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EP-4424001-B1 - DYNAMIC CACHING AND DELIVERY OF CONTENT IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORK

EP4424001B1EP 4424001 B1EP4424001 B1EP 4424001B1EP-4424001-B1

Inventors

  • IHLAR, Marcus
  • SKOG, ROBERT

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20211028

Claims (16)

  1. A method (500) for handling delivery of content associated with a network-delivered service to user equipments, UEs (102a-102n), in a wireless communication network (100), the method (500) being performed by a network function (104) of the wireless communication network (100), the method (500) comprising: transmitting (204, 304, 504) a connection request message to a content delivery server (106) for establishing a secure tunnel connection between the network function (104) and the content delivery server (106), wherein the connection request message comprising an identifier, ID of the network function (104), intended to the content delivery server (106); transmitting (208, 308, 506) a content request message from a first UE (102a - 102n) to the content delivery server (106) requesting content associated with the network-delivered service; receiving (312, 508) a delivery request from the content delivery server (106), said delivery request requesting the network function (104) to store the content for delivery from the network function (104); and forwarding (316, 510) the content to the first UE (102a - 102n) through a secure tunnel connection between the network function (104) and the first UE (102a - 102n), wherein the connection request message comprises a capability associated with the network function (104) indicating at least the capability of the network function (104) to act as a proxy service node, and characterized in that the capability associated with the network function (104) moreover indicates at least one of: information related to cache memory availability at the network function (104); and information related to number of UEs (102a-102n) for which the network function (104) can be used as the service node for delivery of the content.
  2. The method (500) according to claim 1, wherein the ID of the network function (104) intended to the content delivery server (106) represents one or more of: an identity of the network function (104), an address of the network function (104), a binary number, and a Multiplexed Application Substrate over QUIC Encryption, MASQUE, ID, and wherein the ID is assigned by a network operator of the network function (104).
  3. The method (500) according to any of the preceding claims , further comprising an initial step of: receiving (202, 302, 502) an initial connection setup message from the first UE (102a - 102n) for establishing a secure tunnel connection between the network function (104) and the first UE (102a - 102n).
  4. The method (500) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the step of receiving (312, 508) a delivery request from the content delivery server (106) comprises: receiving (314) the content continuously from the content delivery server (106) when the content is available at the content delivery server (106); and storing the content received from the content delivery server (106).
  5. The method (500) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the step of forwarding (316, 510) the content to the first UE (102a - 102n) comprises: establishing a secure end-to-end tunnel connection between the first UE (102a - 102n) and the content delivery server (106). receiving the content from the content delivery server (106); identifying the content related to the request message from the first UE (102a - 102n); and transmitting the identified content to the first UE (102a - 102n) through the secure tunnel connection.
  6. The method (500) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the network function is a proxy service node residing in a core network, CN, of the wireless communication network (100).
  7. A method (600) for handling delivery of content associated with network delivered services to a plurality of user equipments (102a - 102n) in a wireless communication network (100), the method (600) being performed by a content delivery server (106), the method (600) comprising: receiving (204, 304, 602) a connection request message from a network function (104) for establishing a secure tunnel connection between the network function (104) and the content delivery server (106), wherein the connection request message comprising an identifier, ID, of the network function (104), intended to the content delivery server (106) ; receiving (208, 402, 604) a content request message from a first UE (102a) requesting content associated with the network-delivered service through the network function (104); initiating (212, 314, 610) delivery of the content to the first UE (102a) with a secure end-to-end tunnel connection through the network function (104); receiving (308, 612) a content request message from a second UE (102b - 102n) requesting content associated with the network-delivered service through the network function (104); determining (310, 404, 616) that the second UE (102b - 102n) is requesting content through the same network function (104), through which content is already delivered for the first UE (102a); and deciding (312, 406, 618) to redirect the content request message for the content, from the second UE (102b - 102n), to the network function (104), indicating the second UE (102b - 102n) to receive the content from the network function (104), wherein the connection request message comprises a capability associated with the network function (104) indicating at least the capability of the network function (104) to act as a proxy service node, and characterized in that the capability associated with the network function (104) moreover indicates at least one of: information related to cache memory availability at the network function (104); and information related to number of UEs (102a-102n) for which the network function (104) can be used as the service node for delivery of the content.
  8. The method (600) according to claim 7 wherein the ID of the network function (104) intended to the content delivery server (106) represents one or more of: an identity of the network function (104), an address of the network function (104), a binary number, and a Multiplexed Application Substrate over QUIC Encryption, MASQUE, ID, and wherein the ID is assigned by a network operator of the network function (104).
  9. The method according to any of the claims 7-8 wherein the step of determining (310, 404, 616) that the second UE (102b - 102n) is requesting content through the same network function (104), through which content is already delivered for the first UE (102a) is based on the ID of the network function (104).
  10. The method (600) according to any of the claims 7-9 further comprising: delivering (314) the content to the network function (104) through the secure tunnel connection; and transmitting (406) a delivery request to the network function (104), said delivery request requesting the network function (104) to deliver the content to the second UE (102b - 102n);
  11. The method (600) according to any of the claims 7-10, further comprising: mapping (210, 606) the ID of the network function (104) to a content ID corresponding to the content associated with the network delivered service; and storing (608) the mapping at the content delivery server (106).
  12. The method (600) according to any of the preceding claims 7-11 wherein the step of determining (310, 404, 616) that the second UE (102b - 102n) is requesting content through the same network function (104) comprises: identifying (614) the network function through which the request message is received from second UE (102b - 102n) for the content, based on the mapping of the ID of the network function (104) to the content ID corresponding to the content associated with the network delivered service.
  13. The method (600) according to any of the preceding claims 7-12, wherein the step of deciding (312, 406, 618) to redirect the content request message for the content from the second UE (102b - 102n) to the network function (104), to indicate to the second UE (102b - 102n) to receive the content from the network function (104) further comprises: further determining that the network function is capable of delivering the content to the second UE (102b - 102n) based on the capability associated with the network function (104); and upon the determination, deciding to deliver the content to the second UE (102b - 102n) from the network function (104).
  14. A network function (104) configured to operate in a wireless communication network (100) for handling delivery of content associated with a network-delivered service to user equipments, UEs (102a-102n), the network function (104) being configured for: transmission of a connection request message to a content delivery server (106) for establishing a secure tunnel connection between the network function (104) and the content delivery server (106), wherein the connection request message comprising an identifier, ID, of the network function, intended to the content delivery server (106); transmission of a content request message from a first UE (102a - 102n) to the content delivery server (106) requesting content associated with the network-delivered service for the first UE (102a-102n); reception of a delivery request from the content delivery server (106), said delivery request requesting the network function (104) to store the content for delivery from the network function (104); and forward of the content to the first UE (102a - 102n) through a secure tunnel connection between the network function (104) and the first UE (102a - 102n), wherein the connection request message comprises capability associated with the network function (104) indicating at least the capability of the network function (104) to act as a proxy service node, and characterized in that the capability associated with the network function (104) moreover indicates at least one of: information related to cache memory availability at the network function (104); and information related to number of UEs (102a-102n) for which the network function (104) can be used as the service node for delivery of the content.
  15. An apparatus for a content delivery server (106) configured to operate in a wireless communication network (100) for handling delivery of content associated with a network-delivered service to a plurality of user equipments, UEs (102a-102n), the apparatus comprising a controlling circuitry (806) configured to cause: reception of a connection request message from a network function (104) for establishing a secure tunnel connection between the network function (104) and the content delivery server (106), wherein the connection request message comprising an identifier, ID, of the network function (104) intended to the content delivery server (106) reception of a content request message from a first UE (102a) requesting content associated with the network-delivered service through the network function (104); initiation of delivery of the content to the first UE (102a) with a secure end-to-end tunnel connection through the network function (104); reception of a content request message from a second UE (102b - 102n) requesting content associated with the network-delivered service through the network function (104); determination that the second UE (102b - 102n) is requesting for the content through the same network function (104), through which the content is already delivered for the first UE (102a); and decide to redirect a content request message for the content, from the second UE (102b - 102n), to the network function (104), indicating the second UE (102b - 102n) to receive the content from the network function (104) wherein the connection request message comprises capability associated with the network function (104) indicating at least the capability of the network function (104) to act as a proxy service node, and characterized in that the capability associated with the network function (104) moreover indicates at least one of: information related to cache memory availability at the network function (104); and information related to number of UEs (102a-102n) for which the network function (104) can be used as the service node for delivery of the content.
  16. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium, having thereon a computer program comprising program instructions which, when loaded into and executed by a data processing unit, causes the data processing unit to implement the method according to any of claims 1 to 13.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communication network. More particularly, it relates to methods, network function, content delivery server, and computer program products for handling caching and delivery of content in a wireless communication network. BACKGROUND Video-on-demand is becoming increasingly popular. With video-on-demand, a user can select a particular content and can view the content at the same time. When the user initiates a video-on-demand session, the selected content is delivered from a content server to a user equipment, UE, for example, a mobile phone, smart phone etc., at the user's location, through a wireless communication network. One of the drawbacks associated with video-on-demand systems involves heavy resource allocation. The content servers need to be configured to store large amounts of content. Further, networks must be able to accommodate large volumes of content data. In the wireless communication network, when multiple UEs transmit requests to the content server for accessing the same content, the content server has to provide the same content to all the UEs that are requesting the same content. As a result, large bandwidth is consumed for transmission of the same content to all the UEs. Document titled "A collaborative approach to encrypted traffic", A. Z. Sarker et al., Ericsson, 2020-06-25, retrieved from the Internet - 'https://www.ericsson.com/en/blog/2020/6/a-collaborative-approach-to-encrypted-traffic', downloaded on 2021-10-25, describes a solution of using Multiplexed Application Substrate over QUIC Encryption, MASQUE. The MASQUE offers a framework to use QUIC as substrate to open a tunnel to network proxy nodes. Such a proxy node, or a MASQUE server, can offer various services like QUIC proxy, UDP proxy or IP-forwarding. In addition, the QUIC-based tunneling also enables secure communication between an endpoint and the proxy node. This provides an opportunity to offer additional services like faster loss recovery by the proxy node, exposure of up-to-date network information that can help to assist congestion control, or even in-network bandwidth aggregation of multiple access links. US 2020/287975 A1 discloses a framework to open a tunnel to network proxy nodes. SUMMARY Consequently, there is a need for an improved method and arrangement for handling delivery of content to the clients that alleviates at least some of the above cited problems. It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide a method, a network function, a content delivery server and a computer program product for delivery of the content to the clients to mitigate, alleviate, or eliminate all or at least some of the above-discussed drawbacks of presently known solutions. This and other objects are achieved by means of a method, a network function, a content delivery server and a computer program product as defined in the appended claims. The term exemplary is in the present context to be understood as serving as an instance, example or illustration. According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for handling delivery of content associated with a network-delivered service to user equipments, UEs in a wireless communication network is disclosed. The method is performed by a network function in the wireless communication network. The method comprises transmitting a connection request message to a content delivery server for establishing a secure tunnel connection between the network function and the content delivery server. The connection request message comprising an identifier, ID, of the network function, intended to the content delivery server. The method comprises transmitting a content request message from a first UE to the content delivery server requesting content associated with the network-delivered service for the first UE. The method comprises receiving a delivery request from the content delivery server, said delivery request requesting the network function to store and deliver the content from the network function. The method further comprises forwarding the content to the first UE through a secure tunnel connection between the network function and the first UE. In some embodiments, the ID of the network function intended to the content delivery server represents one or more of: an identity of the network function, an address of the network function, a binary number, and a Multiplexed Application Substrate over QUIC Encryption, MASQUE, ID, and wherein the ID is assigned by a network operator of the network function. In some embodiments, the connection request message comprises a capability associated with the network function indicating at least the capability of the network function to act as a proxy service node. In some embodiments, the capability associated with the network function moreover indicates at least one of: information related to cache memory availability at the network function, and informatio