EP-4740524-A1 - METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR A USER TO CONTROL NETWORK SERVICES BY A VIRTUAL USER EQUIPMENT

Abstract

This invention is directed to a method, an apparatus, and a system to enable a user to interact, manage, and control certain aspects of its own traffic by providing the user with controllable network functions and associated interfaces within the mobile network architecture. The network function may be provided in a trusted execution environment isolated from the operator. Depending on a virtual user equipment type different network functions like control plane, data plane, data storage and computing facilities are provided. Some functionalities of these functions include interacting with the user to obtain user context and data, authentication of the user and authorization on behalf of the user, interacting with a network to control certain aspects of the user traffic or to obtain the user traffic for internal processing, storing data when the user is offline, firewall functions for the user traffic and sharing user data with the network preserving privacy.

Inventors

• SENARATH, NIMAL GAMINI
• AKHAVAIN MOHAMMADI, Mehdi Arashmid

Assignees

• Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date

20260513

Application Date

20230706

Claims (20)

1. A method for a user equipment (UE) to control a network service obtained from a network, the method comprising, by a control, management and operation (CMO) function module instantiated in the network: receiving, from the UE, a request for the UE to control the network service offered by the network; in response to the request, instantiating at least one network function (NF) configured to be controlled by the UE; and configuring the at least one NF to control the network service in accordance with instructions received from UE.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, by the CMO function module: indicating to the UE that the UE controls the network service.
3. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising, by the CMO function module: instantiating a NF module defining a virtual UE (VUE) , the VUE comprising the at least one NF.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein: the UE is controlled by a user at the UE or a user application running at the UE, and at least one of the at least one NF is configured to receive instructions from the UE in accordance with input provided by the user at the UE or by a user application running at the UE.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein: the at least one NF is configured to coordinate with the CMO function module to control the network service.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the network is configured to do at least one of: provide to the UE, software configured to communicate with the VUE; provide authentication keys to the UE and to the VUE to enable secure communication between the UE and the VUE; provide a procedure for the UE to control the network service, the procedure defining how to establish a communication session for the network service; provide identifiers to be used by the CMO function module to identify messages associated to a control of the network service; and provide addresses of functions with which the UE has to communicate to control the network service.
7. The method of claim 3, wherein the network comprises a trusted execution environment (TEE) within which the VUE operates, wherein the VUE is isolated from the network and permission to access the at least one network function and data inside the TEE is controlled by the VUE according to an access policy.
8. The method of claim 3, wherein the VUE has at least one VUE policy that defines how the VUE and the at least one network function operate, the at least one VUE policy being based on one or more of: a UE policy set by a user of the UE or by a user application running at the UE; privacy schemes provided by the network; an access policy defining the permission to access the functions and data inside the VUE; and network environment information comprised of one or more of: network privacy preserving methods; information about network functions inside the CMO function module; a network topology; and a charging method to charge for network services.
9. The method of claim 3, wherein: the CMO function module includes a VUE creation function (VUCF) ; and the request for the UE to control the network service is received at the VUCF and provided by the VUCF to an orchestrator configured to generate the VUE.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein: the function module includes a life cycle management (LCM) function configured to: request the instantiation, modification and termination of the VUE from an orchestrator; and receive, from the orchestrator, a message indicating to the VUE that the request has been executed.
11. The method of claim 3, wherein at least one of the at least one NF is configured to coordinate with the VUE and take actions in accordance with requests made by the VUE to control the network service.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one NF is configured to operate as at least one of: a control plane function; a user plane function; a data storage function; and a computing facilities function.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one NF is further configured to do at least one of: authenticate the UE; authorize on behalf of the UE; interact with the UE to obtain a user context; control the user traffic; obtain the user traffic/data for internal processing; control access to the at least one NF and data associated with the VUE; interact with the UE to obtain user data; store at least a portion of the user data; share at least a part of the user data with the network; and control or manage the other NFs in VUE (See 165) .
14. The method of claim 3, wherein the UE, through the VUE, controls the network service, the network service including at least one of: a UE traffic service based on a user traffic policy; a data processing service of data associated with the UE; and a life cycle management (LCM) service of the at least one NF inside the CMO function module, the LCM service including at least one of an instantiation of the at least one NF, a scaling of NF resources used by the at least one NF and a termination of the at least one NF.
15. The method of claim 3, wherein: the network comprises a core network having core NFs, and the VUE is configured to control the core NFs, the core NFs including at least one of: a routing function, a data processing function and a traffic forwarding function.
16. A method for a user equipment (UE) to obtain a User-Centric Management and Control (UCM) service offered by a network, the method comprising, by a control, management and operation (CMO) function module instantiated in the network: receiving, from the UE, a request for the UCM service; and generating a virtual UE (VUE) , the VUE having at least one NF configured to be controlled exclusively by the UE, the at least one NF configured to coordinate with the network to provide the UCM service.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein generating the VUE includes sending a request to an orchestrator to instantiate the VUE, the method further comprising: receiving, from the orchestrator, a message indicating an instantiation of the VUE.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein: the UE is controlled by a user at the UE or a user application running at the UE, and the at least one NF is configured to receive instructions from the UE in accordance with input provided by the user at the UE or by a user application running at the UE.
19. The method of claim 16, wherein: the UCM service is a selected UCM service; and the orchestrator is configured to access blueprints that define creation, configuration and operation procedures for a VUE type, each VUE type being configured to provide one or more than one UCM service offered by the network, the selected UCM service being one of the one or more than one UCM service.
20. The method of claim 17, further comprising, by the CMO function module: sending, to the UE, a notification message notifying the UE that the UCM service is available.

Description

METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR A USER TO CONTROL NETWORK SERVICES BY A VIRTUAL USER EQUIPMENT TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure pertains to a field of data communications and in particular to a method, an apparatus, and a system to enable a user equipment (UE) to interact, manage, and control certain aspects of the user’s own traffic including the network services provided by the network. BACKGROUND Public land mobile networks (PLMNs) are designed to provide connectivity services to users and UEs. The concept of user centric networks (UCNs) improves user network experience by dynamically adapting a network structure to individual user contexts such as UE location or mobility conditions. An example of a UCN service is a ‘free cell’s tructure formed by a group of wireless access points (APs) . In the free cell, a set of access points may be dynamically selected based on a location of a UE and changed according to the user’s UE mobility path or conditions. Future networks may become more and more ‘user-centric’ as users require/demand more ownership and control over their services, i.e., these future networks are expected to provide increased user empowerment. UCNs may be designed in a way for a user, through their UE, to have more control over services provided by a network or more control over the network providing these services to the user. Current UCN designs may be configured to capture and adapt to individual UE contexts such as the location and the mobility of an individual UE. In communication networks, a UE is treated as a separate entity that requires connectivity services from the network. UE may also assist the network to improve UE’s communications services or network operations, either through providing data to the network or by acting as a part of the network infrastructure (e.g., as a relay) . The UE’s involvement in the UCN operation constitutes a branch of the UCN services and these user empowerment services are termed User Controlled and Managed services (UCM services) in this document. Traditional UE may be viewed as having two parts: the network access device (NAD) , which has network access components, and a user personal device (UPD) , which has components (both software and hardware) that are used to process user applications and personal data. While the UPD may have personal data of UE operators (users) , the NAD is considered isolated from the personal data. However, certain NAD information such as the NAD location and the NAD’s sensor data may still be considered as the user equipment operator’s personal data. In the context of the present disclosure the term UE refers to a both the UPD and the NAD. In conventional networks a UE can only select services from a predetermined set of communication service types (e.g., URLLC, Video service with specific quality, etc. ) the set of communication services being defined by the network. And the UE cannot control or manage how the network behaves or how the UE’s traffic could be facilitated. In 5G networks it may be possible to engage a complete network slice for a dedicated UE by acting as a vertical such as enterprise. However, such slices in the 5G networks are costly and would be wasteful when used for a single UE and even in this case, the UE cannot control the network services, instead UE can select a certain type of slice for its exclusive use. Therefore, improvements in communication networks are desirable. This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present disclosure. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present disclosure. SUMMARY In the context of the present disclosure the expression ‘user-centric management and control (UCM) ’s ervices is used to indicate the services that can be offered by networks to control and manage the user services according to the present disclosure. A proposed UCN design type facilitates the ability of a UE to control services and their features provided by a network, or to manage the network components that provide these services and features to the UE. These services are termed user controlled and managed (UCM) services in the context of the present disclosure. The present disclosure relates to embodiments of a method, an apparatus and a system configured to provide UEs with different types of UCM services and features or user empowerment levels through instantiation of a UE controllable network function inside a network while preserving the UE operator’s privacy. As this UE controllable network function can act on behalf of the UE to closely interact with the functions in the network, the term Virtual UE (VUE) may be used for this functionality. Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a method, an apparatus, and systems configured to enable UEs to interact, manage, and control certain aspects of their own