CN116390118A

CN116390118A - Apparatus for use in ECSP and PLMN management systems

Info

Publication number: CN116390118A
Application number: CN202211646682.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 乔伊·周; 姚羿志
Original assignee: Intel Corp
Current assignee: Intel Corp
Priority date: 2022-01-03
Filing date: 2022-12-21
Publication date: 2023-07-04

Abstract

The present application relates to an apparatus for use in ECSP and PLMN management systems. In particular, an apparatus for use in an ECSP management system includes a processor circuit configured to cause the ECSP management system to: transmitting a Managed Object Instance (MOI) creation request to a PLMN management system, wherein the MOI creation request is used for requesting to create a MOI representing Evolved Packet System (EPS) connection management (ECM) connection information; and receiving an MOI creation response from the PLMN management system, wherein the MOI creation response is used for indicating that the MOI representing the ECM-connection information has been successfully created, the MOI creation response including core network-related connection information determined based on the EDN identifier and the EDN-related service area information included in the MOI creation request.

Description

Apparatus for use in ECSP and PLMN management systems

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application is based on and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No.63/296,133 filed on 1/3 of 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly, to an apparatus for use in an Edge Computing Service Provider (ECSP) and Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) management system.

Background

Mobile communications have evolved from early voice systems to today's highly complex integrated communication platforms. A 5G or New Radio (NR) wireless communication system will provide various users and applications with access to information and sharing of data anytime and anywhere.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements.

Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example edge computing network, according to some embodiments of the disclosure.

Fig. 2A illustrates a flowchart of an example method for use in an ECSP management system, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2B illustrates a flowchart of an example method for use in a PLMN management system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3A illustrates a timing diagram of an interaction process between an ECSP management system and a PLMN management system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3B illustrates a timing diagram of an EAS registration process between an ECSP or ASP and an ECSP management system according to some embodiments of the disclosure.

Fig. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a network in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein, in accordance with various embodiments of the disclosure.

Detailed Description

Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments will be described using terms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of the disclosure to others skilled in the art. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many alternative embodiments may be implemented using portions of the described aspects. For purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrative embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that alternative embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the illustrative embodiments.

Furthermore, various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.

The phrases "in an embodiment," "in one embodiment," and "in some embodiments" are repeated herein. These phrases generally do not refer to the same embodiment; however, they may also refer to the same embodiments. The terms "comprising," "having," and "including" are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. The phrases "A or B" and "A/B" mean "(A), (B), or (A and B)".

Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example edge computing network, according to some embodiments of the disclosure. As shown in fig. 1, the edge computing network 100 includes a mobile network 102, edge Data Networks (EDNs) 104 and 106, and an Edge Computing Server (ECS) 108, wherein the mobile network 102 is owned by a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) operator, and the EDNs 104 and 106 are owned by one or more Edge Computing Service Providers (ECSPs).

In the edge computing network 100, the EDNs 104 are trusted by PLMN operators, and Edge Application Servers (EAS) 104-2 and Edge Enabling Servers (EES) 104-4 in the EDNs 104 act as trusted Application Functions (AFs) and are authorized to interface with Policy Control Functions (PCFs) 102-2 in the mobile network 102 either directly through the N5 reference point or through the edge-7 and edge-2 interfaces; the EDN 106 is not trusted by the PLMN operator and the EAS 106-2 and EES106-4 in the EDN 106 act as untrusted AFs and are not authorized to interface directly with the PCF 102-2 and need to interface with the network open function (NEF)/network capability open function (SCEF) 102-4 in the mobile network 102 either through the N33 reference point or through the edge-7 and edge-2 interfaces; the ECS 108 should be able to connect to the NEF/SCEF 102-4 through an edge-8 interface.

In some cases, one or more of the EAS, EES, and ECS require the ability to interact with the core network of the mobile network, either through the PCF or through the NEF, to access one or more other network functions in the core network. The present disclosure proposes enabling the ECSP management system to interact with the PLMN management system to connect one or more of EAS, EES, and ECSs to the PCF and/or NEF to connect to one or more other network functions in the core network.

Fig. 2A illustrates a flowchart of an example method for use in an ECSP management system, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 2A, a method 200A for use in an ECSP management system includes: S202A, sending a Managed Object Instance (MOI) creation request to a PLMN management system, wherein the MOI creation request is used for requesting to create MOI representing Evolved Packet System (EPS) connection management (ECM) connection information; and S204A, receiving an MOI creation response from the PLMN management system, wherein the MOI creation response is used for indicating that the MOI representing the ECM connection information is successfully created, and the MOI creation response comprises core network related connection information determined based on the EDN identifier and the EDN related service area information included in the MOI creation request.

Fig. 2B illustrates a flowchart of an example method for use in a PLMN management system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 2B, a method 200B for use in a PLMN management system includes: S202B, receiving an MOI creation request from the ECSP management system, wherein the MOI creation request is used for requesting to create MOI representing ECM connection information; S204B, responding to the MOI creation request, and creating MOI representing the ECM connection information; and S206B, transmitting an MOI creation response to the ECSP management system, wherein the MOI creation response is used for indicating that the MOI representing the ECM connection information is successfully created, and the MOI creation response comprises core network related connection information determined based on the EDN identifier and the EDN related service area information included in the MOI creation request.

In some embodiments, the EDN related service area information is information about at least one of an EAS service area, an EES service area, and an EDN service area; and the core network related connection information includes information about at least one of a PCF network address and a NEF network address. In addition, the MOI creation request further includes EDN related network address information, which is information about at least one of an EAS network address, an EES network address, and an ECS network address.

In some embodiments, ECM connection information may be contained in an Information Object Class (IOC) and should contain the following attributes:

-an EDN identifier for determining whether the EDN is trusted by the PLMN operator;

-EAS, EES, and ECS Domain Names (DNs) for indicating to which PCF and/or NEF is connected;

EDN related service area information including information about EDN service areas, EES service areas, and EAS service areas (which represent service areas of ECS, EES, and EAS, respectively);

-list of core network related connection information: each entry in the list should contain the following attributes:

-access Network Function (NF) type: one or more of the EAS, EES, and ECS should interface to one or more NFs (PCF and/or NEF) for accessing one or more other network functions of the core network,

-IP address: one or more IP addresses accessing NF

-5GC NF DN: one or more DNs that access 5GC NFs need to be configured in one or more of easf unit IOC, eef unit IOC, and ecf unit IOC to indicate the connection location of one or more of EAS, EES, and ECS.

In some embodiments, the method 200A for use in the ECSP management system further includes, in the event that the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by the PLMN operator: creating an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS associated with the EAS network address or the EES network address to the PCF associated with the PCF network address by using the EAS network address or the EES network address as a local address and the PCF network address as a remote address to connect the EAS or the EES to the PCF; or by using the ECS network address as a local address and the NEF network address as a remote address, creating an MOI representing a communication connection from the ECS associated with the ECS network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address to connect the ECS to the NEF.

In some embodiments, the method 200A for use in the ECSP management system further includes, in the event that the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by the PLMN operator: configuring an MOI representing the EAS or EES with the PCF network address to indicate that a communication connection is established from the EAS or EES to the PCF associated with the PCF network address; or configuring the MOI on behalf of the ECS with the NEF network address to indicate that a communication connection is established from the ECS to the NEF associated with the NEF network address.

In some embodiments, the method 200A for use in the ECSP management system further includes, in the event that the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is not trusted by the PLMN provider: by using the EAS network address, EES network address, or ECS network address as a local address and the NEF network address as a remote address, an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS associated with the EAS network address, the EES associated with the EES network address, or the ECS associated with the ECS network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address is created to connect the EAS, EES, or ECS to the NEF.

In some embodiments, the method 200A for use in the ECSP management system further includes, in the event that the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is not trusted by the PLMN operator: the MOI representing the EAS, EES, or ECS is configured with the NEF network address to indicate that a communication connection is established from the EAS, EES, or ECS to the NEF associated with the NEF network address.

In some embodiments, the method 200A for use in an ECSP management system further comprises: receiving an attribute modification request from an ECSP or an Application Service Provider (ASP), wherein the attribute modification request is for requesting modification of one or more attributes representing an MOI of an EAS; and sending an attribute modification notification to the ECSP or ASP, wherein the attribute modification notification is to indicate that the one or more attributes are changed and the one or more attributes include at least one of an EAS identifier and an EES network address with which the EAS is associated.

In some embodiments, the method 200B for use in a PLMN management system further comprises: it is determined whether the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by the PLMN operator.

In some embodiments, the method 200B for use in a PLMN management system further includes, when the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by the PLMN provider: selecting the PCF or both the PCF and the NEF based on EDN related service area information; and creating an MOI representing ECM connection information based on the EDN identifier, the EDN related service area information, the EDN related network address information, and the PCF network address associated with the PCF or both the PCF network address associated with the PCF and the NEF network address associated with the NEF, wherein the core network related connection information includes information about the PCF network address or both the PCF network address and the NEF network address.

In some embodiments, the method 200B for use in a PLMN management system further includes, when the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is not trusted by the PLMN operator: selecting NEF based on EDN related service area information; and creating an MOI representing ECM connection information based on the EDN identifier, the EDN related service area information, the EDN related network address information, and the NEF network address associated with the NEF, wherein the core network related connection information includes information about the NEF network address.

In some embodiments, the method 200B for use in the PLMN management system further comprises after a communication connection is established from the EAS associated with the EAS network address or the EES associated with the EES network address to the PCF associated with the PCF network address: by taking the PCF network address as the local address and the EAS network address or EES network address as the remote address, an MOI representing the communication connection from EAS or EES to PCF is created to expose the communication connection from EAS or EES to PCF to PLMN consumer.

In some embodiments, the method 200B for use in the PLMN management system further comprises after the communication connection is established from the ECS associated with the ECS network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address: by taking the NEE network address as the local address and the ECS network address as the remote address, an MOI representing the communication connection from the ECS to the NEF is created to expose the communication connection from the ECS to the NEF to PLMN customers.

In some embodiments, the method 200B for use in the PLMN management system further comprises after a communication connection is established from the EAS associated with the EAS network address, the EES associated with the EES network address, or the ECS associated with the ECS network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address: by using the NEF network address as the local address and the EAS network address, the EES network address, or the ECS network address as the remote address, an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS, EES, or ECS to the NEF is created to expose the communication connection from the EAS, EES, or ECS to the NEF to the PLMN consumer.

It should be appreciated that the method 200A for use in the ECSP management system and the method 200B for use in the PLMN management system may be implemented by a provisioning (provisioning) management service (MnS), wherein the method 200A is implemented by a provisioned MnS consumer (except that configuring one or more attributes of the MOI representing EAS is implemented by a provisioned MnS producer), the method 200B is implemented by a provisioned MnS producer, and the provisioned MnS producer needs to meet at least one of the following requirements:

the provisioned MnS producer should have the ability to allow authorized provisioned MnS consumers to query core network related connection information, such as Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and Domain Names (DNs) of PCFs and NEFs, by providing EDN identifiers and EDN related service area information.

The provisioned MnS producer should have the ability to return core network related connection information (such as IP addresses and DNs of PCF and NEF) to authorized provisioned MnS consumers based on EDN related service area information.

The provisioned MnS producer should have the ability to connect EAS, EES, and ECS to PCF and/or NEF to connect to one or more other network functions in the core network.

The provisioned MnS producer should have the ability to allow an authorized provisioned MnS consumer to configure one or more attributes, such as EAS identifier and EAS network address of EAS.

The provisioned MnS producer should have the ability to send a notification to authorized provisioned MnS consumers indicating that one or more properties of the EAS have changed.

Fig. 3A is a timing diagram of an interaction process between an ECSP management system and a PLMN management system to enable EAS, EES, and ECS connections to PCFs and/or NEFs in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 3A, the ECSP management system plays a role of a pre-configured MnS consumer, the PLMN management system plays a role of a pre-configured MnS producer, and the interaction process between the ECSP management system and the PLMN management system includes:

the ECSP management system sends an MOI creation request to the PLMN management system to request the PLMN management system to create an MOI representing ECM connection information, wherein the MOI creation request includes an EDN identifier, EDN related service area information (i.e., EDN service area, EES service area, and EAS service area), and EDN related network address information (i.e., EAS network address, EES network address, and ECS network address). For example, the EAS network address may include an EAS IP address and/or an EAS DN, the EES network address may include an EES IP address and/or an EES DN, and the ECS network address may include an ECS IP address and/or an ECS DN.

S302A, the PLMN management system determines whether the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by the PLMN operator. That is, the PLMN management system determines whether the EAS and EES are trusted by the PLMN operator based on the EDN identifier.

If the EDN is trusted by the PLMN operator, the EAS and EES may interface directly to the PCF:

S303A, the PLMN management system selects a PCF based on the EES service area and the EAS service area, selects a NEF based on the EDN service area, and then creates an MOI representing ECM connection information based on the EDN identifier, EDN related service area information (i.e., EDN service area, EES service area, and EAS service area), EDN related network address information (i.e., EAS network address, EES network address, and ECS network address), and core network related connection information (i.e., PCF IP address and PCF DN associated with the PCF and NEF IP address and NEF DN associated with the NEF).

S304A, the PLMN management system sends an MOI creation response to the ECSP management system, wherein the MOI creation response includes the core network related connection information (i.e., PCF IP address and PCF DN associated with PCF and NEF IP address and NEF DN associated with NEF).

The ECSP management system connects the EAS and EES to the PCF and the ECS to the NEF, thereby connecting the EAS, EES, and ECS to one or more other network functions in the core network, S305A.

S305A-1, the ecsp management system performs the following operations to connect EAS and EES to PCF and ECS to NEF:

-creating an ep_n5 MOI representing a communication connection from EAS to PCF by taking EAS IP address as local address and PCF IP address as remote address to connect EAS to PCF.

-creating an ep_n5 MOI representing a communication connection from the EES to the PCF by taking the EES IP address as a local address and the PCF IP address as a remote address to connect the EES to the PCF.

-creating an ep_n33 MOI representing a communication connection from the ECS to the NEF by taking the ECS IP address as a local address and the NEF IP address as a remote address to connect the ECS to the NEF.

S305A-2, after establishing the communication connections described above, the PLMN management system performs the following operations to expose the communication connections to PLMN consumers:

-creating an ep_n5 MOI representing a communication connection from EAS to PCF by taking PCF IP address as local address and EAS IP address as remote address.

-creating an ep_n5 MOI representing a communication connection from the EES to the PCF by taking the PCF IP address as a local address and the EES IP address as a remote address.

-creating an ep_n33 MOI representing a communication connection from the ECS to the NEF by taking the NEF IP address as a local address and the ECS IP address as a remote address.

S305A-3, the ecsp management system performs the following configuration operations:

EASFunit MOI representing EAS is configured with PCF DN.

-configuring an eesfunit MOI representing the EES with the PCF DN.

-configuring ecsfunit MOI representing ECS with NEF DN.

If the EDN is not trusted by the PLMN operator, the EAS, EES, and ECS may interface to the NEF:

at S306A, the PLMN management system selects a NEF based on the EES service area, EAS service area, and EDN service area, and then creates an MOI representing ECM connection information based on the EDN identifier, EDN related service area information (i.e., EDN service area, EES service area, and EAS service area), EDN related network address information (i.e., EAS network address, EES network address, and ECS network address), and core network related connection information (i.e., NEF IP address and/or NEF DN associated with the NEF).

S307A, the PLMN management system sends an MOI creation response to the ECSP management system, wherein the MOI creation response includes the core network related connection information (i.e., the NEF IP address and/or the NEF DN associated with the NEF).

The ECSP management system connects the EAS, EES, and ECS to the NEF to connect to one or more other network functions in the core network, S308A.

S308A-1, the ecsp management system performs the following operations to connect EAS, EES, and ECS to NEF:

-creating an ep_n33 MOI representing the communication connection from EAS to NEF by taking the EAS IP address as local address and the NEF IP address as remote address to connect EAS to PCF.

-creating an ep_n33 MOI representing a communication connection from EES to NEF by taking the EES IP address as a local address and the NEF IP address as a remote address to connect EES to PCF.

S308A-2, after establishing the communication connections described above, the PLMN management system performs the following operations to expose the communication connections to PLMN consumers:

-creating an ep_n33 MOI representing a communication connection from EAS to NEF by taking the NEF IP address as a local address and the EAS IP address as a remote address.

-creating an ep_n33 MOI representing a communication connection from EES to NEF by taking the NEF IP address as a local address and the EES IP address as a remote address.

S308A-3, the ecsp management system performs the following configuration operations:

EASFUNtion MOI representing EAS with NEF DN configuration.

-configuring an eesfunit MOI representing EES with the NEF DN.

-configuring ecsfunit MOI representing ECS with NEF DN.

Fig. 3B is a timing diagram of an EAS registration process between an ECSP or ASP and an ECSP management system according to some embodiments of the disclosure. As shown in fig. 3B, the ECSP or ASP plays a role of a party for the provisioned MnS, the ECSP management system plays a role of a party for the provisioned MnS, and the EAS registration procedure includes:

S301B, the ECSP or ASP sends an attribute modification request to the ECSP management system, wherein the attribute modification request includes an EAS identifier and EES network address (e.g., uniform Resource Identifier (URI)) associated with the EAS.

S302B, the ECSP management system sends an attribute modification notification to the ECSP or ASP to notify the ECSP or ASP that the EAS associated EAS identifier and EES network address have changed.

Fig. 4-5 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of the disclosed embodiments.

Fig. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a network 400, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The network 400 may operate in accordance with the 3GPP technical specifications of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 5G/NR system. However, the example embodiments are not limited in this respect and the described embodiments may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems, and the like.

The network 400 may include a UE 402, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN) 404 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 402 may be, but is not limited to, a smart phone, tablet computer, wearable computer device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in-vehicle infotainment device, in-vehicle entertainment device, dashboard, heads-up display device, on-board diagnostic device, dashboard mobile device, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electronic/engine control unit, electronic/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, network device, machine-to-machine (M2M) or device-to-device (D2D) device, internet of things (IoT) device, etc.

In some embodiments, the network 400 may include multiple UEs directly coupled to each other through a side link interface. The UE may be an M2M/D2D device that communicates using a physical sidelink channel (e.g., without limitation, a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink substrate channel (PSFCH), etc.).

In some embodiments, the UE 402 may also communicate with an Access Point (AP) 406 over an over-the-air connection. The AP 406 may manage Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connections, which may be used to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN 404. The connection between the UE 402 and the AP 406 may be consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where the AP 406 may be wireless fidelity

And a router. In some embodiments, the UE 402, RAN 404, and AP 406 may utilize cellular WLAN aggregation (e.g., LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA)/lightweight IP (LWIP)). Cellular WLAN aggregation may involve configuring the UE 402 by the RAN 404 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

RAN 404 may include one or more access nodes, such as AN Access Node (AN) 408. The AN 408 may terminate the air interface protocol of the UE 402 by providing access layer protocols including Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol, packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), radio Link Control (RLC) protocol, medium Access Control (MAC) protocol, and L1 protocol. In this way, the AN 408 may enable a data/voice connection between the Core Network (CN) 420 and the UE 402. In some embodiments, AN 408 may be implemented in a discrete device or as one or more software entities running on a server computer (as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a distributed RAN (CRAN) or virtual baseband unit pool, for example). The AN 408 may be referred to as a Base Station (BS), a next generation base station (gNB), a RAN node, AN evolved node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a node B (NodeB), a roadside unit (RSU), a transmission reception point (TRxP), a transmission point (TRP), and the like. The AN 408 may be a macrocell base station or a low power base station for providing a microcell, picocell, or other similar cell having a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth than the macrocell.

In embodiments where the RAN 404 includes multiple ANs, the ANs may be coupled to each other through AN X2 interface (if the RAN 404 is AN LTE RAN) or AN Xn interface (if the RAN 404 is a 5G RAN). In some embodiments, the X2/Xn interface, which may be separated into control/user plane interfaces, may allow the AN to communicate information related to handoff, data/context transfer, mobility, load management, interference coordination, etc.

The AN of the RAN 404 may respectively manage one or more cells, groups of cells, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE 402 with AN air interface for network access. The UE 402 may be connected simultaneously with multiple cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 404. For example, the UE 402 and the RAN 404 may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE 402 to connect with multiple component carriers, each component carrier corresponding to a primary cell (PCell) or a secondary cell (SCell). In a dual connectivity scenario, a first AN may be a primary node providing a primary cell group (MCG) and a second AN may be a secondary node providing a Secondary Cell Group (SCG). The first/second AN may be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng-enbs, etc.

RAN 404 may provide an air interface on licensed spectrum or unlicensed spectrum. To operate in unlicensed spectrum, a node may use License Assisted Access (LAA), enhanced LAA (eLAA), and/or further enhanced LAA (feLAA) mechanisms based on Carrier Aggregation (CA) techniques of PCell/Scell. Prior to accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the node may perform a medium/carrier sensing operation based on, for example, a Listen Before Talk (LBT) protocol.

In a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) scenario, the UE 402 or AN 408 may be or act as a roadside unit (RSU), which may refer to any transport infrastructure entity for V2X communications. The RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU"; an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU"; RSUs implemented in or by next generation nodebs (gnbs) may be referred to as "gNB-type RSUs" or the like. In one example, the RSU is a computing device coupled with a radio frequency circuit located at the roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications/software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high speed events (e.g., collision avoidance, traffic alerts, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular/WLAN communication services. The components of the RSU may be enclosed in a weather-proof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or backhaul network.

In some embodiments, the RAN 404 may be an LTE RAN 410, including an evolved node B (eNB), such as eNB 412. The LTE RAN 410 may provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15 kHz; a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) waveform for the Uplink (UL) and a cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) waveform for the Downlink (DL); turbo codes for data, tail Biting Convolutional Codes (TBCCs) for control, and the like. The LTE air interface may rely on channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) for CSI acquisition and beam management; PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation is performed in dependence on Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)/Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) demodulation reference signals (DMRS); and relying on Cell Reference Signals (CRS) for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation, and on channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operate on the 6GHz sub-band.

In some embodiments, RAN 404 may be a Next Generation (NG) -RAN 414 with a gNB (e.g., gNB 416) or gn-eNB (e.g., NG-eNB 418). The gNB416 may connect with 5G enabled UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gNB416 may connect with the 5G core through a NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The NG-eNB 418 may also connect with the 5G core over the NG interface, but may connect with the UE over the LTE air interface. The gNB416 and the ng-eNB 418 may be connected to each other via an Xn interface.

In some embodiments, the NG interface may be divided into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface that carries traffic data between the nodes of the UPF 448 and NG-RAN 414 (e.g., an N3 interface) and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface that is a signaling interface between the access and mobility management function (AMF) 444 and the nodes of the NG-RAN 414 (e.g., an N2 interface).

NG-RAN 414 may provide a 5G-NR air interface having the following characteristics: a variable SCS; cyclic prefix-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) for DL, CP-OFDM for UL, and DFT-s-OFDM; polarity, repetition, simplex, and reed-muller codes for control; and a low density parity check code (LDPC) for data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on channel state reference signals (CSI-RS), PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation reference signals (DMRS) like the LTE air interface. The 5G-NR air interface may not use Cell Reference Signals (CRSs), but may use Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) demodulation reference signals (DMRS) for PBCH demodulation; phase tracking of PDSCH using Phase Tracking Reference Signals (PTRS); and performing time tracking using the tracking reference signal. The 5G-NR air interface may operate on an FR1 band including a 6GHz sub-band or an FR2 band including 24.25GHz to 52.6GHz bands. The 5G-NR air interface may include a synchronization signal and a PBCH block (SSB), which is a region of a downlink resource grid including a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS)/Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS)/PBCH.

In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may use bandwidth part (BWP) for various purposes. For example, BWP may be used for dynamic adaptation of SCS. For example, the UE 402 may be configured with multiple BWP, where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE 402, the SCS of the transmission is also changed. Another use case of BWP relates to power saving. In particular, the UE 402 may be configured with multiple BWPs having different numbers of frequency resources (e.g., PRBs) to support data transmission in different traffic load scenarios. BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs may be used for data transmission with smaller traffic load while allowing power saving at UE 402 and in some cases the gNB 416. BWP comprising a large number of PRBs may be used for scenarios with higher traffic load.

The RAN 404 is communicatively coupled to a CN 420 that includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to clients/subscribers (e.g., users of the UE 402). The components of CN 420 may be implemented in one physical node or in a different physical node. In some embodiments, network Function Virtualization (NFV) may be used to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of CN 420 onto physical computing/storage resources in servers, switches, and the like. The logical instance of CN 420 may be referred to as a network slice, and the logical instance of a portion of CN 420 may be referred to as a network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, CN 420 may be LTE CN 422, which may also be referred to as an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). LTE CN 422 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 424, a Serving Gateway (SGW) 426, a serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) support node (SGSN) 428, a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 430, a Proxy Gateway (PGW) 432, and a policy control and charging rules function (PCRF) 434, which are coupled to each other through an interface (or "reference point") as shown. The function of the elements of LTE CN 422 may be briefly described as follows.

MME 424 may implement mobility management functions to track the current location of UE 402 to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handover, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

The SGW 426 may terminate the S1 interface towards the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 422. The SGW 426 may be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handover and may also provide an anchor for inter-3 GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, billing, and some policy enforcement.

The SGSN 428 may track the location of the UE 402 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, SGSN 428 may perform EPC inter-node signaling for mobility between different Radio Access Technology (RAT) networks; MME 424 specified PDN and S-GW selection; MME selection for handover, etc. The S3 reference point between MME 424 and SGSN 428 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3 GPP access network mobility in the idle/active state.

HSS 430 may include a database for network users that includes subscription-related information that supports network entity handling communication sessions. HSS 430 may provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, and the like. The S6a reference point between HSS 430 and MME 424 may enable the transmission of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing user access to LTE CN 420.

PGW 432 may terminate an SGi interface towards a Data Network (DN) 436 that may include an application/content server 438. PGW 432 may route data packets between LTE CN 422 and data network 436. PGW 432 may be coupled to SGW 426 via an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. PGW 432 may also include nodes (e.g., PCEFs) for policy enforcement and charging data collection. In addition, the SGi reference point between PGW 432 and data network 436 may be, for example, an operator external public, private PDN, or an operator internal packet data network for providing IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) services. PGW 432 may be coupled with PCRF 434 via a Gx reference point.

PCRF 434 is a policy and charging control element of LTE CN 422. PCRF 434 may be communicatively coupled to application/content server 438 to determine the appropriate quality of service (QoS) and charging parameters for the service flow. PCRF 432 may provide the relevant rules to the PCEF (via Gx reference point) with the appropriate Traffic Flow Templates (TFTs) and QoS Class Identifiers (QCIs).

In some embodiments, CN 420 may be a 5G core network (5 GC) 440. The 5gc 440 may include an authentication server function (AUSF) 442, an access and mobility management function (AMF) 444, a Session Management Function (SMF) 446, a User Plane Function (UPF) 448, a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) 450, a network open function (NEF) 452, an NF storage function (NRF) 454, a Policy Control Function (PCF) 456, a Unified Data Management (UDM) 458, and an Application Function (AF) 460, which are coupled to each other through an interface (or "reference point") as shown. The function of the elements of the 5gc 440 may be briefly described as follows.

AUSF 442 may store data for authentication of UE 402 and process authentication related functions. AUSF 442 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5gc 440 through a reference point as shown, the AUSF 442 may also present an interface based on the Nausf service.

AMF 444 may allow other functions of 5gc 440 to communicate with UE 402 and RAN 404 and subscribe to notifications about mobility events of UE 402. The AMF 444 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., registering the UE 402), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful intercept AMF related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 444 may provide for the transmission of Session Management (SM) messages between the UE 402 and the SMF446 and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 444 may also provide for transmission of SMS messages between UE 402 and SMSF. The AMF 444 may interact with the AUSF 442 and the UE 402 to perform various security anchoring and context management functions. Furthermore, the AMF 444 may be an end point of the RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN 404 and the AMF 444; the AMF 444 may act as an endpoint for NAS (N1) signaling and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. The AMF 444 may also support NAS signaling communications with the UE 402 over the N3 IWF interface.

The SMF 446 may be responsible for SM (e.g., tunnel management, session establishment between UPF448 and AN 408); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of the UP function; configuring flow control at the UPF448 to route traffic to the appropriate destination; termination of the interface to the policy control function; control policy enforcement, charging, and a portion of QoS; legal interception (for SM events and interfaces to LI systems); terminating the SM portion of the NAS message; downlink data notification; initiating AN-specific SM information (sent to AN 408 over N2 by AMF 444); and determining the SSC mode of the session. SM may refer to the management of PDU sessions, and PDU session or "session" may refer to a PDU connection service that provides or enables PDU exchanges between UE 402 and data network 436.

The UPF448 may serve as an anchor for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point interconnected with the data network 436, and a branching point to support multi-homing PDU sessions. The UPF448 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, perform policy rules user plane parts, lawful interception packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport layer packet tagging in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF448 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network.

NSSF 450 may select a set of network slice instances to serve UE 402. The NSSF 450 can also determine the allowed Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI) and the mapping to subscribed individual NSSAIs (S-NSSAIs), if desired. NSSF 450 may also determine the set of AMFs to use for serving UE 402, or a list of candidate AMFs, based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying NRF 454. The selection of a set of network slice instances for UE 402 may be triggered by AMF 444 (UE 402 registers with the AMF by interacting with NSSF 450), which may result in a change of AMF. NSSF 450 may interact with AMF 444 via an N22 reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in the visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). In addition, NSSF 450 may expose an interface based on the Nnssf service.

NEF452 may securely disclose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third parties, internal exposure/re-exposure, AF (e.g., AF 460), edge computing or fog computing systems, and the like. In these embodiments, NEF452 may authenticate, authorize, or restrict AF. NEF452 may also convert information exchanged with AF 460 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, NEF452 may translate between AF service identifiers and internal 5GC information. The NEF452 may also receive information from other NFs based on their public capabilities. This information may be stored as structured data at NEF452 or at data storage NF using a standardized interface. The NEF452 may then re-expose the stored information to other NFs and AFs, or for other purposes such as analysis. In addition, NEF452 may expose an interface based on Nnef services.

NRF 454 may support a service discovery function, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information of the discovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF 454 also maintains information of available NF instances and services supported by them. As used herein, the terms "instantiate," "instance," and the like may refer to creating an instance, "instance" may refer to a specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. Further, NRF 454 may expose an interface based on Nnrf services.

PCF 456 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce these policy rules and may also support a unified policy framework to manage network behavior. PCF 456 may also implement a front end to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of UDM 458. In addition to communicating with functions through reference points as shown, PCF 456 also presents an interface based on an Npcf service.

The UDM 458 may process subscription-related information to support network entity handling communication sessions and may store subscription data for the UE 402. For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N8 reference point between the UDM 458 and the AMF 444. UDM 458 may include two parts: application front-end and User Data Record (UDR). The UDR may store policy data and subscription data for UDM 458 and PCF 456, and/or structured data and application data for NEF 452 for exposure (including PFD for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 402). The UDR may expose an interface based on the Nudr service to allow the UDM 458, PCF 456, and NEF 452 to access specific sets of stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notifications of related data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE (UDM front end) that is responsible for handling credentials, location management, subscription management, etc. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs through reference points as shown, the UDM 458 may also expose Nudm service based interfaces.

AF 460 may provide application impact on traffic routing, provide access to the NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

In some embodiments, the 5gc 440 may enable edge computation by selecting an operator/third party service that is geographically close to the point where the UE 402 connects to the network. This may reduce delay and load on the network. To provide edge computing implementations, the 5gc 440 may select the UPF448 in close proximity to the UE 402 and perform traffic steering from the UPF448 to the data network 436 over the N6 interface. This may be based on UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by AF 460. Thus, AF 460 may affect UPF (re) selection and traffic routing. Based on the operator deployment, the network operator may allow the AF 460 to interact directly with the associated NF when the AF 460 is considered a trusted entity. In addition, AF 460 may expose an interface based on Naf services.

The data network 436 may represent various network operator services, internet access, or third party services that may be provided by one or more servers including, for example, an application/content server 438.

Fig. 5 illustrates a wireless network 500 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 500 may include a UE 502 in wireless communication with AN 504. The UE 502 and the AN 504 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with the synonym components described elsewhere herein.

The UE 502 may be communicatively coupled with the AN 504 via a connection 506. Connection 506 is shown as an air interface to enable communicative coupling and may operate at millimeter wave or below 6GHz frequencies in accordance with a cellular communication protocol, such as the LTE protocol or the 5G NR protocol.

The UE 502 may include a host platform 508 coupled with a modem platform 510. Host platform 508 may include application processing circuitry 512, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 514 of modem platform 510. Application processing circuitry 512 may run various applications for UE 502 to acquire/receive its application data. The application processing circuitry 512 may also implement one or more layer operations to transmit/receive application data to/from the data network. These layer operations may include transport (e.g., UDP) and internet (e.g., IP) operations.

Protocol processing circuitry 514 may implement one or more layers of operations to facilitate the transmission or reception of data over connection 506. Layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuit 514 may include, for example, medium Access Control (MAC), radio Link Control (RLC), packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), radio Resource Control (RRC), and non-access stratum (NAS) operations.

Modem platform 510 may further include digital baseband circuitry 516, which digital baseband circuitry 516 may implement one or more layer operations "below" the layer operations performed by protocol processing circuitry 514 in the network protocol stack. These operations may include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling/descrambling, encoding/decoding, layer mapping/demapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol/bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding/decoding, where these functions may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency, or spatial coding, reference signal generation/detection, preamble sequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generation/detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

Modem platform 510 may further include transmit circuitry 518, receive circuitry 520, RF circuitry 522, and RF front end (RFFE) circuitry 524, which may include or be connected to one or more antenna panels 526. Briefly, the transmit circuit 518 may include digital-to-analog converters, mixers, intermediate Frequency (IF) components, and the like; the receive circuitry 520 may include analog-to-digital converters, mixers, IF components, etc.; RF circuitry 522 may include low noise amplifiers, power tracking components, and the like; RFFE circuit 524 may include filters (e.g., surface/bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beam forming components (e.g., phased array antenna components), and so forth. The selection and arrangement of the components of the transmit circuit 518, receive circuit 520, RF circuit 522, RFFE circuit 524, and antenna panel 526 (collectively "transmit/receive components") may be specific to the specifics of the particular implementation, e.g., whether the communication is Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) or Frequency Division Multiplexed (FDM), at mmWave or below 6GHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmit/receive components may be arranged in a plurality of parallel transmit/receive chains, and may be arranged in the same or different chips/modules, etc.

In some embodiments, protocol processing circuit 514 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components.

UE reception may be established through and via antenna panel 526, RFFE circuitry 524, RF circuitry 522, receive circuitry 520, digital baseband circuitry 516, and protocol processing circuitry 514. In some embodiments, the antenna panel 526 may receive transmissions from the AN 504 by receiving beamformed signals received by multiple antennas/antenna elements of one or more antenna panels 526.

UE transmissions may be established via and through protocol processing circuitry 514, digital baseband circuitry 516, transmit circuitry 518, RF circuitry 522, RFFE circuitry 524, and antenna panel 526. In some embodiments, the transmit component of the UE 502 may apply spatial filtering to the data to be transmitted to form a transmit beam that is transmitted by the antenna elements of the antenna panel 526.

Similar to the UE 502, the AN 504 may include a host platform 528 coupled with a modem platform 530. Host platform 528 may include application processing circuitry 532 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 534 of modem platform 530. The modem platform may also include digital baseband circuitry 536, transmit circuitry 538, receive circuitry 540, RF circuitry 542, RFFE circuitry 544, and antenna panel 546. The components of the AN 504 may be similar to the like-named components of the UE 502 and may be substantially interchangeable with the like-named components of the UE 502. In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of the AN 504 may perform various logic functions including, for example, radio Network Controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein, according to some example embodiments. In particular, fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a hardware resource 600, the hardware resource 600 comprising one or more processors (or processor cores) 610, one or more memory/storage devices 620, and one or more communication resources 630, wherein each of these processors, memory/storage devices, and communication resources may be communicatively coupled via a bus 640 or other interface circuit. For embodiments that utilize node virtualization (e.g., network Function Virtualization (NFV)), the hypervisor 602 can be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 600.

The processor 610 may include, for example, a processor 612 and a processor 614. The processor 610 may be, for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

Memory/storage 620 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. Memory/storage 620 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile, nonvolatile, or semi-volatile memory such as Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), static Random Access Memory (SRAM), erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state memory, and the like.

The communication resources 630 may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate via the network 608 communicate with one or more peripheral devices 604 or one or more databases 606 or other network elements. For example, the communication resources 630 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, near Field Communication (NFC) components, and so forth,

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The instructions 650 may include software, programs, applications, applets, applications, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 610 to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein. The instructions 650 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processor 610 (e.g., in a cache of the processor), the memory/storage 620, or any suitable combination thereof. Further, any portion of instructions 650 may be transferred from any combination of peripherals 604 or databases 606 to hardware resource 600. Thus, the memory of the processor 610, the memory/storage 620, the peripherals 604, and the database 606 are examples of computer readable and machine readable media.

The following paragraphs describe examples of various embodiments.

Example 1 includes an apparatus for use in an Edge Computing Service Provider (ECSP) management system, wherein the apparatus comprises a processor circuit configured to cause the ECSP management system to: transmitting a Managed Object Instance (MOI) creation request to a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) management system, wherein the MOI creation request is used for requesting to create a MOI representing Evolved Packet System (EPS) connection management (ECM) connection information; and receiving an MOI creation response from the PLMN management system, wherein the MOI creation response is used to indicate that an MOI representing the ECM-connection information has been successfully created, the MOI creation response including core network-related connection information determined based on an Edge Data Network (EDN) identifier and EDN-related service area information included in the MOI creation request.

Example 2 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the EDN related service area information is information about at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) service area, an Edge Enabled Server (EES) service area, and an EDN service area.

Example 3 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the MOI creation request further includes EDN related network address information that is information regarding at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) network address, an Edge Enable Server (EES) network address, and an Edge Computation Server (ECS) network address.

Example 4 includes the apparatus of example 3, wherein the core network-related connection information includes information regarding at least one of a Policy Control Function (PCF) network address and a network opening function (NEF) network address.

Example 5 includes the apparatus of example 4, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the ECSP management system to, if the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by a PLMN operator: creating an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS or EES associated with the EES network address to the PCF associated with the PCF network address by taking the EAS network address or the EES network address as a local address and the PCF network address as a remote address to connect the EAS or EES to the PCF; or creating an MOI representing a communication connection from the ECS associated with the ECS network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address to connect the ECS to the NEF by using the ECS network address as a local address and the NEF network address as a remote address.

Example 6 includes the apparatus of example 5, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the ECSP management system to: configuring an MOI on behalf of the EAS or the EES with the PCF network address to indicate that a communication connection is established from the EAS or the EES to the PCF; or configuring an MOI on behalf of the ECS with the NEF network address to indicate that a communication connection is established from the ECS to the NEF.

Example 7 includes the apparatus of example 4, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the ECSP management system to, if the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is not trusted by a PLMN operator: an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS, EES, or ECS associated with the EES network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address is created to connect the EAS, EES, or ECS to the NEF by using the EAS network address, EES network address, or ECS network address as a local address, and the NEF network address as a remote address.

Example 8 includes the apparatus of example 7, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the ECSP management system to: an MOI representing the EAS, EES, or ECS is configured with the NEF network address to indicate that a communication connection is established from the EAS, EES, or ECS to the NEF.

Example 9 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the ECSP management system to: receiving an attribute modification request from an ECSP or an Application Service Provider (ASP), wherein the attribute modification request is for requesting modification of one or more attributes representing an MOI of an Edge Application Server (EAS); and sending an attribute modification notification to the ECSP or the ASP, wherein the attribute modification notification is to indicate that the one or more attributes are modified and the one or more attributes include at least one of an EAS identifier and an EES network address associated with the EAS.

Example 10 includes an apparatus for use in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) management system, wherein the apparatus comprises a processor circuit configured to cause the PLMN management system to: receiving a Managed Object Instance (MOI) creation request from an Edge Computing Service Provider (ECSP) management system, wherein the MOI creation request is for requesting creation of a MOI representing Evolved Packet System (EPS) connection management (ECM) connection information; creating an MOI representing the ECM connection information in response to the MOI creation request; and transmitting an MOI creation response to the ECSP management system, wherein the MOI creation response is used to indicate that an MOI representing the ECM-connection information is successfully created, the MOI creation response including core network-related connection information determined based on an Edge Data Network (EDN) identifier and EDN-related service area information included in the MOI creation request.

Example 11 includes the apparatus of example 10, wherein the EDN related service area information is information about at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) service area, an Edge Enabled Server (EES) service area, and an EDN service area.

Example 12 includes the apparatus of example 10, wherein the MOI creation request further includes EDN related network address information that is information regarding at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) network address, an Edge Enable Server (EES) network address, and an Edge Computation Server (ECS) network address.

Example 13 includes the apparatus of example 12, wherein the core network-related connection information includes information regarding at least one of a Policy Control Function (PCF) network address and a network opening function (NEF) network address.

Example 14 includes the apparatus of example 10, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the ECSP management system to: a determination is made as to whether the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by a PLMN operator.

Example 15 includes the apparatus of example 14, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the PLMN management system to, when the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by the PLMN operator: selecting a Policy Control Function (PCF) or both the PCF and a network opening function (NEF) based on the EDN related service area information; and creating an MOI representing the ECM-connection information based on the EDN identifier, the EDN-related service area information, the EDN-related network address information, and a PCF network address associated with the PCF or both the PCF network address associated with the PCF and a NEF network address associated with the NEF, wherein the core network-related connection information includes information about the PCF network address or both the PCF network address and the NEF network address.

Example 16 includes the apparatus of example 14, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the PLMN management system to, when the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is not trusted by the PLMN operator: selecting a network open function (NEF) based on the EDN related service area information; and creating an MOI representing the ECM-connection information based on the EDN identifier, the EDN-related service area information, the EDN-related network address information, and a NEF network address associated with the NEF, wherein the core network-related connection information includes information about the NEF network address.

Example 17 includes the apparatus of example 13, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the PLMN management system to, after a communication connection is established from the EAS associated with the EAS network address or the EES associated with the EES network address to the PCF associated with the PCF network address: by taking the PCF network address as a local address and the EAS network address or the EES network address as a remote address, an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS or the EES to the PCF is created to expose the communication connection from the EAS or the EES to the PCF to PLMN customers.

Example 18 includes the apparatus of example 13, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the PLMN management system to, after a communication connection is established from the ECS associated with the ECS network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address: by taking the NEF network address as a local address and the ECS network address as a remote address, an MOI representing a communication connection from the ECS to the PCF is created to expose the communication connection from the ECS to the NEF to PLMN customers.

Example 19 includes the apparatus of example 13, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the PLMN management system to, after a communication connection is established from the EAS associated with the EAS network address, the EES associated with the EES network address, or the ECS associated with the ECS network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address: by taking the NEF network address as a local address and the EAS network address, the EES network address, or the ECS network address as a remote address, an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS, the EES, or the ECS to the NEF is created to expose the communication connection from the EAS, the EES, or the ECS to the NEF to PLMN customers.

Example 20 includes a method for use in an Edge Computing Service Provider (ECSP) management system, wherein the method comprises: transmitting a Managed Object Instance (MOI) creation request to a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) management system, wherein the MOI creation request is used for requesting to create a MOI representing Evolved Packet System (EPS) connection management (ECM) connection information; and receiving an MOI creation response from the PLMN management system, wherein the MOI creation response is used to indicate that an MOI representing the ECM-connection information has been successfully created, the MOI creation response including core network-related connection information determined based on an Edge Data Network (EDN) identifier and EDN-related service area information included in the MOI creation request.

Example 21 includes the method of example 20, wherein the EDN related service area information is information about at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) service area, an Edge Enabled Server (EES) service area, and an EDN service area.

Example 22 includes the method of example 20, wherein the MOI creation request further includes EDN related network address information that is information regarding at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) network address, an Edge Enable Server (EES) network address, and an Edge Computation Server (ECS) network address.

Example 23 includes the method of example 22, wherein the core network-related connection information includes information regarding at least one of a Policy Control Function (PCF) network address and a network opening function (NEF) network address.

Example 24 includes the method of example 23, wherein the method further comprises, if the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by a PLMN operator: creating an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS or EES associated with the EES network address to the PCF associated with the PCF network address by taking the EAS network address or the EES network address as a local address and the PCF network address as a remote address to connect the EAS or EES to the PCF; or creating an MOI representing a communication connection from the ECS associated with the ECS network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address to connect the ECS to the NEF by using the ECS network address as a local address and the NEF network address as a remote address.

Example 25 includes the method of example 24, wherein the method further comprises: configuring an MOI on behalf of the EAS or the EES with the PCF network address to indicate that a communication connection is established from the EAS or the EES to the PCF; or configuring an MOI on behalf of the ECS with the NEF network address to indicate that a communication connection is established from the ECS to the NEF.

Example 26 includes the method of example 23, wherein the method further comprises, in the event that the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is not trusted by a PLMN operator: an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS, EES, or ECS associated with the EES network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address is created to connect the EAS, EES, or ECS to the NEF by using the EAS network address, EES network address, or ECS network address as a local address, and the NEF network address as a remote address.

Example 27 includes the method of example 26, wherein the method further comprises: an MOI representing the EAS, EES, or ECS is configured with the NEF network address to indicate that a communication connection is established from the EAS, EES, or ECS to the NEF.

Example 28 includes the method of example 20, wherein the method further comprises: receiving an attribute modification request from an ECSP or an Application Service Provider (ASP), wherein the attribute modification request is for requesting modification of one or more attributes representing an MOI of an Edge Application Server (EAS); and sending an attribute modification notification to the ECSP or the ASP, wherein the attribute modification notification is to indicate that the one or more attributes are modified and the one or more attributes include at least one of an EAS identifier and an EES network address associated with the EAS.

Example 29 includes a method for use in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) management system, wherein the method comprises: receiving a Managed Object Instance (MOI) creation request from an Edge Computing Service Provider (ECSP) management system, wherein the MOI creation request is for requesting creation of a MOI representing Evolved Packet System (EPS) connection management (ECM) connection information; creating an MOI representing the ECM connection information in response to the MOI creation request; and transmitting an MOI creation response to the ECSP management system, wherein the MOI creation response is used to indicate that an MOI representing the ECM-connection information is successfully created, the MOI creation response including core network-related connection information determined based on an Edge Data Network (EDN) identifier and EDN-related service area information included in the MOI creation request.

Example 30 includes the method of example 29, wherein the EDN related service area information is information about at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) service area, an Edge Enabled Server (EES) service area, and an EDN service area.

Example 31 includes the method of example 29, wherein the MOI creation request further includes EDN related network address information that is information regarding at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) network address, an Edge Enable Server (EES) network address, and an Edge Computation Server (ECS) network address.

Example 32 includes the method of example 31, wherein the core network-related connection information includes information regarding at least one of a Policy Control Function (PCF) network address and a network opening function (NEF) network address.

Example 33 includes the method of example 29, wherein the method further comprises: a determination is made as to whether the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by a PLMN operator.

Example 34 includes the method of example 33, wherein the method further comprises, when the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by the PLMN operator: selecting a Policy Control Function (PCF) or both the PCF and a network opening function (NEF) based on the EDN related service area information; and creating an MOI representing the ECM-connection information based on the EDN identifier, the EDN-related service area information, the EDN-related network address information, and a PCF network address associated with the PCF or both the PCF network address associated with the PCF and a NEF network address associated with the NEF, wherein the core network-related connection information includes information about the PCF network address or both the PCF network address and the NEF network address.

Example 35 includes the method of example 33, wherein the method further comprises, when the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is not trusted by the PLMN operator: selecting a network open function (NEF) based on the EDN related service area information; and creating an MOI representing the ECM-connection information based on the EDN identifier, the EDN-related service area information, the EDN-related network address information, and a NEF network address associated with the NEF, wherein the core network-related connection information includes information about the NEF network address.

Example 36 includes the method of example 32, wherein the method further comprises, after a communication connection is established from the EAS associated with the EAS network address or the EES associated with the EES network address to the PCF associated with the PCF network address: by taking the PCF network address as a local address and the EAS network address or the EES network address as a remote address, an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS or the EES to the PCF is created to expose the communication connection from the EAS or the EES to the PCF to PLMN customers.

Example 37 includes the method of example 32, wherein the method further comprises, after a communication connection is established from the ECS associated with the ECS network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address: by taking the NEF network address as a local address and the ECS network address as a remote address, an MOI representing a communication connection from the ECS to the PCF is created to expose the communication connection from the ECS to the NEF to PLMN customers.

Example 38 includes the method of example 32, wherein the method further comprises, after a communication connection is established from the EAS associated with the EAS network address, the EES associated with the EES network address, or the ECS associated with the ECS network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address: by taking the NEF network address as a local address and the EAS network address, the EES network address, or the ECS network address as a remote address, an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS, the EES, or the ECS to the NEF is created to expose the communication connection from the EAS, the EES, or the ECS to the NEF to PLMN customers.

Example 39 includes a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by processor circuitry used in an Edge Computing Service Provider (ECSP) management system, cause the ECSP management system to perform the method of any of examples 20-28.

Example 40 includes a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by processor circuitry used in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) management system, cause the PLMN management system to perform the method of any one of examples 29 to 38.

Example 41 includes an apparatus for use in an Edge Computing Service Provider (ECSP) management system, comprising means for performing the method of any of examples 20-28.

Example 42 includes an apparatus for use in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) management system, comprising means for performing the method of any of examples 29-38.

Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description, a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Accordingly, the embodiments described herein are obviously limited only by the following claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. An apparatus for use in an Edge Computing Service Provider (ECSP) management system, wherein the apparatus comprises a processor circuit configured to cause the ECSP management system to:

transmitting a Managed Object Instance (MOI) creation request to a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) management system, wherein the MOI creation request is used for requesting to create a MOI representing Evolved Packet System (EPS) connection management (ECM) connection information; and

an MOI creation response is received from the PLMN management system, wherein the MOI creation response is to indicate that an MOI representing the ECM-connection information has been successfully created, the MOI creation response including core network-related connection information determined based on an Edge Data Network (EDN) identifier and EDN-related service area information included in the MOI creation request.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the EDN related service area information is information about at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) service area, an Edge Enabled Server (EES) service area, and an EDN service area.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the MOI creation request further comprises EDN related network address information regarding at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) network address, an Edge Enable Server (EES) network address, and an Edge Computation Server (ECS) network address.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the core network related connection information comprises information regarding at least one of a Policy Control Function (PCF) network address and a network opening function (NEF) network address.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the ECSP management system to, if the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by a PLMN operator:

creating an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS or EES associated with the EES network address to the PCF associated with the PCF network address by taking the EAS network address or the EES network address as a local address and the PCF network address as a remote address to connect the EAS or EES to the PCF; or alternatively

An MOI representing a communication connection from an ECS associated with the ECS network address to a NEF associated with the NEF network address is created to connect the ECS to the NEF by taking the ECS network address as a local address and the NEF network address as a remote address.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the ECSP management system to:

Configuring an MOI on behalf of the EAS or the EES with the PCF network address to indicate that a communication connection is established from the EAS or the EES to the PCF; or alternatively

The MOI on behalf of the ECS is configured with the NEF network address to indicate that a communication connection is established from the ECS to the NEF.

7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the ECSP management system to, if the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is not trusted by a PLMN operator:

an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS, EES, or ECS associated with the EES network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address is created to connect the EAS, EES, or ECS to the NEF by using the EAS network address, EES network address, or ECS network address as a local address, and the NEF network address as a remote address.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the ECSP management system to:

an MOI representing the EAS, EES, or ECS is configured with the NEF network address to indicate that a communication connection is established from the EAS, EES, or ECS to the NEF.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the ECSP management system to:

receiving an attribute modification request from an ECSP or an Application Service Provider (ASP), wherein the attribute modification request is for requesting modification of one or more attributes representing an MOI of an Edge Application Server (EAS); and

an attribute modification notification is sent to the ECSP or the ASP, wherein the attribute modification notification is to indicate that the one or more attributes are modified and the one or more attributes include at least one of an EAS identifier and an EES network address associated with the EAS.

10. An apparatus for use in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) management system, wherein the apparatus comprises a processor circuit configured to cause the PLMN management system to:

receiving a Managed Object Instance (MOI) creation request from an Edge Computing Service Provider (ECSP) management system, wherein the MOI creation request is for requesting creation of a MOI representing Evolved Packet System (EPS) connection management (ECM) connection information;

creating an MOI representing the ECM connection information in response to the MOI creation request; and

And transmitting an MOI creation response to the ECSP management system, wherein the MOI creation response is used to indicate that the MOI representing the ECM-connection information is successfully created, the MOI creation response including core network-related connection information determined based on an Edge Data Network (EDN) identifier and EDN-related service area information included in the MOI creation request.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the EDN related service area information is information about at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) service area, an Edge Enabled Server (EES) service area, and an EDN service area.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the MOI creation request further comprises EDN related network address information regarding at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) network address, an Edge Enable Server (EES) network address, and an Edge Computation Server (ECS) network address.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the core network related connection information comprises information regarding at least one of a Policy Control Function (PCF) network address and a network opening function (NEF) network address.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the ECSP management system to:

a determination is made as to whether the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by a PLMN operator.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the PLMN management system to, when the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is trusted by the PLMN operator:

selecting a Policy Control Function (PCF) or both the PCF and a network opening function (NEF) based on the EDN related service area information; and

creating an MOI representing the ECM connection information based on the EDN identifier, the EDN related service area information, the EDN related network address information, and the PCF network address associated with the PCF or both the PCF network address associated with the PCF and the NEF network address associated with the NEF, wherein

The core network related connection information includes information about the PCF network address or both the PCF network address and the NEF network address.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the PLMN management system to, when the EDN identified by the EDN identifier is not trusted by the PLMN operator:

Selecting a network open function (NEF) based on the EDN related service area information; and

creating an MOI representing the ECM connection information based on the EDN identifier, the EDN related service area information, the EDN related network address information, and the NEF network address associated with the NEF, wherein

The core network related connection information includes information about the NEF network address.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the PLMN management system to, after a communication connection is established from the EAS associated with the EAS network address or the EES associated with the EES network address to the PCF associated with the PCF network address:

by taking the PCF network address as a local address and the EAS network address or the EES network address as a remote address, an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS or the EES to the PCF is created to expose the communication connection from the EAS or the EES to the PCF to PLMN customers.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the PLMN management system to, after a communication connection is established from the ECS associated with the ECS network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address:

By taking the NEF network address as a local address and the ECS network address as a remote address, an MOI representing a communication connection from the ECS to the PCF is created to expose the communication connection from the ECS to the NEF to PLMN customers.

19. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to cause the PLMN management system to, after a communication connection is established from the EAS associated with the EAS network address, the EES associated with the EES network address, or the ECS associated with the ECS network address to the NEF associated with the NEF network address:

by taking the NEF network address as a local address and the EAS network address, the EES network address, or the ECS network address as a remote address, an MOI representing a communication connection from the EAS, the EES, or the ECS to the NEF is created to expose the communication connection from the EAS, the EES, or the ECS to the NEF to PLMN customers.

20. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by processor circuitry used in an Edge Computing Service Provider (ECSP) management system, cause the ECSP management system to:

an MOI creation response is received from the PLMN management system, wherein the MOI creation response is to indicate that an MOI representing the ECM-connection information was successfully created, the MOI creation response including core network-related connection information determined based on an Edge Data Network (EDN) identifier and EDN-related service area information included in the MOI creation request.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the EDN related service area information is information about at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) service area, an Edge Enabled Server (EES) service area, and an EDN service area.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the MOI creation request further comprises EDN related network address information about at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) network address, an Edge Enable Server (EES) network address, and an Edge Compute Server (ECS) network address.

23. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by processor circuitry used in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) management system, cause the PLMN management system to:

and transmitting an MOI creation response to the ECSP management system, wherein the MOI creation response is used to indicate that the MOI representing the ECM-connection information has been successfully created, the MOI creation response including core network-related connection information determined based on an Edge Data Network (EDN) identifier and EDN-related service area information included in the MOI creation request.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the EDN related service area information is information about at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) service area, an Edge Enabled Server (EES) service area, and an EDN service area.

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the MOI creation request further comprises EDN related network address information about at least one of an Edge Application Server (EAS) network address, an Edge Enable Server (EES) network address, and an Edge Compute Server (ECS) network address.