TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein relate to a network node, an IMS node and methods performed therein. In particular, they relate to for handling an ongoing media session of a user associated with multiple User Equipment (UE) in a communications network.

BACKGROUND

In a typical wireless communication network, wireless devices, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (ST A) and/or user equipment (UE), communicate via a Local Area Network such as a WiFi network or a Radio Access Network (RAN) to one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, which may also be referred to as a beam or a beam group, with each service area or cell area being served by a radio network node such as a radio access node e.g., a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be denoted, for example, a NodeB, eNodeB (eNB), or gNB as denoted in 5th Generation (5G). A service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over an air interface operating on radio frequencies with the wireless device within range of the radio network node. The radio network node communicates to the wireless device in DownLink (DL) and from the wireless device in UpLink (UL).

Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS), also called a Fourth

Generation (4G) network, have been completed within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and this work continues in the coming 3GPP releases, for example to specify a Fifth Generation (5G) network also referred to as 5G New Radio (NR). The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E- UTRAN/LTE is a variant of a 3GPP radio access network wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network rather than to RNCs used in 3rd Generation (3G) networks. In general, in E-UTRAN/LTE the functions of a 3G RNC are distributed between the radio network nodes, e.g. eNodeBs in LTE, and the core network. As such, the RAN of an EPS has an essentially“flat” architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more core networks, i.e. they are not connected to RNCs. To compensate for that, the E-UTRAN specification defines a direct interface between the radio network nodes, this interface being denoted the X2 interface.

Multi-antenna techniques can significantly increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system. The performance is in particular improved if both the transmitter and the receiver are equipped with multiple antennas, which results in a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) communication channel. Such systems and/or related techniques are commonly referred to as MIMO.

In addition to faster peak Internet connection speeds, 5G planning aims at higher capacity than current 4G, allowing higher number of mobile broadband users per area unit, and allowing consumption of higher or unlimited data quantities in gigabyte per month and user. This would make it feasible for a large portion of the population to stream high-definition media many hours per day with their mobile devices, when out of reach of Wi-Fi hotspots. 5G research and development also aims at improved support of machine to machine communication, also known as the Internet of things, aiming at lower cost, lower battery consumption and lower latency than 4G equipment.

Over-The-Top (OTT) services have been introduced allowing a third party telecommunications service provider to provide services that are delivered across an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The IP network may e.g. be a public internet or cloud services delivered via a third party access network, as opposed to a carrier's own access network. OTT may refer to a variety of services including communications, such as e.g. voice and/or messaging, content, such as e.g. TV and/or music, and cloud-based offerings, such as e.g. computing and storage.

A further OTT service is a Digital Assistant (DA). The DA may perform tasks or services upon request from a user of a UE. The DA may be implemented in several ways. A first way is commonly referred to as an operator controlled DA. The operator controls the whole DA solution without the UE being impacted. A user of the UE may provide instructions, such as e.g. voice commands, to a core network node, such as e.g. an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) node, of the operator. The voice command may e.g. be “Digital Assistant, I want a pizza”,“Digital Assistant, tell me how many devices are active right now”,“Digital Assistant, set-up a conference”, or“Digital Assistant, how much credit do I have?”. IMS is a general-purpose, open industry standard for voice and multimedia communications over packet-based IP networks. It is a core network technology, that may serve as a low-level foundation for technologies like Voice over LTE (VoLTE) Voice over IP (VoIP), Push-To-Talk (PTT), Push-To-View, Video Calling, and Video Sharing.

The core network node may detect a hot word, which may also be referred to as a key word, indicating that the user is providing instructions to the DA and may forward the instructions to a network node controlled by a third party service provider, the network node may e.g. comprise a DA platform.

The DA platform may e.g. be a bot of a company providing a certain service, such as e.g. a taxi service or a food delivery service. The instructions may be forwarded to the DA platform using e.g. a Session Initiation Protocol/ Real-time Transport Protocol (SIP/RTP). The DA platform may comprise certain functionality, such as e.g. Speech to Text (Speech2Text), Identification of Intents & Entities and Control & Dispatch of Intents.

The DA platform may then forward the instructions to a further network node, which may e.g. be an Application Server (AS) node, which has access to the core network node via a Service Exposure Application Programming Interface (API). Thereby the DA may access the IMS node and perform services towards the core network node.

The DA platform is often required to pay a fee to the operator in order to be reachable by the operator ^' s DA users. The user may also be required to pay fees to the operator and network provider for the usage of DA services. The operator may further be required to pay fees to the network provider for every transaction performed via the Service Exposure API.

A further way to implement the DA may be to provide the user with direct access to the network node controlled by the third party service provider comprising the DA platform. This may e.g. be done using a dedicated UE, such as e.g. a smart speaker, having access to the first network node. This way of implementing the DA is commonly referred to as an OTT-controlled DA.

One of the services that can be invoked may e.g. be a telephony service or bot, implemented by the operator.

Figure 1 depicts an architecture for an OTT-controlled DA, e.g. a Telephony Bot Architecture. A user 10 of a DA comprising a smart speaker 20 may want to request actions, such as Call Bob, to an IMS network 30 e.g. comprising VoLTE, via an API Gateway 40. If the request from the smart speaker 20 user 10 needs some IMS capabilities, an OTT DA cloud 50 will use service exposure capabilities to access to it. This may for example be, when the user 10 asks to include a 3rd person to the call or manipulate end user supplementary setting.

As mentioned above, a DA may handle communication via an API. In the context of an API, an intent is an abstract description of an operation to be performed. The text describing an intent and other aspects of API:s, when used herein, is written with the text font courier New italic. There is however no way to request a Digital Assistant to move an ongoing media session between devices, which may also be referred to as call pull and call push. There are no APIs or mechanisms to trigger such an action in the IMS.

SUMMARY

As a part of developing embodiments herein the inventors identified a problem which first will be discussed.

Call pull and call push are part of a functionality called Session Transfer to Own Device (STOD) which is served by a Multimedia Telephony (MMTEL) Application Server (AS). STOD enables the calling or called user in a session to transfer the communication session to another device belonging to the same user. To execute Call Push from a device, the user will need to hold and then hang up the call. After this, a MMTEL AS will call to all devices associated to a user that are registered so the user can pick up the call on another device.

Call Pull is executed when the user wants to move the call to one specific device. In this case the user will need to dial a specific supplementary service code (like *11) from the destination device. Once the MMTEL AS detects the supplementary service code, it may play an announcement and then move the call to the target device.

As mentioned above, voice driven and/or hands-free use cases are increasing in popularity.

There is today no way in an ongoing media session to request a Digital Assistant to request the media session to be transferred from a first UE to a second UE among the multiple UEs of a user.

There is no such exposure available today. The OMA standard list of APIs, for example, does not provide an operation to expose this action. An object of embodiments herein is to improve the performance of a

communications network comprising multi device users using DAs.

According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by a network node, for handling an ongoing media session of a first user associated with multiple UEs in a communications network. The first user is in an ongoing media session with a second user using a first UE out of the multiple UEs. The network node receives a request for the media session to be transferred from the first UE to a second UE out of the multiple UEs. The request is obtained as a voice instruction from the first user via a DA device. The request comprises information regarding an identity of the second UE.

The network node identifies, among the multiple UEs, the second UE and its associated IMS identifier based on the information regarding the identity of the second UE.

The network node obtains, based on the identified IMS identifier, information related to whether or not the second UE is registered in an IMS node and supports a media of the ongoing media session for the first user.

When the second UE is registered in the IMS node and supports the media of the ongoing media session, the network node initiates a transfer of the ongoing media session from the first UE to the second UE.

When the second UE is not registered in the IMS node and/or does not support the media of the ongoing media session, the network node decides how to proceed with the ongoing media session.

According to another aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by an IMS node, for handling an ongoing media session of a user associated with multiple UE in a communications network. The first user is in an ongoing media session with a second user using a first UE out of the multiple UEs.

The IMS node receives, from the network node, a request related to whether or not the second UE is registered in the IMS node and supports a media of the ongoing media session for the user.

The IMS node sends, to the network node, a response to the request comprising information related to whether or not the second UE is registered in the IMS node and supports the media of the ongoing media session for the first user. When the second UE is registered in the IMS node and supports the media of the ongoing media session, the IMS node transfers the ongoing media session from the first UE to the second UE.

According to a further aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a network node configured to handle an ongoing media session of the first user associated with multiple UE in the communications network. The first user is in an ongoing media session with a second user using a first UE out of the multiple UEs. The network node is further configured to receive a request for the media session to be transferred from the first UE to the second UE out of the multiple UEs, which request is obtained as a voice instruction from the user via a DA device. The request comprises information regarding an identity of the second UE.

The network node is further configured to identify, among the multiple UEs, the second UE and its associated IMS identifier based on the information regarding the identity of the second UE.

The network node is further configured to obtain, based on the identified IMS identifier, information related to whether or not the second UE is registered in the IMS node and supports the media of the ongoing media session for the first user.

When the second UE is registered in the IMS node and supports the media of the ongoing media session, the network node is further configured to initiate a transfer of the ongoing media session from the first UE to the second UE.

When the second UE is not registered in the IMS node and/or does not support the media of the ongoing media session, the network node is further configured to decide how to proceed with the ongoing media session.

According to a yet further aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by an IMS node configured to handle an ongoing media session of a first user associated with multiple UEs in a communications network. The first user is in an ongoing media session with a second user using a first UE out of the multiple UEs. The IMS node is further configured to receive from the network node, a request related to whether or not the second UE is registered in the IMS node and supports a media of the ongoing media session for the user.

The IMS node is further configured to send to the network node, a response to the request comprising information related to whether or not the second UE is registered in the IMS node and supports the media of the ongoing media session for the first user. When the second UE is registered in the IMS node and supports the media of the ongoing media session, the IMS node is configured to transfer the ongoing media session from the first UE to the second UE. An advantage of embodiments herein is that initiation of a media session transfer from a DA smartspeaker or from a DA smartapp using voice control, e.g. in a multi-device scenario, is made possible. Thus, embodiments herein enable an implementation of cases with e.g. transfer of an ongoing voice call without the need for interaction with an actual device involved in the ongoing call, since they may be voice driven via a DA.

Furthermore, the use case executed using the Digital Assistant improves the existing function since it can indicate in an accurate way which device the user wants to send the call to.

Consequently, through the embodiments herein, the performance of a

communications network comprising multi device users using DAs is improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of embodiments herein are described in more detail with reference to attached drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating prior art,

Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a

communications network,

Figure 3 is a schematic overview depicting embodiments of a method in the

communications network,

Figure 4 is a schematic overview depicting further embodiments of a method in the communications network,

Figure 5 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in a network node,

Figure 6 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in an IMS node,

Figure 7a is a schematic block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of the network node,

Figure 7b is a schematic block diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the network node,

Figure 8a is a schematic block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of the IMS node, Figure 8b is a schematic block diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the IMS node,

Figure 9 schematically illustrates a telecommunications network connected via an

intermediate network to a host computer.

Figure 10 is a generalized block diagram of a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection.

Figures 11 to 14 are flowcharts illustrating methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example embodiments herein may be based on an IMS network exposing information about devices currently registered and to expose the action to be executed, namely to transfer an ongoing media session, such as a voice or video call, to a different device associated to the user. The transfer of the media session, may herein also be referred to as call pull or call push.

According to the embodiments herein the IMS network exposes the needed API-s to:

- Check that a device specified by the user is registered and supports the media of the ongoing media session.

- Trigger the action to move the current session to the indicated device.

In some embodiments herein, exposing these actions provides the following use case to be implemented:

The user is currently involved in a voice call or video call using a tablet. Upon the user e.g. requesting the DA to move the current call to another device, such as a TV, the DA will query the IMS network via the exposed API and check that the specified device is registered and can handle that media. Then it will request the IMS, such as the MMTel AS, to execute the actions described in the transfer of the call. In some embodiments the user may trigger the transfer of the call by saying the voice command“DA, send the video call to the TV”. When the IMS has transferred the call to the indicated device, in this case the TV, the user may continue the call from this device. Example embodiments herein enables voice controlled selection of which one of a user’s multiple UEs that the ongoing media session should be transferred to. Furthermore, embodiments herein e.g. enable voice controlled selection of which media format that should be used for the transferred call. Media formats may e.g. comprise audio and/or voice calls and video calls. In some embodiments the user may e.g. be involved in a voice call using the tablet and may request the DA to transfer the call to the TV and to change the format to video.

In some embodiments herein one or more new API may be created. In an example embodiment, an OMA API MoveSessionToDevice with parameters userid, targetDevice and media may also be defined. In such a new API, the userid specifies the user initiating the transfer of the media session. The userid may e.g. be the IMS privateid. The targetDevice may be specified by means of a universally unique identifier, uuid, representing the UE to which the user wants to transfer the ongoing media session. The returned value may be the result of the operation, i.e. successful or failed transfer of the media session.

A further OMA API get registered devi ces with the parameter userId which specifies the user for which the registered devices are requested. The

get registered devices API may return a devi ce list, wherein the device list is a list comprising a pair of devices registered in the IMS specified by means of a uuid and the media type supported by the device in the call specified by means of a media type. The supported media type may e.g. be video in a smart TV and audio for a Public

Switched Telephone Network (PTSN) phone.

The MoveSessionToDevice API may be used alone or in combination with the get_registered_devices API to transfer the ongoing media session.

When the MoveSessionToDevice API is used alone, the network node 150 may delegate to the IMS node 130 to check if the requested UE for the transfer is registered in the IMS and supports the media of the ongoing media session and to initiate the transfer if the UE is registered and supports the media. This embodiment is efficient, since only one request has to be made to the IMS node 130 from the network node 150 in order to transfer the media session. This embodiment will be further discussed in relation to figure 4.

When the API are used together the network node 150 may request information relating to the UEs registered to the user in the IMS and the media supported by each registered UE. Thereby the network node 150 may perform the check whether the requested UE is registered in the IMS and supports the media of the ongoing media session. When the network node 150 has checked the registration and media support for the requested UE it may initiate the transfer of the ongoing media session when the requested UE is registered and supports the media. This embodiment has the benefit that the API is modular, i.e. GetRegisteredDevices API may be used for other scenarios in which the network node 150 requires information regarding e.g. registered UEs. This embodiment will be further discussed in relation to figure 3.

Embodiments herein thus provide a way to request a Digital Assistant to request a call to be transferred from a specific UE among the multiple UEs the user owns e.g. by means of an API according to embodiments herein.

These APIs may be implemented in an application server, such as e.g. a Multimedia Telephony Application Server, MMTel AS, IMS node. The MMTel AS IMS Node 130 would be suitable for exposing these functions since it is the natural IMS node where the logic is to be placed, and it does not preclude other nodes for implementation.

Exposing the function may also be performed by any other IMS Application Server handling calls.

Figure 2 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communications network 100 wherein embodiments herein may be implemented. The wireless communications network 100 comprises one or more RANs 104 and one or more CNs 106. The wireless communications network 100 may use 5G NR but may further use a number of other different technologies, such as, Wi-Fi, (LTE), LTE-Advanced, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications/enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM/EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible

implementations.

Network nodes operate in the wireless communications network 100, such as a radio network node 110 providing radio coverage.

The radio network node 110 provides radio coverage over a geographical area by means of antenna beams. The geographical area may be referred to as a cell, a service area, beam or a group of beams. The radio network node 110 may be a transmission and reception point e.g. a radio access network node such as a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), an NR Node B (gNB), a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point, an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access controller, a UE acting as an access point or a peer in a Device to Device (D2D) communication, or any other network unit capable of communicating with a UE within the cell served by the radio network node 110 depending e.g. on the radio access technology and terminology used.

UEs such as a UEs 121, 122 and 123 operate in the wireless communication network 100. The UEs 121 , 122, 123 may e.g. be a mobile station, a non-access point (non-AP) STA, a STA, a user equipment and/or a wireless terminals, an NB-loT device, an eMTC device and a CAT-M device, a WFi device, an LTE device and/or a 5G NR device communicate via one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. RAN, to one or more core networks (CN). It should be understood by the skilled in the art that“UE” is a non limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communication terminal, wireless device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets, television units or even a small base station communicating within a cell.

The CN further comprises an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) node 130. The IMS node 130 may be connected to a network node 150. The network node 150 is

represented by an Application Server (AS) node. The network node 150 may be located in a cloud 101 as depicted in Figure 2, in the CN or in a 3 ^rd Party domain of the

communications network. The network node 150 may act as a gateway to a platform node 151 located in a 3 ^rd Party domain of the communications network 100. Furthermore the IMS node 130, the network node 150 and the platform node 151 may be collocated nodes, stand-alone nodes or distributed nodes comprised in a cloud 101 , 106.

In some embodiments, the DA may comprise a DA device 125 and the platform node 151. The DA device 125 may e.g. be a smart speaker. The platform node 151 may, as described above, be located in a third party domain and be represented by e.g. an OTT DA Cloud. It should be noted that although terminology from 3GPP LTE has been used in this disclosure to exemplify the embodiments herein, this should not be seen as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein to only the aforementioned system. Other wireless systems, including WCDMA, WiMax, UMB, GSM network, any 3GPP cellular network or any cellular network or system, may also benefit from exploiting the ideas covered within this disclosure.

The method will first be described from a helicopter perspective as a signalling diagram showing involved nodes such as the DA device 125, the network node 150 and the IMS node 130 with reference to Figure 3. Thereafter embodiments of the method as seen from the perspective of the network node 150 and the IMS node 130, respectively, will be individually described one by one with reference to Figures 4 and 5.

An example of a use case of embodiments herein is depicted in Figure 3 and will be explained by means of the following example scenario. The actions in Figure 3 may be referred to in the text by their respective reference signs in parentheses, e.g. (307a).

A first user A is a multi-device user who has, e.g. owns, multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123. The multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123 may e.g. be a smartphone, a fixed telephone, a tablet and/or a TV. User A uses various media formats for making calls, such as e.g. voice (audio) and video calls. The calls may be referred to as media calls or media sessions, since they may be made using various media formats.

The user A is in a media session, such as a voice or video call with a second user, user B, using a specific UE, such as the first UE 121. The first UE 121 may have voice call capabilities while a second UE 122 has video call capabilities. The user A, in this example, wants to move the call to a second UE 122, e.g. in order to change the call to a media type which is not supported by the first UE 121 or in order to be able to continue the media session in a different location in the home of user A.

Action 301 : To transfer the ongoing media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122, the user A may provide a voice instruction to the DA device 125. The user A may e.g. say“Digital assistant, move the call to the second UE”. In this example scenario, the user A requests the DA to transfer, which may also be referred to as move, the ongoing call from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122 and, thus, the DA device 125 receives a voice instruction from the first user A. Action 302: The request is thereafter sent to the network node 150. The request may be sent in a message, e.g. comprising identifiers for the user that requests the move, user A in the example scenario, the media type of the call and/or the target device to which the media session is to be transferred, UE 122 in the example scenario. The identifier for the target device may be a personalized name configured by the first user A, an IMS Private Identity (IMPI), or an IMS Public Identity (IMPU), corresponding to the target device. The nature of the identifier depends on where in the system the mapping of personalized names to corresponding digital IDs, such as IMPIs, is performed. The identifier for the second UE 122 may be a personalized name assigned to the UE 122 by user A, such as“TV”,“Tablet” or“Phone”.

Action 303: According to embodiments herein, the network node 150, having received the request with the included IDs, performs a mapping. Mapping may e.g. mean that the network node 150, knowing e.g. the personalized name, identifies an ID corresponding to that particular personalized name. The result of the mapping is thus that an IMS identifier corresponding to the personalized name and/or the target device is identified, i.e. an IMS identifier corresponding to the name“TV” for the second UE 122 in the example scenario. The IMS identifier may e.g. be a Universally Unique Identifier,

UUID for the second UE 122.

Action 304: Thereafter, according to embodiments herein, a request is sent from the network node 150 to the IMS node 130 to perform a check. The check involves verifying if the requested second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and if it supports the media format of the ongoing media session. In the example scenario, the request would be for the UEs registered to the first user A in the IMS and the media supported by each UE, or a request to check whether the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports the media of the ongoing media session.

Action 305: Having received the request, the IMS node 130 sends a response comprising the requested information. The response may comprise a list of registered devices of the user and the media supported by each of the registered devices. If the request has comprised an ID of the second UE 122 the response may however also comprise an explicit answer as to whether the second UE 122 is registered and supports the media of the ongoing media session. Action 306: Based on the response the network node 150 may check, which may also be referred to as determine, whether the second UE is registered to the user in the IMS and supports the media of the ongoing media session.

Action 307: If the result of the check is that the requested UE is registered and supports the requested format, the network node 150 may initiate the transfer of the media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122. In the example scenario in figure 3, the network node 150 may initiate the transfer by sending a request (307a) to the IMS node 130 comprising at least the ID of the UE to which the media session is to be transferred, in this case the second UE 122. In the example scenario, if the UE 122 is registered and supports video call, an ongoing video call between the firsts user A and the second user B may be successfully transferred to the second UE 122 of the first user A, e.g. from the UE 121 , i.e. the“tablet” to the second UE 122, i.e. the“TV”. A response may also be sent back to the network node 150 indicating that the operation was successful.

Action 308: If, on the other hand, the result of the check is that the requested UE 122 is not registered in the IMS node and/or does not support the media format of the ongoing media session, the media session cannot be transferred according to the users request. The network node 150 may then decide how to proceed with the process of setting up the call.

In some embodiments herein, the network node 150 will send a response (308a) to the DA device 125 indicating the result of the operation as requested. Furthermore, the message may include instructions for how to proceed with handling the ongoing media session, in accordance with what has been decided by the network node. In the example scenario the response may comprise instructing the DA device 125 to tell user A that the UE 122 was not accepted for the requested transfer of the ongoing media session.

Action 309: Having received the response from the network node 150, the DA device 125 may have been instructed to ask user A to provide new or additional instructions for how to handle the ongoing media session. In the example scenario, the DA device 125 may ask the user A to select an alternative device to which the media session shall be transferred, such as to the UE 123. The alternative device may be referred to by the DA device with the personalized name so that it is recognizable to the user A. Consequently, in order to enable this, a mapping between personalized names among the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123 associated with user A may have been previously performed.

Alternatively, the DA device 125 may ask user A to select an alternative media format for the requested transfer of the ongoing media session.

Thereafter, the flow according to Figure 3 may be repeated until a successful operation has been performed and the media session between user A and user B can be transferred to another device of user A.

To enable the process shown in Figure 3, the IMS node 130 may expose one or more APIs to the network node 150. As mentioned above, in some embodiments herein, a first API GetRegisteredDevices may be used in action 304 with the parameters userid, and/or targetDevice. The userid may be the IMS privateid of the user A and the targetDevice may be specified by means of the uuid representing the UE to which the user wants to transfer the ongoing media session.

A second API MoveSessionToDevice may be used in the action 307a with the parameters userid, targetDevice and/or media. The userid may be the IMS privateid of the user A and the targetDevice may be specified by means of the uuid representing the UE to which the user wants to transfer the ongoing media session, while media indicates the media used in the ongoing media session or a media which the user wants to switch to during the transfer of the call.

The two APIs used for transferring the ongoing media session using voice commands via the DA may thus be the following:

1) GetRegisteredDevices (userid)

Where userid is the IMS privateid

Returned value:

o device_iist: where the device list is a list of pairs:

^■ uuid: device identifier

^■ media type : media type allowed by that device in that call (e.g. video in a smart TV and audio for a PSTN phone

2) MoveSessionToDevice (userid, targetDevice, media) where :

o userlD IS the IMS privateld,

o targetDevice is the uuid of the device the user want to send the call to

o media is whether audio or video, as indicated by the user Returned value:

o Result of the operation (success or failure)

In some embodiments, it may be possible that the operator has a mapping between the IMS identifier and the personalized name for a user’s devices. The operator may for example have registered that <urn:uuid:6ba7b810-9dad-11d1-80b4-00c04fd430c4> corresponds to the spoken words“Living room TV”. Furthermore, the user may use the UUID for the device instead of assigning a personalized name.

The MMTel AS, which may also be referred to as MTAS, may also request the target device, in this case the UE to which the media session is to be transferred, to proceed with an auto-answer action to automatically accept the transferred media session.

Figure 4 shows a further embodiment herein, in which the network node 150 does not send a request for registered devices, but instead initiates the transfer of the media session directly by sending a request for transfer to the IMS node 130, e.g. using the MoveSessionToDevice API. The check whether the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS and supports the media of the ongoing media session may in this embodiment be performed by the IMS node 130 instead of the network node 150.

Action 401 : To transfer the ongoing media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122, the user A may provide a voice instruction to the DA device 125. The user A may e.g. say“Digital assistant, move the call to the second UE”. In this example scenario, the user A requests the DA to transfer, which may also be referred to as move, the ongoing call from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122 and, thus, the DA device 125 receives a voice instruction from the first user A. This action 401 corresponds to the action 301 described above.

Action 402: The request is thereafter sent to the network node 150. The request may be sent in a message, e.g. comprising identifiers for the user that requests the move, user A in the example scenario, the media type of the call and/or the target device to which the media session is to be transferred, UE 122 in the example scenario. This action 402 corresponds to the action 302 described above.

Action 403: According to embodiments herein, the network node 150, having received the request with the included IDs, may perform a mapping. Mapping may e.g. mean that the network node 150, knowing e.g. the personalized name, identifies an ID corresponding to that particular personalized name. The result of the mapping is thus that an IMS identifier corresponding to the personalized name and/or the target device is identified, i.e. an IMS identifier corresponding to the name“TV” for the second UE 122 in the example scenario. The IMS identifier may e.g. be a Universally Unique Identifier,

UUID for the second UE 122. This action 404 corresponds to the action 303 described above.

Action 404: Thereafter, according to embodiments herein, the network node 150 may initiate the transfer of the media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122. In the example scenario in figure 4, the network node 150 initiates the transfer by sending a request to the IMS node 130 comprising at least the ID of the UE to which the media session is to be transferred, in this case the second UE 122, the target device, in this case the second UE 122, and the media of the ongoing media session.

Action 405: Based on the information comprised in the request, the IMS node 130 may check, which may also be referred to as determine, whether the second UE 122 is registered to the user in the IMS and supports the media of the ongoing media session.

Action 406: If the result of the check is that the requested UE, in this case the second UE 122, is registered and supports the requested format, the IMS node 130 may initiate the transfer of the media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122. In the example scenario, if the UE 122 is registered and supports video call, an ongoing video call between the firsts user A and the second user B may be successfully transferred to the second UE 122 of the first user A, e.g. from the UE 121 , i.e. the“tablet” to the second UE 122, i.e. the“TV”. A response may also be sent back to the network node 150 indicating that the operation was successful. Action 407: Having performed the check, the IMS node 130 sends a response to the network node 130 indicating the result of the operation. The response may comprise an indication that the requested transfer of the call was successful, when the result of the check showed that the requested UE is registered and supports the media. If the check showed that the requested UE is not registered and/or does not support the media of the ongoing media session, the response may indicate that the transfer was unsuccessful.

Action 408: If the response indicates that the result of the check is that the requested UE 122 is not registered in the IMS node and/or does not support the media format of the ongoing media session, the media session cannot be transferred according to the users request. The network node 150 may then decide how to proceed with the process of setting up the call.

Action 409:

In some embodiments herein, the network node 150 may send a response to the DA device 125 indicating the result of the operation as requested. Furthermore, the message may include instructions for how to proceed with handling the ongoing media session, in accordance with what has been decided by the network node. In the example scenario the response may comprise instructing the DA device 125 to tell user A that the UE 122 was not accepted for the requested transfer of the ongoing media session or that the transfer of the ongoing media session was successful based on the indication received in the response from the IMS node 130.

Action 410: Having received the response from the network node 150, the DA device 125 may have been instructed to ask user A to provide new or additional instructions for how to handle the ongoing media session. In the example scenario, the DA device 125 may ask the user A to select an alternative device to which the media session shall be transferred, such as to the UE 123. The alternative device may be referred to by the DA device with the personalized name so that it is recognizable to the user A. Consequently, in order to enable this, a mapping between personalized names among the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123 associated with user A may have been previously performed.

Alternatively, the DA device 125 may ask user A to select an alternative media format for the requested transfer of the ongoing media session. Example embodiments of a method performed by the network node 150, for handling an ongoing media session of the user A associated with multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123 in the communications network 100, will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Figure 5. The user A is in an ongoing media session with a second user B using a first UE 121 out of the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123.

The first network node 150 may be represented by an application server node.

The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order. Actions that are optional are presented in dashed boxes in Figure 5. Action 501

In order to facilitate a mapping between personalized names for the multiple UEs and their corresponding IMS identifiers, the DA device 125 may first be configured by the user.

In an example scenario herein, the user A is associated with multiple devices, namely UEs 121 , 122 and 123. The configuration, which may be an automatic configuration phase, when exemplified with the scenario involving user A may comprise the following:

User A sets up the DA device 125 to manage his/her IMS devices, i.e. UEs 121 , 122, 123.

The DA device 125 triggers an application server, such as the MMTel AS, to start a set up phase.

One by one, each device may ring, optionally employing a special tone so that the device is easily identified.

User A instructs the DA device 125 what personalized name he/she wants to allocate to the alerted UE 121 , 122, 123, such as“my cellphone”,“TV”,“old phone”,“tablet” etc., e.g. by using a voice command.

- A set-up completion may be performed, optionally involving dummy test calls.

When the set-up is completed, the DA device 125 is configured so that the personalized names employed by the user A are coupled with digital identifiers that may be employed by the various nodes in the communications network 100.

The personalized name and the corresponding IMS identifier for each of the UEs may be stored on a storage medium, such as a memory or a server, which the network node 150 can access.

Action 502 The network node 150 receives a request for the media session to be transferred from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122 out of the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123. The request is obtained as a voice instruction from the user A via a DA device 125 and comprises information regarding an identity of the second UE 122.

The information regarding the identity of the second UE 122 comprises a

personalized name associated with the second UE 122.

The voice instruction may comprise a personalized name associated with the first UE 121.

The received request for the ongoing media session to be transferred from the first UE 121 to a second UE 122 out of the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123 may further comprise an indication of the media in the ongoing media session.

Action 503

After the network node 150 has received the request from the user via the DA device 125, the network node identifies among the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123, the second UE 122 and its associated IMS identifier based on the information regarding the identity of the second UE 122.

The identifying of the second UE 122 out of the one or more UEs 121 , 122, 123 may comprise retrieving the IMS identifier of the second UE 122 based on the personalized name associated with the second UE 122.

Action 504

When the IMS identifier of the second UE 122 has been identified, the network node 150 obtains, based on the identified IMS identifier, information related to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in an IMS node 130 and supports a media of the ongoing media session for the first user A.

The network node 150 may obtain the information related to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports the media of the ongoing media session for the user A by sending, to the IMS node 130, a request for one or more UEs 121 , 122, 123 registered for user A. The request for the one or more UEs 121 , 122, 123 registered to the user A may comprise a user identification identifying the user A. The network node 150 may receive, from the IMS node 130, a list of the one or more UEs 121 , 122, 123 registered to the user A in the IMS. The list may comprise an identifier for each of the one or more UEs 121 , 122, 123 registered in the IMS and the media type supported by each of the one or more registered UEs 121 , 122, 123. Based on the received list the network node 150 may determine whether the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and if it supports the media of the ongoing media session.

The network node 150 may obtain the information related to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports the media of the ongoing media session for the user A by sending, to the IMS node 130, the identified IMS identifier of the second UE 122 and a request to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports media of the ongoing media session. The network node 150 may receive a response from the IMS node 130 comprising an indication to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered to the IMS and/or supports the media of the ongoing media session. In this case the IMS node 130 may perform the check as to whether the UE 122 supports is registered and/or supports the media of the ongoing media session. Thus, when the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports the media of the ongoing media session, the network node 150 is informed of this by the IMS node 130.

The media of the ongoing media session may e.g. be audio/voice or video.

Action 505

When the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports the media of the ongoing media session, the network node initiates the transfer of the ongoing media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122.

The initiating of the transfer of the ongoing media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122 comprises sending a request to the IMS node 130 to transfer the media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122.

The request to transfer the ongoing media session may comprise the user ID of the user requesting the transfer, the target device to which the media session is to be transferred, such as the second UE 122, and the media of the ongoing media session.

Action 506

When the obtained information relating to whether the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS and/or supports the media indicates that the second UE 122 is not registered in the IMS node 130 and/or does not support the media of the ongoing media session, the network node 150 decides how to proceed with the ongoing media session.

The network node 150 may e.g. decide to proceed with the ongoing media session by instructing the DA device 125 to offer the user to transfer the ongoing media session to a different UE, such as a third UE 123, out of the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123. The network node 150 may e.g. decide to proceed with the ongoing media session by instructing the DA device 125 to tell the user 120 that the transfer of the ongoing media session to the second UE 122 is not possible.

The network node 150 may e.g. also decide to proceed with the ongoing media session by instructing the DA device 125 to request the user to select an alternative UE among the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123 to transfer the outgoing media session to.

Example embodiments of a method performed by the IMS node 130, for handling an ongoing media session of a first user A associated with multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123 in a communications network 100 will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Figure 6. The first user A is in an ongoing media session with a second user B using a first UE 121 out of the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123, the method comprising:

The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order. Actions that are optional are presented in dashed boxes in Figure 6.

Action 601

In order to facilitate handling of the upcoming ongoing media session, the IMS node 130 may expose one or more APIs to the network node 150 associated with transferring the ongoing media session. The first API comprises parameters associated with requesting information related to UEs 121 , 122, 123 registered in the IMS for a specific user A.

The second API comprises parameters associated with transferring a media session related to the ongoing media session, and requests at least IMS identifiers of the UEs 121 , 122, 123.

The wording to expose when used herein, is to be interpreted as to make accessible, such as e.g. to provide access to authorized clients to the network capabilities via an API.

The parameters of the first API may e.g. comprise the user requesting the transfer to one of his/her UEs, defined by a corresponding User IDs.

The parameters of the second API may e.g. comprise any one out of: the user requesting the transfer to one of his/her UEs, defined by a corresponding User IDs; the respective IMS identifier defining any one out of the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123 which is the target device to which the ongoing media session is to be transferred; and the media of the ongoing media session, which may be indicated by the user. The User ID for the user requesting the transfer may correspond to an IMS Private ID and the respective IMS identifier for any one out of the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123 may be a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) for the respective UE.

Action 602

The IMS node 130 receives a request related to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node and supports a media of the ongoing media session for the user A from the network node 150.

The received request may be a request to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports the media of the ongoing media session, and the request may further comprise an IMS identifier of the second UE 122.

This check may e.g. be performed via service exposure, i.e. an API exposed by the IMS, for example by the MMTel AS.

Action 603

The IMS node 130 sends a response to the request comprising information related to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports the media of the ongoing media session for the user A, to the network node 150.

The response to the request may comprise a list of the one or more UEs 121 , 122, 123 registered to the user A and the media supported by each of the one or more registered UEs 121 , 122, 123.

When the request comprised the IMS identifier of the second UE 122, the response sent from the IMS node 130 may comprise an indication whether the second UE 122 is registered to the IMS and supports the media of the ongoing media session. In this case the IMS node 130 may check if the second network node 122 is registered and supports the media of the ongoing media session. In the case where a list is sent as response the check is instead performed by the network node 150.

This check may e.g. be performed via service exposure, i.e. an API exposed by IMS, for example by the MMTel AS.

Action 604

When the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports the media of the ongoing media session, the IMS node transfers the ongoing media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122. This transfer may e.g. be initiated by the network node 150. The IMS node 130 may, after the check has revealed that the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS and supports the media of the ongoing media session, receive a request from the network node 150 to transfer the ongoing media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122.

If, on the other hand, the outcome of the above mentioned check is that the first UE 121 is not registered in the IMS node 130 and/or does not support the media of the outgoing media call, the IMS node 130 sends a response to the network node 150. The response comprises a message informing the network node that the operation was not successful and that, therefore, the media call cannot be terminated from the first UE 121 , i.e. with the given IMS identifier.

Embodiments herein such as mentioned above will now be further described and exemplified. The text below is applicable to and may be combined with any suitable embodiment described above.

To perform the method actions above for handling an ongoing media session of a user A associated with multiple pieces of UEs 121 , 122, 123 in a communications network 100, the network node 150 may comprise the arrangement depicted in Figure 7a and Figure 7b.

The network node 150 may be adapted to be represented by an application server node.

The network node 150 may comprise an input and output interface 700 depicted in Figure 7b, configured to communicate e.g. with the IMS node 130 and/or the DA device 125. The input and output interface 700 may comprise a wireless receiver not shown and a wireless transmitter not shown.

As depicted in Figure 7a the network node 150 may comprise a configuring unit 720, a receiving unit 730, an identifying unit 740, a sending unit 750, an initiating unit 760, a deciding unit 770, an obtaining unit 780 and/or a retrieving unit 790.

The network node 150 may be configured to, e.g. by means of the configuring unit 720 being configured to, initiate a configuration of the DA device 125.

The network node 150 is configured to receive, e.g. by means of the receiving unit 730 being configured to, receive a request for the media session to be transferred from the first UE 121 to a second UE 122 out of the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123. The request is obtained as a voice instruction from the user A via a DA device 125. The request comprises information regarding an identity of the second UE 122.

The network node 150 is further configured to, e.g. by means of the identifying unit 740 being configured to, identify among the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123, the second UE 122 and its associated IMS identifier based on the information regarding the identity of the second UE 122.

The network node 150 is further configured to, e.g. by means of the obtaining unit 780 being configured to, obtain information related to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in an IMS node 130 and supports a media of the ongoing media session for the user A, based on the identified IMS identifier.

When the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports the media of the ongoing media session, the network node 150 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of the initiating unit 760 being configured to, initiate the transfer of the ongoing media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122.

When the second UE 122 is not registered in the IMS node 130 and/or is not configured to support the media of the ongoing media session, the network node 150 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of a deciding unit 770 being configured to, decide how to proceed with the ongoing media session.

The network node 150 may be configured to identify the second UE 122 out of the one or more UEs 121 , 122, 123 by being configured to, e.g. by means of the retrieving unit 790 being configured to, retrieve the IMS identifier of the second UE 122 based on a personalized name associated with the second UE 122.

The network node 150 may further being configured to obtain the information related to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports the media of the ongoing media session for the user A by being configured to, e.g. by means of the sending unit 750 being configured to send, to the IMS node 130, a request for one or more UEs 121 , 122, 123 registered for user A. The network node 150 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of the receiving unit 730 being configured to receive, from the IMS node 130, a list of the one or more UEs 121 , 122, 123 registered to the user A in the IMS, wherein the list comprises an identifier for each of the one or more UEs 121 , 122, 123 registered in the IMS and the media type supported by each of the one or more registered UEs 121 , 122, 123.

The network node 150 may further being configured to obtain the information related to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports the media of the ongoing media session for the user A by being configured to, e.g. by means of the sending unit 750 being configured to send, to the IMS node 130, the identified IMS identifier of the second UE 122 and a request to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports media of the ongoing media session.

The network node 150 may further be configured to decide how to proceed with the ongoing media session by being configured to, e.g. by means of the instructing unit 780 being configured to, instruct the DA device 125 to offer the user to transfer the ongoing media session to a third UE 123 out of the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123.

The network node 150 may further be configured to decide how to proceed with the ongoing media session by being configured to, e.g. by means of the instructing unit 780 being configured to, instruct the DA device 125 to request the user to select an alternative UE among the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123 to transfer the ongoing media session to.

The network node 150 may further be configured to decide how to proceed with the ongoing media session by being configured to, e.g. by means of the instructing unit 780 being configured to, instruct the DA device 125 to tell the user 120 that the transfer of the ongoing media session to the second UE 122 is not possible.

The network node 150 may further be configured to initiate a transfer of the ongoing media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122 by being configured to, e.g. by means of the sending unit 750 being configured to, send a request to the IMS node 130 to transfer the media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122.

The embodiments herein may be implemented through a respective processor or one or more processors, such as a processor 715 of a processing circuitry in the network node 150 depicted in Figure 7b, together with a respective computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the network node 150. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the network node 150.

The network node 150 may further comprise a memory 710 comprising one or more memory units to store data on. The memory comprises instructions executable by the processor 715. The memory 710 is arranged to be used to store e.g. identifiers, IMS identifiers, configurations and applications to perform the methods herein when being executed in the network node 150.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the units in the network node 150 mentioned above may refer to a combination of analogue and digital circuits, and/or one or more processors configured with software and/or firmware, e.g. stored in the network node 150 that when executed by the respective one or more processors such as the processors described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuitry (ASIC), or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a system-on-a- chip (SoC).

In some embodiments, a computer program 790 comprises instructions, which when executed by the respective at least one processor 715, cause the at least one processor 715 of the network node 150 to perform the actions above.

In some embodiments, a carrier 795 comprises the computer program 790, wherein the carrier 795 is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer- readable storage medium.

To perform the method actions above for handling an outgoing media call of a user A associated with at least one first User Equipment, UE, 121 out of multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123 in a communications network 100, the IMS node 130 may comprise the arrangement depicted in Figure 8a and Figure 8b. The IMS node 130 may comprise an input and output interface 800 depicted in Figure 8b, configured to communicate e.g. with the network node 150 and/or the UEs 121 , 122, 123. The input and output interface 800 may comprise a wireless receiver not shown and a wireless transmitter not shown.

As depicted in Figure 8a the IMS node 130 may comprise an exposing unit 820, a receiving unit 830, an transferring unit 840, and/or a sending unit 850.

The IMS node 130 may be configured to expose, e.g. by means of an exposing unit 820 in the IMS node 130 depicted in Figure 8a, to the network node 150, an

Application Program Interface, API, configured to comprise parameters associated with transferring a media session related to an upcoming media session and/or associated to requesting information related to UEs 121 , 122, 123 registered in the IMS for a specific user A.

The API parameters may be adapted to comprise any one out of the user A requesting the transfer of the ongoing media session defined by a corresponding User ID wherein the User ID may correspond to an IMS Private ID; the respective IMS identifier defining any one out of the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123 which the media session is to be transferred to; and/or the media of the ongoing media session.

The respective IMS identifier for any one out of the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123 may be adapted to be a UUID for the respective UE out of the multiple UEs 121 , 122, 123.

The IMS node 130 is configured to, e.g. by means of the receiving unit 830 being configured to, receive from the network node 150, a request related to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node and supports a media of the ongoing media session for the user A.

The IMS node 130 is configured to, e.g. by means of the sending unit 850 being configured to, send, to the network node 150, a response to the request comprising information related to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports the media of the ongoing media session for the user A.

When the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node and is configured to support the media of the ongoing media session, the IMS node 130 is further configured to, e.g. by means of the transferring unit 840 being configured to, transfer the ongoing media session from the first UE 121 to the second UE 122. The IMS node 130 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of the receiving unit 830 being configured to, receive, from the network node 150, a request for the one or more UEs 121 , 122, 123 registered to the user A in the IMS. The IMS node 130 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of the sending unit 850 being configured to, send, to the network node 150, the response to the request comprising a list of the one or more UEs 121 , 122, 123 registered to the user A and the media supported by each of the one or more registered UEs 121 , 122, 123.

The IMS node 130 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of the receiving unit 830 being configured to, receive, from the network node 150, a request to whether or not the second UE 122 is registered in the IMS node 130 and supports the media of the ongoing media session, wherein the request further comprises an IMS identifier of the second UE 122. The IMS node 130 may further be configured to, e.g. by means of the sending unit 850 being configured to, send, to the network node 150, the response to the request comprising an indication whether the second UE 122 is registered to the IMS and supports the media of the ongoing media session.

The embodiments herein may be implemented through a respective processor or one or more processors, such as a processor 815 of a processing circuitry in the IMS node 130 depicted in Figure 8b, together with a respective computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the

embodiments herein when being loaded into the IMS node 130. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the IMS node 130.

The IMS node 130 may further comprise a memory 810 comprising one or more memory units to store data on. The memory comprises instructions executable by the processor 815. The memory 810 is arranged to be used to store e.g. identifiers, IMS identifiers, configurations and applications to perform the methods herein when being executed in the IMS node 130. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the units in the IMS node 130 mentioned above may refer to a combination of analogue and digital circuits, and/or one or more processors configured with software and/or firmware, e.g. stored in the IMS node 130 that when executed by the respective one or more processors such as the processors described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuitry (ASIC), or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a system-on-a-chip (SoC).

In some embodiments, a computer program 890 comprises instructions, which when executed by the respective at least one processor 815, cause the at least one processor 815 of the IMS node 130 to perform the actions above.

In some embodiments, a carrier 895 comprises the computer program 890, wherein the carrier 895 is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer- readable storage medium.

Further Extensions and Variations

With reference to Figure 9, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes a telecommunication network 3210 such as the wireless communications network 100, e.g. a NR network, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises an access network 3211 , such as a radio access network, and a core network 3214. The access network 3211 comprises a plurality of base stations 3212a, 3212b, 3212c, such as the radio network node 110, access nodes, AP STAs NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 3213a, 3213b, 3213c. Each base station 3212a, 3212b, 3212c is connectable to the core network 3214 over a wired or wireless connection 3215. A first user equipment (UE) e.g. the wireless devices 120 such as a Non-AP STA 3291 located in coverage area 3213c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 3212c. A second UE 3292 e.g. the first or second radio node 110, 120 or such as a Non-AP STA in coverage area 3213a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 3212a. While a plurality of UEs 3291 , 3292 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 3212. The telecommunication network 3210 is itself connected to a host computer 3230, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud- implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 3230 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The connections 3221 , 3222 between the telecommunication network 3210 and the host computer 3230 may extend directly from the core network 3214 to the host computer 3230 or may go via an optional intermediate network 3220. The intermediate network 3220 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; the intermediate network 3220, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 3220 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of Figure 8 as a whole enables connectivity between one of the connected UEs 3291 , 3292 and the host computer 3230. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 3250. The host computer 3230 and the connected UEs 3291 , 3292 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via the OTT connection 3250, using the access network 3211 , the core network 3214, any intermediate network 3220 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as

intermediaries. The OTT connection 3250 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 3250 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, a base station 3212 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from a host computer 3230 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 3291. Similarly, the base station 3212 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 3291 towards the host computer 3230.

Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 10. In a communication system 3300, a host computer 3310 comprises hardware 3315 including a communication interface 3316 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 3300. The host computer 3310 further comprises processing circuitry 3318, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuitry 3318 may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The host computer 3310 further comprises software 3311 , which is stored in or accessible by the host computer 3310 and executable by the processing circuitry 3318. The software 3311 includes a host application 3312. The host application 3312 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as a UE 3330 connecting via an OTT connection 3350 terminating at the UE 3330 and the host computer 3310. In providing the service to the remote user, the host application 3312 may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 3350.

The communication system 3300 further includes a base station 3320 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 3325 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 3310 and with the UE 3330. The hardware 3325 may include a communication interface 3326 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 3300, as well as a radio interface 3327 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 3370 with a UE 3330 located in a coverage area (not shown in Figure 10) served by the base station 3320. The communication interface 3326 may be configured to facilitate a connection 3360 to the host computer 3310. The connection 3360 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in Figure 10) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, the hardware 3325 of the base station 3320 further includes processing circuitry 3328, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The base station 3320 further has software 3321 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

The communication system 3300 further includes the UE 3330 already referred to.

Its hardware 3335 may include a radio interface 3337 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 3370 with a base station serving a coverage area in which the UE 3330 is currently located. The hardware 3335 of the UE 3330 further includes processing circuitry 3338, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application- specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE 3330 further comprises software 3331 , which is stored in or accessible by the UE 3330 and executable by the processing circuitry 3338. The software 3331 includes a client application 3332. The client application 3332 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 3330, with the support of the host computer 3310. In the host computer 3310, an executing host application 3312 may communicate with the executing client application 3332 via the OTT connection 3350 terminating at the UE 3330 and the host computer 3310. In providing the service to the user, the client application 3332 may receive request data from the host application 3312 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 3350 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 3332 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that the host computer 3310, base station 3320 and UE 3330 illustrated in Figure 10 may be identical to the host computer 3230, one of the base stations 3212a, 3212b, 3212c and one of the UEs 3291 , 3292 of Figure 9, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in Figure 10 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of Figure 9.

In Figure 10, the OTT connection 3350 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host computer 3310 and the use equipment 3330 via the base station 3320, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from the UE 3330 or from the service provider operating the host computer 3310, or both. While the OTT connection 3350 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).

The wireless connection 3370 between the UE 3330 and the base station 3320 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 3330 using the OTT connection 3350, in which the wireless connection 3370 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 3350 between the host computer 3310 and UE 3330, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 3350 may be implemented in the software 3311 of the host computer 3310 or in the software 3331 of the UE 3330, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which the OTT connection 3350 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software 3311 , 3331 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 3350 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect the base station 3320, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 3320. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating the host computer’s 3310 measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that the software 3311 , 3331 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 3350 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

Figure 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station such as an AP STA, and a UE such as a Non-AP STA which may be those described with reference to Figure 9 and Figure 10. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 11 will be included in this section. In a first action 3410 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional subaction 3411 of the first action 3410, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In a second action 3420, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In an optional third action 3430, the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In an optional fourth action 3440, the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

Figure 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station such as an AP STA, and a UE such as a Non-AP STA which may be those described with reference to Figure 9 and Figure 10. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 12 will be included in this section. In a first action 3510 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional subaction (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In a second action 3520, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In an optional third action 3530, the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station such as an AP STA, and a UE such as a Non-AP STA which may be those described with reference to Figure 9 and Figure 10. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 13 will be included in this section. In an optional first action 3610 of the method, the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in an optional second action 3620, the UE provides user data. In an optional subaction 3621 of the second action 3620, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In a further optional subaction 3611 of the first action 3610, the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE initiates, in an optional third subaction 3630, transmission of the user data to the host computer. In a fourth action 3640 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

Figure 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station such as an AP STA, and a UE such as a Non-AP STA which may be those described with reference to Figure 9 and Figure 10. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 14 will be included in this section. In an optional first action 3710 of the method, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In an optional second action 3720, the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In a third action 3730, the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

When using the word "comprise" or“comprising” it shall be interpreted as non limiting, i.e. meaning "consist at least of". The embodiments herein are not limited to the above described preferred embodiments. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used.

Below, some example embodiments 1-34 are described.

Embodiment 1. A method performed by a network node (150), for handling an ongoing media session of a first user (A) associated with multiple User Equipment, UE, (121 , 122, 123) in a communications network (100), wherein the first user (A) is in an ongoing media session with a second user (B) using a first UE (121) out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123), the method comprising:

receiving (402) a request for the media session to be transferred from the first UE

(121) to a second UE (122) out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123), which request is obtained as a voice instruction from the first user (A) via a Digital Assistant, DA, device (125), wherein the request comprises information regarding an identity of the second UE

(122),

identifying (403) among the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123), the second UE (122) and its associated IP Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, identifier based on the information regarding the identity of the second UE (122),

sending (405), to an IMS node (130) a request to transfer the ongoing media session from the first UE (121) to the second UE (122), wherein the request comprises information regarding the identity of the second UE (122).

Embodiment 2. The method according to Embodiment 1 , wherein the received request for the ongoing media session to be transferred from the first UE (121) to a second UE (122) out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123) further comprises information regarding the media in the ongoing media session.

Embodiment 3. The method according to any of the previous Embodiments, wherein the information regarding the identity of the second UE (122) comprises a personalized name associated with the second UE (122).

Embodiment 4. The method according to Embodiment 3, wherein the identifying of the second UE (122) out of the one or more UEs (121 , 122, 123) comprises retrieving the IMS identifier of the second UE (122) based on the personalized name associated with the second UE (122).

Embodiment 5. The method according to Embodiment 4, wherein the request to transfer the ongoing media session comprises a user identification identifying the user (A). Embodiment 6. The method according to any of the Embodiments 1 to 5, wherein the method further comprises receiving a response from the IMS node 130 comprising an indication of whether the transfer of the ongoing media session was successful or unsuccessful.

Embodiment 7. The method according to any of the Embodiments 1 to 6, wherein the method further comprises deciding (408) how to proceed with the ongoing media session.

Embodiment 8. The method according to Embodiment 7, wherein deciding (408) how to proceed with the ongoing media session comprises instructing the DA device (125) to offer the user to transfer the ongoing media session to a third UE (123) out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123).

Embodiment 9. The method according to Embodiment 7, wherein deciding (406) how to proceed with the ongoing media session comprises instructing the DA device (125) to request the user to select an alternative UE among the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123) to transfer the ongoing media session to.

Embodiment 10. The method according to Embodiment 7, wherein deciding (406) how to proceed with the ongoing media session comprises instructing the DA device (125) to tell the user (120) that the transfer of the ongoing media session to the second UE (122) is not possible.

Embodiment 11. The method according to any of the Embodiments 1-10, wherein the network node (150) is represented by an application server node.

Embodiment 12. A method performed by an Internet protocol Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node (130), for handling an ongoing media session of a first user (A) associated with multiple User Equipment, UE, (121 , 122, 123) in a communications network (100), wherein the first user (A) is in an ongoing media session with a second user (B) using a first UE (121) out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123), the method comprising: receiving (404), from a network node (150), a request to transfer the ongoing media session from the first UE (121) to a second UE (122), wherein the request comprises information regarding an identity of the second UE (122),

determining (405), based on the information regarding the identity of the second UE (122), whether the second UE 122 is registered to the user in the IMS and supports the media of the ongoing media session,

when the second UE (122) is registered in the IMS node (130) and supports the media of the ongoing media session, transferring (406) the ongoing media session from the first UE (121) to the second UE (122).

Embodiment 13. The method according to Embodiment 12, wherein the method further comprises sending (407) to the network node (150), a response indicating the result of the requested transfer of the media session.

Embodiment 14. The method according to Embodiment 12 or 13, further comprising: exposing (601) to the network node (150), an Application Program Interface, API, comprising parameters associated with transferring the ongoing media session.

Embodiment 15. The method according to Embodiment 14, wherein the API parameters comprise any one out of:

the user (A) requesting the transfer of the ongoing media session defined by a

corresponding User Identity, User ID, wherein the User ID corresponds to an IMS Private Identity, IMS Private ID,

the respective IMS identifier defining any one out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123) which the media session is to be transferred to, and

the media of the ongoing media session.

Embodiment 16. The method according to any of the Embodiments 12 to 15, wherein the respective IMS identifier for any one out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123) is an Universally Unique Identifier, UUID, for the respective UE out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123).

Embodiment 17. A computer program (790, 890) comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor (715, 815), causes the processor (715, 815) to perform actions according to any of the Embodiments 1-16. Embodiment 18. A carrier (795, 895) comprising the computer program (790, 890) of Embodiments 17, wherein the carrier (795, 895) is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

Embodiment 19. A network node (150), for handling an ongoing media session of a first user (A) associated with multiple User Equipment, UE, (121 , 122, 123) in a communications network (100), wherein the first user (A) is in an ongoing media session with a second user (B) using a first UE (121) out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123), the network node (150) being configured to:

receive a request for the media session to be transferred from the first UE (121) to a second UE (122) out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123), which request is obtained as a voice instruction from the first user (A) via a Digital Assistant, DA, device (125), wherein the request comprises information regarding an identity of the second UE (122),

identify, among the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123), the second UE (122) and its associated IP Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, identifier based on the information regarding the identity of the second UE (122),

send, to an IMS node (130) a request to transfer the ongoing media session from the first UE (121) to the second UE (122), wherein the request comprises information regarding an identity of the second UE (122).

Embodiment 20. The network node (150) according to Embodiment 19, wherein the received request for the ongoing media session to be transferred from the first UE (121) to a second UE (122) out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123) further comprises an indication of the media in the ongoing media session.

Embodiment 21. The network node (150) according to any of the Embodiments 19 or 20, wherein the information regarding the identity of the second UE (122) comprises a personalized name associated with the second UE (122).

Embodiment 22. The network node (150) according to Embodiment 21 , wherein the network node (150) is configured to identify the second UE (122) out of the one or more UEs (121 , 122, 123) by retrieving the IMS identifier of the second UE (122) based on the personalized name associated with the second UE (122). Embodiment 23. The network node (150) according to Embodiment 22, wherein the request to transfer the ongoing media session comprises a user identification identifying the user (A).

Embodiment 24. The network node (150) according to any of the Embodiments 19 to

23, wherein the network node (150) further is configured to receive a response from the IMS node 130 comprising an indication of whether the transfer of the ongoing media session was successful or unsuccessful.

Embodiment 25. The network node (150) according to any of the Embodiments 19 to

24, wherein the network node (150) further is configured to decide how to proceed with the ongoing media session.

Embodiment 26. The network node (150) according to Embodiment 25, wherein the network node (150) is configured to decide how to proceed with the ongoing media session by instructing the DA device (125) to offer the user to transfer the ongoing media session to a third UE (123) out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123).

Embodiment 27. The network node (150) according to Embodiment 25, wherein the network node (150) is configured to decide how to proceed with the ongoing media session by instructing the DA device (125) to request the user to select an alternative UE among the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123) to transfer the ongoing media session to.

Embodiment 28. The network node (150) according to Embodiment 25, wherein the network node (150) is configured to decide how to proceed with the ongoing media session comprises instructing the DA device (125) to tell the user (120) that the transfer of the ongoing media session to the second UE (122) is not possible.

Embodiment 29. The network node (150) according to any of the Embodiments 19- 28, wherein the network node (150) is represented by an application server node.

Embodiment 30. An Internet protocol Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node (130), for handling an ongoing media session of a first user (A) associated with multiple User Equipment, UE, (121 , 122, 123) in a communications network (100), wherein the first user (A) is in an ongoing media session with a second user (B) using a first UE (121) out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123), the IMS node (130) being configured to:

receive, from a network node (150), a request to transfer the ongoing media session from the first UE (121) to a second UE (122), wherein the request comprises information regarding an identity of the second UE (122),

determine, based on the information regarding the identity of the second UE (122), whether the second UE 122 is registered to the user in the IMS and supports the media of the ongoing media session,

when the second UE (122) is registered in the IMS node (130) and supports the media of the ongoing media session, transfer the ongoing media session from the first UE (121) to the second UE (122).

Embodiment 31. The IMS node (130) according to Embodiment 30, wherein the IMS node (130) is further configured to send, to the network node (150), a response indicating the result of the requested transfer of the media session.

Embodiment 32. The IMS node (130) according to Embodiment 30 or 31 , wherein the IMS node (130) is further configured to:

expose, to the network node (150), an Application Program Interface, API, comprising parameters associated with transferring the ongoing media session.

Embodiment 33. The IMS node (130) according to Embodiment 32, wherein the API parameters comprise any one out of:

the user (A) requesting the transfer of the ongoing media session defined by a corresponding User Identity, User ID, wherein the User ID corresponds to an IMS Private Identity, IMS Private ID,

the respective IMS identifier defining any one out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123) which the media session is to be transferred to, and

the media of the ongoing media session.

Embodiment 34. The IMS node (130) according to any of the Embodiments 30 to 31 , wherein the respective IMS identifier for any one out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123) is an Universally Unique Identifier, UUID, for the respective UE out of the multiple UEs (121 , 122, 123).