Adaptive pairing of a radio access network slice to a core network slice based on device information or service information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10834597-B2
Application number	US-201916537509-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 9, 2019
Priority date	Dec 1, 2017
Publication date	Nov 10, 2020
Grant date	Nov 10, 2020

Abstract

Pairing of a radio access network (RAN) slice to a core network (CN) slice is disclosed. The pairing can be based on RAN slice information, CN slice information, and device information. The device information can enable access to corresponding information from a data store, such as historical pairing correlated to a device, device type, etc. Moreover, other supplemental information, such as service information, can also be employed in determining the pairing. In an aspect, the other supplemental information can enable access to corresponding information form a data store, such as other CN slices comprising an identified virtual network function, historical performance of previously determined pairing(s), etc. A determined pairing can be modified before provisioning or after provisioning based on the RAN slice information, CN slice information, supplemental information, or corresponding information. Further, pairing information can be employed to directly initiate pairing or to cause another device to initiate pairing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
selecting, in response to a current user equipment demand for resources and based on a historical spectral efficiency indicator relative to historical core network slices and historical access network slices, a first pairing of a first core network slice and a first access network slice based on a ranking of possible pairings, wherein the possible pairings are determined prior to the current user equipment demand for resources, wherein the possible pairings comprise the first pairing of the first core network slice and the first access network slice and a second pairing of a second core network slice and a second access network slice, and wherein the ranking of the possible pairings is based on respective historical key performance indicators of the possible pairings; and
initiating a communicative coupling according to the first pairing to facilitate communication between a first end device and a second end device.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first pairing defines an end-to-end network-on-demand path.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first core network slice and the first access network slice of the first pairing are selected to provide an indicated feature associated with a performance of the communicative coupling.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first core network slice and the first access network slice of the first pairing are selected to enable a network performance that satisfies at least an indicated performance level.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first core network slice and the first access network slice of the first pairing are selected to enable a network performance that satisfies at least an indicated cost level.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first core network slice and the first access network slice of the first pairing are selected based on a historical network performance indicator relative to historical core network slices and historical access network slices.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first core network slice and the second core network slice are a same network slice.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first core network slice is a different network slice than the second core network slice.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first access network slice and the second access network slice are a same access network slice.

10. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first access network slice is a different access network slice than the second access network slice.

11. A method, comprising:
ranking, by a system comprising a processor, potential slice pairings based on respective historical key performance indicators associated with the potential slice pairings, wherein the potential slice pairings are designated prior to a current user equipment demand for resources, wherein the potential slice pairings comprise a first pairing of a first core network slice and a first access network slice and a second pairing of a second core network slice and a second access network slice;
selecting, by the system, the first pairing of the first core network slice and the first access network slice based on a rank of the first pairing determined according to the ranking of the potential slice pairings, wherein the selecting is based on a historical spectral efficiency indicator relative to historical core network slices and historical access network slices; and
enabling, by the system, data flow between a first end device and a second end device via an end-to-end network path comprising the first pairing.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the ranking of the potential slice pairings comprises ranking the first pairing comprising the first core network slice and the second pairing comprising the second core network slice, and wherein the first core network slice and the second core network slice are a same core network slice.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the ranking of the potential slice pairings comprises ranking the first pairing comprising the first core network slice and the second pairing comprising the second core network slice, and wherein the first core network slice and the second core network slice are different core network slices.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the ranking of the potential slice pairings comprises ranking the first pairing comprising the first access network slice and the second pairing comprising the second access network slice, and wherein the first access network slice and the second access network slice are a same access network slice.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the ranking of the potential slice pairings comprises ranking the first pairing comprising the first access network slice and the second pairing comprising the second access network slice, and wherein the first access network slice and the second access network slice are different access network slices.

16. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
selecting, according to a ranking of feasible network slice pairings based on a historical spectral efficiency indicator relative to historical core network slices and historical access network slices, a first pairing of a first core network slice and a first access network slice, wherein the feasible network slice pairings are indicated prior to a current user equipment demand for resources, and wherein the first pairing is ranked relative to a second pairing of a second core network slice and a second access network slice according to a historical key performance indicator of each pairing of the feasible network slice pairings; and
provisioning an end-to-end network path comprising the first pairing to enable data flow between a first end device and a second end device via the end-to-end network path.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the first pairing is selected from a group of first pairing permutations of the feasible network slice pairings, the group comprising:
the first pairing comprising the first core network slice that is a same core network slice as the second core network slice; and
the first pairing comprising the first core network slice that is a different core network slice as the second core network slice.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the first pairing is selected from a group of first pairing permutations of the feasible network slice pairings, the group comprising:
the first pairing comprising the first access network slice that is a same access network slice as the second access network slice; and
the first pairing comprising the first access network slice that is a different access network slice as the second access network slice.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the first core network slice and the first access network slice of the first pairing are selected to provide access to a selectable virtual network function.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the first pairing defines an end-to-end network path.

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Kodaypak Rajendra Prasad
• Seenappa Vikram

Classifications

• H04W72/51

  based on terminal or device properties · CPC title

• H04W16/02 Primary

  Resource partitioning among network components, e.g. reuse partitioning · CPC title

• H04L41/122 Primary

  of virtualised topologies, e.g. software-defined networks [SDN] or network function virtualisation [NFV] · CPC title

• H04W92/14

  between access point controllers and backbone network device · CPC title

• H04L41/00

  Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks · CPC title