Discovery procedures enable entities in an edge deployment to obtain information about EAS and their available services, based on specified criteria of interest.
EAS discovery enables the EEC to obtain information about available EASs of interest. The discovery of the EASs is based on matching EAS discovery filters provided in the request.
When multiple EASs are discovered for a specific AC, the EEC may select one or more EASs to enable AC communication with one of the selected EASs. The selection algorithm is outside the scope of this specification. Once the EAS is selected, the EEC may subscribe for the ACR event notifications at the EES of the selected EAS, as described in clause 8.8.3.5.2. The EDN configuration information received from ECS may be used for establishing a connection to EAS(s).
EAS discovery may be initiated by the EEC when a certain trigger condition at the UE is met. Some examples are as follows:
AC related updates available at the EEC (e.g. due to AC installation/re-installation/activation), AC requesting application server access;
Lifetime received via EAS discovery response specified in clause 8.5.3 is expired; or
EEC detects the need of application context relocation as in clause 8.8.
The EEC sends an EAS discovery request to the EES. The EAS discovery request includes the requestor identifier [EECID] along with the security credentials and may include EAS discovery filters and may also include UE location to retrieve information about particular EAS(s) or a category of EASs, e.g. gaming applications, or Edge Applications Server(s) available in certain service areas, e.g. available on a UE's predicted or expected route.
Upon receiving the request from the EEC, the EES checks if the EEC is authorized to discover the requested EAS(s). The authorization check may apply to an individual EAS, a category of EASs or to the EDN, i.e. to all the EASs. If UE's location information is not already available, the EES obtains the UE location by utilizing the capabilities of the 3GPP core network as specified in clause 8.10.3. If EAS discovery filters are provided by the EEC, the EES identifies the EAS(s) based on the provided EAS discovery filters and the UE location. If the EEC indicates that service continuity support is required, the EES shall take the indication which ACR scenarios are supported by the AC and the EEC and which of these are preferred by the AC into consideration.
When EAS discovery filters are not provided, then:
if available, the EES identifies the EAS(s) based on the UE-specific service information at the EES and the UE location;
EES identifies the EAS(s) by applying the ECSP policy (e.g. based only on the UE location);
Upon receiving the request from the EEC, the EES may trigger the EAS management system to instantiate the EAS that matches with EAS discovery filter IEs (e.g. ACID) as in clause 8.12.
If the processing of the request was successful, the EES sends an EAS discovery response to the EEC, which includes information about the discovered EASs. For discovered EASs, this includes endpoint information. Depending on the EAS discovery filters received in the EAS discovery request, the response may include additional information regarding matched capabilities, e.g. service permissions levels, KPIs, AC locations(s) that the EASs can support, ACR scenarios supported by the EAS, etc. The EAS discovery response may contain a list of EASs. This list may be based on EAS discovery filters containing a Geographical or Topological Service Area, e.g. a route, included in the EAS discovery request by the EEC.
If the EES is unable to determine the EAS information using the inputs in the EAS discovery request, UE-specific service information at the EES or the ECSP policy, the EES shall reject the EAS discovery request and respond with an appropriate failure cause.
If the EEC is not registered with the EES, and ECSP policy requires the EEC to perform EEC registration prior to EAS discovery, the EES shall include an appropriate failure cause in the EAS discovery response indicating that EEC registration is required.
If the UE location and predicted/expected UE locations, provided in the EAS discovery request, are outside the Geographical or Topological Service Area of an EAS, then the EES shall not include that EAS in the discovery response. The discovery response may include EAS(s) that cannot serve the UE at its current location if a predicted/expected UE location was provided in the EAS discovery request.
Upon receiving the EAS discovery response, the EEC uses the endpoint information for routing of the outgoing application data traffic to EAS(s), as needed, and may provide necessary notifications to the AC(s). The EEC may use the border or overlap between EAS Geographical Service Areas for service continuity purposes. The EEC may cache the EAS information (e.g. EAS endpoint) for subsequent use and avoid the need to repeat step 1. If the Lifetime IE is included in the response, the EEC may cache the EAS information only for the duration specified by the Lifetime IE.
If the EAS discovery request fails, the EEC may resend the EAS discovery request, taking into account the received failure cause. If the failure cause indicated that EEC registration is required, the EEC shall perform an EEC registration before resending the EAS discovery request.
Figure 8.5.2.3.2-1 illustrates the EAS discovery subscription procedure between the EEC and the EES. This subscription enables EES to inform EEC of various EAS discovery related events of interest to EEC (e.g. EAS discovery notification and EAS dynamic information).
Pre-conditions:
The EEC has received information (e.g. URI, IP address) related to the EES;
The EEC has received appropriate security credentials authorizing it to communicate with the EES as specified in clause 8.11;
The EES is configured with ECSP's policy for EAS discovery; and
The EEC has optionally acquired a Notification Target Address to be used in its subscriptions to notifications.
The EEC sends an EAS discovery subscription request to the EES. The EAS discovery subscription request includes the EECID along with the security credentials, Event ID, and may include EAS discovery filters and EAS dynamic information filters to subscribe to information about particular EAS(s) or a category of EASs (e.g. gaming applications) or dynamic information about EAS(s).
Upon receiving the request from the EEC, the EES checks if the EEC is authorized to subscribe for information of the requested EAS(s). The authorization check may apply to an individual EAS, a category of EASs or to the EDN, i.e. to all the EASs. The EES may utilize the capabilities (e.g. UE location) of the 3GPP core network as specified in clause 8.10.3. If the request is authorized, the EES creates and stores the subscription for EAS discovery.
If the processing of the request was successful, the EES sends an EAS discovery subscription response to the EEC, which includes the subscription identifier and may include the expiration time, indicating when the subscription will automatically expire. To maintain the subscription, the EEC shall send an EAS discovery subscription update request prior to the expiration time. If an EAS discovery subscription update request is not received prior to the expiration time, the EES shall treat the EEC as implicitly unsubscribed.
If the EES is unable to determine the EAS information using the inputs in the EAS discovery subscription request, UE-specific service information at the EES or the ECSP policy, the EES shall reject the EAS discovery subscription request and respond with an appropriate failure cause.
If the EEC is not registered with the EES, and ECSP policy requires the EEC to perform EEC registration prior to EAS discovery, the EES shall include an appropriate failure cause in the EAS discovery response indicating that EEC registration is required.
If the EAS discovery subscription request fails, the EEC may resend the EAS discovery subscription request again, taking into account the received failure cause. If the failure cause indicated that EEC registration is required, the EEC shall perform an EEC registration before resending the EAS discovery subscription request.
An event occurs at the EES that satisfies trigger conditions for notifying (e.g. to provide EAS discovery information or EAS dynamic information) a subscribed EEC. If UE's location information is not already available, the EES obtains the UE location by utilizing the capabilities of the 3GPP core network as specified in clause 8.10.2. If EAS discovery filters were provided by the EEC during subscription creation, the EES identifies the EAS(s) based on the provided EAS discovery filters and the UE location. If the EEC indicates that service continuity support is required, the EES shall take the indication which ACR scenarios are supported by the AC and the EEC and which of these are preferred by the AC into consideration.
If EAS discovery filters were not provided, then:
if available, the EES identifies the EAS(s) based on the UE-specific service information at the EES and the UE location;
EES identifies the EAS(s) by applying the ECSP policy (e.g. based only on the UE location);
If the UE is located outside the Geographical or Topological Service Area of an EAS, then the EES shall not include this EAS in the EAS discovery notification.
The EEC sends an EAS discovery subscription update request to the EES. The EAS discovery subscription update request includes the security credentials and the subscription identifier. It may also include EAS discovery filters, EAS dynamic information filters and/or proposed expiration time for the updated subscription.
Upon receiving the request from the EEC, the EES checks if the EEC is authorized to update the subscription information. The EES may utilize the capabilities (e.g. UE location) of the 3GPP core network as specified in clause 8.10.3. If the request is authorized, the EES updated the stored subscription for EAS discovery.
The EES sends an EAS discovery subscription update response to the EEC, which may include the expiration time, indicating when the updated subscription will automatically expire. To maintain the subscription, the EEC shall send an EAS discovery subscription update request prior to the expiration time. If an EAS discovery subscription update request is not received prior to the expiration time, the EES shall treat the EEC as implicitly unsubscribed.
The EEC sends an EAS discovery unsubscribe request to the EES. The EAS discovery unsubscribe request includes the security credentials of the EEC along with the subscription identifier.
Upon receiving the request, the EES performs an authorization check to verify whether the EEC has authorization to perform the operation. If authorized, the EES cancels the subscription for provisioning as requested in step 1.
Table 8.5.3.2-1 describes information elements for the EAS discovery request. Table 8.5.3.2-2 provides further detail about the EAS Discovery Filter information element.
The identifier of the UE (i.e. GPSI or identity token)
Security credentials
M
Security credentials resulting from a successful authorization for the edge computing service.
EAS discovery filters
O
Set of characteristics to determine required EASs, as detailed in Table 8.5.3.2-2.
UE location
O
The location information of the UE. The UE location is described in clause 7.3.2.
Target DNAI (NOTE)
O
Target DNAI information which can be associated with potential T-EAS(s)
EEC Service Continuity Support
O
Indicates if the EEC supports service continuity or not. The IE also indicates which ACR scenarios are supported by the EEC or, if this message is sent by the EEC to discover a T-EAS, which ACR scenario(s) are intended to be used for the ACR.
EES Service Continuity Support (NOTE)
O
The IE indicates if the S-EES supports service continuity or not. The IE also indicates which ACR scenarios are supported by the S-EES or, if the EAS discovery is used for an S-EES executed ACR according to clause 8.8.2.5, which ACR scenario is to be used for the ACR.
EAS Service Continuity Support (NOTE)
O
The IE indicates if the S-EAS supports service continuity or not. The IE also indicates which ACR scenarios are supported by the S-EAS or, if the EAS discovery is used for an S-EAS decided ACR according to clause 8.8.2.4, which ACR scenario is to be used for the ACR.
NOTE:
This IE shall not be included when the request originates from the EEC.
Indicates that the EAS discovery request was successful.
> Discovered EAS list
O
List of discovered EAS(s). Each element includes the information described below.
>> EAS profile
M
Profile of the EAS. Each element is described in clause 8.2.4
>> Lifetime
O
Time interval or duration during which the information elements in the EAS profile is valid and supposed to be cached in the EEC (e.g. time-to-live value for an EAS Endpoint)
Failure response
O
Indicates that the EAS discovery request failed.
> Cause
O
Indicates the cause of EAS discovery request failure.
The identifier of the UE (i.e. GPSI or identity token)
Event ID
M
Event ID:
EAS availability change
EAS dynamic information change
Security credentials
M
Security credentials resulting from a successful authorization for the edge computing service.
Notification Target Address
O
The Notification target address (e.g. URL) where the notifications destined for the EEC should be sent to.
EAS discovery filters
O
Set of characteristics to determine matching EASs (as detailed in Table 8.5.3.2-2).
Applicable for "EAS availability change" event
EAS dynamic information filters
O
List of dynamic information changes (as detailed in Table 8.5.3.4-2) about EAS, the EEC is interested in.
Applicable for "EAS dynamic information change" event
EEC Service Continuity Support
O
Indicates if the EEC supports service continuity or not. The IE also indicates which ACR scenarios are supported by the EEC.
Subscription identifier corresponding to the subscription stored in the EES for the request
Event ID
M
Either EAS discovery notification or EAS dynamic information notification
EAS list
O
List of EAS profiles. Each element includes the information described below.
> EAS profile
M
Profile of the EAS. Each element is described in clause 8.2.4
> Lifetime
O
Time interval or duration during which the information elements in the EAS profile is valid and supposed to be cached in the EEC (e.g. time-to-live value for an EAS Endpoint)
Indicates that the subscription update request was successful.
> Expiration time
O
Indicates the expiration time of the updated subscription. To maintain an active subscription, a subscription update is required before the expiration time.
Failure response
O
Indicates that the subscription update request failed.
> Cause
O
Indicates the cause of subscription update request failure