EP-4740431-A1 - SYSTEM AND METHODS TO SUPPORT DIGITAL WORLD APPLICATIONS

EP4740431A1EP 4740431 A1EP4740431 A1EP 4740431A1EP-4740431-A1

Abstract

A system comprises a Location Data Processing Function (LDPF), a Real World to Digital World Adaptation Function (R2DAF), and a Digital World to Real World Adaptation Function (D2RAF). The system is integrated into infrastructure of a mobile network (MN) and supports digital world (DW) sessions. The LDPF receives Sensor Data from sensors potentially integrated into an access network (AN) and sends the Sensor Data to the R2DAF. The R2DAF receives the Sensor Data from the LDPF, adapts the Sensor Data to generate DW input information, and sends the DW input information toward DW application servers (DWASs). The D2RAF apparatus receives DW information from the DWASs, generates actuator commands based on the DW information, adapts the actuator commands to control real world (RW) actuators, and sends the adapted actuator commands toward the RW actuators, which are potentially integrated into the AN.

Inventors

DAO, Ngoc Dung

Assignees

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20230719

Claims (20)

A method for supporting digital world (DW) sessions, the method comprising: by a first function of a mobile network (MN) , performing one or more of operations including: receiving digital world (DW) information from a second function of the MN or from a controller of a data network (DN) , the DW information supporting at least one DW session, wherein the at least one DW session provides data connection or computing services or both for an electronic device and the DN; selecting, based at least in part on the DW information, one or more network functions from a plurality of network functions of the MN; and configuring or initiating configuration of the one or more network functions of the MN to support the at least one DW session according to the DW information.
The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more network functions include at least one of: a third function, the third function is configured to receive Sensor Data from one or more sensors integrated into an access network (AN) or operatively coupled to the AN, and generate real world (RW) data; a fourth function, the fourth function is configured to perform adaptation of actuator commands to control one or more RW actuators integrated into or operatively coupled to the AN and send the adapted actuator commands toward the one or more RW actuators; a fifth function, the fifth function is configured to receive the RW Data from the third function, and perform adaptation of the RW Data to generate the DW Data based at least in part on the RW Data; a sixth function, the sixth function is configured to provide policies for managing the MN; a seventh function, the seventh function is configured to store the DW Information at the seventh function or at another storage function, and send response messages to the first function; and an eighth function, the eighth function is for forwarding the DW data and the DW Actuator Operation Commands between the MN and the DN.
The method of claim 2, further comprising one or more of: sending a request message to the seventh function, the request message including the DW Information; receiving a response message from the seventh function; and sending a First Acknowledgement message to the second function or to the controller, wherein the response message is to confirm that the seventh function has received the DW Information, or that the DW Information has been stored or both, and wherein the First Acknowledgement message is to confirm that the DW information has been received by the first function, or has been stored, or both.
The method of claim 2 or 3, further comprising one or more of: sending the DW Information to the sixth function ; and receiving a Second Acknowledgement message from the sixth function, wherein the Second Acknowledgement message is to confirm receipt of the DW Information by the sixth function.
The method according to any one of claims 2-4, wherein the one or more network functions includes the third function, and the DW information includes information of an artificial intelligence (AI) model, the method further comprising: sending the Information of the AI model to the third function, the information of AI model is for identifying the AI model; and receiving from the third function a Third Acknowledgement message, wherein the third acknowledgement message is to confirm receipt of the information of the AI model by the third function.
The method claim 5 further comprising one or more of: sending DW Object Information to the fifth function; and receiving from the fifth function a Fourth Acknowledgement message; wherein the DW information includes the DW Object Information, and wherein the Fourth Acknowledgement message is to confirm receipt of the DW Object Information by the fifth function.
The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6 further comprising one or more of: sending RW Actuator Information to the fourth function; and receiving from the fourth function a Fifth Acknowledgement message, wherein the DW information includes the RW Actuator Information, and wherein the Fifth Acknowledgement message is to confirm receipt of the RW Actuator Information by the fourth function.
The method of claim 6, wherein the DW Object Information represents one or more of a human, an animal, a bird, and a thing.
The method of claim 7, wherein the RW Actuator Information includes one or more of: an external actuator ID, an actuator IP address, an actuator port number, a type of actuator, an actuator Ethernet address, and QoS parameters.
The method of claim 5, wherein the AI model detects RW objects, and wherein the Information of the AI Model includes an AI model ID.
The method of claim 2, further comprising one or more of: obtaining configuration information from the controller of the DN, the configuration information for supporting the at least one DW session; and configuring the one or more network functions of the MN, the AN, or a combination thereof based on the configuration information.
The method of claim 11, wherein the configuring the one or more network functions comprises one or more of: causing the one or more network functions to register one or more DW applications; causing the one or more network functions to associate one or more of the operations with the one or more DW applications; and establishing parameters for use by the one or more network functions in performing the one or more operations in association with the one or more DW applications.
The method of claim 11, wherein said obtaining configuration information comprises one or more of: receiving a DW Session Information message from the second function or from the controller; generating a DW Session ID based on one or more of an application ID, a controller ID, and a data network (DN) ID;and sending a DW Session Information Acknowledgement message to the second function or to the controller.
The method of claim 13, wherein the second function receives the DW Session Information message from the controller, and wherein the second function forwards the DW Session Information Acknowledgement message to the controller.
The method of claim 13 or 14, wherein the DW Session Information message from the controller includes one or more of a location of a DW Session, DW Session time information, a digital world terminal (DWT) ID, a user equipment (UE) ID, a DW application ID, a DW external session ID, a controller ID, the DN ID, an ID of a point of access to the DN hosting a Digital World Application Server (DWAS) , quality of service (QoS) requirements, types of sensing data to be collected, an artificial intelligence (AI) model ID, at least one RW object ID, and at least one action ID; wherein the location of the DW session includes one or more of a civil address, an access network (AN) ID, a cell ID, and a geographical area; wherein the DW Session time information includes one or more of a start time, and an end time; wherein the QoS requirements include one or more of an average data bit rate of a data flow, a maximum data bit rate of the data flow, an average data bit rate of all data flows of the DW Session, a maxim data bit rate of the all data flows of the DW Session, a packet delay budget of the data flow, a processing delay budget of the data flow; wherein the types of sensing data include one or more of a radio signal, a radar signal, a video signal, an infrared signal, an ultraviolet signal, an infrasound signal, and an audio signal; wherein objects include one or more of humans, vehicles, airplanes, drones, cyclists, pedestrians, pedestrian crossings, helicopters, animals, birds, fire hydrants, debris in the air, debris on the ground, robots, traffic signs, sidewalks, roads, curbs, trees, lawns, fences, pot holes, light poles, building structures, damaged roads, damaged sidewalks, obstructions on the roads, and obstructions on the sidewalks; and wherein actions include one or more of falling, walking, crawling, standing, sitting, turning, rolling, rotating, pitching, flying, tumbling, collapsing, gliding, floating, skating, sailing, moving, vibrating, rocking, wobbling, jumping, burning, flooding, flowing, exploding, smocking, raining, shooting, stabbing, striking, shouting, crying, speaking, running, lighting on, lighting off, flashing, a movement of an eye, a movement of a mouth, a movement of a body, a movement of a head, a movement of an arm, a movement of a hand, and a movement of a leg.
The method of claim 13 or 14, wherein the DW Session Information Acknowledgement message from the first function includes an eighth function IP address, an eighth function port number to receive downlink packets for the DW Session, a DW External Session ID, a fourth function ID, a fourth function IP address, a fourth function port number, or a combination thereof.
The method of claim 2, wherein the first function configures the third function to receive the Sensor Data via third function operations comprising one or more of: sending to the third function a Third Function Configuration message; and receiving from the third function a Third Function Configuration Acknowledgement message; wherein the Third Function Configuration message from the first function includes a location of the DW Session, time information, a digital world terminal (DWT) ID, a user equipment (UE) ID, a DW application ID, an DW session ID, an controller ID, the DN ID, an ID of a point of access to the DN hosting a Digital World Application Server (DWAS) , quality of service (QoS) requirements, types of sensing data to be collected, an artificial intelligence (AI) model ID, at least one RW object ID, at least one action ID, or a combination thereof; wherein the location of the DW session includes a civil address, an AN ID, a cell ID, a geographical area, or a combination thereof; wherein the DW session time information includes one or more of a start time, and an end time; wherein the QoS requirements include an average data bit rate of a data flow, a maximum data bit rate of the data flow, an average data bit rate of all data flows of the DW Session, a maxim data bit rate of the all data flows of the DW Session, a packet delay budget of the data flow, a processing delay budget of the data flow, or a combination thereof; wherein the types of sensing data include one or more of a radio signal, a radar signal, a video signal, an infrared signal, an ultraviolet signal, an infrasound signal, and an audio signal; wherein objects include one or more of humans, vehicles, airplanes, drones, cyclists, pedestrians, pedestrian crossings, helicopters, animals, birds, fire hydrants, debris in the air, debris on the ground, robots, traffic signs, sidewalks, roads, curbs, trees, lawns, fences, pot holes, light poles, building structures, damaged roads, damaged sidewalks, obstructions on the roads, and obstructions on the sidewalks; and wherein actions include one or more of falling, walking, crawling, standing, sitting, turning, rolling, rotating, pitching, flying, tumbling, collapsing, gliding, floating, skating, sailing, moving, vibrating, rocking, wobbling, jumping, burning, flooding, flowing, exploding, smocking, raining, shooting, stabbing, striking, shouting, crying, speaking, running, lighting on, lighting off, flashing, a movement of an eye, a movement of a mouth, a movement of a body, a movement of a head, a movement of an arm, a movement of a hand, and a movement of a leg.
The method of claim 2, wherein the first function configures the fourth function to perform adaptation of actuator commands to control the one or more RW actuators via fourth function operations comprising one or more of: sending a Fourth Function Configuration message to the fourth function; and receives a Fourth Function Configuration Acknowledgement message from the fourth function; wherein the Fourth Function Configuration message includes the application ID, or the DW Session ID, or an eighth function ID, or information about actuators, or information about an access network (AN) node, or quality of service (QoS) requirements, or a combination thereof; wherein the information about actuators includes respective actuator external IDs, or respective actuator internal IDs, or respective actuator IP addresses, or respective actuator port numbers, or a combination thereof; and wherein the information about the AN node includes an ID of the AN node, or a cell ID, an IP address of the AN node, or a port number of the AN node, or a combination thereof.
The method of claim 2, wherein the first function configures the fifth function to receive the RW Data from the third function and perform adaptation of the RW data via fifth function operations comprising one or more of: sending a Fifth Function Configuration message to the fifth function, and receiving a Fifth Function Configuration Acknowledgement message from the fifth function, wherein the Fifth Function Configuration message from the first function includes the application ID, the DW session ID, an eighth function ID, an eighth function port number, or a combination thereof.
The method of claim 2, wherein the first function configures the eighth function via eighth function operations comprising one or more of: sending a Eighth Function Configuration message to the eighth function; and receiving a Eighth Function Configuration Acknowledgement message from the eighth function, wherein the Eighth Function Configuration message includes quality of service (QoS) requirements, or traffic forwarding rules, or information on packet filters in an uplink (UL) and a downlink (DL) , or an AN address, or a combination thereof; and wherein the Eighth Function Configuration Acknowledgement message includes one or more of an IP address of the eighth function, and a tunnel ID for the AN to send UL packets to the DWAS via the eighth function.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHODS TO SUPPORT DIGITAL WORLD APPLICATIONS TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure generally pertains to digital world sessions and, in particular, to a system, apparatuses, and methods to support multiple digital world sessions and digital world applications in a mobile network. BACKGROUND The 5G system has been designed to support ultra reliable low latency communication (URLLC) , and high data rate. However, the 5G system may lack functionalities required to support digital world applications. An example of a digital world application is MetaTM Metaverse. For example, current 5G networks may lack sensing capability and functions to process sensing data. Furthermore, there may be no specific functions in mobile networks to support specific features of some digital world applications. A digital terminal or a user equipment (UE) may also have no or limited sensing capabilities and computing resources to process sensor data. Additionally, the cost to transfer large amount of digital user and environment data over the 5G wireless links may limit the usage of some digital world applications in 5G mobile network. It therefore remains an open question of how a mobile network operator (MNO) might efficiently support digital world applications. Conventional 5G networks lack sensing capability and functions to processing sensing data. Furthermore, there are no specific functions in mobile networks to support specific features of digital world applications. Therefore, improvements in systems to support digital world applications are desirable. This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention. SUMMARY The present disclosure relates to methods, apparatus and systems for supporting digital world applications. Various functionalities, such as network functions, sensors, actuators, or a combination thereof, are integrated into a mobile network for this purpose. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for supporting digital world (DW) sessions. The method includes, by a first function, such as a digital world support function (DWSF) of a mobile network (MN) , performing one or more of operations. The operations include receiving digital world (DW) information from a second function of the MN, such as a Control Plane Gateway Function (CPGW) or from a controller, such as a Digital World Controller (DWC) , of a data network (DN) or a Digital World Application Server (DWAS) . The DW information supports at least one DW session. The at least one DW session provides data connection, computing services or both for an electronic devices and the DN. The DW information may include one or more of DW application ID, a DWC ID, the DN ID, an ID of a point of access to the DN hosting a Digital World Application Server (DWAS) , one or more of DW session locations, DW session time, quality of service (QoS) requirements, types of sensing data to be collected, an artificial intelligence (AI) model ID, at least one RW object ID, an RW object list, at least one action ID, and an action list. The location of the DW session may include one or more of a civil address, an access network (AN) ID, a cell ID, and a geographical area. The DW Session time information may include one or more of a start time, and an end time. The QoS requirements may include an average data bit rate of a data flow, a maximum data bit rate of the data flow, an average data bit rate of all data flows of a DW Session, a maximum data bit rate of the all data flows of the DW Session, a packet delay budget of the data flow, a processing delay budget of the data flow, or a combination thereof. The operations further include selecting, based at least in part on the DW information, one or more network functions from a plurality of network functions integrated into infrastructure of the MN, and configuring or initiating configuration of the one or more network functions of the MN to support the at least one DW session according to the DW information. The one or more network functions may include a third function such as a Location Data Processing Function (LDPF) , a fourth function such as a Digital World to Real World Adaptation Function (D2RAF) , a fifth function such as a Real World to Digital World Adaptation Function (R2DAF) , a sixth function such as a Policy Function (PF) , a seventh function such as a Data Storage Function (DSF) , and an eighth function such as a User Plane Gate Way (UPGW) . The third function is configured to receive Sensor Data from one or more sensors integrated into an access network (AN) or operatively coupled to the AN, and generate real world (RW) data. The fourth function is configured to perform adaptation of actuator commands to control one or