Methods and apparatus for use in reducing signal latency in a mobile network with use of localized unified data management (UDM) entities

1. A method comprising:

at a network function (NF) entity comprising a state aggregation function in a mobile network,

providing for storage of, in a database (DB), current state information associated with each user equipment (UE) of a plurality of a-UEs, the current state information associated with each UE including a current operating state of each NF of a plurality of NFs across each network slice of a plurality of network slices assigned to the UE; and

providing access to and/or change notifications for the current state information in the DB for the plurality of NFs in the mobile network.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NF entity comprising the state aggregation function is provided as a common slice in a 5G core network.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein providing the access to and/or state change notifications for the current state information in the DB further comprises:

providing the access to and/or change notifications for the current state information in the DB for the plurality of NFs across the plurality of network slices.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

safeguarding access to the current state information in the DB for each NF based on an assigned token and an access control list (ACL).

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining the current state information with use of a publish-subscribe interprocess communication (IPC) comprising:

registering, as a subscriber, for one or more subscriptions to receive the current state information which is published by the plurality of NFs across each network slice.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NF entity comprising the state aggregation function includes a centralized state aggregation function and the DB includes comprises a centralized DB, the method further comprising:

at another NF entity comprising a slice-specific state aggregation function in the mobile network,

providing for storage of, in a slice-specific DB, slice-specific current state information associated with each UE of the plurality of UEs, the slice-specific current state information comprising a plurality of slice-specific current operating states associated with a subset of the plurality of NFs in a specific network slice of the plurality of network slices assigned to the UE; and

providing access to the slice-specific DB for the subset of the plurality of NFs in the specific network slice in the mobile network.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NF entity comprising the state aggregation function includes a centralized state aggregation function and the DB includes a centralized DB, the method further comprising:

at each one of a set of NF entities, each including a slice-specific state aggregation function in the mobile network,

providing for storage of, in a slice-specific DB, slice-specific current state information associated with each UE of a plurality of UEs, each slice-specific current state information includes a plurality of slice-specific current operating states associated with a subset of the plurality of NFs in a specific network slice of the plurality of network slices assigned to the UE; and

providing access to the slice-specific DB for the subset of the plurality of NFs in the specific network slice in the mobile network.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining, by the state aggregation function, the current operating state of each of the plurality of NFs of a network slice from among the plurality of network slices,

wherein a plurality of current operating states comprises a mobility state, a session state, and a policy state.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of NFs include a session management function (SMF) and a policy control function (PCF) in the mobile network.

10. A device comprising:

one or more processors;

a non-transitory memory including computer program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the device to performing operations including:

providing for storage of, in a database (DB), current state information associated with each user equipment (UE) of a plurality of UEs, the current state information associated with each UE including a current operating state of each network function entity (NF) of a plurality of NFs across each network slice of a plurality of network slices assigned to the UE; and

providing access to and/or change notifications for the current state information in the DB for the plurality of NFs in a mobile network.

11. The device of claim 10 , further including a NF entity with a state aggregation function providing the current state information for storage in the DB and providing the access to and/or change notifications for the current state information, wherein the state aggregation function is provided as a common slice in a 5G core network.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the non-transitory memory further includes computer program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the device to perform the operation of providing the access to and/or state change notifications for the current state information in the DB by:

providing the access to and/or change notifications for the current state information in the DB for the plurality of NFs across the plurality of network slices.

13. The device of claim 10 , wherein the non-transitory memory further includes computer program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the device to perform the operations including:

safeguarding access to the current state information in the DB for each NF based on an assigned token and an access control list (ACL).

14. The device of claim 10 , wherein the non-transitory memory further includes computer program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the device to perform the operations including:

obtaining the current state information with use of a publish-subscribe interprocess communication (IPC) comprising:

registering, as a subscriber, for one or more subscriptions to receive the current state information which is published by the plurality of NFs across each network slice.

15. The device of claim 10 , further comprising a NF entity that includes a centralized state aggregation function, wherein the DB comprises a centralized DB, the non-transitory memory further includes computer program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the device to perform the operations including:

at another NF entity comprising a slice-specific state aggregation function in the mobile network,

providing for storage of, in a slice-specific DB, slice-specific current state information associated with each UE of the plurality of UEs, the slice-specific current state information comprising a plurality of slice-specific current operating states associated with a subset of the plurality of NFs in a specific network slice of the plurality of network slices assigned to the UE; and

providing access to the slice-specific DB for the subset of the plurality of NFs in the specific network slice in the mobile network.

16. The device of claim 10 , further comprising a NF entity that includes a centralized state aggregation function, wherein the DB comprises a centralized DB, the non-transitory memory further includes computer program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the device to:

at each one of a plurality of NF entities each comprising a slice-specific state aggregation function in the mobile network,

provide for storage of, in a slice-specific DB, slice-specific current state information associated with each UE of the plurality of UEs, the slice-specific current state information comprising a plurality of slice-specific current operating states associated with a subset of the plurality of NFs in a specific network slice of the plurality of network slices assigned to the UE; and

provide access to the slice-specific DB for the subset of the plurality of NFs in the specific network slice in the mobile network.

17. The device of claim 10 , wherein the non-transitory memory further includes computer program instructions that when execute by the one or more processors cause the device to:

obtain the current operating state of each of the plurality of NFs of a network slice from among the plurality of network slices,

wherein a plurality of current operating states comprises a mobility state, a session state, and a policy state.

18. The device of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of NFs include a session management function (SMF) and a policy control function (PCF) in the mobile network.

19. One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with software comprising computer executable instructions and when the software is executed operable to:

providing, by a state aggregation function of a mobile network, for storage of, in a database (DB), current state information associated with each user equipment (UE) of a plurality of UEs, the current state information associated with each UE including a current operating state of each network function (NF) of a plurality of NFs across each network slice of a plurality of network slices assigned to the UE; and

providing access to and/or change notifications for the current state information in the DB for the plurality of NFs in the mobile network.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 19 , wherein the state aggregation function is provided as a common slice in a 5G core network.