KR20230116694A - Communication method and apparatus for using upf event exposure service for charging serice in wireless communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a communication method and apparatus for using a user plane function (UPF) event exposure service for charging a service in a wireless communication system, which searches for an UPF supporting an UPF event exposure service. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method performed in a UPF processing sponsored data in a wireless communication system supporting a sponsored data service comprises: a process of receiving a subscription request message for subscribing to a UPF event exposure service from a network exposure function (NEF) which receives a billing creation request from an application function (AF) providing the sponsored data service; a process of performing sponsored billing monitoring for the sponsored data provided from the AF to a terminal on the basis of information included in the subscription request message; and a process of transmitting a usage report message for the sponsored data to a charging function (CHF) in charge of billing processing on the basis of the sponsored billing monitoring.

Description

Communication method and apparatus using UPF event exposure service for billing service in wireless communication system

The present disclosure relates to a communication method and apparatus for a charging service in a wireless communication system.

5G mobile communication technology defines a wide frequency band to enable fast transmission speed and new services. It can also be implemented in the ultra-high frequency band ('Above 6GHz') called Wave. In addition, in the case of 6G mobile communication technology, which is called a system after 5G communication (Beyond 5G), in order to achieve transmission speed that is 50 times faster than 5G mobile communication technology and ultra-low latency reduced to 1/10, tera Implementations in Terahertz bands (eg, such as the 3 Terahertz (3 THz) band at 95 GHz) are being considered.

In the early days of 5G mobile communication technology, there was a need for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine-type communications (mMTC). Beamforming and Massive MIMO to mitigate the path loss of radio waves in the ultra-high frequency band and increase the propagation distance of radio waves, with the goal of satisfying service support and performance requirements, and efficient use of ultra-high frequency resources Various numerology support (multiple subcarrier interval operation, etc.) and dynamic operation for slot format, initial access technology to support multi-beam transmission and broadband, BWP (Band-Width Part) definition and operation, large capacity New channel coding methods such as LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code for data transmission and Polar Code for reliable transmission of control information, L2 pre-processing, and dedicated services specialized for specific services Standardization of network slicing that provides a network has been progressed.

Currently, discussions are underway to improve and enhance performance of the initial 5G mobile communication technology in consideration of the services that the 5G mobile communication technology was intended to support. NR-U (New Radio Unlicensed) for the purpose of system operation that meets various regulatory requirements in unlicensed bands ), NR terminal low power consumption technology (UE Power Saving), non-terrestrial network (NTN), which is direct terminal-satellite communication to secure coverage in areas where communication with the terrestrial network is impossible, positioning, etc. Physical layer standardization of the technology is in progress.

In addition, IAB (Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)), which provides nodes for expanding network service areas by integrating wireless backhaul links and access links, to support new services through linkage and convergence with other industries (Industrial Internet of Things, IIoT) Integrated Access and Backhaul), Mobility Enhancement technology including conditional handover and Dual Active Protocol Stack (DAPS) handover, 2-step random access that simplifies the random access procedure (2-step RACH for Standardization in the field of air interface architecture/protocol for technologies such as NR) is also in progress, and 5G　baseline for grafting Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies Standardization in the field of system architecture/service is also in progress for an architecture (eg, service based architecture, service based interface), mobile edge computing (MEC) for which services are provided based on the location of a terminal, and the like.

When such a 5G mobile communication system is commercialized, the explosively increasing number of connected devices will be connected to the communication network, and accordingly, it is expected that the function and performance enhancement of the 5G mobile communication system and the integrated operation of connected devices will be required. To this end, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), etc. to efficiently support extended reality (XR), artificial intelligence (AI) , AI) and machine learning (ML), new research on 5G performance improvement and complexity reduction, AI service support, metaverse service support, and drone communication will be conducted.

In addition, the development of such a 5G mobile communication system is a new waveform, Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), and Array Antenna for guaranteeing coverage in the terahertz band of 6G mobile communication technology. , multi-antenna transmission technologies such as large scale antennas, metamaterial-based lenses and antennas to improve coverage of terahertz band signals, high-dimensional spatial multiplexing technology using Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM), RIS ( Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface) technology, as well as full duplex technology to improve frequency efficiency and system network of 6G mobile communication technology, satellite, and AI (Artificial Intelligence) are utilized from the design stage and end-to-end (End-to-End) -to-End) Development of AI-based communication technology that realizes system optimization by internalizing AI-supported functions and next-generation distributed computing technology that realizes complex services beyond the limits of terminal computing capabilities by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources could be the basis for

The present disclosure provides a communication method and apparatus using a UPF event exposure service for a billing service in a wireless communication system.

In addition, the present disclosure provides a communication method and apparatus for subscribing to a UPF event exposure service for a billing service in a wireless communication system.

In addition, the present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for providing a sponsored charging service using a UPF event exposure service in a wireless communication system.

Also, the present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for discovering a UPF supporting a UPF event exposure service in a wireless communication system.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed in a user plane function (UPF) for processing sponsored data in a wireless communication system supporting sponsored data service includes AF for providing the sponsored data service. A process of receiving a subscription request message for subscribing to a UPF event exposure service from a network exposure function (NEF) that has received a charge generation request from an application function, and based on information included in the subscription request message, from the AF A process of performing sponsored charging monitoring for the sponsored data provided to the terminal, and based on the sponsored charging monitoring, sending a usage report message for the sponsored data to a charging function (CHF) in charge of billing processing Including the sending process.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a user plane function (UPF) for processing sponsored data in a wireless communication system supporting sponsored data service includes a transceiver and an AF that provides the sponsored data service. A subscription request message for subscribing to the UPF event exposure service is received through the transceiver from the network exposure function (NEF), which has received a charge generation request from the (application function), and based on the information included in the subscription request message , Performs sponsored charging monitoring for the sponsored data provided to the UE from the AF, and reports usage of the sponsored data to a charging function (CHF) in charge of charging based on the sponsored charging monitoring and a processor configured to transmit, via the transceiver, a message.

In addition, a method performed by a network entity in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a process of transmitting a search request message for a search of a UPF supporting a UPF event exposure service to a network repository function (NRF), the search and receiving a search response message including information on the UPF supporting the UPF event exposure service in response to transmission of the request message.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in a wireless communication system, a network entity transmits a search request message for a search of a UPF supporting a UPF event exposure service to a network repository function (NRF) through a transceiver and the transceiver, and a processor configured to receive, through the transceiver, a discovery response message including information on the UPF supporting the UPF event exposure service in response to transmission of the discovery request message.

1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a wireless communication system to which an embodiment of the present disclosure is applied;
2 is a diagram showing an example of a Sponsored Charging service using a UPF event exposure service in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
3 is a flowchart illustrating a Sponsored Charging service method using a UPF event exposure service in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
4 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of a network entity in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, the operating principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present disclosure, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present disclosure, the detailed description will be omitted. In addition, terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present disclosure, which may vary according to intentions or customs of users or operators. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout this specification.

For the same reason, some components are omitted or schematically illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Also, the size of each component does not entirely reflect the actual size. In each figure, the same reference number is assigned to the same or corresponding component.

Advantages and features of the present disclosure, and methods of achieving them, will become clear with reference to the embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below and may be implemented in various different forms, only the present embodiments make the present disclosure complete, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs It is provided to fully inform the person of the scope of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numbers designate like elements throughout the specification.

At this time, it will be understood that each block of the process flow chart diagrams and combinations of the flow chart diagrams can be performed by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be embodied in a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing equipment, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment are described in the flowchart block(s). It creates means to perform functions. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer usable or computer readable memory that can be directed to a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to implement functionality in a particular way, such that the computer usable or computer readable memory The instructions stored in are also capable of producing an article of manufacture containing instruction means that perform the functions described in the flowchart block(s). The computer program instructions can also be loaded on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment, so that a series of operational steps are performed on the computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a computer-executed process to generate computer or other programmable data processing equipment. Instructions for performing processing equipment may also provide steps for performing the functions described in the flowchart block(s).

Additionally, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code that includes one or more executable instructions for executing specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations it is possible for the functions mentioned in the blocks to occur out of order. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in reverse order depending on their function.

The term '~unit' used in this embodiment means a software or hardware component, and '~unit' performs certain roles. However, '~ part' is not limited to software or hardware. '~bu' may be configured to be in an addressable storage medium and may be configured to reproduce one or more processors. Therefore, as an example, '~unit' refers to components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, processes, functions, properties, and procedures. , subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. Functions provided within components and '~units' may be combined into smaller numbers of components and '~units' or further separated into additional components and '~units'. In addition, components and '~units' may be implemented to play one or more CPUs in a device or a secure multimedia card. Also, in the embodiment, '~ unit' may include one or more processors.

In this disclosure, "A and/or B", "A or B", "at least one of A and B", "at least one of A or B", "A, B or C", "A, B and C" Each of the phrases such as “at least one of” and “at least one of A, B, or C” may include any one of the items listed together in the corresponding one of the phrases, or all possible combinations thereof. Terms such as "first", "second", or "first" or "secondary" may simply be used to distinguish that component from other corresponding components, and may refer to that component in other respects (eg, importance or order) is not limited.

In the present disclosure, a user equipment (UE) may be referred to as a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smart phone, a computer, or various electronic devices capable of performing communication functions. In addition, in the present disclosure, a base station is a subject that allocates resources to a UE, and is a gNode B, gNB, eNode B, eNB, Node B, BS, RAN (radio access network), base station controller, or network It may be at least one of the nodes on

In addition, embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to other communication systems having a similar technical background or channel type to the embodiments of the present disclosure described below. In addition, the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to other communication systems through some modification within a range that does not greatly deviate from the scope of the present disclosure based on the judgment of a skilled person with technical knowledge.

In the detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the communication system may use various wired or wireless communication systems. For example, 3GPP, a wireless communication standard standardization organization, is a radio access network on the 5G communication standard New RAN (NR) and a packet core (5G System, or 5G Core Network, or NG Core: Next Generation Core), which is a core network. In addition, it can be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds with slight modifications within the scope of the present disclosure, which will be possible with the judgment of those skilled in the technical field of the present disclosure. .

Hereinafter, a term for identifying a connection node used in the description of the present disclosure, a term for network entities (NFs), a term for messages, and an interface between NFs (Network Functions) A term referring to, a term referring to various pieces of identification information, and the like are illustrated for convenience of description. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms described below, and other terms that refer to objects having equivalent technical meanings may be used.

The 5G system supports network slices, and traffic for different network slices can be handled by different protocol data unit (PDU) sessions. The PDU session may mean an association between a data network providing a PDU connection service and a terminal. The network slice is a set of network functions (NFs) for supporting various services having different characteristics, such as broadband communication service, mission critical service such as massive IoT, V2X, etc., and logically organizes the network. It can be understood as a technique for configuring and separating different network slices. Therefore, even if a communication failure occurs in a certain network slice, communication in other network slices is not affected, so that stable communication service can be provided. In the present disclosure, "slice" may be used interchangeably as a term meaning "network slice". In such a network environment, a terminal can access multiple network slices when receiving various services. The network function (NF) may be implemented as a network element as a software instance running on hardware or a virtualized function instantiated on an appropriate platform.

A mobile communication service provider may configure the network slice and allocate network resources suitable for a specific service for each network slice or set of network slices. The network resource may mean an NF, a logical resource provided by the NF, or radio resource allocation of a base station.

For example, a mobile communication service provider may configure network slice A to provide mobile broadband service, network slice B to provide vehicle communication service, and network slice C to provide broadcast service. That is, in the 5G network as described above, a corresponding service can be efficiently provided to a terminal through a network slice specialized to suit the characteristics of each service. In a 5G system, a network slice may be represented by Single-Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI). The S-NSSAI may include a slice/service type (SST) value and a slice differentiator (SD) value. The SST may indicate characteristics of services supported by the network slice (eg, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), IoT, ultra reliability low latency communication (URLC), V2X, etc.). The SD may be a value used as an additional identifier for a specific service referred to as SST.

In the present disclosure, network technology may refer to standard specifications (eg, TS 23.501, TS 23.502, TS 23.503, etc.) defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) or 3GPP, and the configuration included in the network structure of FIG. 1 Each of the elements may mean a physical entity, or may mean software performing an individual function or hardware combined with the software. In the drawings, reference numerals denoted by Nx, such as N1, N2, N3, ..., indicate known interfaces between NFs in a 5G core network (CN), and related descriptions refer to standard specifications (TS 23.501). Therefore, a detailed description will be omitted.

1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a wireless communication system supporting a Sponsored Charging service using a UPF event exposure service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of a 5G system.

The wireless communication system of FIG. 1 includes a radio access network (RAN) (also referred to as NG-RAN) 101 and a 5G core network (5GC), and the NG-RAN 101 supports radio access technology in a 5G system It may be a base station (eg, gNB, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB), etc.) The NG-RAN 101 transmits control information and/or data from an application function (AF) (or application server (AS)) 104 of an external network via a core network (i.e., 5GC) to a terminal (UE) 100 ) can be provided. In addition, the NG-RAN 101 may provide control information and/or data received from the terminal 100 to the AF 104 through 5GC. 1, 5GC includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 106, a Session Management Function (SMF) 107, a User Plane Function (UPF) 102, a Policy Control Function (PCF) 111, and a Unified UDM (UDM). Data Management) (112), NEF (Network Exposure Function) (113), NRF (Network Repository Function) (110), AUSF (Authentication Server Function) (105), SCP (Service Communication Proxy) (108), NSSF (Network Slice Selection Policy) 109 and the like. Descriptions of entities not directly related to the present disclosure among the network entities will be omitted for convenience.

The AMF 106 is an entity that manages access and mobility of the terminal 100 . The AMF 106 may serve as a terminal-core network endpoint through which the terminal 100 connects to other entity(s) of 5GC through the NG-RAN 101. For example, the AMF 106 may perform network functions such as registration, connection, reachability, mobility management, access confirmation, authentication, and mobility event generation of the terminal 100. there is.

The SMF 107 may perform a management function for a PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session of the terminal 100 . For example, the SMF 107 performs a session management function by maintaining a tunnel between the UPF 102 and the NG-RAN 101 necessary for establishing, modifying, and releasing a session, and allocating an IP (Internet Protocol) address of the terminal 100 It is possible to perform network functions such as management function, user plane selection and control, traffic processing control in UPF 102, billing data collection control, and the like.

The UPF 102 serves to process data of the terminal 100, and transmits data transmitted by the terminal 100 to the AF 104 or transmits data received from the AF 104 to the terminal 100. It can play a role in processing data so that it can be delivered. For example, the UPF 102 serves as an anchor between radio access technologies (RATs), provides connection between a PDU session and the AF 104, packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, and user plane policy. It can perform network functions such as application, traffic usage reporting, buffering, etc. 1 also shows an example of UPF using Nupf service 102a. As shown in FIG. 3 to be described later, the UPF 102 processing data of the user plane is a UPF related to a sponsored charging service from the NEF 113 through the Nupf service 102a according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It may receive an event exposure service subscription request and transmit a response to the subscription request. In response to the UPF event exposure service subscription request, the UPF 102 monitors sponsored charging related to sponsored data provided from the AF 104 to the terminal 100 through the UPF 102. can be performed. Then, the UPF 102 may directly report the monitoring result to a charging function (CHF) (not shown) that handles charging in the 5G system. The CHF may then transmit a sponsored charging report including charging information to the AF 104 . In the existing wireless communication system, signaling of the control plane related to the charging service is directly transferred from the SMF to the CHF, but in the present disclosure, the UPF 102 transmits data of the control plane related to the sponsored charging service between the NEF 113 and the CHF. can be dealt with

The UDM 112 functions such as generating authentication information for 3GPP security, processing a user ID, managing a list of network functions (NF) supporting a terminal, and managing subscription information can be performed. The PCF 111 is an NF that manages operator policy information for providing services in the 5G system.

The NEF 113 may be in charge of transmitting or receiving events occurring in the 5G system and supporting capabilities to the outside. For example, the NEF 113 may perform functions such as safely supplying information of the AF 104 to 5GC, converting internal/external information, and redistributing information received from other NFs. The NRF 110 manages registration information of NFs in the 5G system. In the present disclosure, as in the embodiment of FIG. 3 to be described later, the NEF 113 receives a charge generation request related to the provision of sponsored data from the AF 104 providing sponsored data to the terminal 100, NRF 110 ) to search for a corresponding UPF 102, and transmit a request to subscribe to the UPF event exposure service to the searched UPF 102.

The terminal 100 may access the NG-RAN 101 and register in the 5G system. For example, the terminal 100 may access the NG-RAN 101 and perform a terminal registration procedure with the AMF 106. During the registration procedure, the AMF 106 may determine and allocate a network slice available to the UE accessing the NG-RAN 101 to the UE. The terminal 100 may select a network slice to establish a PDU session for communication with the AF 104 .

In addition, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, basic descriptions of basic operations of network entities and messages transmitted and received between network entities may refer to 3GPP NR standards (eg, TS 23.501, TS 23.502, TS 23.503, etc.) .

The wireless communication system of FIG. 1 may provide the following functions/services in relation to Feasibility Study_UPF enhancement for Exposure And Service-Based Architecture (SBA) (FS_UPEAS).

- Integration of UPF (102) into 5GC SBA

- Avoiding duplicate data transfer and reducing transmission path

- Retrieving the original status or real-time service flow information from UPF 102

- UPF event exposure service

UPF event exposure service(s) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may support functions/services such as a), b), and c) below.

a) Consumption of UPF exposure services by the PCF, Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF), CHF, NEF, Trusted AF and other NFs (if needed) by at least one of the network entities

b) Use of SMF services, PCF services, NWDAF services, CHF services, NEF services, Trusted AF services by the UPF ) NOTE 1: This will not define solutions where UPF exposes information that it is not originator of, i.e. not re-expose information owned and exposed by other NFs.)

c) Relevant Event IDs.

In addition, issues for supporting UPF event exposure service(s) with CHF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure are related to at least one of A), B), and C) below.

A) Information necessary to support online billing services and how to process the information

B) Information necessary to support offline billing service and how to process the information

C) New charging service (for example, information necessary to support sponsored charging service according to the present disclosure and a method for processing the information.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a Sponsored Charging service using a UPF event exposure service in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The example of FIG. 2 is a situation in which among a plurality of terminals 200a, 200b, and 200c, terminals 200a and 200b receive data of service1 (21) and terminal 200c receives data of service2 (22). In , the data of the service1 (21) is sponsored data provided from the AF (205) to the terminals (200a, 200b), and the data of the service2 (22) is from the AF (205) or another AF (not shown) to the terminal ( 200c) is assumed to be non-sponsored data provided. In the example of FIG. 2, data of service1 (21) is transmitted from AF (205) to terminals (200a, 200b) via UPF (202a, 202b) and NG-RAN (201a, 201b), and service2 (22) Data of is transmitted from the AF 205 or other AFs to the terminals 200a and 200b via the UPFs 202a and 202b and the NG-RANs 201a and 201b. UPFs 202a, 202b, and 220c may function as corresponding PDU session anchors (ie, PSA).

Sponsored Charging service, for example, when a user of a terminal subscribes to a paid service (which can be various multimedia services such as broadcasting, movies, sports, and music) provided by AF, the paid service provides a wireless communication system to the terminal. It may include a service that imposes charges on the wireless communication system generated in the process of providing service data through the service provider, that is, the AF, not the user of the terminal. In the example of FIG. 2, when AF (205) requests Sponsored Charging from NEF (204) for Sponsored Charging service, NEF (204) searches for UPFs (202a, 202b) that process data of service1 (21), Sponsored charging monitoring is requested to the discovered UPFs 202a and 202b. UPF (202a, 202b) monitors information necessary for billing, such as the amount of data traffic of service1 (21) and the time when data is serviced from AF to the terminal, and reports the monitoring result directly to CHF, an entity that handles billing (ie Nupf_UsageReport). Then, CHF may transmit a sponsored charging report including charging information related to provision/use of data of service1 21 to AF 205 .

Through the configuration of FIG. 2, Sponsored Charging traffic monitoring service subscription and Sponsored Charging traffic measurement/report transmission can be performed.

The Nupf_EventExposure service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure allows the NF to subscribe to an event ID and receive a notification, and at least one of information 1) and 2) below may be used in the operation of the Nupf_EventExposure_Subscribe service.

1) UE address, Flow description or External Application Identifier

2) Periodic measurement threshold, Volume measurement threshold, Time measurement threshold, Event measurement threshold, Measurement Method

In addition, an example of the configuration of the Nupf_UsageReport transmitted from UPF supporting the Sponsored Charging service using the UPF event exposure service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure to CHF is shown in [Table 1] below.

[Table 1]

3 is a flowchart illustrating a Sponsored Charging service method using a UPF event exposure service in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Since the description of the network entities in the example of FIG. 3 is the same as that of corresponding network entities in the examples of FIGS. 1 and 2 , a description of a basic operation of each network entity will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the NEF receiving the Sponsored Charging service creation request from the AF according to steps 301 to 310 may become a consumer using the UPF event exposure service. The NEF may request the NRF to search for a corresponding UPF that processes sponsored data through a UPF event exposure service discovery procedure with the NRF. In addition, the NEF may request sponsored charging monitoring from the discovered UPF through a procedure for subscribing to a UPF event exposure service related to a sponsored charging service. In addition, the UPF receiving the sponsored charging monitoring request may perform a sponsored charging report to a charging function (CHF) based on the monitoring result.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 3 , in step 301, an AF wishing to use a sponsored charging service transmits a first discovery request message for discovery of an NEF to request creation of a sponsored charging service to the NRF. The first search request message may include information about the AF. In step 302, the AF may receive a first search response message including information on an NEF found in the NRF in response to the first search request message. The first search response message includes identification information (NEF or NEF instance ID, etc.) of the NEF, network address information (Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), IP address, etc.) of the NEF, S-NSSAI corresponding to the AF, and It may include at least one of DNN combination information.

In step 303, the NEF may receive a charging request message requesting creation of a Sponsored Charging service from the AF that has confirmed the information of the NEF. The billing request message includes the identifier of the AF, the identifier of the terminal(s) receiving sponsored data from the AF, the flow description related to the sponsored data service, the application identifier related to the sponsored data service, and the S-NSSAI and DNN corresponding to the AF. At least one of combination information may be included. In step 304, the NEF may include at least one of a transaction reference ID of the Sponsored Charging service and result information (eg grant/deny) of the charging request in response to the charging request message.

In step 305, the NEF transmits a second discovery request message requesting the NRF to search for a corresponding UPF that handles sponsored data through a UPF event exposure service discovery procedure. The second discovery request message includes information indicating that the discovery request is related to the UPF event exposure service (for example, Nupf_EventExposure, UPF, etc.), information about the NEF, and DNN (s) related to the sponsored data service provided to the terminal through AF. ) per S-NSSAI, and at least one of information such as the IP address of the terminal. In step 306, the NEF may receive a second search response message including information on a UPF discovered in the NRF in response to the second search request message. The second discovery response message may include at least one of identification information (UPF or UPF instance ID, etc.) of the corresponding UPF and network address information (FQDN, IP address, etc.) of the corresponding UPF.

After that, in step 307, the UPF receives a subscription request message for subscribing to the UPF event exposure service from the NEF that has identified the UPF through the UPF event exposure service search procedure. The subscription request message includes a UE address using the sponsored data service, a flow description related to the sponsored data service, an application identifier related to the sponsored data service, a sponsored charging monitoring request, and the sponsored charging monitoring ( sponsored charging monitoring) may include at least one of the parameters for the event. The parameters may include, for example, at least one of a period measurement threshold used in sponsored billing monitoring, a volume measurement threshold, a time measurement threshold, an event measurement threshold, and a measurement method. In step 308, the UPF sends a subscription response message including at least one of a subscription correlation ID assigned to a corresponding UPF event exposure service subscription and an expiration time in response to the subscription request message received from the NEF. can be sent to The UPF granting subscription to the UPF event exposure service may perform sponsored charging monitoring for sponsored data provided to the terminal from the AF based on the information included in the subscription request message.

After that, in step 309, the UPF may transmit a usage report message for the sponsored data provided to the terminal from the AF based on the sponsored billing monitoring. The usage report message (Nupf_UsageReport) may include at least one of the information exemplified in [Table 1]. Then, in step 310, the CHF may report sponsored charging to the AF using the sponsored charging service. The sponsored billing report may equally include the information included in the Nupf_UsageReport or may include billing information generated based on the information included in the Nupf_UsageReport. That is, CHF can report Sponsored Charging to AF based on the Nupf_UsageReport received from UPF as in the example of [Table 1] above.

4 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of a network entity in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The network entity of FIG. 4 may be one of network functions (NF) such as a UE, RAN, SMF, AMF, PCF, UDM, NRF, NEF, AF, etc. described in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 3 .

A network entity according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a transceiver including a processor 401, a transmitter, and a receiver for controlling overall operations of the network entity according to one or a combination of two or more of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 3 403 and memory 405. Of course, it is not limited to the above example, and the network entity may include more or fewer components than the configuration shown in FIG. 4 . When the network entity of FIG. 4 is a RAN, the processor 401 and the memory 405, as well as a transceiver for transmitting and receiving signals through the terminal and the wireless network, and a transceiver (or communication interface) for transmitting and receiving signals with the 5GC by wire or wirelessly can include According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the transceiver 403 may transmit/receive a signal with at least one of other network entities or a terminal. A signal transmitted/received with at least one of other network entities or terminals may include at least one of control information and data.

In FIG. 4 , the processor 401 may generally control the operation of a corresponding network entity to perform an operation according to one or a combination of two or more of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 3 . Meanwhile, the processor 401, the transceiver 403, and the memory 405 do not necessarily have to be implemented as separate modules, but may be implemented as a single chip. The processor 401 and the transceiver 403 may be electrically connected. Also, the processor 401 may be an application processor (AP), a communication processor (CP), a circuit, an application-specific circuit, or at least one processor. The transceiver 403 may include a communication interface for transmitting and receiving signals to and from other network entities wired/wireless.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the memory 405 may store data such as a basic program for operation of a corresponding network entity, an application program, and setting information. Also, the memory 905 provides stored data according to a request of the processor 1201 . The memory 405 may include a storage medium such as a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, and a DVD, or a combination of storage media. Also, the number of memories 905 may be plural. In addition, the processor 401 may perform at least one of the above-described embodiments based on a program for performing an operation according to at least one of the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure stored in the memory 405 .

In addition, the program may be performed through a communication network such as the Internet, an Intranet, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide LAN (WLAN), or a Storage Area Network (SAN), or a communication network composed of a combination thereof. It can be stored on an attachable storage device that can be accessed. Such a storage device may be connected to a device performing an embodiment of the present disclosure through an external port. In addition, a separate storage device on a communication network may be connected to a device performing an embodiment of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that the above configuration diagram, exemplary diagram of a control/data signal transmission method, operational procedure exemplary diagram, and configuration diagram are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. That is, all components, network entities, or operational steps described in the embodiments of the present disclosure should not be interpreted as being essential components for the implementation of the disclosure, and the scope in which the essence of the disclosure is not impaired even if only some components are included is included. can be implemented within In addition, each embodiment can be operated in combination with each other as needed. For example, a network entity and a terminal may be operated by combining parts of the methods proposed in the present disclosure.

In the specific embodiments of the present disclosure described above, components included in the disclosure are expressed in singular or plural numbers according to the specific embodiments presented. However, the singular or plural expressions are selected appropriately for the presented situation for convenience of explanation, and the present disclosure is not limited to singular or plural components, and even components expressed in plural are composed of the singular number or singular. Even the expressed components may be composed of a plurality.

The embodiments disclosed in the specification and drawings above are only presented as specific examples to easily explain the contents of the present disclosure and aid understanding, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should be construed as including all changes or modifications derived based on the present disclosure in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims (20)

In a method performed in a user plane function (UPF) for processing sponsored data in a wireless communication system supporting sponsored data service,
receiving a subscription request message for subscribing to a UPF event exposure service from a network exposure function (NEF) that has received a bill generation request from an application function (AF) providing the sponsored data service;
performing sponsored billing monitoring on the sponsored data provided to the terminal from the AF, based on information included in the subscription request message; and
and transmitting a usage report message for the sponsored data to a charging function (CHF) in charge of charging, based on the sponsored charging monitoring.
According to claim 1,
The subscription request message includes at least one of address information of the terminal, an application identifier related to the sponsored data service, a sponsored billing monitoring request, and parameters for a sponsored billing monitoring event.
According to claim 2,
The parameters include at least one of a period measurement threshold, a volume measurement threshold, a time measurement threshold, an event measurement threshold, and a measurement method used in the sponsored billing monitoring.
According to claim 1,
The usage report message includes at least one of a traffic amount of the sponsored data, a start time and an end time of providing the sponsored data service to the terminal.
According to claim 1,
The method further comprising transmitting a subscription response message including a subscription correlation ID assigned to the UPF event exposure service subscription to the NEF in response to receiving the subscription request message.
In a user plane function (UPF) for processing sponsored data in a wireless communication system supporting sponsored data service,
transceiver; and
Receiving, through the transceiver, a subscription request message for subscribing to a UPF event exposure service from a network exposure function (NEF) that has received a charge generation request from an application function (AF) providing the sponsored data service;
Performs sponsored charging monitoring for the sponsored data provided to the terminal from the AF based on information included in the subscription request message;
and a processor configured to transmit, through the transceiver, a usage report message for the sponsored data to a charging function (CHF) in charge of charging, based on the sponsored charging monitoring.
According to claim 6,
The subscription request message includes at least one of address information of the terminal, an application identifier related to the sponsored data service, a sponsored billing monitoring request, and parameters for a sponsored billing monitoring event.
According to claim 7,
wherein the parameters include at least one of a period measurement threshold, a volume measurement threshold, a time measurement threshold, an event measurement threshold, and a measurement method used in the sponsored billing monitoring.
According to claim 6,
The usage report message includes at least one of a traffic amount of the sponsored data, a start time and an end time of providing the sponsored data service to the terminal.
According to claim 6,
The processor is configured to transmit, through the transceiver, a subscription response message including a subscription correlation ID assigned to the UPF event exposure service subscription to the NEF in response to reception of the subscription request message. More configured UPF.
In a method performed in a network entity in a wireless communication system,
Transmitting a search request message for a search of a UPF supporting a UPF event exposure service to a network repository function (NRF); and
and receiving a search response message including information on the UPF supporting the UPF event exposure service in response to transmission of the search request message.
According to claim 11,
The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the UPF includes UPF instance information.
According to claim 11,
The network entity includes a network exposure function (NEF),
The NEF receives a charge creation request from an AF (application function) providing a sponsored data service, and then performs the transmission and reception processes to check the information about the UPF supporting the UPF event exposure service. .
According to claim 13,
transmitting a subscription request message for subscribing to a UPF event exposure service to the identified UPF; and
The method further comprising receiving a subscription response message for subscribing to the UPF event exposure service from the UPF.
15. The method of claim 14,
The subscription request message includes at least one of address information of the terminal, an application identifier related to the sponsored data service, a sponsored billing monitoring request, and parameters for a sponsored billing monitoring event,
The subscription response message includes a subscription correlation ID assigned to the UPF event exposure service subscription.
In a network entity in a wireless communication system,
transceiver; and
Transmitting a search request message for a search of a UPF supporting a UPF event exposure service to a network repository function (NRF) through the transceiver;
and a processor configured to receive, through the transceiver, a discovery response message including information about the UPF supporting the UPF event exposure service in response to transmission of the discovery request message.
17. The method of claim 16,
wherein the information on the UPF includes UPF instance information.
17. The method of claim 16,
The network entity includes a network exposure function (NEF),
The NEF receives a charge generation request from an AF (application function) providing a sponsored data service, and then performs the transmission and reception processes to confirm the information about the UPF supporting the UPF event exposure service Network entity.
According to claim 18,
the processor,
Transmitting a subscription request message for subscribing to a UPF event exposure service to the identified UPF through the transceiver;
The network entity further configured to receive, via the transceiver, a subscription response message for subscription to the UPF event exposure service from the UPF.
According to claim 19,
The subscription request message includes at least one of address information of the terminal, an application identifier related to the sponsored data service, a sponsored billing monitoring request, and parameters for a sponsored billing monitoring event,
The subscription response message includes a subscription correlation ID assigned to the UPF event exposure service subscription.

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