5.1 General

26.5013GPP5G Media Streaming (5GMS)General description and architectureRelease 18TS

The downlink streaming procedures follow the general high-level workflow depicted in Figure 5.1‑1 below, starting from provisioning and ingest session preparation to the actual content streaming sessions. The Ingest Session refers to the time interval during which media content is uploaded to the 5GMSd AS. The Provisioning Session refers to the time interval during which the 5GMSd Client can access the media content and the 5GMSd Application Provider can control and monitor the media content and its delivery. Interactions between the 5GMSd AF and the 5GMSd Application Provider may occur at any time while the Provisioning Session is active.

Figure 5.1-1: High Level Procedure for downlink streaming

The 5GMSd provisioning API at M1d allows selection of media session handling (M5d) and media streaming (M4d) options, including whether the media content is hosted on trusted 5GMSd AS instances. of provisioned 5GMSd features is captured in a Provisioning Session (see clause 5.3) that is uniquely identified in the 5GMS System by a Provisioning Session identifier. The Provisioning Session information may include Content Hosting Configurations, Content Preparation Templates, Server Certificates, Policy Templates, a Consumption Reporting Configuration, Metrics Reporting Configurations, Edge Resources Configurations and Event Data Processing Configurations.

The Consumption Reporting and/or Metrics Reporting Configuration information provisioned over M1d and passed to the 5GMSd Client by the 5GMSd AF over M5d determines the UE data to be collected by the 5GMSd Client and subsequently reported to the 5GMSd AF. The 5GMSd Application Provider is additionally able to provision Event Data Processing Configurations that specify data processing instructions for subsequent manipulation by the 5GMSd AF of UE data, whether reported by the 5GMSd Client or otherwise obtained, and rules for restricting the subsequent exposure by the 5GMSd AF of UE data to event consumers including the NWDAF defined in TS 23.288 [23] and/or the 5GMSd Application Provider.

The 5GMSd AF selects the M5d interface features according to the provisioning option. The Media Session Handling interface exposed by the 5GMSd AF can be used for core session handling; configuring content consumption measurement, logging, collection and reporting; configuring QoE metrics measurement, logging collection and reporting; requesting different policy and charging treatments; or 5GMSd AF-based Network Assistance.

When the media content is hosted by trusted 5GMSd AS instances, then the 5GMSd AF selects and configures the 5GMSd AS. Interactions between a 5GMSd AF and a 5GMSd AS (M3d interactions) take place for content hosting configuration, including 5GMS Ingest (M2d) and Media Streaming (M4d) resource reservations. The 5GMSd AS allocates M2d and M4d resources and communicates resource identifiers back to the 5GMSd AF. The 5GMSd AF provides information about the provisioned resources (in form of resource identifiers) for Media Session Handling (M5d), the 5GMSd Ingest (M2d) and the Media Streaming (M4d), to the 5GMSd Application Provider. The resource identifiers for Media Session Handling and Media Streaming are needed by the 5GMSd Client to access the 5GMSd functions.

When Content Hosting is provided by a 5GMSd AS in the external DN, then the M3d interface is not used and the 5GMSd AF does not provide 5GMS Ingest (M2d) and Media Streaming (M4d) resource reservations. M3d procedures are not standardized.

5GMSd Clients can (in principle) start streaming media as soon as the corresponding content is ingested by activating a unicast downlink streaming session. However, it may take some time until the media content is available for Media Streaming (via the Media Streaming API) or the distribution availability might be based on a provisioned schedule. The unicast downlink streaming session for a given UE (or "for each UE") is active from the time at which the 5GMSd-Aware Application activates the reception of a streaming service until its termination.

The 5GMSd-Aware Application receives application data from the 5GMSd Application Providerbefore receiving the downlink streaming media. The application data contains Service Access Information, which acts as an entry point for the 5GMSd Client to start the downlink streaming session. The 5GMSd Client may either receive a reference to that Service Access Information or the full Service Access Information from the 5GMSd Application Provider.

Steps:

1. The 5GMSd Application Provider creates a Provisioning Session with the 5GMSd AF and starts provisioning the usage of the 5G Media Streaming System. During the establishment phase, the used features are negotiated and detailed configurations are exchanged. The 5GMSd AF receives Service Access Information for M5d (Media Session Handling) and, where media content hosting is negotiated, Service Access Information for M2d (Ingestion) and M4d (Media Streaming) as well. This information is needed by the 5GMSd Client to access the service. Depending on the provisioning, only a reference to the Service Access Information might be supplied.

2. When Content Hosting is offered and selected there may be interactions between the 5GMSd AF and the 5GMSd AS, e.g. to allocate 5GMSd content ingest and distribution resources. The 5GMSd AS provides resource identifiers for the allocated resources to the 5GMSd AF, which then provides the information to the 5GMSd Application Provider. The M3d procedures between 5GMSd AF and 5GMSd AS are not specified.

3. The 5GMSd Application Provider starts the Ingest Session by ingesting content. In case of live services, the content is continuously ingested. In case of on-demand streaming services, the content may be uploaded once and then updated later on.

NOTE 1: A 5GMSd AS in the external Data Network may provide the Content Hosting.

4. The 5GMSd Application Provider provides the Service Announcement Information to the 5GMSd-Aware Application. The service announcement includes either the whole Service Access Information (i.e. details for Media Session Handling (M5d) and for Media Streaming access (M4d)) or a reference to the Service Access Information or pre-configured information. When only a reference is included, the 5GMSd Client fetches (in step 6) the Services Access Information when needed.

5. When the 5GMSd-Aware Application decides to begin streaming, the Service Access Information (all or a reference) is provided to the 5GMSd Client. The 5GMSd Client activates the unicast downlink streaming session.

6. (Optional) In case the 5GMSd Client received only a reference to the Service Access Information, then it acquires the Service Access Information from the 5GMSd AF.

NOTE 2: Pre-caching of Service Access Information may also be supported by the 5GMS Client to speed up the activation of the service.

7. The 5GMSd Client uses the Media Session Handling API exposed by the 5GMSd AF at M5d. The Media Session Handling API is used for configuring content consumption measurement, logging, collection and reporting; configuring QoE metrics measurement, logging, collection and reporting; requesting different policy and charging treatments; or 5GMSd AF-based Network Assistance. The actual time of API usage depends on the feature and interactions that may be used during the media content reception.

8. The 5GMSd Client activates reception of the media content.