In the present disclosure, an instance may mean a state in which a specific NF exists in the form of software code and can be executed on a physical computing system, e.g., a specific computing system existing on the core network to perform the function of the NF by using physical or/and logical resources allocated from the computing system. Therefore, an NF instance, such as the AMF instance, the SMF instance, and the NS SF instance, may respectively use physical and/or logical resources allocated from a specific computing system existing on the core network for an AMF operation, an SMF operation, and an NSSF operation. As a result, the NF instance, such as the AMF instance, SMF instance, or NSSF instance, which uses physical or/and logical resources allocated from a specific computing system existing on the network for the AMF, SMF, or NSSF operation, may perform the same operation as when a physical NF entity such as an AMF, an SMF or an NSSF exists. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, items described using NFs (e.g., an AMF, an SMF, a UPF, an NSSF, an NRF, or an SCP) may be replaced with items described using NF instances, or, conversely, items described using NF instances may be replaced items described using NFs. Likewise, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, items described using a network slice may be replaced with items described using a network slice instance, or, conversely, items described using a network slice instance may be replaced with items described using a network slice.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, in the 5G system defined by 3GPP, one network slice may be referred to as 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 the characteristic of a service supported by the slice (e.g., eMBB, Internet of things (IoT), URLLC, or V2X). The SD may be a value used as an additional identifier for a specific service indicated by the SST.

The NSSAI may include one or more S-NSSAIs. Examples of NSSAI may include, but are not limited to, configured NSSAI stored in the UE, requested NSSAI requested by the UE, allowed NSSAI allowed to be used by the UE and determined by an NF (e.g., an AMF, an NSSF, etc.) of the 5G core network, and subscribed NSSAI to which the UE is subscribed.

The UE 100 may be simultaneously connected to the access network 110 and registered in the 5G system. Specifically, the UE 100 may access the base station 110 and perform a UE registration procedure with the AMF 120. During the registration procedure, the AMF 120 may determine an allowed slice (e.g., allowed NSSAI) available to the UE connected to the base station 110 and allocate the allowed slice to the UE 100. The UE may select a specific slice to configure a PDU session for communication with an actual application server. One PDU session may include one or a plurality of QoS flows, and each of the QoS flows may provide different transmission performances used for individual application services by configuring different QoS parameters.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic operation of the wireless communication system for processing user consent to data collection and provision for a roaming UE according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

A schematic operation of the proposed embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The UE may depart from a home operator network (home-public land mobile network (H-PLMN)) and access another operator network (visited-PLMN, V-PLMN) that has a contract with a home operator. The UE may perform an initial access process to use a communication service through the corresponding network. During a registration procedure for the initial access, the AMF may receive a registration request message from the UE, identify home network information of the UE from subscriber identifier information included in the registration request message, identify whether service subscription is made on the UDM of the home network and the UE, which has transmitted the registration request, and perform an authentication procedure. That is, the UDM of the H-PLMN may identify whether the service subscription is made on the V-PLMN (or the AMF of V-PLMN) and the UE, which has transmitted the registration request, and perform the authentication procedure. In case that all the authentication procedures are successfully performed, the AMF may receive subscriber information from the UDM. The subscriber information may include information on user consent to the user data collection through the UE by the subscriber, the data collection for the corresponding user UE in the home network, and the use of the collected data in the home network. That is, in case that all the authentication procedures are successfully performed, the UDM may provide the subscriber information to the AMF (or the V-PLMN), and the subscriber information may include information on the user consent to the user data collection through the UE by the subscriber, the data collection for the corresponding user UE in the home network, and the use of the collected data in the home network. In addition, in case that the subscriber has a contract with the home network operator for the network roaming, the subscriber information, which is transferred from the home network to the AMF (or the V-PLMN), may include information on the data collection and use in the network for roaming through a roaming contract process and information on whether the consent is given to provide the home network operator with the data collected in the roaming network. The AMF may transfer the user consent information, which is included in the subscriber information, to the V-NWDAF of the roaming network. The UE may complete the registration procedure for the initial access and perform a PDU session configuration procedure used to transmit the user data. The H-NWDAF of the home network may receive a request related to a network data analysis from any NF existing in the home network. The H-NWDAF, which has received the request, may collect data, which are used for analysis, from each of the NFs in the home network, and collect the data from the UE. In addition, the H-NWDAF may request the collection of data with the V-PLMN on which the roaming is performed by the UE (or request a result of analyzing the collected data). The H-NWDAF may request the data collection for the UE with the V-NWDAF through a direct or indirect path. The V-NWDAF, which has received the collection request from the H-NWDAF, may identify whether the data collection is allowed in the roaming network for the UE with reference to user consent information received from the AMF, and identify whether the data collected in the roaming network (or the analytical result from the collected data) may be provided to the home network. The V-NWDAF may determine whether to allow the request of the H-NWDAF. In addition, from the user consent information received from the AMF, the V-NWDAF may judge whether the UE may use the collected data in the roaming network. When the use of the collected data is allowed, it is possible to transmit a message for requesting data collection to the UE. In the opposite case, in case that the V-NWDAF intends to receive the data collected for the UE from the home network, the V-NWDAF may perform a similar process to identify whether the user consent is given from the H-NWDAF and to receive the data collected in the home network through the H-NWDAF in response to the consent result. According to the present disclosure, the NWDAF of the home and roaming network may use the user consent information stored in the UDM without a separate additional consent procedure and determine whether the user data collection is allowed in each of the networks and whether the user consent is given in respect to the provision of data between the networks. Therefore, from the user's perspective, the advantage is that the consent process for home and roaming networks and data collection may be unified and efficiently handled instead of being repeated multiple times.

FIG. 3 illustrates a signal procedure of the wireless communication system for processing user consent to data collection and provision for a roaming UE according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

In step 1 (301), before moving to the roaming network, the UE may perform a process of entering into a contract with the home network operator in respect to the provision of the service during the roaming. For example, before departing for a roaming area, the UE user, in an airport or railroad station, may enter into a contract with the home network operator to provide a roaming service for a predetermined period of time at a separate fee, for example, through a separate application provided by the home network operator. The contract contents may include information on user consent to collection of the data of the user and the UE in the network for the UE in roaming. That is, the UE may provide the H-PLMN with the information on the user consent to the collection of the data of the user and the UE in the network (e.g., the V-PLMN) for the UE in roaming. That is, the user consent information may include whether the consent is given to collect data related to a state and service usage history of the user and the UE in the home network for the UE in roaming, whether the consent is given to collect data related to a state and service usage history of the user and the UE in the roaming network for the UE in roaming, whether the consent is given to provide the roaming network with the data collected (or analyzed) in the home network for the UE in roaming, and whether the consent is given to provide the home network with the data collected (or analyzed) in the roaming network for the UE in roaming. In addition, depending on the implementation, each of the consent processes may include a procedure of distinguishing the types of respective data, identifying whether the consent is given, storing and managing, as separate information, whether the consent is given instead of identifying whether the consent is given in a uniform manner in respect to the collection of all the types of data. In case that the roaming contract covers multiple roaming networks in the corresponding region, the user consent may be transferred by selecting a roaming network list to consent to the data collection for the duration of the roaming contract, and the type of data allowed to be collected for each of the roaming networks may be selectively designated.

In step 2 (303), the roaming application server may provide the UDM with the contents of the consent to the data collection made by the user for each of the roaming networks during the roaming contract process, and the UDM may store the received user consent information as a part of the user's subscription information. That is, the H-PLMN may acquire the user consent information from the UE.

In step 3 (305), the UE may move to the roaming network (e.g., the V-PLMN) and perform a registration procedure for the initial access. The UE may transmit a registration request message for the initial access to the AMF of the roaming network. The registration request message may include an identifier of the UE, and the AMF may determine the home network to which the UE is subscribed from the identifier of the UE.

In step 4 (307), the AMF may request authentication information of the UE and subscriber information from the home network of the UE. Although not illustrated, the authentication process of the UE may include multiple iterations of sending and receiving messages.

In step 5 (309), as a part of the stored subscriber information, the UDM, which has received the request of the AMF, may perform a process of identifying whether there is information on the user consent to the data collection and the transfer of information to the home network for the roaming network to which the AMF belongs. That is, the UDM of the H-PLMN may identify whether there is information that the UE has consented to the data collection and the transfer of information to the H-PLMN for the V-PLMN.

In step 6 (311), the UDM may transmit a response message to the user information request to the AMF. The response message may include the UE identifier and corresponding subscriber information. In addition, the subscriber information may include user consent information including whether the user consent is given to the data collection in the roaming network and whether the user consent is given to the forwarding of user data, which have been collected or analyzed in the roaming network, to the home network.

In step 7 (313), the AMF may select the user consent information from the received subscriber information and transfer the user consent information to the V-NWDAF of the roaming network.

In step 8 (315), the H-NWDAF of the home network may receive the request for the collection and analysis of network (e.g., H-PLMN and V-PLMN) data for the UE from the network function (NF) or the like of the home network, and the H-NWDAF may request the collection of network data used for the network functions (NFs) of the home network, the V-NWDAF of V-PLMN, and the like to collect data used for the requested data analysis.

In step 9 (317), the H-NWDAF (e.g., the H-PLMN) may request the data collection in the roaming network (e.g., the V-PLMN) through the V-NWDAF and the like.

In step 10 (319), the V-NWDAF, which has received the request for the data collection from the H-NWDAF, may identify whether the user consent is given to the forwarding of the data collected in the roaming network to the H-NWDAF from the user consent information received from the AMF in step 7.

In step 11 (321), the H-NWDAF may perform a process of requesting, from the UDM, the information on user consent to the user data collection from the user UE and identifying whether the user consent is given. In case that the user consent is given, the H-NWDAF may transmit a message for requesting data collection to a home-data collection application function (H-DCAF) in order to collect data from the user UE.

In step 12 (323), the H-DCAF may configure a transmission path for data collection with the UE through the application message and collect data from the UE.

In step 13 (325), the V-NWDAF refers to the user consent information received from the AMF to identify whether the user consent is given to the user data collection from the UE in the roaming network, and the V-NWDAF may request the data collection of the UE from the V-DCAF in the roaming network for the data collection requested from the H-NWDAF.

In step 14 (327), the V-DCAF may configure a transmission path for data collection with the UE through the application message and collect data from the UE.

In step 15 (329), the V-DCAF may forward the data of the user and the UE received from the UE to the V-NWDAF.

In step 16 (331), the V-NWDAF may forward data collected in the roaming network (or data made by analyzing the collected data) to the H-NWDAF of the home network.

In step 17 (333), the H-NWDAF may aggregate the data collected in the home network and the data collected in the roaming network through the V-NWDAF to produce analytical result and transfer the analytical result to the network function that has requested the analysis.

FIG. 4 illustrates an internal structure of the UE in the wireless communication system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.