Granted Patent B2

US 12,598,656 · App. 18/713,981 · Granted Apr 7, 2026

Inventors: Jinguo Zhu (Shenzhen, CN); Lijuan Chen (Shenzhen, CN); Qiang Huang (Shenzhen, CN); Qiang Zhang (Shenzhen, CN)

Assignee: ZTE CORPORATION

H04W76/12H04W28/0215H04W28/0226H04W76/32

Abstract

Claims (42)

1 . A wireless communication method, applied to an application function in a wireless communication system, wherein the system further comprises a session management function, a first local user plane function, a second local user plane function, a first application server, a second application server, and a user equipment, wherein the method comprises:

receiving, by the application function from the session management function, a message indicating that a tunnel between the first local user plane function for the first application server and the second local user plane function for the second application server is established; and

transmitting, by the application function to the first application server, a tunnel ready notification to allow the first application server to transfer an application layer traffic to the second application server via the tunnel;

wherein the first local user plane function is connected to the first application server via a first N6 interface, and the second local user plane function is connected to the second application server via a second N6 interface;

wherein the application function is configured to transmit a tunnel creation request to the session management function to create the tunnel, wherein the tunnel refers to an Nx tunnel established by the session management function through an N4 session modification procedure towards the first local user plane function and the second local user plane function;

wherein the tunnel creation request comprises a traffic description that is used by the first local user plane function for detecting the application layer traffic; and

wherein the first application server and the second application server are edge application servers and provide local service to the user equipment.

2 . The wireless communication method of claim 1 , wherein the application layer traffic comprises an application context of the first application server.

3 . The wireless communication method of claim 1 , wherein the application function is configured to transmit relocation information to the session management function indicating that the first application server is relocated to the second application server.

4 . The wireless communication method of claim 1 , wherein the tunnel create request further comprises at least one of:

a traffic description, used by the first local user plane function for detecting the application layer traffic;

traffic routing information, used by the second local user plane function for routing the application layer traffic to the second application server; or

target Data Network Access Information (DNAI) used by the session management function for selecting the second application server for establishing the tunnel.

5 . The wireless communication method of claim 1 , wherein the application function is configured to transmit a tunnel delete request to the session management function to release the tunnel.

6 . A wireless communication server, comprising:

a communication unit; and

a processor configured to:

receive, from a session management function, a message indicating that a tunnel between a first local user plane function for a first application server and a second local user plane function for a second application server is established; and

transmit, to the first application server, a tunnel ready notification to allow the first application server to transfer an application layer traffic to the second application server via the tunnel;

wherein the first local user plane function is connected to the first application server via a first N6 interface, and the second local user plane function is connected to the second application server via a second N6 interface;

wherein the processor is configured to transmit a tunnel creation request to the session management function to create the tunnel, wherein the tunnel refers to an Nx tunnel established by the session management function through an N4 session modification procedure towards the first local user plane function and the second local user plane function;

wherein the tunnel creation request comprises a traffic description that is used by the first local user plane function for detecting the application layer traffic; and

wherein the first application server and the second application server are edge application servers and provide local service to a user equipment.

7 . The wireless communication server of claim 6 , wherein the application layer traffic comprises an application context of the first application server.

8 . The wireless communication server of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to transmit relocation information to the session management function indicating that the first application server is relocated to the second application server.

9 . The wireless communication server of claim 6 , wherein the tunnel create request further comprises at least one of:

traffic routing information, used by the second local user plane function for routing the application layer traffic to the second application server; or

target Data Network Access Information (DNAI) used by the session management function for selecting the second application server for establishing the tunnel.

10 . The wireless communication server of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to transmit a tunnel delete request to the session management function to release the tunnel.

11 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which is configured to store a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform a wireless communication method, where the method comprises:

controlling an application function to receive a message from a session management function, the message indicating that a tunnel between a first local user plane function for a first application server and a second local user plane function for a second application server is established; and

controlling the application function to transmit a tunnel ready notification to the first application server, to allow the first application server to transfer an application layer traffic to the second application server via the tunnel;

wherein the first local user plane function is connected to the first application server via a first N6 interface, and the second local user plane function is connected to the second application server via a second N6 interface;

wherein the application function is configured to transmit a tunnel creation request to the session management function to create the tunnel, wherein the tunnel refers to an Nx tunnel established by the session management function through an N4 session modification procedure towards the first local user plane function and the second local user plane function;

wherein the tunnel creation request comprises a traffic description that is used by the first local user plane function for detecting the application layer traffic; and

wherein the first application server and the second application server are edge application servers and provide local service to a user equipment.

12 . The storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the application layer traffic comprises an application context of the first application server.

13 . The storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the application function is configured to transmit relocation information to the session management function indicating that the first application server is relocated to the second application server.

14 . The storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the tunnel create request further comprises at least one of:

traffic routing information, used by the second local user plane function for routing the application layer traffic to the second application server; or

target Data Network Access Information (DNAI) used by the session management function for selecting the second application server for establishing the tunnel.

15 . The storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the application function is configured to transmit a tunnel delete request to the session management function to release the tunnel.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (69)