SMF) may check the Session management subscription data for the corresponding SUPI, DNN and S-NSSAI.

[0383] If Session Management Subscription data for corresponding SUPI, DNN and S-NSSAI of the HPLMN as received in Step 6 or otherwise determined by SMF is not available, then SMF may retrieve the Session Management Subscription data using a message (e.g. Nudm_SDM_Get) to UDM and including one or more of the SUPI, Session Management Subscription data, selected DNN, S-NSSAI of the HPLMN, Serving PLMN ID.

[0384] SMF may subscribes to be notified when this subscription data is modified using a message (e.g.Nudm_SDM_Subscribe) and including one or more of the parameters SUPI, Session Management Subscription data, selected DNN, S-NSSAI of the HPLMN, Serving PLMN ID).

[0385] The Subscription data (e.g., subscription data received from UDM) may include the Allowed PDU Session Type(s), Allowed SSC mode(s), default 5QI and ARP, subscribed Session-AMBR, SMF-Associated external parameters, IP Index or Static IP address / prefix, ATSSS allowed or not.

[0386] For example, if the ATSSS is allowed for the UE for the particular DNN / S-NSSAI, then UE may be allowed to create the particular MA PDU Session. If the UE requested for an MA PDU Session (i.e. Request type = MA PDU Request) and ATSSS is NOT allowed for the corresponding DNN, S-NSSAI for which the request is to establish PDU Session, SMF may reject the PDU Session establishment request.

[0387] In Step 8, If dynamic PCC is to be used for the PDU Session, the SMF may perform PCF selection based on criteria as determined by SMF based on request from UE and / or information received from UDM and / or local policies in the SMF.

[0388] In an example, SMF may perform PCF selection for specific DNN, S-NSSAI, ATSSS capabilities supported for the PDU Session.

[0389] The SMF may perform an SM Policy Association Establishment procedure to establish an SM Policy Association with the PCF and get the default PCC Rules for the PDU Session.

[0390] SMF may send a message to the PCF including one or more of SUPI, DNN, S-NSSAI, MA PDU Session indication, IP address / prefix of the UE, ATSSS capabilities supported for the MA PDU Session etc.

[0391] In general, SMF may determine the ATSSS capabilities supported for the PDU Session based on ATSSS capabilities supported by the UE and the ATSSS capabilities according to the DNN configuration. For example, if UE indicates it supports MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality and ATSSS-LL functionality, and the DNN configuration allows MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality only, then the ATSSS capabilities supported for the PDU Session may include MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality.

[0392] In case of Ethernet PDU Session, and if MA PDU Session Indication or "Network Upgrade to MA PDU Allowed" indication is received, H-SMF may also determine the ATSSS capabilities based on the supported features by the V-SMF. In an example, if V-SMF indicated that it can support handling MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality, and the UE and DNN configuration / subscription data indicates that MPQUIC-Ethernet can be allowed for the MA PDU Session, H-SMF may determine that ATSSS capabilities supported for the PDU Session includes MPQUIC-Ethernet. As an example, if UE indicates that it supports MPQUIC-Ethernet + ATSSS-LL active standby, and H-SMF determines that V-SMF can support handling of MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality and / or DNN configuration allows it, H-SMF may determine that PDU Session is capable of MPQUIC-E functionality + ATSSS-LL active standby. As an example, in case that message from V-SMF indicates that it cannot support handling of MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality, H-SMF may not include MPQUIC-Ethernet in the ATSSS capabilities of the MA PDU Session.

[0393] H-SMF may determine whether the V-SMF supports handling of MPQUIC-Ethernet functionality based on:

[0394] - an indication received from the V-SMF, or

[0395] - by determining if V-SMF supports or understands ATSSS capability IE (which includes MPQUIC-Ethernet) sent by the UE to V-SMF. This may be determined by whether or not V-SMF included ATSSS capability IE in the known N1 SM information from UE or the unknown N1 SM information from UE in the message sent from V-SMF to H-SMF, or

[0396] - based on the supported features of V-SMF that may have been sent by the V-SMF to the H-SMF

[0397] - based on service agreement between roaming partners. For example, if the visited network (or the PLMN of V-SMF) supports handling of MPQUIC-E functionality or not.

[0398] - Based on local configuration in the H-SMF

[0399] In an embodiment of the disclosure, SMF (or H-SMF) may determine that only ATSSS-LL can be supported for the Home routed PDU Session regardless of the UE's supported ATSSS capability and DNN configuration.

[0400] PCF may provide policies for the PDU Session to the SMF.

[0401] In Step 9, H-SMF may select a H-UPF which meet the required criteria.

[0402] In the case of PDU Session Type IPv6 or IPv4v6, the SMF may also allocate an interface identifier to the UE for the UE to build its link-local address.

[0403] If Request Type indicates "initial request", the SMF may initiate an N4 Session Establishment procedure with the selected UPF(s).

[0404] The SMF may send an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Request to the UPF and provides Packet detection, enforcement and reporting rules to be installed on the UPF for this PDU Session.

[0405] The UPF may acknowledge by sending an N4 Session Establishment / Modification Response.

[0406] In Step 10, H-SMF to V-SMF:

[0407] H-SMF may send to V-SMF a message (e.g. Nsmf_PDUSession_Create response) which included ones or more of PDU Session ID, updated Selected PDU Session type, list of QoS flows to establish, Tunnel info for H-UPF, N1 information for UE, MA PDU Session indication. The N1 information for UE may have the information that the H-SMF needs to provide to UE via V-SMF and include one or more parameters of QoS Rule(s) , selected SSC mode, S-NSSAI(s), UE Requested DNN, allocated IPv4 address, interface identifier, selected PDU Session Type, ATSSS information. Some of these parameters may be present not in N1 information but outside it.

[0408] H-SMF may include MA PDU Session Indication in order to indicate to V-SMF that the PDU Session is accepted as MA PDU Session.

[0409] ATSSS information may be included in case that H-SMF decides to establish MA PDU session and ATSSS information may include one or more of :

[0410] - ATSSS rule(s) (which specifies the steering functionality(e.g. ATSSS-LL or MPQUIC-Ethernet, or MPQUIC-IP, or MPQUIC etc) and other ATSSS parameters to be applied for a specific application flow).

[0411] - MPQUIC Proxy information : The list of IP addresses of MPQUIC proxy

[0412] o Proxy Address Information

[0413] ‥IP version : IPv4 or IPv6

[0414] ‥Proxy address : IPv4 address or IPv6 address

[0415] o Proxy Type : one or more of connect-udp, connect-ethernet, connect-tcp, connect-ip

[0416] - Link specific address(es) (the IP address that the UE should use for a specific access (e.g. for 3gpp access or non-3gpp access) for sending MPQUIC packets

[0417] o IP version : IPv4 or IPv6

[0418] o Address for Access 1 (e.g. 3gpp access)

[0419] o Address for Access 2 (e.g. Non-3GPP access)

[0420] Assume the case H-SMF received the MA PDU Session Indication, or, "Network upgrade to MA PDU allowed" indication and H-SMF decides to accept the PDU Session as MA PDU Session.

[0421] In case that PDU Session type is Ethernet, and H-SMF determines that MPQUIC-Ethernet needs to be enabled for the MA PDU Session, H-SMFmay set the value of Selected PDU Session Type based on the outer protocol to be used for transmittingthe message to the V-SMF. Selected PDU Session type may be set to IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6 in order to inform V-SMF the outer protocol that would be used for MPQUIC proxying, i.e. to carry MPQUIC-Ethernet packets, or the outer protocol that would be relevant for the AN and or the V-UPF. In case that MPQUIC-Ethernet needs to be enabled for the MA PDU Session, H-SMF may determine the Selected PDU Session type to be sent to V-SMF based on what IP version is to be used for MPQUIC proxying and it may be based on one or more of the following criteria:

[0422] - based on the local configuration, or

[0423] - based on the UE's supported IP version capabilities if it was included in the message from V-SMF, or

[0424] - based on the protocol type (i.e. IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6) of MPQUIC link specific IP addresses provided by the H-UPF in Step 9, or

[0425] - Or, SMF may always set the Selected PDU Session type to IPv4v6 in case MPQUIC-Ethernet needs to be enabled for the MA PDU Session.

[0426] As an example, if PDU Session type requested by UE is Ethernet, and H-SMF decides to establish MA PDU Session and determines that MPQUIC-Ethernet needs to be enabled then, H-SMF may set the Selected PDU Session type as IPv4 in the message sent from H-SMF to V-SMF (if H-SMF determines that IPV4 is to be used for MPQUIC proxying).

[0427] As an example, if PDU Session type requested by UE is Ethernet, and H-SMF decides to establish MA PDU Session and determines that MPQUIC-Ethernet and ATSSS_LL needs to be enabled then, H-SMF may set the Selected PDU Session type Unstructured in the message sent from H-SMF to V-SMF.

[0428] In case that H-SMF determines that both MPQUIC-Ethernet and ATSSS-LL can be enabled for the MA PDU Session and PDU Session type is Ethernet, then H-SMF may include Outer protocol type in the message to V-SMF and may set its value to Unstructured, since both the IP packets (when MPQUIC-Ethernet is used) and the Ethernet frames (when ATSSS-LL is used) would be passed to V-UPF and the AN in case both steering functionalities are used).

[0429] In case that H-SMF determines that only ATSSS-LL can be enabled for the MA PDU Session and the PDU Session type as provided in the request is Ethernet, then H-SMF may set the Selected PDU Session type as Ethernet.

[0430] In an embodiment of the disclosure, H-SMF may enable only ATSSS-LL steering functionality in case that PDU Session is of type Ethernet and PDU Session is a Home routed PDU Session and PDU Session is requested for MA PDU Session.

[0431] As described in Step 8 (e.g., for the case when PDU Session type is Ethernet), if H-SMF determines that only ATSSS-LL can be supported (or it determines that MPQUIC-E cannot be supported even though UE indicates the support of it) for this MA PDU Session, then H-SMF may send ATSSS information / rules only for ATSSS-LL functionality (or H-SMF does not sends ATSSS information / ATSSS rules for MPQUIC-E functionality).

[0432] In Step 10a, V-SMF may select the V-UPF based on the Updated Selected PDU Session type or modify the PDU Session type to H-UPF based on it and sets the PDU Session type in the N4 message, and in the N2 SM information according to the Selected PDU Session Type received from the H-SMF; V-SMF may set the Selected PDU Session type in the N1 information based on Selected PDU Session type provided by H-SMF

[0433] In Step 11, N4 session modification message to V-UPF

[0434] V-SMF may provide updated N4 rules to the V-UPF, and may provide the Tunnel information of the H-UPF for the uplink traffic.

[0435] In case that selected PDU Session type provided by the H-SMF to V-SMF is changed (i.e. it is different from the one which was received by the V-SMF from the AMF, or which the V-SMF provided to V-UPF earlier or which the V-SMF provided to H-SMF earlier), then V-SMF may provide the new PDU Session type to the V-UPF using N4 session modification request message.

[0436] In an embodiment of the disclosure, V-SMF may perform a UPF selection in order to select an appropriate UPF which supports the Outer protocol type or the PDU Session type as provided by the H-SMF.

[0437] In an embodiment of the disclosure, V-SMF may determine the Outer protocol by checking the ATSSS information provided by H-SMF (to be sent to UE) in the similar way as described in Step 13.

[0438] In an embodiment of the disclosure, V-SMF may determine the outer protocol based on MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-E information provided by the H-SMF and may update the protocol type provided to V-UPF and perform V-UPF selection based on MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-E information. V-SMF may determine that Ipv4v6 needs to be used as the protocol type based on MPQUIC-E indicator / MPQUIC-e information.

[0439] In Step 12, V-SMF to AMF:

[0440] V-SMF may send to AMF a message (e.g. Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer) which included ones or more of PDU Session ID, N2 SM information, N1 SM container, "MA PDU Session Accepted" indication) based on the message received from H-SMF.

[0441] The N2 SM information may carry information which may be used by the (R) AN and that the AMF shall forward to the (R)AN which may include: PDU Session ID, QFI(s), QoS Profile(s), S-NSSAI from the Allowed NSSAI or Partially Allowed NSSAI, Session-AMBR, PDU Session Type, RSN, PDU Session Pair ID. The parameters present in the N2 SM information need not be present in a specific container (e.g. N2 SM information). The PDU Session Type provided to the RAN may be determined based on the Selected PDU Session Type provided by the H-SMF.

[0442] The N1 SM container have the information that the SMF provides to the UE via AMF and include one or more parameters of QoS Rule(s) , selected SSC mode, S-NSSAI(s), UE Requested DNN, allocated IPv4 address, interface identifier, selected PDU Session Type, ATSSS information. This information may be present in the form of PDU Session Establishment Accept message within the N1 SM container. Selected PDU Session type in the N1 SM container present in the UE may be determined based on the Selected PDU Session type provided by H-SMF to the V-SMF.

[0443] Alternatively or additionally, in some implementations and in specific cases (e.g. when PDU Session type is Ethernet and V-SMF received MA PDU Session indication from the H-SMF), V-SMF may determine the PDU Session type to be included in N2 SM information based on the interpretation of N1 SM information or ATSSS information to UE sent by the H-SMF to the V-SMF in step 10. V-SMF may check the ATSSS rules / ATSSS information to be provided by the H-SMF for the UE (ATSSS rules may be present in the N1 SM information to UE) in order to determine the protocol type which would be passed by the AN / RAN. In an example, V-SMF checks the ATSSS rules provided for the UE are set to MPQUIC-E and / or the MPQUIC link-specific IP addresses provided to the UE; If MPQUIC-link specific IP addresses are of IPv4 or IPv6 or Ipv4v6 type, then V-SMF may set the corresponding PDU Session type in N2 SM information provided to the RAN. V-SMF may set the Selected PDU Session type in N1 information to UE as Ethernet itself. V-SMF may do this only in case PDU Session type is Ethernet and PDU Session is an MA PDU Session.

[0444] After receiving the "MA PDU Session Accepted" indication, AMF may mark the PDU Session as MA PDU Session.

[0445] In Step 13, AMF to (R)AN:

[0446] The AMF may send to (R)AN a message containing PDU Session ID and PDU Session Establishment Accept targeted to the UE and the N2 SM information received from the SMF.

[0447] In Step 14, (R)AN to UE: The (R)AN may issue AN specific signalling exchange with the UE that is related with the information received from SMF.

[0448] (R)AN may forward the NAS message (PDU Session ID, N1 SM container (PDU Session Establishment Accept)) received in step 13 to the UE.

[0449] In an embodiment of the disclosure, in case that UE requested for an MA PDU Session of Ethernet PDU Session type, and in case that UE receives from network PDU session accept message (from V-SMF via AMF and (R)AN) the selected PDU Session type as IP (either IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6) and / or UE received the ATSSS information (which contains ATSSS / rules or proxy information for MPQUIC-E functionality), then UE may locally consider / store the PDU Session type for this PDU Session as Ethernet.

[0450] In an embodiment of the disclosure, in case that UE requested for an MA PDU Session of Ethernet PDU Session type, and in case that UE receives from network PDU session accept message (from V-SMF via AMF and (R)AN) the selected PDU Session type as Unstructured and / or UE received the ATSSS information (which contains ATSSS / rules or proxy information for MPQUIC-E functionality), then UE may locally consider / store the PDU Session type for this PDU Session as Ethernet.

[0451] I-UPF insertion

[0452] Figure 5 illustrates a procedure in which an MA PDU Session is established of PDU Session type Ethernet and MPQUIC-E is enabled for the PDU Session and later an I-UPF is inserted in the path of the PDU Session, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0453] Steps A1 to A4 describes some of the steps of the PDU Session establishment procedure.

[0454] In Step A1, UE may send a PDU Session establishment request with request type a MA PDU session, PDU Session type as Ethernet, and UE may indicate that it's ATSSS capabilities include MPQUIC-E.

[0455] An MA PDU Session may be established and MPQUIC-E may be enabled for this PDU Session.

[0456] Network (e.g. SMF) may store the outer protocol type which is used for this MA PDU session. This step may be performed by SMF as shown in Step A4. This outer protocol type may be:

[0457] - the protocol type of the link-specific addresses for this MA PDU Session,

[0458] - the protocol type which is provided to (R)AN

[0459] - determined based on UE's supported IP version capabilities

[0460] - determined based on local configuration

[0461] - determined based on what link-specific address or MPQUIC proxy information UE provided to SMF during PDU Session establishment

[0462] Network (e.g. SMF) may decide to insert an I-UPF in the path of the PDU session, for example due to UE mobility. Some steps of this procedure are described in the figure from Step 0 to Step 7.

[0463] In case that SMF receives a request for UE mobility or otherwise, determines that I-UPF needs to be inserted, in addition or as alternate to the usual standardized procedures:

[0464] - SMF may in Step 2, select an I-UPF based on the outer protocol type for the PDU Session (which may be stored by SMF in step A4 or during PDU Session establishment procedure.

[0465] - SMF in Step 4a, (for example when it decides sends a message to newly inserted I-UPF regarding N4 session establishment for the UE's PDU Session) may set the PDU Session type provided based on the outer protocol type for this PDU Session (MA PDU Session).

[0466] o PDU Session type provided to the I-UPF may be IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6 in case MPQUIC-E is enabled for the PDU Session and it may be determined based on local configuration or based on the link-specific IP addresses used for the PDU Session.

[0467] o PDU Session type provided to the I-UPF may be Unstructured in case both MPQUIC-E and ATSSS-LL are enabled for the UE's MA PDU Session.

[0468] In an alternate or additional embodiment, SMF may decide that I-UPF cannot be inserted for an MA PDU Session for which MPQUIC-E is enabled. In case that the current UPF cannot serve the UE's location, SMF may decide to release this MA PDU session. In case that the current UPF cannot serve the UE's location, SMF may decide to release this MA PDU session even if there is an I-SMF is available, but it cannot be added to the PDU Session path since I-SMF insertion in case when MPQUIC-E is enabled is not possible.

[0469] Figure 6 illustrates a terminal or user equipment (UE) according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0470] Referring to the figure 6, the UE 600 may include a processor 610, a transceiver 620 and a memory 630. However, all of the illustrated components are not essential. The UE 600 may be implemented by more or less components than those illustrated in figure 6. In addition, the processor 610 and the transceiver 620 and the memory 630 may be implemented as a single chip according to another embodiment.

[0471] The aforementioned components will now be described in detail.

[0472] The processor 610 may include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the proposed function, process, and / or method. Operation of the UE 600 may be implemented by the processor 610.

[0473] The transceiver 620 may include a RF transmitter for up-converting and amplifying a transmitted signal, and a RF receiver for down-converting a frequency of a received signal. However, according to another embodiment, the transceiver 620 may be implemented by more or less components than those illustrated in components.

[0474] The transceiver 620 may be connected to the processor 610 and transmit and / or receive a signal. The signal may include control information and data. In addition, the transceiver 620 may receive the signal through a wireless channel and output the signal to the processor 610. The transceiver 620 may transmit a signal output from the processor 610 through the wireless channel.

[0475] The memory 630 may store the control information or the data included in a signal obtained by the UE 600. The memory 630 may be connected to the processor 610 and store at least one instruction or a protocol or a parameter for the proposed function, process, and / or method. The memory 630 may include read-only memory (ROM) and / or random access memory (RAM) and / or hard disk and / or CD-ROM and / or DVD and / or other storage devices. In an example, the memory 630 may be considered a non-transitory storage medium. The term non-transitory may indicate that the storage medium is not embodied in a carrier wave or a propagated signal. However, the term non-transitory should not be interpreted that memory 630 is non-movable. In an example, the memory 630 stores larger amounts of information. In an example, a non-transitory storage medium may store data that can over time change (e.g., in Random Access Memory (RAM) or cache).

[0476] The terminal is an electronic device capable of wireless communication and having various form factors, examples of the terminal may include a UE, a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or any other device / system capable of performing wireless communication with a base station (BS) and / or another terminal through a wireless channel.

[0477] Referring to FIG. 6, the UE 600 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply "transceiver") 620, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply "processor") 610, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply "memory") 630. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 620, the processor 610, and the memory 630 of the UE 600 may operate. However, components of the UE 600 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. XX. In another embodiment, the UE 600 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 620, the processor 610, or the memory 630 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0478] The transceiver 620 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the UE 600 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 620 may enable the UE 600 to transmit or receive a signal to or from a BS through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another UE through cellular communication. For example, the transceiver 620 may support at least one of various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4thgeneration (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6thgeneration (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (620) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.

[0479] According to an embodiment, the UE 600 may include a plurality of transceivers. For example, in the case of supporting evolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio (E-UTRA-NR) dual connectivity (EN-DC), the UE 600 may include a first transceiver supporting the 4G LTE wireless communication and a second transceiver supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to another embodiment, in the case of supporting NR-dual connectivity (NR-DC), the UE 600 may include a plurality of transceivers supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to still another embodiment, in the case of supporting near field wireless communication, the UE 600 may separately include a transceiver supporting at least one standard in the group of wireless communication protocol standards as defined in the protocol standards for Bluetooth®, wireless local area network (WLAN) network (including institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11-2016 standard or its amendments, e.g., 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be, without being limited thereto).

[0480] According to an embodiment, the transceiver 620 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a BS through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 620 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 620 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 610 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 610.

[0481] The processor 610 may control general operations of the UE 600 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 610 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 610 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 630, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 610 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.

[0482] The processor 610 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 620 to control the transceiver 620.

[0483] The processor 610 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. For example, the processor 610 may include a communication processor (CP) configured to control communication operations and an application processor (AP) configured to control execution of an upper layer (for example, an application layer). In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 610 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 610 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 620 or the memory 630.

[0484] The processor 610 may perform or control or cause an operation of the UE 600 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 610 may control operations of the UE 600 for processing a downlink signal received from a BS or generating and transmitting an uplink signal to a BS. To this end, the processor 610 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 630, so as to control other components of the UE 600 to enable execution of various operations.

[0485] The memory 630 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 630 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.

[0486] The memory 630 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 610 and may be accessed by the processor 610.

[0487] The memory 630 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 610. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 610 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 630, the processor 610 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0488] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the UE 600 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 630 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.

[0489] Figure 7 schematically illustrates a network entity according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0490] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the network entity 700 may be at least one of a base station, gNB, eNB, a AF, a network function (e.g., SMF) in a core network(CN), an network node or a server in a communication system. Referring to the figure 7, the network entity 700 may include a processor 710, a transceiver 720 and a memory 730. However, all of the illustrated components are not essential. The Network entity 700 may be implemented by more or less components than those illustrated in figure 7. In addition, the processor 710 and the transceiver 720 and the memory 730 may be implemented as a single chip according to another embodiment.

[0491] The aforementioned components will now be described in detail.

[0492] The processor 710 may include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the proposed function, process, and / or method. Operation of the Network entity 700 may be implemented by the processor 710.

[0493] The transceiver 720 may include a RF transmitter for up-converting and amplifying a transmitted signal, and a RF receiver for down-converting a frequency of a received signal. However, according to another embodiment, the transceiver 720 may be implemented by more or less components than those illustrated in components.

[0494] The transceiver 720 may be connected to the processor 710 and transmit and / or receive a signal. The signal may include control information and data. In addition, the transceiver 720 may receive the signal through a wireless channel and output the signal to the processor 710. The transceiver 720 may transmit a signal output from the processor 710 through the wireless channel.

[0495] The memory 730 may store the control information or the data included in a signal obtained by the Network entity 700. The memory 730 may be connected to the processor 710 and store at least one instruction or a protocol or a parameter for the proposed function, process, and / or method. The memory 730 may include read-only memory (ROM) and / or random access memory (RAM) and / or hard disk and / or CD-ROM and / or DVD and / or other storage devices. In an example, the memory 730 may be considered a non-transitory storage medium. The term non-transitory may indicate that the storage medium is not embodied in a carrier wave or a propagated signal. However, the term non-transitory should not be interpreted that memory 730 is non-movable. In an example, the memory 730 stores larger amounts of information. In an example, a non-transitory storage medium may store data that can over time change (e.g., in Random Access Memory (RAM) or cache).

[0496] The UE or the base station may perform various communication procedures related to the control plane or the user plane by cooperating with one or more network entities based on wireless communication. For example, the UE may communicate with a network entity (for example, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a Session Management Function (SMF), rtc.) 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.

[0497] The structure of the above-described network entity will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0498] Figure 8 is a block diagram of a network entity 800 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0499] The network entity 800 may include an entity (apparatus, device, or server, etc.) that performs one or more network functions (NFs) or a part of a network function constituting a core network (e.g., a 5th generation (5G) core (5GC)) in a communication system. In this case, multiple NFs may be implemented within a single network entity, or a single NF may be distributed and implemented across a plurality of network entities. In addition, when an NF is implemented within the network entity, the NF may be implemented in the form of software, and in such a case, a program for operating the NF may be stored in memory of the network entity 800.

[0500] A single NF may be implemented by one or more instances, which may be deployed on the same network entity or distributed across multiple network entities to operate. The instance may be a software unit that logically executes a specific network function, and may be implemented in a form that is decoupled from physical hardware resources. Further, one or more NFs may be implemented in the form of one network slice to operate to satisfy specifications required by a particular service.

[0501] The NF may include at least one of an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a local session management function (L-SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a local user plane function (L-UPF), a policy control function (PCF), a unified data management (UDM), a unified data repository (UDR), a network exposure function (NEF), a network repository function (NRF), an application function (AF), a network slice selection function (NSSF), a network data analytics function (NWDAF), a network slice admission control function (NSACF), an authentication server function (AUSF), or a data network (DN), etc.

[0502] Referring to FIG. 8, the network entity 800 may include at least one network interface 801, at least one processor 802 (hereinafter, "processor"), and at least one memory 803 (hereinafter, "memory"). As described above, a NF may be implemented in the form of a physical device such as the network entity 800, or may be virtualized and executed in the form of an instance. When implemented as an instance, the NF need not necessarily include physical components as illustrated in FIG. 8. In such a case, the instance may be logically represented as comprising one or more logical functional elements.

[0503] According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the network interface 801, the processor 802, and the memory 803 of the network entity 800 may operate. However, components of the network entity 800 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 8. In another embodiment, the network entity 800 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 801, the processor 802, or the memory 803 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0504] The network interface 801 is a collective term for a transmitter part of the network entity 800 and a receiver part of the network entity 800, and may be a communication circuit for transmitting or receiving a signal to or from a user equipment (UE), a base station (BS), or another network entity. Here, the communication circuit may include both a communication circuit for wireless communication and a communication circuit for a wired communication. For example, the network interface 801 may include a circuit, logic, hardware, etc., configured to exchange a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless communication or wired communication. The network interface 801 may operate using various protocols (e.g., non-access stratum (NAS) protocol). The network interface 801 may also be referred to, for convenience of description or depending on implementation, as communication circuitry, network interface circuitry, or a communication interface circuitry.

[0505] The processor 802 may control general operations of the network entity 800 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 802 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 802 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 803, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 802 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme. Further, it should be noted that, according to another embodiment, in a case where NF is implemented in the form of an instance, the network function may be not necessarily configured by physical hardware.

[0506] According to an embodiment, the processor 802 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the network interface 801 to control the network interface 801.

[0507] The processor 802 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 802 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 802 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the network interface 801 or the memory 803.

[0508] The processor 802 may perform or control or cause an operation of the network entity 800 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 802 may control operations of the network entity 800 for exchanging a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless or wired communication, using various protocols (e.g., NAS protocol). To this end, the processor 802 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 803, so as to control other components of the network entity 800 to enable execution of various operations.

[0509] The memory 803 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 803 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.

[0510] The memory 803 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 802 and may be accessed by the processor 802.

[0511] The memory 803 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 802. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 802 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 803, the processor 802 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0512] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the network entity 800 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 803 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.

[0513] Figure 9 is a flow chart of a method performed by a first SMF entity according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0514] Referring to FIG. 9, the method 900 may include operations 910 to 930.

[0515] In operation 910, the first SMF entity may receive, from a second SMF entity, a request message for a home-routed PDU session between a UE and a DN. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the request message may comprise a request type, a PDU session type and ATSSS capability information of the UE.

[0516] In operation 920, in case that the request type is a MA PDU request and the PDU session type is Ethernet, the first SMF entity may determine to exclude a MPQUIC-E indicator from ATSSS capability information of a MA PDU session.

[0517] In operation 920, the first SMF entity may transmit, to a PCF entity, the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session from which the MPQUIC-E indicator is excluded.

[0518] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session may comprise an ATSSS-LL steering indicator.

[0519] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the ATSSS capability information of the UE may comprise the MPQUIC-E indicator, and DNN configuration allows MPQUIC-E functionality.

[0520] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the first SMF entity may receive, from the PCF entity, a PCC rule based on the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session from which the MPQUIC-E indicator is excluded.

[0521] In an embodiment of the disclosure, in case that the request type is the MA PDU request, the PDU session type is the Ethernet and MPQUIC-E functionality is required for the MA PDU session, the first SMF entity may determine a selected PDU session type based on an outer protocol.

[0522] In an embodiment of the disclosure, in case that the request type is the MA PDU request, the PDU session type is the Ethernet and MPQUIC-E functionality is required for the MA PDU session, the first SMF entity may determine a selected PDU session type based on a protocol used for MPQUIC proxying.

[0523] In an embodiment of the disclosure, in case that the request type is the MA PDU request, the PDU session type is the Ethernet, and MPQUIC-E functionality and ATSSS-LL steering functionality are required for the MA PDU session, the first SMF entity may determine a selected PDU session type as unstructured.

[0524] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the first SMF entity may transmit the selected PDU session type to the second SMF entity.

[0525] In an embodiment of the disclosure, a method performed by a network entity in a wireless communication system includes receiving from a SMF(session management function) entity outer protocol information, transmitting to a UPF(user plane function) entity information indicating that a PDU session type is an outer protocol type, and transmitting to a AMF(access and mobility management function) entity information indicating that the PDU session type is the outer protocol type.

[0526] At least some of the example embodiments described herein may be constructed, partially or wholly, using dedicated special-purpose hardware. Terms such as 'component', 'module' or 'unit' used herein may include, but are not limited to, a hardware device, such as circuitry in the form of discrete or integrated components, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), which performs certain tasks or provides the associated functionality. In some embodiments, the described elements may be configured to reside on a tangible, persistent, addressable storage medium and may be configured to execute on one or more processors. These functional elements may in some embodiments include, by way of example, components, such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. Although the example embodiments have been described with reference to the components, modules and units discussed herein, such functional elements may be combined into fewer elements or separated into additional elements. Various combinations of optional features have been described herein, and it will be appreciated that described features may be combined in any suitable combination. In particular, the features of any one example embodiment may be combined with features of any other embodiment, as appropriate, except where such combinations are mutually exclusive. Throughout this specification, the term "comprising" or "comprises" means including the component(s) specified but not to the exclusion of the presence of others.

[0527] All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and / or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and / or steps are mutually exclusive.

[0528] Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

[0529] The disclosure is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The disclosure extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

[0530] Meanwhile, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1.A method performed by a first SMF (Session Management Function) entity in a wireless communication system, comprising:receiving, from a second SMF entity, a request message for a home-routed PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session between a UE (User Equipment) and a DN (Data Network), wherein the request message comprises a request type, a PDU session type and ATSSS (Access Traffic Steering, Switching and Splitting) capability information of the UE;in case that the request type is a MA (Multi Access) PDU request and the PDU session type is Ethernet, determining to exclude a MPQUIC-E (Multi Path Quick UDP (User Datagram Protocol) Internet Connections - Ethernet) indicator from ATSSS capability information of a MA PDU session; andtransmitting, to a PCF (Policy Control Function) entity, the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session from which the MPQUIC-E indicator is excluded.2.The method of claim 1, wherein the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session comprises an ATSSS-LL (Lower Layer) steering indicator.3.The method of claim 1, wherein the ATSSS capability information of the UE comprises the MPQUIC-E indicator, and DNN (Data Network Name) configuration allows MPQUIC-E functionality.4.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, from the PCF entity, a PCC (policy and charging control) rule based on the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session from which the MPQUIC-E indicator is excluded.5.The method of claim 1, further comprising:in case that the request type is the MA PDU request, the PDU session type is the Ethernet and MPQUIC-E functionality is required for the MA PDU session, determining a selected PDU session type based on an outer protocol; andtransmitting the selected PDU session type to the second SMF entity.6.The method of claim 1, further comprising:in case that the request type is the MA PDU request, the PDU session type is the Ethernet and MPQUIC-E functionality is required for the MA PDU session, determining a selected PDU session type based on a protocol used for MPQUIC proxying; andtransmitting the selected PDU session type to the second SMF entity.7.The method of claim 1, further comprising:in case that the request type is the MA PDU request, the PDU session type is the Ethernet, and MPQUIC-E functionality and ATSSS-LL steering functionality are required for the MA PDU session, determining a selected PDU session type as unstructured; andtransmitting the selected PDU session type to the second SMF entity.8.A first SMF (Session Management Function) entity comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor coupled to the at least one transceiver; andat least one memory, coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the first SMF entity to:receive, from a second SMF entity, a request message for a home-routed PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session between a UE (User Equipment) and a DN (Data Network), wherein the request message comprises a request type, a PDU session type and ATSSS (Access Traffic Steering, Switching and Splitting) capability information of the UE;in case that the request type is a MA (Multi Access) PDU request and the PDU session type is Ethernet, determine to exclude a MPQUIC-E (Multi Path Quick UDP (User Datagram Protocol) Internet Connections - Ethernet) indicator from ATSSS capability information of a MA PDU session; andtransmit, to a PCF (Policy Control Function) entity, the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session from which the MPQUIC-E indicator is excluded.9.The first SMF entity of claim 8, wherein the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session comprises an ATSSS-LL (Lower Layer) steering indicator.10.The first SMF entity of claim 8, wherein the ATSSS capability information of the UE comprises the MPQUIC-E indicator, and DNN (Data Network Name) configuration allows MPQUIC-E functionality.11.The first SMF entity of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the first SMF entity to:receive, from the PCF entity, a PCC (policy and charging control) rule based on the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session from which the MPQUIC-E indicator is excluded.12.The first SMF entity of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the first SMF entity to:in case that the request type is the MA PDU request, the PDU session type is the Ethernet and MPQUIC-E functionality is required for the MA PDU session, determine a selected PDU session type based on an outer protocol; andtransmit the selected PDU session type to the second SMF entity.13.The first SMF entity of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the first SMF entity to:in case that the request type is the MA PDU request, the PDU session type is the Ethernet and MPQUIC-E functionality is required for the MA PDU session, determine a selected PDU session type based on a protocol used for MPQUIC proxying; andtransmit the selected PDU session type to the second SMF entity.14.The first SMF entity of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the first SMF entity to:in case that the request type is the MA PDU request, the PDU session type is the Ethernet, and MPQUIC-E functionality and ATSSS-LL steering functionality are required for the MA PDU session, determine a selected PDU session type as unstructured; andtransmit the selected PDU session type to the second SMF entity.15.One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a first SMF (Session Management Function) entity, cause the first SMF entity to perform operations, the operations comprising:receiving, from a second SMF entity, a request message for a home-routed PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session between a UE (User Equipment) and a DN (Data Network), wherein the request message comprises a request type, a PDU session type and ATSSS (Access Traffic Steering, Switching and Splitting) capability information of the UE;in case that the request type is a MA (Multi Access) PDU request and the PDU session type is Ethernet, determining to exclude a MPQUIC-E (Multi Path Quick UDP (User Datagram Protocol) Internet Connections - Ethernet) indicator from ATSSS capability information of a MA PDU session; andtransmitting, to a PCF (Policy Control Function) entity, the ATSSS capability information of the MA PDU session from which the MPQUIC-E indicator is excluded.

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