SYSTEM AND INFORMATION FOR CHARGING FOR EDGE APPLICATION

SERVER (EAS) DEPLOYMENT

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/295,410, which was filed December 30, 2021.

FIELD

Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wireless communications. For example, some embodiments may relate to charging for edge application server (EAS) deployment.

BACKGROUND

Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wireless communications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitate this description, like reference numerals designate like structural elements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 depicts an example of relationships involved in edge computing service.

Figure 2 depicts an example service-based representation of architecture for enabling edge applications.

Figure 3 depicts an example service-based representation for utilization of fifth generation (5G) system (5GS) network services.

Figure 4 depicts an example reference point representation of the architecture for edge enabling applications.

Figure 5 depicts an example of converged charging architecture with a management services (MnS) producer enabled by a charging enablement function (CEF).

Figure 6 depicts an example of EAS deployment charging in post-event charging (PEC), in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 7 schematically illustrates a wireless system in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 8 schematically illustrates components of a wireless system in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

Figure 10 illustrates a system in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 11 depicts an example procedure for practicing the various embodiments discussed herein.

Figure 12 depicts an alternative example procedure for practicing the various embodiments discussed herein.

Figure 13 depicts an alternative example procedure for practicing the various embodiments discussed herein.

Figure 14 depicts an alternative example procedure for practicing the various embodiments discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrases “A or B” and “A/B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B).

The edge computing service provider (ECSP) may provide an edge data network (EDN) environment to an application service provider (ASP) to run an edge application server (EAS). An Example relation between ECSP and ASP is depicted in Figure 1 (as may be shown, for example, in the third generation partnership project (3GPP) technical specification (TS) 23.558).

Example high-level architectures for enabling edge applications are provided in Figures 2- 5, as follows (as may be shown, for example, in the 3GPP TS 23.558).

As one example, Figure 2 depicts an example service-based representation of architecture for enabling edge applications. Figure 3 depicts an example service-based representation for utilization of fifth generation (5G) system (5GS) network services. Figure 4 depicts an example reference point representation of the architecture for edge enabling applications.

The charging for EAS deployment has been studied in 3GPP technical report (TR) 28.815, and is concluded to be defined in the normative technical specification based on the converged architecture depicted in Figure 5 (as may be shown, for example, in 3GPP TR 28.815). Specifically, Figure 5 depicts an example of converged charging architecture with a management services (MnS) producer enabled by a charging enablement function (CEF).

The TR 28.815 may describe example use cases, requirements and procedures for EAS deployment usage, however the detailed charging information exchanged between the relevant functions/entities to enable the solution may not yet be defined therein. Therefore, embodiments herein may at least partially define the system and information for charging for EAS deployment. Specifically embodiments herein relate to solutions for charging for EAS deployment to the EDN provided by ECSP to ASP.

To define the charging principles, charging scenarios and charging information for EAS deployment may be as follows, for example in 3GPP TS 32.257:

5.1.4 Charging principles for edge application server deployment

5.1.4.1 General

In the present specification, the charging is specified for deployment of virtualized EAS in the EDN by an ECSP for an ASP.

The charging for edge application server deployment, is based on the MnS(s) for LCM (LifeCycle Management) of Edge Computing specified in TS 28.538 [12], including following deployment activities for EAS:

EAS instantiation;

EAS upgrade;

EAS termination.

5.1.4.2 Requirements

The following are high-level charging requirements specific to the EAS deployment charging:

The CEF shall be able to consume the MnS (see 28.538 [12]) to receive the notifications about EAS deployment, and enable charging for the EAS deployment which includes:

EAS instantiation (see TS 28.538 [12]);

EAS upgrade (see TS 28.538 [12]);

EAS termination (see 28.538 [12]).

5.1.4.3 Charging information

Charging information for EAS deployment charging is collected for each EAS by the CEF from the MnS. The CEF collects the following charging information for converged charging of EAS deployment charging:

EAS deployment requirements: the requirements for EAS deployment (e.g., the topological or geographical service areas, software image information), see TS 28.538 [12];

EAS: the charging information identifying the EAS which the LCM is for;

EDN: the charging information identifying the EDN where the EAS is/was deployed;

LCM start time: the charging information indicating the start time of the LCM process;

LCM end time: the charging information indicating the end time of the LCM process.

5.2.3 Charging scenarios for EAS deployment

5.2.3.1 Basic principles

5.2.3.1.1 General

Converged charging for EAS deployment may be performed by the CEF interacting with CHF using Nchf specified in TS 32.290 [6] and TS 32.291 [7], In order to provide the data required for the management activities outlined in TS 32.240 [1] (Credit-Control, accounting, billing, statistics etc.), the CEF shall be able to perform converged charging for each of the following:

EAS instantiation (see TS 28.538 [12]);

EAS upgrade (see TS 28.538 [12]);

EAS termination (see 28.538 [12]).

The CEF shall subscribe to the notifications from the provisioning MnS producer for EAS LCM.

Once the notification about EAS LCM is received, the CEF shall be able to report the corresponding charging events to CHF for CDR generation.

A detailed formal description of the converged charging parameters defined in the present document is to be found in TS 32.291 [7],

A detailed formal description of the CDR parameters defined in the present document is to be found in TS 32.298 [3],

5.2.3.1.2 Applicable Triggers in the CEF

When a charging event is issued towards the CHF by the CEF, it includes details of charging information, such as EAS identifier (e.g., EAS ID, see TS 23.558 [9]).

Each trigger condition (i.e., chargeable event) defined for EAS deployment charging, is specified with the associated behaviour when they are met.

The immediate report is applied to the chargeable events for EAS deployment charging, i.e., the chargeable events for which, when occurring, the current counts are closed and sent together with the charging data generated by the CEF towards the CHF in a Charging Data Request. New counts are started by the CEF.

When the CEF subscribes to the notifications about EAS LCM from the MnS producer, the converged charging is activated. When the CEF receives notifications about EAS LCM , the CEF invokes a Charging Data Request the CHF to report the EAS LCM activity as PEC.

Table 5.2.3.1.2-1 summarizes the set of default trigger conditions and their category which shall be supported by the CEF when charging is active for the EAS deployment charging. Table 5.2.3.1.2-1: Default Trigger conditions in CEF

5.2.3.2 Message flows

5.2.3.2.1 General The flows in the present document specify the interactions between the MnS producer, CEF and CHF for EAS deployment converged charging.

The interaction between MnS producer and CEF is based on MnS for subscribing to and reporting notifications specified in TS 28.532 [z] and TS 28.538 [12],

This interaction between CEF and CHF is based on Charging Data Request /Response specified in TS 32.290 [6],

5.2.3.2.2 EAS deployment charging enabled by CEF

The following figure 5.2.3.2.2-1 [which may be depicted herein as Figure 6] describes an EAS deployment charging message flows in PEC, based on the converged charging architecture with MnS producer enabled by CEF (see clause 4.2.2).

1) CEF subscribes to the notifications about EAS LCM from the MnS: The CEF consumes the provisioning MnS (see TS 28.532 [z]) to subscribes to notifications about EAS LCM, including notifyMOICreation, notifyMOIAttributeValueChanges, and notifyMOIDeletion.

2) EAS LCM request: The MnS consumer sends the EAS LCM request to the MnS producer, the EAS LCM request is done via createMOI, modifyMOIAttributes or deleteMOI operation (see TS 28.532 [z]) for the EASFunction IOC (see TS 28.538 [12]).

3) EAS LCM process: the MnS producer processes and executes the EAS LCM according to the request (e.g., instantiation, upgrade, deletion).

4) EAS LCM response: The MnS producer sends the EAS LCM result to the MnS consumer.

5) EAS LCM notification: The MnS producer sends the EAS LCM notification (i.e., notifyMOICreation, notifyMOIAttributeValueChanges, or notifyMOIDeletion) to the CEF.

5ch-a) Charging Data Request [Event]: The CEF generates charging data related to the EAS LCM notification and sends the charging data request.

5ch-b) Create CDR: the CHF stores received information and creates a CDR related to the event.

5ch-c) Charging Data Response [Event] : The CHF informs the CEF on the result of the request.

5.2.3.3 CDR generation

5.2.3.3.1 Introduction

The CHF CDRs for EAS deployment charging are generated by the CHF to collect charging information that they subsequently transfer to the Charging Gateway Function (CGF).

The following clauses describe in detail the conditions for generating the CHF CDR.

5.2.3.3.2 Triggers for CHF CDR

- 5.2.3.3.2.1 General An EAS deployment charging CHF CDR is used to collect charging information related to EAS deployment chargeable events for PEC.

5.2.3.3.2.2 Triggers for CHF CDR generation

A CHF CDR shall be generated by the CHF for each received Charging Data Request [Event],

5.2.3.4 Ga record transfer flows

In Edge Computing, both fully qualified partial CDRs (FQPC) and reduced partial CDRs (RPC), as specified in TS 32.240 [2] may be supported on the Ga interface. In line with TS 32.240 [2], the support of FQPCs is mandatory, the support of RPCs is optional. For further details on the Ga protocol application refer to TS 32.295 [5],

5.2.3.5 Bee CDR file transfer

In Edge Computing, both fully qualified partial CDRs (FQPC) and reduced partial CDRs (RPC), as specified in TS 32.240 [2] may be supported on the Bee interface. In line with TS 32.240 [2], the support of FQPCs is mandatory, the support of RPCs is optional. For further details on the Bee protocol application refer to TS 32.297 [4],

6.3 Definition of charging information for EAS deployment charging

6.3. 1 Data description for EAS deployment charging

6.3. 1.1 Message contents

6.3. 1.1.1 General

The Charging Data Request and Charging Data Response are specified in TS 32.290 [6] and include charging information. The Charging Data Request can be of type [Event],

Table 6.3. 1.1.1-1 describes the use of these messages for converged charging.

Table 6.3.1.1.1-1: Converged charging messages reference table

The following clauses describe the different fields used in the Charging Data messages and the category in the tables is used according to the charging data configuration defined in clause 5.4 of TS 32.240 [2],

6.3. 1. 1.2 Charging Data Request message

Table 6.3.1. 1.2-1 illustrates the basic structure of a Charging Data Request message from the CEF as used for EAS deployment converged charging. Table 6.3.1.1.2-1: Charging Data Request message contents

6.3.1.1.3 Charging data response message

Table 6.3.1.1.3-1 illustrates the basic structure of a Charging Data Response message from the CHF as used for EAS deployment converged charging.

Table 66.3.1.1.3-1: Charging Data Response message contents

6.3.1.2 Ga message contents

See clause 5.2.3.4.

6.3.1.3 CDR description on the Bee interface 6.3.1.3.1 General

This clause describes the CDR content and format generated for EAS deployment charging.

The following tables provide a brief description of each CDR parameter. The category in the tables is used according to the charging data configuration defined in clause 5.4 of TS 32.240 [2], Full definitions of the CDR parameters, sorted by the name in alphabetical order, are provided in TS 32.298 [3],

6.3.1.3.2 EAS deployment charging CHF CDR data

If enabled, CHF CDRs for EAS deployment charging shall be produced for each EAS LCM notification (i.e., notify MOICreati on, notify MOIAttributeValueChanges, or notify MOIDeleti on).

The fields of EAS deployment charging CHF CDR are specified in table 6.3.1.3.2-1.

Table 6.3.1.3.2-1: EAS deployment charging CHF record data

6.3.2 EAS deployment charging specific parameters

6.3.2.1 Definition of EAS deployment charging information

6.3.2.1.1 General The Charging Information parameter used for EAS deployment charging is provided in the following clauses.

6.3.2.1.2 Definition of EAS deployment specific charging information

Specific charging information used for EAS deployment charging is provided within the EAS Deployment Charging Information. The detailed structure of the EAS Deployment Charging Information can be found in table

6.3.2.1.2-1.

Table 6.3.2.1.2-1: Structure of E AS Deployment Charging Information

6.3.2.2 Formal EAS deployment charging parameter description

6.3.2.2.1 EAS deployment CHF CDR parameters

Editor’s note: The detailed definitions, abstract syntax and encoding of EAS deployment CHF CDRs parameters are to be specified in TS 32.298 [3],

6.3.2.2.2 EAS deployment resources attributes

Editor’s note: The detailed definitions of resources attributes used for EAS deployment charging are to be specified in TS 32.291 [7],

6.3.2.3 Detailed message format for converged charging

The following clause specifies per Operation Type the charging data that are sent by CEF for EAS deployment converged charging.

The Operation Types are listed in the following order: I (Initial)ZU (Update)/T (Termination)ZE (Event). Therefore, when all Operation Types are possible it is marked as IUTE. If only some Operation Types are allowed for a node, only the appropriate letters are used (i.e. IUT or E) as indicated in the table heading. The omission of an Operation Type for a particular field is marked with (i.e. IU-E). Also, when an entire field is not allowed in a node the entire cell is marked

Table 6.3.2.3-1 defines the basic structure of the supported fields in the Charging Data Request message for EAS deployment converged charging.

Table 6.3.3.1: Supported fields in Charging Data Request message

Table 6.3.2.3-2 defines the basic structure of the supported fields in the Charging Data Response message for EAS deployment converged charging. Table 6.3.23-2: Supported fields in Charging Data Response message

6.3.3 Bindings for EAS deployment converged charging

Editor’s note: This mapping between the Information Elements, resource attributes and CHF CDR parameters for EAS deployment converged charging is to be described in TS 32.291 [7],

Abbreviations

For the purposes of the present document, the abbreviations given in 3GPP TR 21.905 [1], TS 23.501 [8], TS 23.558 [9], TS 23.548 [10] and the following may apply. An abbreviation defined in the present document may take precedence over the definition of the same abbreviation, if any, in 3GPP TR 21.905 [1], TS 23.501 [8], TS 23.558 [9] and TS 23.548 [10], ASP Application Service Provider

ECSP Edge Computing Service Provider

MNO Mobile Network Operator

CEF Charging Enablement Function

CHF Charging Function

EAS Edge Application Server

EES Edge Enabler Server

MnS Management Service

MOI Managed Object Instance

References:

[1] 3GPP TR 21.905: "Vocabulary for 3GPP Specifications".

[2] 3GPP TS 32.240: "Telecommunication management; Charging management; Charging architecture and principles".

[3] 3GPP TS 32.298: "Telecommunication management; Charging management; Charging Data Record (CDR) parameter description".

[4] 3GPP TS 32.297: "Telecommunication management; Charging management; Charging Data Record (CDR) file format and transfer".

[5] 3GPP TS 32.295: "Telecommunication management; Charging management; Charging Data Record (CDR) transfer".

[6] 3GPP TS 32.290: "Telecommunication management; Charging management; 5G system; Services, operations and procedures of charging using Service Based Interface (SBI)".

[7] 3GPP TS 32.291: "Telecommunication management; Charging management; 5G system; Charging service, stage 3".

[8] 3GPP TS 23.501: "System architecture for the 5G System (5GS); Stage 2".

[9] 3GPP TS 23.558: "Architecture for enabling Edge Applications".

[10] 3GPP TS 23.548 "5G System Enhancements for Edge Computing; Stage 2".

[11] 3GPP TS 32.255: "Telecommunication management; Charging management; 5G Data connectivity domain charging; stage 2".

[12] 3GPP TS 28.538: "Management and orchestration; Edge Computing

Management".

[x] 3GPP TS 28.552: "Management and orchestration; 5G performance measurements".

[y] 3GPP TS 28.550: "Management and orchestration; Performance assurance".

[z] 3GPP TS 28.532: "Management and orchestration; Generic management services .

SYSTEMS AND I PLE ENTATIONS

Figures 7-10 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments.

Figure 7 illustrates a system 700 in accordance with various embodiments. The system 700 may operate in a manner consistent with 3 GPP technical specifications for LTE or 5G/NR systems. However, the example embodiments are not limited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to other systems that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems, or the like.

The system 700 may include a UE 702, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN 704 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 702 may be communicatively coupled with the RAN 704 by a Uu interface. The UE 702 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computer device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in-vehicle infotainment, in-car entertainment device, instrument cluster, head-up display device, onboard diagnostic device, dashtop mobile equipment, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electronic/engine control unit, electron! c/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, loT device, etc.

In some embodiments, the system 700 may include a plurality of UEs coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface. The UEs may be M2M/D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels such as, but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc.

In some embodiments, the UE 702 may additionally communicate with an AP 706 via an over-the-air connection. The AP 706 may manage a WLAN connection, which may serve to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN 704. The connection between the UE 702 and the AP 706 may be consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 706 could be a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In some embodiments, the UE 702, RAN 704, and AP 706 may utilize cellular-WLAN aggregation (for example, LWA/LWIP). Cellular-WLAN aggregation may involve the UE 702 being configured by the RAN 704 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

The RAN 704 may include one or more access nodes, for example, AN 708. AN 708 may terminate air-interface protocols for the UE 702 by providing access stratum protocols including RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and LI protocols. In this manner, the AN 708 may enable data/voice connectivity between CN 720 and the UE 702. In some embodiments, the AN 708 may be implemented in a discrete device or as one or more software entities running on server computers as part of, for example, a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN or virtual baseband unit pool. The AN 708 be referred to as a BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. The AN 708 may be a macrocell base station or a low power base station for providing femtocells, picocells or other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.

In embodiments in which the RAN 704 includes a plurality of ANs, they may be coupled with one another via an X2 interface (if the RAN 704 is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if the RAN 704 is a 5G RAN). The X2/Xn interfaces, which may be separated into control/user plane interfaces in some embodiments, may allow the ANs to communicate information related to handovers, data/context transfers, mobility, load management, interference coordination, etc.

The ANs of the RAN 704 may each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE 702 with an air interface for network access. The UE 702 may be simultaneously connected with a plurality of cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 704. For example, the UE 702 and RAN 704 may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE 702 to connect with a plurality of component carriers, each corresponding to a Pcell or Scell. In dual connectivity scenarios, a first AN may be a master node that provides an MCG and a second AN may be secondary node that provides an SCG. The first/second ANs may be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc.

The RAN 704 may provide the air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may use LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms based on CA technology with PCells/Scells. Prior to accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may perform medium/carrier-sensing operations based on, for example, a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

In V2X scenarios the UE 702 or AN 708 may be or act as a RSU, which may refer to any transportation infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by: a UE may be referred to as a “UE-type RSU”; an eNB may be referred to as an “eNB-type RSU”; a gNB may be referred to as a “gNB-type RSU”; and the like. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located on a roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry to store intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, as well as applications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular/WLAN communications services. The components of the RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof 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 a backhaul network.

In some embodiments, the RAN 704 may be an LTE RAN 710 with eNBs, for example, eNB 712. The LTE RAN 710 may provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: SCS of 15 kHz; CP-OFDM waveform for DL and SC-FDMA waveform for UL; turbo codes for data and TBCC for control; etc. The LTE air interface may rely on CSI-RS for CSI acquisition and beam management; PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS for PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation; and CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operating on sub-6 GHz bands.

In some embodiments, the RAN 704 may be an NG-RAN 714 with gNBs, for example, gNB 716, or ng-eNBs, for example, ng-eNB 718. The gNB 716 may connect with 5G-enabled UEs using a 5GNR interface. The gNB 716 may connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The ng-eNB 718 may also connect with the 5G core through an NG interface, but may connect with a UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB 716 and the ng-eNB 718 may connect with each other over an Xn interface.

In some embodiments, the NG interface may be split into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between the nodes of the NG-RAN 714 and a UPF 748 (e.g., N3 interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the nodes of the NG-RAN714 and an AMF 744 (e.g., N2 interface).

The NG-RAN 714 may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following characteristics: variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL, CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM for UL; polar, repetition, simplex, and Reed-Muller codes for control and LDPC for data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on CSI-RS, PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G-NR air interface may not use a CRS, but may use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; PTRS for phase tracking for PDSCH; and tracking reference signal for time tracking. The 5G-NR air interface may operating on FR1 bands that include sub-6 GHz bands or FR2 bands that include bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The 5G-NR air interface may include an SSB that is an area of a downlink resource grid that includes PSS/SSS/PBCH.

In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may utilize BWPs for various purposes. For example, BWP can be used for dynamic adaptation of the SCS. For example, the UE 702 can be configured with multiple BWPs where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE 702, the SCS of the transmission is changed as well. Another use case example of BWP is related to power saving. In particular, multiple BWPs can be configured for the UE 702 with different amount of frequency resources (for example, PRBs) to support data transmission under different traffic loading scenarios. A BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs can be used for data transmission with small traffic load while allowing power saving at the UE 702 and in some cases at the gNB 716. A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs can be used for scenarios with higher traffic load.

The RAN 704 is communicatively coupled to CN 720 that includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (for example, users of UE 702). The components of the CN 720 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of the CN 720 onto physical compute/storage resources in servers, switches, etc. A logical instantiation of the CN 720 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 720 may be referred to as a network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the CN 720 may be an LTE CN 722, which may also be referred to as an EPC. The LTE CN 722 may include MME 724, SGW 726, SGSN 728, HSS 730, PGW 732, and PCRF 734 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the LTE CN 722 may be briefly introduced as follows.

The MME 724 may implement mobility management functions to track a current location of the UE 702 to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handovers, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

The SGW 726 may terminate an SI interface toward the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 722. The SGW 726 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

The SGSN 728 may track a location of the UE 702 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, the SGSN 728 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 724; MME selection for handovers; etc. The S3 reference point between the MME 724 and the SGSN 728 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3 GPP access network mobility in idle/active states.

The HSS 730 may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions. The HSS 730 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 730 and the MME 724 may enable transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/ authorizing user access to the LTE CN 720.

The PGW 732 may terminate an SGi interface toward a data network (DN) 736 that may include an application/ content server 738. The PGW 732 may route data packets between the LTE CN 722 and the data network 736. The PGW 732 may be coupled with the SGW 726 by an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW 732 may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection (for example, PCEF). Additionally, the SGi reference point between the PGW 732 and the data network 7 36 may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intra-operator packet data network, for example, for provision of IMS services. The PGW 732 may be coupled with a PCRF 734 via a Gx reference point.

The PCRF 734 is the policy and charging control element of the LTE CN 722. The PCRF 734 may be communicatively coupled to the app/content server 738 to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. The PCRF 732 may provision associated rules into a PCEF (via Gx reference point) with appropriate TFT and QCI.

In some embodiments, the CN 720 may be a 5GC 740. The 5GC 740 may include an AUSF 742, AMF 744, SMF 746, UPF 748, NSSF 750, NEF 752, NRF 754, PCF 756, UDM 758, and AF 760 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the 5GC 740 may be briefly introduced as follows.

The AUSF 742 may store data for authentication of UE 702 and handle authentication- related functionality. The AUSF 742 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 740 over reference points as shown, the AUSF 742 may exhibit an Nausf service-based interface.

The AMF 744 may allow other functions of the 5GC 740 to communicate with the UE 702 and the RAN 704 and to subscribe to notifications about mobility events with respect to the UE 702. The AMF 744 may be responsible for registration management (for example, for registering UE 702), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 744 may provide transport for SM messages between the UE 702 and the SMF 746, and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 744 may also provide transport for SMS messages between UE 702 and an SMSF. AMF 744 may interact with the AUSF 742 and the UE 702 to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Furthermore, AMF 744 may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN 704 and the AMF 744; and the AMF 744 may be a termination point of NAS (Nl) signaling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. AMF 744 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 702 over an N3 IWF interface.

The SMF 746 may be responsible for SM (for example, session establishment, tunnel management between UPF 748 and AN 708); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP function; configuring traffic steering at UPF 748 to route traffic to proper destination; termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controlling part of policy enforcement, charging, and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events and interface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sent via AMF 744 over N2 to AN 708; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM may refer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between the UE 702 and the data network 736.

The UPF 748 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to data network 736, and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 748 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handling for a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF- to-QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 748 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network.

The NSSF 750 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE 702. The NSSF 750 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 750 may also determine the AMF set to be used to serve the UE 702, or a list of candidate AMFs based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 754. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 702 may be triggered by the AMF 744 with which the UE 702 is registered by interacting with the NSSF 750, which may lead to a change of AMF. The NSSF 750 may interact with the AMF 744 via an N22 reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). Additionally, the NSSF 750 may exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface.

The NEF 752 may securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party, internal exposure/re-exposure, AFs (e.g., AF 760), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, the NEF 752 may authenticate, authorize, or throttle the AFs. NEF 752 may also translate information exchanged with the AF 760 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 752 may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal 5GC information. NEF 752 may also receive information from other NFs based on exposed capabilities of other NFs. This information may be stored at the NEF 752 as structured data, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF 752 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF 752 may exhibit an Nnef service-based interface.

The NRF 754 may support service discovery functions, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of the discovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF 754 also maintains information of available NF instances and their supported services. As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 754 may exhibit the Nnrf service-based interface.

The PCF 756 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to govern network behavior. The PCF 756 may also implement a front end to access subscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of the UDM 758. In addition to communicating with functions over reference points as shown, the PCF 756 exhibit an Npcf service-based interface.

The UDM 758 may handle subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions, and may store subscription data of UE 702. For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N8 reference point between the UDM 758 and the AMF 744. The UDM 758 may include two parts, an application front end and a UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 758 and the PCF 756, and/or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFDs for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 702) for the NEF 752. The Nudr service-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM 758, PCF 756, and NEF 752 to access a particular set of the stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM- FE, which is in charge of processing credentials, location management, subscription management and so on. 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 handling, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs over reference points as shown, the UDM 758 may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

The AF 760 may provide application influence on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

In some embodiments, the 5GC 740 may enable edge computing by selecting operator/3 ^rd party services to be geographically close to a point that the UE 702 is attached to the system. This may reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge-computing implementations, the 5GC 740 may select a UPF 748 close to the UE 702 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 748 to data network 736 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF 760. In this way, the AF 760 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 760 is considered to be a trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF 760 to interact directly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 760 may exhibit an Naf service-based interface.

The data network 736 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third party services that may be provided by one or more servers including, for example, application/content server 738.

Figure 8 schematically illustrates a wireless system 800 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless system 800 may include a UE 802 in wireless communication with an AN 804. The UE 802 and AN 804 may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, like- named components described elsewhere herein.

The UE 802 may be communicatively coupled with the AN 804 via connection 806. The connection 806 is illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols such as an LTE protocol or a 5GNR protocol operating at mmWave or sub-6GHz frequencies.

The UE 802 may include a host platform 808 coupled with a modem platform 810. The host platform 808 may include application processing circuitry 812, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 814 of the modem platform 810. The application processing circuitry 812 may run various applications for the UE 802 that source/sink application data. The application processing circuitry 812 may further implement one or more layer operations to transmit/receive application data to/from a data network. These layer operations may include transport (for example UDP) and Internet (for example, IP) operations

The protocol processing circuitry 814 may implement one or more of layer operations to facilitate transmission or reception of data over the connection 806. The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry 814 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS operations.

The modem platform 810 may further include digital baseband circuitry 816 that may implement one or more layer operations that are “below” layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry 814 in a 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/de-mapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol/bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding/decoding, which 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.

The modem platform 810 may further include transmit circuitry 818, receive circuitry 820, RF circuitry 822, and RF front end (RFFE) 824, which may include or connect to one or more antenna panels 826. Briefly, the transmit circuitry 818 may include a digital -to-analog converter, mixer, intermediate frequency (IF) components, etc.; the receive circuitry 820 may include an analog-to-digital converter, mixer, IF components, etc.; the RF circuitry 822 may include a low-noise amplifier, a power amplifier, power tracking components, etc.; RFFE 824 may include filters (for example, surface/bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beamforming components (for example, phase-array antenna components), etc. The selection and arrangement of the components of the transmit circuitry 818, receive circuitry 820, RF circuitry 822, RFFE 824, and antenna panels 826 (referred generically as “transmit/receive components”) may be specific to details of a specific implementation such as, for example, whether communication is TDM or FDM, in mmWave or sub-6 gHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmit/receive components may be arranged in multiple parallel transmit/receive chains, may be disposed in the same or different chips/modules, etc.

In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry 814 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components.

A UE reception may be established by and via the antenna panels 826, RFFE 824, RF circuitry 822, receive circuitry 820, digital baseband circuitry 816, and protocol processing circuitry 814. In some embodiments, the antenna panels 826 may receive a transmission from the AN 804 by receive-beamforming signals received by a plurality of antennas/antenna elements of the one or more antenna panels 826.

A UE transmission may be established by and via the protocol processing circuitry 814, digital baseband circuitry 816, transmit circuitry 818, RF circuitry 822, RFFE 824, and antenna panels 826. In some embodiments, the transmit components of the UE 804 may apply a spatial filter to the data to be transmitted to form a transmit beam emitted by the antenna elements of the antenna panels 826.

Similar to the UE 802, the AN 804 may include a host platform 828 coupled with a modem platform 830. The host platform 828 may include application processing circuitry 832 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 834 of the modem platform 830. The modem platform may further include digital baseband circuitry 836, transmit circuitry 838, receive circuitry 840, RF circuitry 842, RFFE circuitry 844, and antenna panels 846. The components of the AN 804 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like-named components of the UE 802. In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of the AN 808 may perform various logical functions that include, for example, RNC functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling.

Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 9 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 900 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 910, one or more memory /storage devices 920, and one or more communication resources 930, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 940 or other interface circuitry. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 902 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 900.

The processors 910 may include, for example, a processor 912 and a processor 914. The processors 910 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 DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

The memory /storage devices 920 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory /storage devices 920 may include, but are not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, 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 storage, etc.

The communication resources 930 may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 904 or one or more databases 906 or other network elements via a system 908. For example, the communication resources 930 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, Ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® Low Energy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components.

Instructions 950 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 910 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 950 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 910 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), the memory /storage devices 920, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 950 may be transferred to the hardware resources 900 from any combination of the peripheral devices 904 or the databases 906. Accordingly, the memory of processors 910, the memory /storage devices 920, the peripheral devices 904, and the databases 906 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

Figure 10 illustrates a system 1000 in accordance with various embodiments. The system 1000 may operate in a matter consistent with 3GPP technical specifications or technical reports for 6G systems. In some embodiments, the system 1000 may operate concurrently with system 700. For example, in some embodiments, the system 1000 may share one or more frequency or bandwidth resources with system 700. As one specific example, a UE (e.g., UE 1002) may be configured to operate in both system 1000 and system 700. Such configuration may be based on a UE including circuitry configured for communication with frequency and bandwidth resources of both systems 700 and 1000. In general, several elements of system 1000 may share one or more characteristics with elements of system 700. For the sake of brevity and clarity, such elements may not be repeated in the description of system 1000.

The system 1000 may include a UE 1002, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN 1008 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 1002 may be similar to, for example, UE 702. The UE 1002 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computer device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in- vehicle infotainment, in-car entertainment device, instrument cluster, head-up display device, onboard diagnostic device, dashtop mobile equipment, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electron! c/engine control unit, electronic/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, loT device, etc.

Although not specifically shown in Figure 10, in some embodiments the system 1000 may include a plurality of UEs coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface. The UEs may be M2M/D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels such as, but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc. Similarly, although not specifically shown in Figure 10, the UE 1002 may be communicatively coupled with an AP such as AP 706 as described with respect to Figure 7. Additionally, although not specifically shown in Figure 10, in some embodiments the RAN 1008 may include one or more ANss such as AN 708 as described with respect to Figure 7. The RAN 1008 and/or the AN of the RAN 1008 may be referred to as a base station (BS), a RAN node, or using some other term or name.

The UE 1002 and the RAN 1008 may be configured to communicate via an air interface that may be referred to as a sixth generation (6G) air interface. The 6G air interface may include one or more features such as communication in a terahertz (THz) or sub-THz bandwidth, or joint communication and sensing. As used herein, the term “joint communication and sensing” may refer to a system that allows for wireless communication as well as radar-based sensing via various types of multiplexing. As used herein, THz or sub-THz bandwidths may refer to communication in the 80 GHz and above frequency ranges. Such frequency ranges may additionally or alternatively be referred to as “millimeter wave” or “mmWave” frequency ranges.

The RAN 1008 may allow for communication between the UE 1002 and a 6G core network (CN) 1010. Specifically, the RAN 1008 may facilitate the transmission and reception of data between the UE 1002 and the 6G CN 1010. The 6G CN 1010 may include various functions such as NSSF 750, NEF 752, NRF 754, PCF 756, UDM 758, AF 760, SMF 746, and AUSF 742. The 6G CN 1010 may additional include UPF 748 and DN 736 as shown in Figure 10.

Additionally, the RAN 1008 may include various additional functions that are in addition to, or alternative to, functions of a legacy cellular system such as a 4G or 5G system. Two such functions may include a Compute Control Function (Comp CF) 1024 and a Compute Service Function (Comp SF) 1036. The Comp CF 1024 and the Comp SF 1036 may be parts or functions of the Computing Service Plane. Comp CF 1024 may be a control plane function that provides functionalities such as management of the Comp SF 1036, computing task context generation and management (e.g., create, read, modify, delete), interaction with the underlaying computing infrastructure for computing resource management, etc.. Comp SF 1036 may be a user plane function that serves as the gateway to interface computing service users (such as UE 1002) and computing nodes behind a Comp SF instance. Some functionalities of the Comp SF 1036 may include: parse computing service data received from users to compute tasks executable by computing nodes; hold service mesh ingress gateway or service API gateway; service and charging policies enforcement; performance monitoring and telemetry collection, etc. In some embodiments, a Comp SF 1036 instance may serve as the user plane gateway for a cluster of computing nodes. A Comp CF 1024 instance may control one or more Comp SF 1036 instances.

Two other such functions may include a Communication Control Function (Comm CF) 1028 and a Communication Service Function (Comm SF) 1038, which may be parts of the Communication Service Plane. The Comm CF 1028 may be the control plane function for managing the Comm SF 1038, communication sessions creation/configuration/releasing, and managing communication session context. The Comm SF 1038 may be a user plane function for data transport. Comm CF 1028 and Comm SF 1038 may be considered as upgrades of SMF 746 and UPF 748, which were described with respect to a 5G system in Figure 7. The upgrades provided by the Comm CF 1028 and the Comm SF 1038 may enable service-aware transport. For legacy (e.g., 4G or 5G) data transport, SMF 746 and UPF 748 may still be used.

Two other such functions may include a Data Control Function (Data CF) 1022 and Data Service Function (Data SF) 1032 may be parts of the Data Service Plane. Data CF 1022 may be a control plane function and provides functionalities such as Data SF 1032 management, Data service creation/configuration/releasing, Data service context management, etc. Data SF 1032 may be a user plane function and serve as the gateway between data service users (such as UE 1002 and the various functions of the 6G CN 1010) and data service endpoints behind the gateway. Specific functionalities may include: parse data service user data and forward to corresponding data service endpoints, generate charging data, report data service status.

Another such function may be the Service Orchestration and Chaining Function (SOCF) 1020, which may discover, orchestrate and chain up communication/computing/data services provided by functions in the system. Upon receiving service requests from users, SOCF 1020 may interact with one or more of Comp CF 1024, Comm CF 1028, and Data CF 1022 to identify Comp SF 1036, Comm SF 1038, and Data SF 1032 instances, configure service resources, and generate the service chain, which could contain multiple Comp SF 1036, Comm SF 1038, and Data SF 1032 instances and their associated computing endpoints. Workload processing and data movement may then be conducted within the generated service chain. The SOCF 1020 may also responsible for maintaining, updating, and releasing a created service chain.

Another such function may be the service registration function (SRF) 1014, which may act as a registry for system services provided in the user plane such as services provided by service endpoints behind Comp SF 1036 and Data SF 1032 gateways and services provided by the UE 1002. The SRF 1014 may be considered a counterpart of NRF 754, which may act as the registry for network functions.

Other such functions may include an evolved service communication proxy (eSCP) and service infrastructure control function (SICF) 1026, which may provide service communication infrastructure for control plane services and user plane services. The eSCP may be related to the service communication proxy (SCP) of 5G with user plane service communication proxy capabilities being added. The eSCP is therefore expressed in two parts: eCSP-C 1012 and eSCP- U 1034, for control plane service communication proxy and user plane service communication proxy, respectively. The SICF 1026 may control and configure eCSP instances in terms of service traffic routing policies, access rules, load balancing configurations, performance monitoring, etc.

Another such function is the AMF 1044. The AMF 1044 may be similar to 744, but with additional functionality. Specifically, the AMF 1044 may include potential functional repartition, such as move the message forwarding functionality from the AMF 1044 to the RAN 1008.

Another such function is the service orchestration exposure function (SOEF) 1018. The SOEF may be configured to expose service orchestration and chaining services to external users such as applications.

The UE 1002 may include an additional function that is referred to as a computing client service function (comp CSF) 1004. The comp CSF 1004 may have both the control plane functionalities and user plane functionalities, and may interact with corresponding network side functions such as SOCF 1020, Comp CF 1024, Comp SF 1036, Data CF 1022, and/or Data SF 1032 for service discovery, request/response, compute task workload exchange, etc. The Comp CSF 1004 may also work with network side functions to decide on whether a computing task should be run on the UE 1002, the RAN 1008, and/or an element of the 6G CN 1010.

The UE 1002 and/or the Comp CSF 1004 may include a service mesh proxy 1006. The service mesh proxy 1006 may act as a proxy for service-to-service communication in the user plane. Capabilities of the service mesh proxy 1006 may include one or more of addressing, security, load balancing, etc.

EXAMPLE PROCEDURES

In some embodiments, the electronic device(s), network(s), system(s), chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementations thereof, of Figures 7-10, or some other figure herein, may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques, or methods as described herein, or portions thereof. One such process is depicted in Figure 11. The process of Figure 11 may be performed by logic of a cellular system such as a charging enablement function (CEF). Specifically, the logic may be implemented by one or more processors of an electronic device. For example, the process may include, at 1101, identifying notifications related to an EAS LCM entity. The process may further include, at 1102, generating charging data related to the EAS LCM entity. The process may further include, at 1103, transmitting, based on the charging data, a charging data request to a second logic of the cellular system. The process may further include, at 1104, identifying, based on the charging data request, a charging data response received from the second logic.

Another such process is depicted in Figure 12. The process of Figure 12 may be performed by logic of a cellular system such as a charging enablement function (CEF). Specifically, the logic may be implemented by one or more processors of an electronic device. For example, the process may include, at 1201, identifying, by the logic, a notification related to an edge application server (EAS) lifecycle management (LCM) entity. The process may further include, at 1202, generating, by the logic, charging data related to the EAS LCM entity. The process may further include, at 1203, transmitting, by the logic based on the charging data, a charging data request to a second logic of the cellular system. The process may further include, at 1204, identifying, by the logic based on the charging data request, a charging data response received from the second logic.

Another such process is depicted in Figure 13. The process of Figure 13 may be performed by logic of a cellular system such as a charging function (CHF). Specifically, the logic may be implemented by one or more processors of an electronic device. For example, the process may include, at 1301, identifying, from a second logic of the cellular system, a charging data request that is based on charging data related to an edge application server (EAS) lifecycle management (LCM) entity;. The process may further include, at 1302, creating, based on the charging data request, a charging data response (CDR). The process may further include, at 1303, transmitting, to the second logic of the cellular system, the CDR.

Another such process is depicted in Figure 14. The process of Figure 14 may be performed by logic of a cellular system such as a management service (MnS) producer. Specifically, the logic may be implemented by one or more processors of an electronic device. For example, the process may include, at 1401, identifying, from a second logic of the cellular system, a request related to an edge application server (EAS) lifecycle management (LCM) entity. The process may further include, at 1402, executing, based on the request, the EAS LCM. The process may further include, at 1403, transmitting, subsequent to the execution of the EAS LCM, a result of the execution of the EAS LCM to the second entity. The process may further include, at 1404, transmitting, to a third logic of the cellular system, a notification related to the EAS LCM, wherein the third logic is to generate charging data related to the notification.

For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section. EXAMPLES

Example 1 may include a CEF supported by one or more processors, is configured to:

Consume the MnS(s), from an MnS producer, to subscribe to the notifications related to the EAS LCM;

Receive notifications related to the EAS LCM from the MnS producer;

Generate charging data for the notifications related to the EAS LCM;

Send a Charging Data Request containing the generated charging data to a CHF;

Receive a Charging Data Response from the CHF.

Example 2 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the notifications related to EAS LCM comprises at least one of the following:

- Notification for creation of MOI representing the EAS, i.e., notifyMOICreation for MOI of EASFunction;

- Notification for changing the of attributes of MOI representing the EAS, i.e., notify MOI AttributeValueChanges for MOI of EASFunction;

- Notification for deletion of MOI representing the EAS, i.e., notifyMOIDeletion for MOI of EASFunction.

Example 3 may include the method of examples 1 and 2 or some other example herein, wherein the EAS LCM comprises at least one of the following:

- EAS instantiation;

- EAS upgrade;

EAS termination.

Example 4 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the Charging Data Request contains at least one of the following information:

One-time Event;

One-time Event Type;

- NF Consumer Identification;

- Invocation Timestamp;

- Invocation Sequence Number;

- EAS ID

- EDN ID

EAS Provider Identifier

EAS Deployment Charging Information

Example 5 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the CHF supports charging of EAS deployment, comprising:

Receiving a Charging Data Request for EAS deployment charging from a CEF; Creating a CDR for the Charging Data Request;

Reporting the CDR to Billing Domain;

Sending a Charging Data Response to the CEF.

Example 6 may include the method of example 5 or some other example herein, wherein the CDR contains at least one of the following information:

Record Type;

Recording Network Function ID;

- NF Consumer Identification;

Record Opening Time;

Record Sequence Number;

Cause for Record Closing;

Diagnostics;

Local Record Sequence Number;

Record Extensions;

- EAS ID

- EDN ID

EAS Provider Identifier

EAS Deployment Charging Information

Example 7 may include the method of examples 4 and 6 or some other example herein, wherein the EAS deployment Charging Information contains at least one of the following information:

EAS Deployment Requirements;

LCM start time;

LCM end time.

Example 8 may include the method of examples 1 and 5 or some other example herein, wherein the Charging Data Response contains at least one of the following information:

Invocation Timestamp;

Invocation Result;

Invocation Sequence Number.

Example 9 may include the method of example 7 or some other example herein, wherein EAS Deployment Requirements contain at least one of the following information:

EAS topological service areas;

EAS geographical service areas;

EAS software image information.

Example 10 includes a method to be performed by logic of a cellular system, the logic implemented by one or more processors of an electronic device, wherein the method comprises: identifying, by the logic, notifications related to an edge application server (EAS) lifecycle management (LCM) entity; generating, by the logic, charging data related to the EAS LCM entity; transmitting, by the logic based on the charging data, a charging data request to a second logic of the cellular system; and identifying, by the logic based on the charging data request, a charging data response received from the second logic.

Example 11 includes the method of example 10, or some other example herein, wherein the logic is a charging enablement function (CEF).

Example 12 includes the method of example 10, or some other example herein, wherein the cellular system is a fifth generation (5G) cellular system.

Example 13 includes the method of example 10, or some other example herein, wherein the electronic device is a core network (CN) element of the cellular system.

Example 14 includes the method of example 10, or some other example herein, wherein the identification of the notifications is based on a subscription to a management service (MnS) producer.

Example 15 includes the method of example 14, or some other example herein, wherein the subscription to the notifications is based on consumption of one or more MnS(s) from the MnS producer.

Example 16 includes a method to be performed by logic of a cellular system, the logic implemented by one or more processors of an electronic device, wherein the method comprises: identifying, by the logic, a notification related to an edge application server (EAS) lifecycle management (LCM) entity; generating, by the logic, charging data related to the EAS LCM entity; transmitting, by the logic based on the charging data, a charging data request to a second logic of the cellular system; and identifying, by the logic based on the charging data request, a charging data response received from the second logic.

Example 17 include the method of example 16, and/or some other example herein, wherein the logic is a charging enablement function (CEF).

Example 18 include the method of any of examples 16-17, and/or some other example herein, wherein the second logic is a charging function (CHF).

Example 19 includes the method of any of examples 16-18, and/or some other example herein, wherein the cellular system is a fifth generation (5G) cellular system.

Example 20 includes the method of any of examples 16-19, and/or some other example herein, wherein the notification related to the EAS LCM entity is received from a management service (MnS) producer.

Example 21 includes the method of example 20, and/or some other example herein, wherein the method further comprises: consuming the provisioning MnS to subscribe to notifications about the EAS LCM; and identifying the notification based on the consuming.

Example 22 includes the method of any of examples 16-21, and/or some other example herein, wherein the notification is a notify MOICreation notification, a notify MOI AttributeValueChanges notification, or a notifyMOIDeletion notification.

Example 23 includes a method to be performed by a logic of a cellular system, the logic implemented by one or more processors of an electronic device, wherein the method comprises: identifying, from a second logic of the cellular system, a charging data request that is based on charging data related to an edge application server (EAS) lifecycle management (LCM) entity; creating, based on the charging data request, a charging data response (CDR); and transmitting, to the second logic of the cellular system, the CDR.

Example 24 includes the method of example 23, and/or some other example herein, wherein the second logic is a charging enablement function (CEF).

Example 25 includes the method of any of examples 23-24, and/or some other example herein, wherein the second logic is a charging function (CHF).

Example 26 includes the method of any of examples 23-25, and/or some other example herein, wherein the cellular system is a fifth generation (5G) cellular system.

Example 27 includes the method of any of examples 23-26, and/or some other example herein, wherein the charging data related to the EAS LCM is based on a notification provided by a management service (MnS) producer to the second logic.

Example 28 includes the method of example 27, and/or some other example herein, wherein the notification is a notify MOICreation notification, a notify MOI AttributeValueChanges notification, or a notifyMOIDeletion notification.

Example 29 includes a method to be performed by logic of a cellular system, the logic implemented by one or more processors of an electronic device, wherein the method comprises: identifying, from a second logic of the cellular system, a request related to an edge application server (EAS) lifecycle management (LCM) entity; executing, based on the request, the EAS LCM; transmitting, subsequent to the execution of the EAS LCM, a result of the execution of the EAS LCM to the second entity; and transmitting, to a third logic of the cellular system, a notification related to the EAS LCM, wherein the third logic is to generate charging data related to the notification.

Example 30 includes the method of example 29, and/or some other example herein, wherein the notification is a notify MOICreation notification, a notifyMOIAttributeValueChanges notification, or a notifyMOIDeletion notification.

Example 31 includes the method of any of examples 29-30, and/or some other example herein, wherein the logic is a management service (MnS) producer.

Example 32 includes the method of any of examples 29-31, and/or some other example herein, wherein the second logic is a management service (MnS) consumer.

Example 33 includes the method of any of examples 29-32, and/or some other example herein, wherein the third logic is a charging enablement function (CEF).

Example 34 includes the method of any of examples 29-33, and/or some other example herein, wherein executing the EAS LCM includes instantiation, upgrade, or deletion of the EAS LCM.

Example 35 includes the method of any of examples 29-34, and/or some other example herein, wherein the cellular system is a fifth generation (5G) cellular system.

Example Z01 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-35, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z02 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-35, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z03 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-35, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z04 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-35, or portions or parts thereof.

Example Z05 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-35, or portions thereof.

Example Z06 may include a signal as described in or related to any of examples 1-35, or portions or parts thereof.

Example Z07 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1-35, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z08 may include a signal encoded with data as described in or related to any of examples 1-35, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure. Example Z09 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1-35, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z10 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors is to cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-35, or portions thereof.

Example Zll may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause the processing element to carry out the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-35, or portions thereof.

Example Z12 may include a signal in a wireless system as shown and described herein.

Example Z13 may include a method of communicating in a wireless system as shown and described herein.

Example Z14 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Example Z15 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples), unless explicitly stated otherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

Abbreviations

Unless used differently herein, terms, definitions, and abbreviations may be consistent with terms, definitions, and abbreviations defined in 3GPP TR 21.905 V16.0.0 (2019-06). For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations may apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein. 3GPP Third AOA Angle of Shift Keying Generation Arrival BRAS Broadband

Partnership AP Application Remote Access

Project Protocol, Antenna Server

4G Fourth 40 Port, Access Point 75 BSS Business

Generation API Application Support System

5G Fifth Programming Interface BS Base Station

Generation APN Access Point BSR Buffer Status

5GC 5G Core Name Report network 45 ARP Allocation and 80 BW Bandwidth

AC Retention Priority BWP Bandwidth Part

Application ARQ Automatic C-RNTI Cell

Client Repeat Request Radio Network

ACR Application AS Access Stratum Temporary Context Relocation 50 ASP 85 Identity

ACK Application Service CA Carrier

Acknowledgem Provider Aggregation, ent Certification

ACID ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Authority

Application 55 Notation One 90 CAPEX CAPital Client Identification AUSF Authentication Expenditure AF Application Server Function CBRA Contention Function AWGN Additive Based Random

AM Acknowledged White Gaussian Access Mode 60 Noise 95 CC Component

AMBRAggregate BAP Backhaul Carrier, Country Maximum Bit Rate Adaptation Protocol Code, Cryptographic AMF Access and BCH Broadcast Checksum Mobility Channel CCA Clear Channel

Management 65 BER Bit Error Ratio 100 Assessment

Function BFD Beam CCE Control

AN Access Failure Detection Channel Element

Network BLER Block Error CCCH Common

ANR Automatic Rate Control Channel

Neighbour Relation 70 BPSK Binary Phase 105 CE Coverage Enhancement Optional Information CDM Content CoMP Coordinated Resource Delivery Network Multi-Point Indicator, CSI-RS CDMA Code- CORESET Control Resource Division Multiple 40 Resource Set 75 Indicator Access COTS Commercial C-RNTI Cell

CDR Charging Data Off-The-Shelf RNTI Request CP Control Plane, CS Circuit

CDR Charging Data Cyclic Prefix, Switched Response 45 Connection 80 CSCF call

CFRA Contention Free Point session control function Random Access CPD Connection CSAR Cloud Service CG Cell Group Point Descriptor Archive CGF Charging CPE Customer CSI Channel-State

Gateway Function 50 Premise 85 Information CHF Charging Equipment CSI-IM CSI

Function CPICHCommon Pilot Interference CI Cell Identity Channel Measurement CID Cell-ID (e g., CQI Channel CSI-RS CSI positioning method) 55 Quality Indicator 90 Reference Signal CIM Common CPU CSI processing CSI-RSRP CSI Information Model unit, Central reference signal CIR Carrier to Processing Unit received power Interference Ratio C/R CSI-RSRQ CSI CK Cipher Key 60 Command/Resp 95 reference signal CM Connection onse field bit received quality Management, CRAN Cloud Radio CSI-SINR CSI Conditional Access signal-to-noise and Mandatory Network, Cloud interference CM AS Commercial 65 RAN 100 ratio Mobile Alert Service CRB Common CSMA Carrier Sense CMD Command Resource Block Multiple Access CMS Cloud CRC Cyclic CSMA/CA CSMA Management System Redundancy Check with collision CO Conditional 70 CRI Channel-State 105 avoidance CSS Common DRB Data Radio Application Server

Search Space, CellBearer EASID Edge specific Search DRS Discovery Application Server

Space Reference Signal Identification

CTF Charging 40 DRX Discontinuous 75 ECS Edge

Trigger Function Reception Configuration Server

CTS Clear-to-Send DSL Domain ECSP Edge

CW Codeword Specific Language. Computing Service

CWS Contention Digital Provider

Window Size 45 Subscriber Line 80 EDN Edge

D2D Device-to- DSLAM DSL Data Network

Device Access Multiplexer EEC Edge

DC Dual DwPTS Enabler Client

Connectivity, Direct Downlink Pilot EECID Edge Current 50 Time Slot 85 Enabler Client

DCI Downlink E-LAN Ethernet Identification

Control Local Area Network EES Edge

Information E2E End-to-End Enabler Server

DF Deployment EAS Edge EESID Edge Flavour 55 Application Server 90 Enabler Server

DL Downlink ECCA extended clear Identification

DMTF Distributed channel EHE Edge

Management Task assessment, Hosting Environment Force extended CCA EGMF Exposure

DPDK Data Plane 60 ECCE Enhanced 95 Governance

Development Kit Control Channel Management

DM-RS, DMRS Element, Function

Demodulation Enhanced CCE EGPRS

Reference Signal ED Energy Enhanced DN Data network 65 Detection 100 GPRS DNN Data Network EDGE Enhanced EIR Equipment Name Datarates for GSM Identity Register

DNAI Data Network Evolution eLAA enhanced Access Identifier (GSM Evolution) Licensed Assisted

70 EAS Edge 105 Access, enhanced LAA eUICC embedded Information

EM Element UICC, embedded FCC Federal

Manager Universal Communications eMBB Enhanced Integrated Circuit Commission

Mobile 40 Card 75 FCCH Frequency

Broadband E-UTRA Evolved Correction CHannel

EMS Element UTRA FDD Frequency

Management System E-UTRAN Evolved Division Duplex eNB evolved NodeB, UTRAN FDM Frequency E-UTRAN Node B 45 EV2X Enhanced V2X 80 Division

EN-DC E- F1AP Fl Application Multiplex

UTRA-NR Dual Protocol FDM A F requency

Connectivity Fl-C Fl Control Division Multiple

EPC Evolved Packet plane interface Access

Core 50 Fl-U Fl User plane 85 FE Front End

EPDCCH interface FEC Forward Error enhanced FACCH Fast Correction

PDCCH, enhanced Associated Control FFS For Further

Physical CHannel Study

Downlink Control 55 FACCH/F Fast 90 FFT Fast Fourier

Cannel Associated Control Transformation

EPRE Energy per Channel/Full feLAA further resource element rate enhanced Licensed

EPS Evolved Packet FACCH/H Fast Assisted

System 60 Associated Control 95 Access, further

EREG enhanced REG, Channel/Half enhanced LAA enhanced resource rate FN Frame Number element groups FACH Forward Access FPGA Field- ETSI European Channel Programmable Gate

Telecommunica 65 FAUSCH Fast 100 Array tions Standards Uplink Signalling FR Frequency

Institute Channel Range

ETWS Earthquake and FB Functional FQDN Fully

Tsunami Warning Block Qualified Domain

System 70 FBI Feedback 105 Name G-RNTI GERAN Radio Service HPLMN Home

Radio Network GPSI Generic Public Land Mobile

Temporary Public Subscription Network Identity Identifier HSDPA High GERAN 40 GSM Global System 75 Speed Downlink

GSM EDGE for Mobile Packet Access RAN, GSM EDGE Communication HSN Hopping

Radio Access s, Groupe Special Sequence Number

Network Mobile HSPA High Speed

GGSN Gateway GPRS 45 GTP GPRS 80 Packet Access Support Node Tunneling Protocol HSS Home GLONASS GTP-UGPRS Subscriber Server

GLObal'naya Tunnelling Protocol HSUPA High

NAvigatsionnay for User Plane Speed Uplink Packet a Sputnikovaya 50 GTS Go To Sleep 85 Access

Sistema (Engl.: Signal (related HTTP Hyper Text Global Navigation to WUS) Transfer Protocol

Satellite GUMMEI Globally HTTPS Hyper

System) Unique MME Text Transfer Protocol gNB Next 55 Identifier 90 Secure (https is Generation NodeB GUTI Globally http/1.1 over gNB-CU gNB- Unique Temporary SSL, i.e. port 443) centralized unit, Next UE Identity I-Block

Generation HARQ Hybrid ARQ, Information

NodeB 60 Hybrid 95 Block centralized unit Automatic ICCID Integrated gNB-DU gNB- Repeat Request Circuit Card distributed unit, Next HANDO Handover Identification

Generation HFN HyperFrame IAB Integrated

NodeB 65 Number 100 Access and distributed unit HHO Hard Handover Backhaul

GNSS Global HLR Home Location ICIC Inter-Cell

Navigation Satellite Register Interference

System HN Home Network Coordination

GPRS General Packet 70 HO Handover 105 ID Identity, identifier IMGI International Identity Module

IDFT Inverse Discrete mobile group identity ISO International Fourier IMPI IP Multimedia Organisation for

Transform Private Identity Standardisation IE Information 40 IMPU IP Multimedia 75 ISP Internet Service element PUblic identity Provider IBE In-Band IMS IP Multimedia IWF Interworking- Emission Subsystem Function IEEE Institute of IMSI International I-WLAN Electrical and 45 Mobile 80 Interworking

Electronics Subscriber WLAN Engineers Identity Constraint IEI Information loT Internet of length of the Element Things convolutional

Identifier 50 IP Internet 85 code, USIM IEIDL Information Protocol Individual key Element Ipsec IP Security, kB Kilobyte (1000

Identifier Data Internet Protocol bytes) Length Security kbps kilo-bits per IETF Internet 55 IP-CAN IP- 90 second Engineering Task Connectivity Access Kc Ciphering key Force Network Ki Individual

IF Infrastructure IP-M IP Multicast subscriber IIOT Industrial IPv4 Internet authentication Internet of Things 60 Protocol Version 4 95 key IM Interference IPv6 Internet KPI Key Measurement, Protocol Version 6 Performance Indicator

Intermodulation IR Infrared KQI Key Quality , IP Multimedia IS In Sync Indicator IMC IMS 65 IRP Integration 100 KSI Key Set Credentials Reference Point Identifier IMEI International ISDN Integrated ksps kilo-symbols Mobile Services Digital per second

Equipment Network KVM Kernel Virtual Identity 70 ISIM IM Services 105 Machine LI Layer 1 Positioning Protocol and Orchestration (physical layer) LSB Least MBMS Ll-RSRP Layer 1 Significant Bit Multimedia reference signal LTE Long Term Broadcast and received power 40 Evolution 75 Multicast L2 Layer 2 (data LWA LTE-WLAN Service link layer) aggregation MBSFN L3 Layer 3 LWIP LTE/WLAN Multimedia (network layer) Radio Level Broadcast LAA Licensed 45 Integration with 80 multicast Assisted Access IPsec Tunnel service Single LAN Local Area LTE Long Term Frequency Network Evolution Network

LADN Local M2M Machine-to- MCC Mobile Country Area Data Network 50 Machine 85 Code LBT Listen Before MAC Medium Access MCG Master Cell Talk Control Group

LCM LifeCycle (protocol MCOT Maximum Management layering context) Channel

LCR Low Chip Rate 55 MAC Message 90 Occupancy LCS Location authentication code Time Services (security/encry ption MCS Modulation and

LCID Logical context) coding scheme Channel ID MAC-A MAC MD AF Management

LI Layer Indicator 60 used for 95 Data Analytics LLC Logical Link authentication Function Control, Low Layer and key MDAS Management Compatibility agreement Data Analytics

LMF Location (TSG T WG3 context) Service

Management Function 65 MAC-IMAC used for 100 MDT Minimization of LOS Line of data integrity of Drive Tests

Sight signalling messages ME Mobile

LPLMN Local (TSG T WG3 context) Equipment

PLMN MANO MeNB master eNB LPP LTE 70 Management 105 MER Message Error Ratio MPRACH MTC Machine-Type MGL Measurement Physical Random Communication Gap Length Access s MGRP Measurement CHannel MU-MIMO Multi Gap Repetition 40 MPUSCH MTC 75 User MIMO Period Physical Uplink Shared MWUS MTC MIB Master Channel wake-up signal, MTC Information Block, MPLS MultiProtocol wus Management Label Switching NACKNegative

Information Base 45 MS Mobile Station 80 Acknowledgement MIMO Multiple Input MSB Most NAI Network Multiple Output Significant Bit Access Identifier MLC Mobile MSC Mobile NAS Non-Access Location Centre Switching Centre Stratum, Non- Access MM Mobility 50 MSI Minimum 85 Stratum layer Management System NCT Network MME Mobility Information, Connectivity Management Entity MCH Scheduling Topology MN Master Node Information NC-JT Non- MNO Mobile 55 MSID Mobile Station 90 Coherent Joint Network Operator Identifier Transmission MO Measurement MSIN Mobile Station NEC Network

Object, Mobile Identification Capability

Originated Number Exposure MPBCH MTC 60 MSISDN Mobile 95 NE-DC NR-E-

Physical Broadcast Subscriber ISDN UTRA Dual

CHannel Number Connectivity MPDCCH MTC MT Mobile NEF Network Physical Downlink Terminated, Mobile Exposure Function

Control 65 Termination 100 NF Network CHannel MTC Machine-Type Function MPDSCH MTC Communication NFP Network Physical Downlink s Forwarding Path Shared mMTCmassive MTC, NFPD Network CHannel 70 massive 105 F orwarding Path Descriptor Shared CHannel S-NNSAI Single-

NFV Network NPRACH NSSAI

Functions Narrowband NSSF Network Slice

Virtualization Physical Random Selection Function

NFVI NFV 40 Access CHannel 75 NW Network

Infrastructure NPUSCH NWU S N arrowband

NFVO NFV Narrowband wake-up signal,

Orchestrator Physical Uplink Narrowband WUS

NG Next Shared CHannel NZP Non-Zero

Generation, Next Gen 45 NPSS Narrowband 80 Power

NGEN-DC NG- Primary O&M Operation and

RAN E-UTRA-NR Synchronization Maintenance

Dual Connectivity Signal ODU2 Optical channel

NM Network NSSS Narrowband Data Unit - type 2

Manager 50 Secondary 85 OFDM Orthogonal

NMS Network Synchronization Frequency Division

Management System Signal Multiplexing

N-PoP Network Point NR New Radio, OFDMA of Presence Neighbour Relation Orthogonal

NMIB, N-MIB 55 NRF NF Repository 90 Frequency Division

Narrowband MIB Function Multiple Access

NPBCH NRS Narrowband OOB Out-of-band

Narrowband Reference Signal OOS Out of

Physical NS Network Sync

Broadcast 60 Service 95 OPEX OPerating

CHannel NSA Non-Standalone EXpense

NPDCCH operation mode OSI Other System

Narrowband NSD Network Information

Physical Service Descriptor OSS Operations

Downlink 65 NSR Network 100 Support System

Control CHannel Service Record OTA over-the-air

NPDSCH NSSAINetwork Slice PAPR Peak-to-

Narrowband Selection Average Power

Physical Assistance Ratio

Downlink 70 Information 105 PAR Peak to Average Ratio Network, Public PP, PTP Point-to-

PBCH Physical Data Network Point Broadcast Channel PDSCH Physical PPP Point-to-Point PC Power Control, Downlink Shared Protocol

Personal 40 Channel 75 PRACH Physical

Computer PDU Protocol Data RACH

PCC Primary Unit PRB Physical Component Carrier, PEI Permanent resource block Primary CC Equipment PRG Physical

P-CSCF Proxy 45 Identifiers 80 resource block

CSCF PFD Packet Flow group

PCell Primary Cell Description ProSe Proximity

PCI Physical Cell P-GW PDN Gateway Services, ID, Physical Cell PHICH Physical Proximity - Identity 50 hybrid-ARQ indicator 85 Based Service

PCEF Policy and channel PRS Positioning

Charging PHY Physical layer Reference Signal

Enforcement PLMN Public Land PRR Packet

Function Mobile Network Reception Radio

PCF Policy Control 55 PIN Personal 90 PS Packet Services Function Identification Number PSBCH Physical

PCRF Policy Control PM Performance Sidelink Broadcast and Charging Rules Measurement Channel Function PMI Precoding PSDCH Physical

PDCP Packet Data 60 Matrix Indicator 95 Sidelink Downlink

Convergence PNF Physical Channel

Protocol, Packet Network Function PSCCH Physical

Data Convergence PNFD Physical Sidelink Control Protocol layer Network Function Channel

PDCCH Physical 65 Descriptor 100 PSSCH Physical

Downlink Control PNFR Physical Sidelink Shared

Channel Network Function Channel

PDCP Packet Data Record PSCell Primary SCell Convergence Protocol POC PTT over PSS Primary PDN Packet Data 70 Cellular 105 Synchronization Signal Channel RLC UM RLC

PSTN Public Switched RADIUS Remote Unacknowledged

Telephone Network Authentication Dial Mode

PT-RS Phase-tracking In User Service RLF Radio Link reference signal 40 RAN Radio Access 75 Failure

PTT Push-to-Talk Network RLM Radio Link

PUCCH Physical RANDRANDom Monitoring

Uplink Control number (used for RLM-RS

Channel authentication) Reference

PUSCH Physical 45 RAR Random Access 80 Signal for RLM

Uplink Shared Response RM Registration

Channel RAT Radio Access Management

QAM Quadrature Technology RMC Reference

Amplitude RAU Routing Area Measurement Channel

Modulation 50 Update 85 RMSI Remaining

QCI QoS class of RB Resource block, MSI, Remaining identifier Radio Bearer Minimum

QCL Quasi coRBG Resource block System location group Information

QFI QoS Flow ID, 55 REG Resource 90 RN Relay Node

QoS Flow Element Group RNC Radio Network

Identifier Rel Release Controller

QoS Quality of REQ REQuest RNL Radio Network

Service RF Radio Layer

QPSK Quadrature 60 Frequency 95 RNTI Radio Network

(Quaternary) Phase RI Rank Indicator Temporary

Shift Keying RIV Resource Identifier

QZSS Quasi-Zenith indicator value ROHC RObust Header

Satellite System RL Radio Link Compression

RA-RNTI Random 65 RLC Radio Link 100 RRC Radio Resource

Access RNTI Control, Radio Control, Radio

RAB Radio Access Link Control Resource Control

Bearer, Random layer layer

Access Burst RLC AM RLC RRM Radio Resource

RACH Random Access 70 Acknowledged Mode 105 Management RS Reference Identity Transmission

Signal S-TMSI SAE Protocol

RSRP Reference Temporary Mobile SDAP Service Data

Signal Received Station Adaptation

Power 40 Identifier 75 Protocol,

RSRQ Reference SA Standalone Service Data Signal Received operation mode Adaptation

Quality SAE System Protocol layer

RS SI Received Signal Architecture SDL Supplementary Strength 45 Evolution 80 Downlink

Indicator SAP Service Access SDNF Structured Data

RSU Road Side Unit Point Storage Network RSTD Reference SAPD Service Access Function Signal Time Point Descriptor SDP Session difference 50 SAPI Service Access 85 Description Protocol

RTP Real Time Point Identifier SDSF Structured Data Protocol SCC Secondary Storage Function

RTS Ready-To-Send Component Carrier, SDT Small Data RTT Round Trip Secondary CC Transmission Time 55 SCell Secondary Cell 90 SDU Service Data

Rx Reception, SCEF Service Unit Receiving, Receiver Capability Exposure SEAF Security S1AP SI Application Function Anchor Function Protocol SC-FDMA Single SeNB secondary eNB

SI -MME SI for 60 Carrier Frequency 95 SEPP Security Edge the control plane Division Protection Proxy

Sl-U SI for the user Multiple Access SFI Slot format plane SCG Secondary Cell indication

S-CSCF serving Group SFTD Space-

CSCF 65 SCM Security 100 Frequency Time

S-GW Serving Context Diversity, SFN Gateway Management and frame timing

S-RNTI SRNC SCS Subcarrier difference

Radio Network Spacing SFN System Frame

Temporary 70 SCTP Stream Control 105 Number SgNB Secondary gNB Network Signal Received

SGSN Serving GPRS SpCell Special Cell Power

Support Node SP-CSI-RNTISemi- SS-RSRQ

S-GW Serving Persistent CSI RNTI Synchronization

Gateway 40 SPS Semi-Persistent 75 Signal based

SI System Scheduling Reference

Information SQN Sequence Signal Received

SI-RNTI System number Quality

Information RNTI SR Scheduling SS-SINR

SIB System 45 Request 80 Synchronization

Information Block SRB Signalling Signal based Signal

SIM Subscriber Radio Bearer to Noise and

Identity Module SRS Sounding Interference Ratio

SIP Session Reference Signal SSS Secondary

Initiated Protocol 50 SS Synchronization 85 Synchronization

SiP System in Signal Signal

Package SSB Synchronization SSSG Search Space

SL Sidelink Signal Block Set Group

SLA Service Level SSID Service Set SSSIF Search Space

Agreement 55 Identifier 90 Set Indicator

SM Session SS/PBCH Block SST Slice/Service

Management SSBRI SS/PBCH Types

SMF Session Block Resource SU-MIMO Single

Management Function Indicator, User MIMO

SMS Short Message 60 Synchronization 95 SUL Supplementary

Service Signal Block Uplink

SMSF SMS Function Resource TA Timing

SMTC SSB-based Indicator Advance, Tracking

Measurement Timing SSC Session and Area

Configuration 65 Service 100 TAC Tracking Area

SN Secondary Continuity Code

Node, Sequence SS-RSRP TAG Timing

Number Synchronization Advance Group

SoC System on Chip Signal based TAI

SON Self-Organizing 70 Reference 105 Tracking Area Identity Indicator Function

TAU Tracking Area TR Technical UICC Universal

Update Report Integrated Circuit

TB Transport Block TRP, TRxP Card

TBS Transport Block 40 Transmission 75 UL Uplink

Size Reception Point UM

TBD To Be Defined TRS Tracking Unacknowledge

TCI Transmission Reference Signal d Mode

Configuration TRx Transceiver UML Unified

Indicator 45 TS Technical 80 Modelling Language

TCP Transmission Specifications, UMTS Universal

Communication Technical Mobile

Protocol Standard Telecommunica

TDD Time Division TTI Transmission tions System

Duplex 50 Time Interval 85 UP User Plane

TDM Time Division Tx Transmission, UPF User Plane

Multiplexing Transmitting, Function

TDMATime Division Transmitter URI Uniform

Multiple Access U-RNTI UTRAN Resource Identifier

TE Terminal 55 Radio Network 90 URL Uniform

Equipment Temporary Resource Locator

TEID Tunnel End Identity URLLC Ultra¬

Point Identifier UART Universal Reliable and Low

TFT Traffic Flow Asynchronous Latency

Template 60 Receiver and 95 USB Universal Serial

TMSI Temporary Transmitter Bus

Mobile UCI Uplink Control USIM Universal

Subscriber Information Subscriber Identity

Identity UE User Equipment Module

TNL Transport 65 UDM Unified Data 100 USS UE-specific

Network Layer Management search space

TPC Transmit Power UDP User Datagram UTRA UMTS

Control Protocol Terrestrial Radio

TPMI Transmitted UDSF Unstructured Access

Precoding Matrix 70 Data storage Network 105 UTRAN Universal Network Terrestrial Radio VPN Virtual Private

Access Network

Network VRB Virtual

UwPTS Uplink 40 Resource Block Pilot Time Slot WiMAX V2I Vehicle-to- Worldwide Infras traction Interoperability V2P Vehicle-to- for Microwave Pedestrian 45 Access

V2V Vehicle-to- WLANWireless Local Vehicle Area Network

V2X Vehicle-to- WMAN Wireless every thing Metropolitan Area

VIM Virtualized 50 Network Infrastructure Manager WPANWireless VL Virtual Link, Personal Area Network VLAN Virtual LAN, X2-C X2-Control Virtual Local Area plane Network 55 X2-U X2-User plane VM Virtual XML extensible Machine Markup

VNF Virtualized Language Network Function XRES EXpected user

VNFFG VNF 60 RESponse

Forwarding Graph XOR exclusive OR VNFFGD VNF ZC Zadoff-Chu

Forwarding Graph ZP Zero Power

Descriptor VNFMVNF Manager VoIP Voice-over-IP, Voice-over- Internet Protocol

VPLMN Visited Public Land Mobile Terminology

For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions are applicable to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes hardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC), digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are configured to provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the program code used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carrying out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording, storing, and/or transferring digital data. Processing circuitry may include one or more processing cores to execute instructions and one or more memory structures to store program and data information. The term “processor circuitry” may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computerexecutable instructions, such as program code, software modules, and/or functional processes. Processing circuitry may include more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and/or deep learning (DL) accelerators. The terms “application circuitry” and/or “baseband circuitry” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, “processor circuitry.”

The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I/O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, and/or the like.

The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device with radio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user of network resources in a communications system. The term “user equipment” or “UE” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, the term “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wired device or any computing device including a wireless communications interface.

The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical or virtualized equipment and/or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term “network element” may be considered synonymous to and/or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch, hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway, server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, and/or the like.

The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any type interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” and/or “system” may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” and/or “system” may refer to multiple computer devices and/or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another and configured to share computing and/or networking resources.

The term “appliance,” “computer appliance,” or the like, as used herein refers to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g., software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide a specific computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machine image to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance or otherwise is dedicated to provide a specific computing resource.

The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, and/or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, such as computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor/CPU time, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardware time or usage, electrical power, input/output operations, ports or network sockets, channel/link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, network, database and applications, workload units, and/or the like. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or network resources provided by physical hardware element(s). A “virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or network resources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application, device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communication resource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computer devices/systems via a communications system. The term “system resources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services, and may include computing and/or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects or services, accessible through a server where such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium, either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or a data stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with and/or equivalent to “communications channel,” “data communications channel,” “transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,” “data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radiofrequency carrier,” and/or any other like term denoting a pathway or medium through which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” as used herein refers to a connection between two devices through a RAT for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

The terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like as used herein refers to the creation of an instance. An “instance” also refers to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code.

The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” along with derivatives thereof are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another, may mean that two or more elements indirectly contact each other but still cooperate or interact with each other, and/or may mean that one or more other elements are coupled or connected between the elements that are said to be coupled with each other. The term “directly coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another. The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elements may be in contact with one another by a means of communication including through a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wireless communication channel or link, and/or the like.

The term “information element” refers to a structural element containing one or more fields. The term “field” refers to individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains content.

The term “SMTC” refers to an SSB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

The term “SSB” refers to an SS/PBCH block.

The term “a “Primary Cell” refers to the MCG cell, operating on the primary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initial connection establishment procedure or initiates the connection re-establishment procedure.

The term “Primary SCG Cell” refers to the SCG cell in which the UE performs random access when performing the Reconfiguration with Sync procedure for DC operation.

The term “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell providing additional radio resources on top of a Special Cell for a UE configured with CA.

The term “Secondary Cell Group” refers to the subset of serving cells comprising the PSCell and zero or more secondary cells for a UE configured with DC.

The term “Serving Cell” refers to the primary cell for a UE in RRC CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC there is only one serving cell comprising of the primary cell.

The term “serving cell” or “serving cells” refers to the set of cells comprising the Special Cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/. The term “Special Cell” refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term “Special Cell” refers to the Pcell.