Apparatus and method for transmitting synchronization information in communication system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12316443-B2
Application number	US-202418599046-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 7, 2024
Priority date	May 21, 2020
Publication date	May 27, 2025
Grant date	May 27, 2025

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a communication method and system for converging a 5th-Generation (5G) communication system for supporting higher data rates beyond a 4th-Generation (4G) system with a technology for Internet of Things (IoT). The present disclosure may be applied to intelligent services based on the 5G communication technology and the IoT-related technology, such as smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car, connected car, health care, digital education, smart retail, security and safety services. Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for providing time synchronization between wiredly or wirelessly connected terminals by expanding a function for supporting a Time Sensitive Network (TSN) in a 5G System (5GS) of 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method performed by a first network function entity including a network side time sensitive network (TSN) translator (NW-TT) in a 5 th generation system (5GS), the method comprising:
receiving, from a second network function entity, time synchronization information including first information indicating that the NW-TT and a device side TSN translator (DS-TT) supporting a same domain are synchronization sources of the 5GS, and second information indicating a format for a distribution of a time synchronization;
generating a sync message for the DS-TT based on the time synchronization information;
adding, to the sync message, an ingress timestamp corresponding to an ingress time at which the sync message is generated; and
transmitting, to a terminal including the DS-TT, the sync message,
wherein the sync message includes a rate ratio with a value set to 1.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rate ratio is used to convert a residence time associated with the ingress timestamp.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sync message is transmitted from the terminal to an external precision time protocol (PTP) port outside the 5GS.

4. A method performed by a terminal including a device side time sensitive network (TSN) translator (DS-TT) in a 5 th generation system (5GS), the method comprising:
receiving, from a first network function entity including a network side TSN translator (NW-TT), a sync message including an ingress timestamp corresponding to an ingress time at which the sync message is generated;
calculating a residence time based on a difference between an egress time and the ingress time indicated by the ingress timestamp;
adding, the residence time to the sync message; and
transmitting, to an external precision time protocol (PTP) port outside the 5GS, the sync message,
wherein the sync message includes a rate ratio with a value set to 1.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the calculating the residence time is performed based on the rate ratio.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
removing the ingress timestamp from the sync message after the calculating the residence time.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
receiving, from a second network function entity, time synchronization information including first information indicating that the NW-TT and the DS-TT supporting a same domain are synchronization sources of the 5GS, and second information indicating a format for distribution of a time synchronization.

8. A first network function entity including a network side time sensitive network (TSN) translator (NW-TT) in a 5 th generation system (5GS), the first network function entity comprising:
a transceiver configured to transmit and receive a signal; and
a controller coupled with the transceiver and configured to:
receive, from a second network function entity, time synchronization information including first information indicating that the NW-TT and a device side TSN translator (DS-TT) supporting a same domain are synchronization sources of the 5GS, and second information indicating a format for a distribution of a time synchronization,
generate a sync message for the DS-TT based on the time synchronization information,
add, to the sync message, an ingress timestamp corresponding to an ingress time at which the sync message is generated, and
transmit, to a terminal including the DS-TT, the sync message,
wherein the sync message includes a rate ratio with a value set to 1.

9. The first network function entity of claim 8 , wherein the rate ratio is used to convert a residence time associated with the ingress timestamp.

10. The first network function entity of claim 8 , wherein the sync message is transmitted from the terminal to an external precision time protocol (PTP) port outside the 5GS.

11. A terminal including a device side time sensitive network (TSN) translator (DS-TT) in a 5 th generation system (5GS), the terminal comprising:
a transceiver configured to transmit and receive a signal; and
a controller coupled with the transceiver and configured to:
receive from a first network function entity including a network side TSN translator (NW-TT) a sync message including an ingress timestamp corresponding to an ingress time at which the sync message is generated,
calculate a residence time based on a difference between an egress time and the ingress time indicated by the ingress timestamp,
add, the residence time to the sync message, and
transmit, to an external precision time protocol (PTP) port outside the 5GS, the sync message,

wherein the sync message includes a rate ratio with a value set to 1.

12. The terminal of claim 11 , wherein the calculating the residence time is performed based on the rate ratio.

13. The terminal of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
remove the ingress timestamp from the sync message after the calculating the residence time.

14. The terminal of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
receive, from a second network function entity, time synchronization information including first information indicating that the NW-TT and the DS-TT supporting a same domain are synchronization sources of the 5GS, and second information indicating a format for distribution of a time synchronization.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Moon Sangjun
• Han Yoonseon
• Jeong Sangsoo

Classifications

• H04J3/0644

  External master-clock · CPC title

• H04W56/001

  Synchronization between nodes · CPC title

• H04W8/24

  Transfer of terminal data · CPC title

• H04J3/0682

  by delay compensation, e.g. by compensation of propagation delay or variations thereof, by ranging · CPC title

• H04J3/0673

  using intermediate nodes, e.g. modification of a received timestamp before further transmission to the next packet node, e.g. including internal delay time or residence time into the packet · CPC title