CN117581586A

CN117581586A - Method, apparatus and computer program

Info

Publication number: CN117581586A
Application number: CN202180099979.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: C·卡恩; 晁华
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2021-07-02
Filing date: 2021-07-02
Publication date: 2024-02-20
Also published as: WO2023272743A1

Abstract

There is provided an apparatus in a cellular system, the apparatus comprising means configured to: a first message is received from a first end station, the first message including at least one parameter, wherein the at least one parameter includes: information related to time-sensitive network streaming from a first end station to at least one second end station; and determining the first time sensitive communication assistance information using the at least one parameter. The component is further configured to perform: determining a transmission time for time-sensitive network streaming using at least one of: the determined first time sensitive communication assistance information, and the at least one parameter; and providing information to the first end station, the information including the determined transmission time of the time-sensitive network streaming.

Description

Method, apparatus and computer program

Technical Field

The present application relates to a method, apparatus and computer program for a wireless communication system.

Background

A communication system may be a facility that enables communication sessions between two or more entities, such as user terminals, base stations/access points and/or other nodes, by providing carriers between the entities involved in the communication path. For example, the communication system may be provided by means of a communication network and one or more compatible communication devices. For example, the communication session may include data communications for carrying communications, such as voice, electronic mail (email), text messages, multimedia and/or content data, and the like. Non-limiting examples of services provided include two-way or multi-way calls, data communication or multimedia services, and access to data network systems such as the internet.

Disclosure of Invention

According to one aspect, there is provided an apparatus in a cellular system, the apparatus comprising means configured to: a first message is received from a first end station, the first message including at least one parameter, wherein the at least one parameter includes: information related to time-sensitive network streaming from a first end station to at least one second end station; determining first time sensitive communication assistance information using the at least one parameter; determining a transmission time for time-sensitive network streaming using at least one of: the determined first time sensitive communication assistance information, and the at least one parameter; and providing information to the first end station, the information comprising: the determined transmission time of the time-sensitive network streaming.

In one example, the first end station is a speaker. In one example, the first end station is a service source device. The data traffic to be sent originates at the talker/traffic source device. In one example, the second end station is a listener. In one example, the second end station is a data stream destination device. Data traffic sent by the talker will be received by the listener/data stream destination device.

In one example, the component is configured to perform: a second message is received from the at least one second end station, the message including an indication that the at least one second end station accepts time-sensitive network streaming from the first end station.

In one example, the transmission time of the time-sensitive network streaming includes a transmission time offset.

In one example, the first time sensitive communication assistance information includes a burst arrival time.

In one example, the means configured to perform determining the burst arrival time is further configured to perform: determining a range of values for the burst arrival time using at least one parameter received in the first message; and selecting a value from the determined range as the burst arrival time.

In one example, the burst arrival time is randomly selected from the determined range.

In one example, the burst arrival time is selected from the determined range based on burst arrival times used in other time sensitive network streaming.

In one example, the component is configured to perform: determining second time-sensitive network communication assistance information using the first time-sensitive communication assistance information in response to receiving an indication that the at least one second end station accepts time-sensitive network streaming; and requesting network resources using the determined second time-sensitive communication assistance information.

In some examples, the first time sensitive communication assistance information is associated with an entry of a device in the cellular system. In some examples, the second time sensitive communication assistance information is associated with an air interface. In some examples, other time sensitive communication assistance information is determined by the SMF of the cellular system.

In one example, the requested network resource is a 5GS resource. These resources may include radio access nodes.

In one example, the at least one parameter includes at least one of: TSpecTimeAware parameter; an Accumulopathy Latency parameter; the TrafficSpecification parameter.

In one example, the TSpecTimeAware parameter includes at least one of the following: an EarliestTransmitOffset value; a LatestTransmitOffset value; jitter values.

In one example, at least one of the first message and the second message is one of: multicast stream reservation protocol messages; a resource allocation protocol message; link local registration protocol messages.

In one example, the transmission time offset is the TimeAwareOffset parameter.

In one example, the apparatus includes one or more of the following: a core network function; a radio access network function; a user equipment.

In one example, the cellular system is a 5G system.

In one example, the apparatus is configured to communicate with a time-sensitive network bridge using a credit-based shaping algorithm.

According to one aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: one or more processors, and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to perform: a first message is received from a first end station, the first message including at least one parameter, wherein the at least one parameter includes: information related to time-sensitive network streaming from a first end station to at least one second end station; determining first time sensitive communication assistance information using the at least one parameter; determining a transmission time for time-sensitive network streaming using at least one of: the determined first time sensitive communication assistance information, and the at least one parameter; and providing information to the first end station, the information comprising: the determined transmission time of the time-sensitive network streaming.

In one example, the first end station is a speaker. In one example, the first end station is a service source device. For example, the talker may be a data stream source terminal. The data traffic to be sent originates at the talker/traffic source device. In one example, the second end station is a listener. In one example, the second end station is a data stream destination device or a data stream destination end station. Data traffic sent by the talker will be received by the listener/data stream destination device.

In one example, the apparatus is caused to perform: receiving a second message from at least one second end station, the second message comprising: at least one second end station receives an indication of time-sensitive network streaming from the first end station.

In one example, the apparatus is caused to perform: determining a range of values for the burst arrival time using at least one parameter received in the first message; and selecting a value from the determined range as the burst arrival time.

In one example, the apparatus is caused to perform: determining second time-sensitive network communication assistance information using the first time-sensitive communication assistance information in response to receiving an indication that the at least one second end station accepts time-sensitive network streaming; and requesting network resources using the determined second time-sensitive communication assistance information.

In some examples, the first time sensitive communication assistance information is associated with an entry of the device in the cellular system. In some examples, the second time sensitive communication assistance information is associated with an air interface. In some examples, other time sensitive communication assistance information is determined by the SMF of the cellular system.

In one example, the transmission time offset is the TimeAwareOffset parameter.

In one example, the cellular system is a 5G system.

According to one aspect, there is provided a method comprising: a first message is received from a first end station, the first message including at least one parameter, wherein the at least one parameter includes: information related to time-sensitive network streaming from a first end station to at least one second end station; determining first time sensitive communication assistance information using the at least one parameter; determining a transmission time for time-sensitive network streaming using at least one of: the determined first time sensitive communication assistance information, and the at least one parameter; and providing information to the first end station, the information comprising: the determined transmission time of the time-sensitive network streaming.

In one example, the method includes: receiving a second message from at least one second end station, the second message comprising: at least one second end station receives an indication of time-sensitive network streaming from the first end station.

In one example, determining the burst arrival time includes: determining a range of values for the burst arrival time using at least one parameter received in the first message; and selecting a value from the determined range as the burst arrival time.

In one example, the method includes: determining second time-sensitive network communication assistance information using the first time-sensitive communication assistance information in response to receiving an indication that the at least one second end station accepts time-sensitive network streaming; and requesting network resources using the determined second time-sensitive communication assistance information.

In one example, the transmission time offset is the TimeAwareOffset parameter.

According to one aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising computer executable instructions that when run on one or more processors perform: a first message is received from a first end station, the first message including at least one parameter, wherein the at least one parameter includes: information related to time-sensitive network streaming from a first end station to at least one second end station; determining first time sensitive communication assistance information using the at least one parameter; determining a transmission time for time-sensitive network streaming using at least one of: the determined first time sensitive communication assistance information, and the at least one parameter; and providing information to the first end station, the information comprising: time sensitive communication assistance information, and the at least one parameter; and providing information to the first end station, the information comprising: the determined transmission time of the time-sensitive network streaming.

A computer product stored on a medium may cause an apparatus to perform a method as described herein.

The electronic device may comprise an apparatus as described herein.

Hereinabove, various aspects have been described. It will be appreciated that other aspects may be provided by a combination of any two or more of the above aspects.

Various other aspects and embodiments are also described in the following detailed description and the appended claims.

According to some aspects, the subject matter of the independent claims is provided. Some other aspects are defined in the dependent claims. Embodiments that do not fall within the scope of the claims should be construed as examples that are useful for understanding the present disclosure.

Abbreviation table:

AF application function

AMF access management function

AN access network

BAT burst arrival time

BS base station

CBS credit-based shaper

CN core network

CNC centralized network configuration

CUC centralized user configuration

DL downlink

eNB eNodeB

gNB gNodeB

IIoT industrial Internet of things

LLDP link layer discovery protocol

LRP link local registration protocol

LTE long term evolution

MDBV maximum data burst size

MSRP multicast stream reservation protocol

NEF network opening function

NG-RAN next generation radio access network

NF network function

NR new radio

NRF network repository function

NW network

MS mobile station

PCF policy control function

PLMN public land mobile network

PSFP per-flow filtering and policing

RAN radio access network

RF radio frequency

SAP resource allocation protocol

SMF session management function

SPS semi-persistent scheduling

SRP flow reservation protocol

TLV type, length, value

TSC time sensitive communication

TSCAI TSC auxiliary information

TSN time sensitive network

UE user equipment

UDR unified data store

UDM unified data management

UL uplink

UPF user plane functionality

UNI user/network interface

Video, imaging and audio for VIAPA professional applications

3GPP third Generation partnership project

5G 5 th generation

5GC 5G core network

5G-AN 5G radio access network

5GS 5G system

Drawings

Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a 5G system;

fig. 2 shows a schematic representation of a control device;

fig. 3 shows a schematic representation of a terminal;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic representation of the principle of a fully centralized model for time sensitive communication;

figure 5 shows a schematic representation of a 5GS edge bridge for the uplink;

Figure 6 shows a schematic representation of a 5GS edge bridge for the downlink;

fig. 7 shows an example signaling diagram between a speaker and a listener via a 5GS bridge;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example method flow diagram performed by an apparatus; and

fig. 9 shows a schematic representation of a non-volatile storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, allow the processor to perform one or more steps in the method of fig. 8.

Detailed Description

Before explaining in detail some examples of the present disclosure, some general principles of a wireless communication system and a mobile communication device are briefly explained with reference to fig. 1 to 3 to help understand the technology behind the examples.

In a wireless communication system 100, such as shown in fig. 1, wireless access is provided to mobile communication devices/terminals or user equipment, and/or User Equipment (UE), and/or machine-type communication devices 102 via at least one base station (not shown) or similar wireless transmitting and/or receiving node or point. The communication device is provided with suitable signal receiving and transmitting means for enabling communication, for example enabling access to a communication network or direct communication with other devices. A communication device may access a carrier provided by a station or access point and transmit and/or receive communications on the carrier.

Hereinafter, certain examples will be explained with reference to mobile communication devices capable of communicating via a wireless cellular system, and mobile communication systems serving such mobile communication devices. Before explaining the disclosed examples in detail, certain general principles of a wireless communication system, its access system, and a mobile communication device will be briefly explained with reference to fig. 1, 2, and 3 to help understand the techniques behind the examples.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a 5G system (5 GS) 100. The 5GS may include a device 102, such as a user equipment or terminal, a 5G access network (5G-AN) 106, a 5G core network (5 GC) 104, one or more Network Functions (NF), one or more Application Functions (AF) 108, and one or more Data Networks (DN) 110.

The 5G-AN 106 may include one or more gNodeB (gNB) distributed unit functions coupled to one or more gNodeB (gNB) centralized unit functions.

The 5gc 104 may include an Access Management Function (AMF) 112, a Session Management Function (SMF) 114, an authentication server function (AUSF) 116, user Data Management (UDM) 118, a User Plane Function (UPF) 120, a network opening function (NEF) 122, and/or other NFs. Some examples shown below may be applicable to the 3gpp 5g standard. However, some examples may also be applicable to 4G, 3G, and other 3GPP standards.

In a communication system, such as shown in fig. 1, a mobile communication device/terminal or user equipment, and/or User Equipment (UE), and/or machine-type communication device is provided with wireless access via at least one base station or similar wireless transmitting and/or receiving node or point. The terminal is provided with suitable signal receiving and transmitting means for enabling communication, for example enabling access to a communication network or direct communication with other devices. A communication device may access a carrier provided by a station or access point and transmit and/or receive communications on the carrier.

Fig. 2 illustrates a control apparatus 200 for controlling the functions of the 5G-AN or 5GC illustrated in fig. 1. The control device (or simply device) may include at least one Random Access Memory (RAM) 211a, at least one Read Only Memory (ROM) 211b, at least one processor 212, 213, and an input/output interface 214. At least one processor 212, 213 may be coupled to the RAM 211a and the ROM 211b. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be configured to execute suitable software code 215. For example, software code 215 may allow one or more steps to be performed to perform one or more of the aspects. The software code 215 may be stored in the ROM 211b. The control device 200 may be interconnected with another control device 200, the other control device 200 controlling another function of the 5G-AN or 5 GC. In some examples, each function of the 5G-AN or 5GC includes the control device 200. In alternative examples, two or more functions of the 5G-AN or 5GC may share the control device.

Fig. 3 illustrates an example of a terminal 300, such as the terminal illustrated in fig. 1. The terminal 300 may be provided by any device capable of transmitting and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting examples include user equipment, mobile Stations (MSs) or mobile devices such as mobile phones or so-called "smartphones", computers provided with wireless interface cards or other wireless interface facilities such as USB dongles, personal Data Assistants (PDAs) or tablet computers provided with wireless communication functions, machine Type Communication (MTC) devices, cellular internet of things (CIoT) devices, or any combination thereof, etc. For example, the terminal 300 may provide data communications for carrying communications. The communication may be one or more of voice, electronic mail (email), text messages, multimedia, data, machine data, and the like.

The terminal 300 may receive signals over the air or radio interface 307 via suitable means for receiving and may transmit signals via suitable means for transmitting radio signals. In fig. 3, the transceiver device is schematically designated by block 306. For example, the transceiver means 306 may be provided by means of a radio part and associated antenna means. The antenna arrangement may be arranged inside or outside the mobile device.

The terminal 300 may be provided with at least one processor 301, at least one memory ROM 302a, at least one RAM302 b, and possibly other components 303 for performing tasks it is designed to perform with the aid of software and hardware, including control of access to and communication with access systems and other communication devices. At least one processor 301 is coupled to RAM302a and ROM 302a. The at least one processor 301 may be configured to execute suitable software code 308. For example, software code 308 may allow for performing one or more aspects of the present invention. Software code 308 may be stored in ROM 302a.

The processor, memory device, and other related control devices may be provided on a suitable circuit board and/or in a chipset. This feature is indicated by reference numeral 304. Alternatively, the device may have a user interface such as a keyboard 305, a touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof, and the like. Optionally, one or more of a display, speaker and microphone may be provided, depending on the type of device.

Some examples below relate to time sensitive communications (TSN). TSN refers to the set of IEEE 802 standards that make ethernet deterministic. TSN is a technology on layer 2 of the ISO/OSI model. TSNs add definition to ensure certainty and throughput in ethernet networks. It should be appreciated that these examples also apply to standards other than TSN.

The 3gpp rel.16 Time Sensitive Communications (TSC) only supports TSNs in fully centralized mode. In the fully centralized mode, the 5GS functionality architecture may be integrated into an IEEE TSN network as a TSN bridge to support periodically determined time-sensitive traffic flows. A Centralized Network Controller (CNC) provides port door timing information to the 5GS TSN bridge according to IEEE 802.1 Qbv. The corresponding information received from the CNC may be used to derive the TSCAI. TSCAI may include stream direction, period, and Burst Arrival Time (BAT). In the RAN, TSCAI may be used to optimize 5G air interface scheduling.

TSCAI describes TSC traffic characteristics used in 5G systems. If TSCAI is provided by SMF, TSCAI may be used by the 5G-AN. For a 5G-AN, knowledge of the TSC traffic pattern helps to allow it to schedule periodic, deterministic traffic flows more efficiently via configured grants, semi-persistent scheduling, or dynamic grants.

The TSCAI may include flow direction information, where the flow direction is the direction (uplink or downlink) of the TSC flow. The TSCAI may also include a period, where the period is the period of time between the beginning of two transmission bursts. The TSCAI may also include a burst arrival time, where the burst arrival time is the latest time when the first packet of the data burst arrives at the ingress of the RAN (on the downlink) or the egress interface of the UE (on the uplink). TSCAI may also include a time to live, where time to live is a period of time that an application can live without any burst.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic representation of the principle of a fully centralized mode for time-sensitive communication. In the system of fig. 4, a plurality of "talkers" 401, and a plurality of "listeners" 403 are provided. The talker may be an end station or similar device acting as a traffic source. In one example, the talker may be a data stream source terminal station. The listener may be an end station or similar device. In one example, the listener may be a data stream destination end station. One or more speakers 401 may provide a data stream to one or more listeners 403. The data flow will take place via the bridge 405. In the example of fig. 4, four bridges are shown. In other examples, there may be more or less than four bridges.

Management of the four bridges 405 is provided by the CNC 407. The CNC 407 communicates with a Centralized User Configuration (CUC) 409. In some examples, user and/or network configuration information may be exchanged between the CNC 407 and the CUC 409.

Speaker transfer times may be controlled by CNC 407 and CUC 409. In the talker group, a "TSpecTimeAware" TLV (type, length, value) may be transmitted from CUC 409 to CNC 407. The CNC 407 determines the flow schedule and provides the talker 401 with a "TimeAwareOffset" TLV in the state group. "TimeAwareOffset" along with speaker-defined intervals determine when speaker 401 will send periodic traffic bursts to listener 403.

According to IEEE 802.1Qcc-2018, all configuration models may support a credit-based shaper (CBS) algorithm. When CBS is configured, the 802.1Qbv gating/scheduling configuration is not supported at the bridge egress port. For 5GS, problems may also occur when per-flow filtering and policing (PSFP) is not available. Both PSFP and 802.1Qbv gate scheduling are used to derive and configure BAT at 5 GS. BAT is a component of TSCAI that is used by the 5GS NG-RAN to optimize air interface scheduling by exploiting knowledge of deterministic flow characteristics. For the 5GS port, the lack of 802.1Qbv gate scheduling and PSFP information means that the TSCAI determination mechanism cannot be reused with CBS. Furthermore, periodic deterministic transmission optimization using TSCAI within 5GS is not possible.

In some systems, the 5GS delay may be on the order of milliseconds. This may be longer than the delay of the ethernet port interface on a wired ethernet bridge or 5GS bridge, which may be on the order of microseconds. Even when CBS is used on the bridge egress port, the absence of TSCAI within 5GS may cause unacceptable delay to the TSN stream. Thus, a new approach is proposed to limit unwanted delays within 5GS when configuring CBS.

One or more examples below are directed to solving the problem of determining TSCAI when 802.1Qbv scheduling and/or PSFP information is not configured in a 5GS bridge. These examples apply to many standards, but may be particularly applicable to the IEEE 802.1Qcc fully distributed model and the centralized network/distributed user TSN model.

In some examples, 5GS configured with CBS transmissions at the egress port of 5GS is provided. The 5GS may be configured to determine a 5GS BAT for the ingress port and provide the transmit time and/or transmit time offset parameters to the talker. The 5GS may be arranged as a TSN bridge/edge bridge to the talker. This may reduce the transmission delay in a 5GS RAN by further deriving the TSCAI information and providing it to the RAN. This will be discussed in more detail below.

In some examples, the 5GS has the ability to determine the TSCAI parameters based on input information provided by the speaker (IPT 1) and/or listener (IPT 2). After determining the 5GS BAT of the ingress port, the talker may be assigned a transmission time and/or a transmission time offset:

IPT1 may comprise at least one of the following: traffic specification, "TSpecTimeAware" requirements, and cumulative delay to 5GS bridge.

IPT2 may indicate the attribute type of the listener to determine whether the listener is ready to accept the ad stream from the speaker.

Deriving a talker transmission time and/or a transmission time offset consistent with the BAT that has been determined by 5 GS.

-forwarding the transmission time and/or the transmission time offset to the talker. The transmission time offset may be referred to as "TimeAwareOffset".

This will be discussed in detail below.

In one or more examples below, a traffic specification may be provided for each flow, which may be mapped to a different quality of service flow in 5 GS. TSCAI may be derived per flow/per quality of service flow.

Figure 5 shows a schematic representation of a 5GS edge bridge for the uplink. In the system of fig. 5, a speaker 501 is provided that is connected to a 5GS bridge 503. The distance between the speaker 501 and the 5GS bridge 503 results in an accumulated delay, which is represented by the double arrow in fig. 5. The 5GS bridge 503 includes a user equipment/device side TSN converter (DS-TT) 505, NG-RAN 507, SMF 509, PCF 511, TSN-AF 513, and UPF/network side TSN converter (NW-TT) 515. The 5GS bridge 503 is connected to the first TSN bridge 515. The first TSN bridge 515 is connected to the second TSN bridge 517. A second TSN bridge 519 is connected to the listening party 521. The 5GS bridge 503 is configured with CBS. The first TSN bridge 517 and the second TSN bridge 519 are configured with CBS. It should be appreciated that in other examples, there may be more or less than two TSN bridges in the system.

At (1) of fig. 5, speaker 501 is configured to support dispatch services. The speaker 501 may send data packets/frames to the 5GS bridge 503. The data packet/frame may be a Multicast Stream Reservation Protocol (MSRP) frame. In other examples, the data packet/frame may be transmitted using other suitable protocols. The 5GS bridge 503 is configured to translate the request into a transport selection in the CBS-enabled bridge. Transmission selection refers to how packets are selected for transmission from a port, which typically supports a sequence for each traffic class. In some examples, the talker will use "dispatch services", but the downstream bridge of the 5GS bridge will use CBS. When the talker advertisement message is sent to the 5GS (which contains information in the traffic specification that allows for "scheduled traffic" (e.g., in particular "TSpecTimeAware")), the 5GS "converts" the talker advertisement "message into a" transmission selection "method (e.g., CBS) before it is propagated to the downstream bridge, which can be understood as a" downstream bridge ".

At (2), UPF/NW-TT 515 detects the MSRP packet from speaker 501. The UPF/NW-TT 515 provides the MSRP packet to the TSN-AF 513.

At (3), the TSN-AF513 extracts the input information (IPT 1) from the MSRP packet. TSN-AF513 determines 5GS BAT. The 5GS BAT can be used for the 5GS ingress port. Subsequently, the TSN-AF may use the determined 5GS BAT to determine TSCAI (first TSCAI). The TSN-AF513 provides the first TSCAI information to the SMF 509.

At (4), the SMF 509 determines a second TSCAI of the RAN and transmits the determined second TSCAI to the NG-RAN 507. The second TSCAI of the RAN may be different from the first TSCAI determined by TSN-AF 513.

At (5), TSN-AF513 determines the speaker transmission time and/or transmission time offset. The talker transmit time offset may be "TimeAwareOffset". The TSN-AF513 may use the 5GS BAT and/or the first TSCAI to determine a transmission time and/or a transmission time offset. The talker may schedule its transmissions using "TimeAwareOffset". The TSN-AF513 provides the UPF/NW-TT 515 with MSRP packets. "TimeAwareOffset" specifies the offset that the talker applies to the transmission. In an example, the network may return a value between "earlisttransmitoffset" and "LatestTransmitOffset" of "TrafficSpecification" of the talker. For example, the value may be expressed as a number of nanoseconds after the start of the talker's "Interval" value. Although step (5) is shown as occurring after determining the TSCAI of the RAN, in other examples, step (5) may occur before this.

At (6), UPF/NW-TT 515 provides MSRP packets to talker 501.

At (7), the speaker starts a scheduled transmission to the listener 503.

Although a particular Network Function (NF) of the 5GS bridge is identified above to perform a particular task, in other examples, other suitable NFs of the 5GS bridge may perform the corresponding task.

Figure 6 shows a schematic representation of a 5GS edge bridge for the downlink. The system of fig. 6 is identical to the system of fig. 5, but shows downlink flows instead of uplink.

The same steps (1) to (7) in fig. 5 also apply to fig. 6. Fig. 6 has an additional step (1 a), as will be discussed in detail below.

At (1 a) of fig. 6, the listener 521 sends a data packet/frame to the 5GS bridge 503. The data packet/frame may be a Multicast Stream Reservation Protocol (MSRP) frame. In other examples, the data packet/frame may be transmitted using other suitable protocols. The UPF/NW-TT 515 detects the MAC address of the listener 521. The MAC address may be used to identify a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session.

As shown in fig. 6, the 5GS bridge will receive data packets/frames from both the speaker and the listener.

In the example of fig. 5 and 6, the UPF/NW-TT 515 detects the data packet containing the MSRP message and sends it to the TSN-AF 513.TSN-AF 513 interprets the MSRP message and performs the processing described above.

In an example implementation, the TSN-AF may be an example of a device or control device 200 in a cellular system. Alternatively, the functions and features of the device or control device 200 in the cellular system may be distributed among one or more functions of the 5GS bridge, such as SMF, PCF, NEF and TSN-AF.

Once the TSCAI parameters are determined by TSN-AF 513, TSCAI settings of the RAN may be performed at SMF 509 based on the corresponding TSCAI parameters sent by TSN-AF 513 to SMF 509 via PCF 511.

Fig. 7 shows an example signaling diagram between a speaker and a listener via a 5GS bridge. In some examples, the talker may be a traffic source device. In some examples, the listener may be a traffic destination device.

At S701, the speaking direction 5GS sends a message. The message may schedule transmissions from the speaker Fang Daoshou. The transmission may be a TSN data stream. The 5GS may be configured as a bridge/edge bridge in a similar manner to the systems of fig. 5 and 6. The message may include input information (IPT 1) related to the speaker. The message may be an MSRP message. In other examples, the message may be one of: link Local Registration Protocol (LRP), resource Allocation Protocol (RAP), simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), network configuration protocol (Netconf), restconf, OPC unified architecture (OPC UA). The message may be sent within the 5GS user plane.

IPT1 may include information related to a scheduled transmission from a talker. IPT1 may include a "TSpecTimeAware" parameter. The "TSpecTimeAware" parameter may include at least one of the following: "EarliestTransmitOffset" parameter, "LatestTransmitOffset" parameter, and jitter value. IPT1 may also include an "Accumulopathy Latency" parameter. IPT1 may also include a "TrafficSpecification" parameter. The "TrafficSpecification" parameter may include at least one of the following: an "Interval" value, a "maxframesPerinterval" value, a "maxframeSize" value, a transmission selection from the talker.

An "Interval" specifies a period of time that the traffic specification cannot be exceeded. The service specifications are specified by "maxframespertinterval" and "MaxFrameSize". "maxframespertterval" specifies the maximum number of frames that a talker can transmit within an interval. "MaxFrameSize" specifies the maximum frame size that the talker will send, excluding any overhead for medium specific framing (e.g., preamble, IEEE 802.3 header, priority/VID flag, CRC, interframe gap, etc.). "EarliestTransmitOffset" is the earliest offset within an interval within which a talker can begin transmitting its frame. "LatestTransmitOffset" is the latest offset within the interval in which a talker can begin transmitting its frame. Jitter specifies inaccuracy in the transmit time of the talker.

At S702, the listener may send other messages to the 5 GS. The message may comprise input information (IPT 2) relating to the listener. The other message may be an MSRP message. In other examples, the message may be one of: link Local Registration Protocol (LRP), resource Allocation Protocol (RAP), simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), network configuration protocol (Netconf), restconf, OPC unified architecture (OPC UA). Other messages from the listener may include a positive response for accepting the scheduled transmission from the speaker. In other examples, the other message may provide a negative response regarding the scheduled transmission. In some examples, unless the listener has been instructed to accept the TSN stream, the talker does not initiate TSN stream transmission.

At S703, the 5GS uses IPT1 to determine the first TSCAI of the scheduled transmission. In some examples, determining the first TSCAI may include determining a 5GS Burst Arrival Time (BAT). In some examples, the first TSCAI may also include other information/parameters. The determination of a 5GS BAT may include deriving a range of BAT and then selecting a value within the range as the BAT for the scheduled transmission. This will be described in detail below. It should be understood that BAT and 5GS BAT may be used interchangeably.

In some examples, the 5G core network control plane (5 GC-CP), the UE/DS-TT, or the UPF/NW-TT is responsible for determining the 5GS BAT. In one example, the 5GS TSN AF uses IPT1 to determine the 5GS BAT. Thus, in an example, the 5GS uses information from the talker and listener to determine the TSCAI, relative to determining the TSCAI from the 802.1Qbv gate schedule and PSFP according to the legacy solution in 3gpp rel.16.

For example, a 5GS ingress port may receive a message from a talker from whom IPT1 is obtained for a resource reservation for a flow in traffic class N. In one example, the TSN-AF obtains IPT1 from MSRP packets sent by the talker, which have been detected by the UPF/NW-TT. In one example, MSRP packets transmitted by a talker are detected by a UE/DS-TT. The UE/DS-TT then sends the detected MSRP packet to the TSNAF.

The TSCAI period may be set by the TSN-AF according to a "trafficSpecification" parameter included in IPT 1. For example, the TSCAI period may be equal to an "interval" value.

Tscaieriodicity =interval (equation 1)

In one example, TSN-AF identifies that TSN flow direction is uplink because TSN-AF determines that the source MAC address contained in the message from the talker has been detected by 5GS and is associated with a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session.

In one example, the TSN-AF identifies that the TSN flow direction is downlink because the TSN-AF determines that the source MAC address in other messages from the listener has been detected by the 5GS and is associated with the PDU session.

After the 5GS receives the listener's positive response (i.e., in IPT 2) to accept the QoS requirements of the communication flow, the 5GC can use the information in IPT1 to derive the range of 5GS BAT as:

5GS BAT is between [ TimeA (Ta), timeB (Tb) ] where:

ta=startofnextgterval+earliesttransoffset (from speaker)

+Accumulopathy Latency (from listener) (equation 2)

Tb=startofnexterval+latesttransoffset (from speaker)

+Accumulopathy Latency (from speaker) (equation 3)

The calculation of "StartofNextInterval" in equations 2 and 3 above is defined in IEEE 802.1 Qcc-2018. The first interval starts with 1 month and 1 day 00:00:00 TAI. If the "CurrentTime" value indicates the current time, the start time (StartOfNextInterval) of the next interval is:

StartOfNextInterval＝N×Interval

where N is the minimum integer of the relation StartOfNextInterval. Gtoreq.CurrentTime is TRUE.

In one example, TSN-AF selects a value for 5GS BAT from the derived range between Ta and Tb. In one example, the 5GS BAT between Ta and Tb may be randomly selected. In another example, BAT may be algorithmically selected to avoid previously selected 5GS BAT (for other streams). This can minimize the probability of a burst colliding with the egress port at 5GS when algorithmically selecting BAT to avoid other flows.

In some examples, the talker may begin transmitting one or more "intervals" later than the determined first 5GS BAT, meaning that the resources in 5GS are ready whenever the talker begins transmitting.

At S704, the 5GS uses the 5GS BAT and/or the first TSCAI to derive a transmission time and/or a transmission time offset for the speaker. The transmission time offset may be referred to as "TimeAwareOffset". In one example, 5GS derives the transmission time offset using the following equation:

TimeAwareOffset＝StartOfNextInterval+5GS BAT-

accumulopathy Latency (from speaker) -jitter (from speaker) (equation 4)

In other examples, other suitable equations/methods are used to calculate the transmission time offset value.

At S705, the 5GS request reserves the required network resources for the scheduled TSN transmission. In one example, the network resource may be a 5GS resource. The request to reserve network resources may include determining that the second TSCAI includes BAT and reserving network resources using a mechanism defined for 5G QoS. The second TSCAI may be determined using the 5GS BAT determined in S703.

In some examples, S705 may precede S704.

At S706, the 5GS sends the determined transmission time and/or transmission time offset to the talker. The 5GS may also send an indication that network resources have been reserved.

At S707, the talker proceeds with the scheduled transmission to the listener. The transmission may be based on a transmission time and/or a transmission time offset.

In another example, the 5GS receives IPT1 from the speaker and/or IPT2 from the listener at S701/S702. At S703, the 5GS uses IPT1 to determine a second TSCAI, which may include determining a BAT referenced at the RAN. At S704, the 5GS uses the determined BAT of the second TSCAI to determine a transmission time and/or "TimeAwareOffset" for the 5GS to send to the talker. At S705, the 5GS also requests network resources from the RAN using the BAT determined at S703. In this example, the determined BAT is used to determine a transmission time, and request network resources from the RAN.

One or more of the examples described above allow the 5GS to provide a second TSCAI to the RAN for a fully distributed and centralized network/distributed user TSN model, which allows the RAN to improve the delay of the TSN flows.

In some examples, the resource reservation in 5GS occurs only when necessary. Only after the 5GS receives positive feedback from the listener will the 5GS reserve resources, which can reduce the waste of network resources.

One or more of the examples described above may minimize the impact on standards (e.g., 3gpp rel.16) because the same TSCAI BAT determination method that depends on 5GS BAT may be reused.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example method flow performed by an apparatus. The device may be a device of a cellular system. For example, the cellular system may be a 5G system.

In S801, the method includes: a first message is received from a first end station, the first message including at least one parameter, wherein the at least one parameter includes: information related to time-sensitive network streaming from a first end station to at least one second end station.

In S803, the method includes: the at least one parameter is used to determine first time sensitive communication assistance information.

In S805, the method includes: determining a transmission time for time-sensitive network streaming using at least one of: the determined first time sensitive communication assistance information, and the at least one parameter.

In S807, the method includes: providing information to the first end station, the information comprising: the determined transmission time of the time-sensitive network streaming.

Fig. 9 shows a schematic representation of non-volatile storage media 900a (e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)) and 900b (e.g., a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory stick) storing instructions and/or parameters 902 that, when executed by a processor, allow the processor to perform one or more steps of the method of fig. 8.

It should be noted that while the above describes exemplifying embodiments, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Accordingly, these examples may vary within the scope of the attached claims. In general, some embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the embodiments are not limited thereto. While various embodiments may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

These examples may be implemented by computer software stored in a memory and executable by at least one data processor of the involved entities, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Further in this regard, it should be noted that any process may represent a procedure step, or an interconnected logic circuit, block and function, or combination of procedure steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on such physical media as memory chips, or memory blocks implemented within a processor, magnetic media (such as hard or floppy disks), and optical media (such as DVDs and their data variants CDs).

The memory may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory. The data processor may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a gate level circuit, and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture.

Alternatively or additionally, some examples may be implemented using circuitry. Circuitry may be configured to perform one or more of the functions and/or method steps described previously. The circuitry may be provided in the base station and/or the communication device.

As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) Hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in analog and/or digital circuitry only);

(b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as:

(i) Combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) and software/firmware, and

(ii) Any portion of the hardware processor(s) having software (including digital signal processor), software, and memory(s) that work together to cause an apparatus (such as a communication device or base station) to perform the various functions described above; and

(c) Hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s) such as microprocessor(s) or a portion of microprocessor(s) that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but software may not be present when software is not required.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also encompasses an implementation of only a hardware circuit or processor (or processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also encompasses, for example, an integrated device.

The foregoing description has provided by way of exemplary and non-limiting examples a full and informative description of some embodiments. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings will still fall within the scope defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus in a cellular system, the apparatus comprising means configured to:

receiving a first message from a first end station, the first message comprising at least one parameter, wherein the at least one parameter comprises: information related to time-sensitive network streaming from the first end station to at least one second end station;

determining first time sensitive communication assistance information using the at least one parameter;

determining a transmission time of the time-sensitive network streaming using at least one of: the determined first time sensitive communication assistance information, and the at least one parameter; and

providing information to the first end station, the information comprising: the determined transmission time of the time-sensitive network streaming.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the component is configured to perform:

receiving a second message from the at least one second end station, the second message comprising: the at least one second end station accepts an indication of the time-sensitive network streaming from the first end station.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the transmission time of the time-sensitive network streaming comprises a transmission time offset.

4. The apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the first time sensitive communication assistance information comprises a burst arrival time.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the means configured to perform determining a burst arrival time is further configured to perform:

determining a range of values for the burst arrival time using the at least one parameter received in the first message; and

a value is selected from the determined range as the burst arrival time.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the burst arrival time is randomly selected from the determined range.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the burst arrival time is selected from the determined range based on burst arrival times used in other time sensitive network streaming.

8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the component is configured to perform:

in response to receiving the indication that the at least one second end station accepts the time-sensitive network streaming,

determining second time-sensitive communication assistance information using the first time-sensitive communication assistance information; and

Network resources are requested using the determined second time sensitive communication assistance information.

9. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one of:

TSpecTimeAware parameter;

an Accumulopathy Latency parameter;

the TrafficSpecification parameter.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the TSpecTimeAware parameter comprises at least one of:

an EarliestTransmitOffset value;

a LatestTransmitOffset value;

jitter values.

11. The apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the first message and the second message is one of:

multicast stream reservation protocol messages;

a resource allocation protocol message;

link local registration protocol messages.

12. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the transmission time offset is a TimeAwareOffset parameter.

13. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus comprises one or more of:

a core network function;

a radio access network function;

a user equipment.

14. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the cellular system is a 5G system.

15. The apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus is configured to communicate with a time-sensitive network bridge using a credit-based shaping algorithm.

16. A method, comprising:

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the method comprises:

18. The method of claim 16 or claim 17, wherein the transmission time of the time-sensitive network streaming comprises a transmission time offset.

19. The method of any of claims 16 to 18, wherein the first time sensitive communication assistance information comprises a burst arrival time.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein determining burst arrival times comprises:

a value is selected from the determined range as the burst arrival time.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the burst arrival time is randomly selected from the determined range.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the burst arrival time is selected from the determined range based on burst arrival times used in other time sensitive network streaming.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the method comprises:

determining second time-sensitive communication assistance information using the first time-sensitive communication assistance information in response to receiving the indication that the at least one second end station accepts the time-sensitive network streaming; and

24. The method of any one of claims 16 to 23, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one of:

TSpecTimeAware parameter;

an Accumulopathy Latency parameter;

the TrafficSpecification parameter.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the TSpecTimeAware parameter comprises at least one of:

an EarliestTransmitOffset value;

a LatestTransmitOffset value;

jitter values.

26. The method of any of claims 16 to 25, wherein at least one of the first message and the second message is one of:

multicast stream reservation protocol messages;

a resource allocation protocol message;

link local registration protocol messages.

27. The method of claim 18, wherein the transmission time offset is a TimeAwareOffset parameter.

28. A computer program comprising computer-executable instructions that when run on one or more processors perform: