Method and electronic device for placing micro network function

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11924065-B2
Application number	US-202117374716-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 13, 2021
Priority date	Jul 14, 2020
Publication date	Mar 5, 2024
Grant date	Mar 5, 2024

Abstract

A method, performed by an electronic device, of placing a micro network function, includes: determining at least one micro network function used for a service; predicting control signaling overhead of at least one cell including at least one cell edge cloud, based on a history of control signaling overhead of the at least one cell; and placing the at least one micro network function in the at least one cell edge cloud, based on the predicted control signaling overhead of the at least one cell.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, performed by an electronic device, of placing a micro network function, the method comprising:
receiving, from a network, information associated with a history of control signaling overhead of at least one cell including at least one cell edge cloud;
determining at least one micro network function used for a service;
predicting control signaling overhead of the at least one cell, based on the history of the control signaling overhead of the at least one cell; and
placing the at least one micro network function in the at least one cell edge cloud, based on the predicted control signaling overhead of the at least one cell; and
transmitting, to the network, information about placement of the at least one micro network function;
wherein the at least one cell edge cloud is requested to place the at least one micro network function based on the information about the placement of the at least one micro network function.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one micro network function comprises at least one of:
a specific network function (S-NF) used for a specific service; or
a common network function (C-NF) commonly used for a service.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicting of the control signaling overhead of the at least one cell comprises predicting the control signaling overhead via a control signaling overhead prediction model trained to predict a control signaling overhead, based on a history of the control signaling overhead of the at least one cell according to a placement time interval.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the placing of the at least one micro network function comprises placing the at least one micro network function, based on at least one of an available resource condition or a latency condition of the at least one cell.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the placing of the at least one micro network function comprises placing the at least one micro network function, based on a placement cost of the at least one micro network function.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the placement cost of the at least one micro network function comprises at least one of an installation cost for installing the at least one micro network function in the at least one cell edge cloud or an operation cost for operating the at least one micro network function.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the placing of the at least one micro network function comprises:
selecting at least one cell edge cloud in which placement of a micro network function is to be different from current placement; and
placing the at least one micro network function in the selected at least one cell edge cloud.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one cell edge cloud comprises at least one Internet of things (IoT) gateway, and
the placing of the at least one micro network function in the at least one cell edge cloud comprises placing the at least one micro network function in the at least one IoT gateway.

9. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the network is a 5 th generation core (5GC) network, and
the method further comprising:
requesting the 5th generation core (5GC) network for control signaling data analytics comprising the information associated with the history of the control signaling overhead of the at least one cell; and
receiving the control signaling data analytics from the 5GC network, and
wherein the predicting of the control signaling overhead of the at least one cell comprises predicting the control signaling overhead of the at least one cell, based on the received control signaling data analytics.

10. An electronic device comprising:
a memory;
a transceiver; and
at least one processor configured to:
receive, from a network, information associated with a history of control signaling overhead of at least one cell including at least one cell edge cloud;
determine at least one micro network function used for a service;
predict control signaling overhead of the at least one cell, based on the history of the control signaling overhead of the at least one cell;

place the at least one micro network function in the at least one cell edge cloud, based on the predicted control signaling overhead of the at least one cell; and
transmit, to the network, information about placement of the at least one micro network function,

wherein the at least one cell edge cloud is requested to place the at least one micro network function based on the information about the placement of the at least one micro network function.

11. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one micro network function comprises at least one of:
a specific network function (S-NF) used for a specific service; or
a common network function (C-NF) commonly used for a service.

12. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to predict the control signaling overhead via a control signaling overhead prediction model trained to predict a control signaling overhead, based on a history of the control signaling overhead of the at least one cell according to a placement time interval.

13. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to place the at least one micro network function, based on at least one of an available resource condition or a latency condition of the at least one cell.

14. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to place the at least one micro network function, based on a placement cost of the at least one micro network function.

15. The electronic device of claim 14 , wherein the placement cost of the at least one micro network function comprises at least one of an installation cost for installing the at least one micro network function in the at least one cell edge cloud or an operation cost for operating the at least one micro network function.

16. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
select at least one cell edge cloud in which placement of a micro network function is to be different from current placement; and
place the at least one micro network function in the selected at least one cell edge cloud.

17. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one cell edge cloud comprises at least one Internet of things (IoT) gateway, and
the at least one processor is further configured to place the at least one micro network function in the at least one IoT gateway.

18. The electronic device of claim 10 ,
wherein the network is a 5 th generation core (5GC) network, and
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
request the 5th generation core (5GC) network for control signaling data analytics comprising the information associated with the history of the control signaling overhead of the at least one cell;
receive the control signaling data analytics from the 5GC network; and
predict the control signaling overhead of the at least one cell, based on the received control signaling data analytics.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having recorded thereon a program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:
receive, from a network, information associated with a history of control signaling overhead of at least one cell including at least one cell edge cloud,
determine at least one micro network function used for a service;
predict control signaling overhead of the least one cell, based on the history of the

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
• Univ Korea Res & Bus Found

Inventors

• Song Seongkyu
• Kim Joonwoo
• Pack Sangheon
• Lee Jaewook
• Kim Taeyun
• Jeon Youbin
• Jung Jungsoo

Classifications

• H04L41/40

  using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities · CPC title

• H04L41/147

  for predicting network behaviour · CPC title

• H04L41/5045 Primary

  Making service definitions prior to deployment · CPC title

• H04L41/5054 Primary

  Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components · CPC title

• H04L41/0806

  for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play · CPC title