CN115550964A - Apparatus and method for C-SON - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application relates to an apparatus and method for a centralized-self organizing network (C-SON), wherein the apparatus comprises a processor circuit configured to: receiving Capacity and Coverage Optimization (CCO) -related performance measurements or CCO-related reports from a Network Function (NF) node in a Radio Access Network (RAN); and determining whether the capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam associated with the NF node needs to be optimized based on the CCO-related performance measurements or CCO-related reports.

Description

Apparatus and method for C-SON

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application is based on and claims priority from U.S. application No.63/217,166, filed 30/6/2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for a centralized-self organizing network (C-SON).

Background

Mobile communications have evolved from early voice systems to today's highly sophisticated integrated communication platforms. A 5G or New Radio (NR) wireless communication system will provide access to information and sharing of data by various users and applications anytime and anywhere.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements.

Fig. 1 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for use in a C-SON according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2A illustrates a schematic diagram of an architecture supporting C-SON functions for capacity and coverage optimization, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram of a capacity and coverage optimization process, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram of components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments will be described using terms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of the disclosure to others skilled in the art. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that many alternative embodiments may be practiced using portions of the described aspects. For purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrative embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that alternate embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the illustrative embodiments.

Further, various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.

The phrases "in an embodiment," "in one embodiment," and "in some embodiments" are used repeatedly herein. Such phrases are not generally referring to the same embodiment; however, they may also refer to the same embodiment. The terms "comprising," "having," and "including" are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. The phrases "A or B" and "A/B" mean "(A), (B), or (A and B)".

To reduce the manual operational tasks associated with a cell or beam, capacity and Coverage Optimization (CCO) is proposed, which may result in reduced operational costs and improved end user experience associated with the cell or beam. The CCO function will automatically adjust antenna direction, radio Frequency (RF) and other resource parameters based on the distribution of traffic load or User Equipment (UE) location to provide the best capacity and coverage for a given cell or beam serving the UE according to the operator's deployment plan. The CCO functions may operate in a sequence of days, weeks, or months to account for long-term changes in network behavior.

Fig. 1 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 100 for use in a C-SON in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 1, the method 100 includes: s102, receiving a CCO-related performance measurement result or a CCO-related report from a Network Function (NF) node in a Radio Access Network (RAN); and S104 determining whether the capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam associated with the NF node need to be optimized based on the CCO-related performance measurements or CCO-related reports.

In some embodiments, when the capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam need to be optimized, the method 100 further comprises: determining a CCO-related action for optimizing capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam based on the CCO-related performance measurements or CCO-related reports; and reconfiguring CCO control parameters associated with the NF node based on the CCO-related action.

In some embodiments, method 100 further comprises, after CCO control parameters are successfully updated to NF nodes: receiving the CCO related performance measurement result from the NF node again; and determining whether the capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam still needs to be optimized based on the CCO-related performance measurements.

In some embodiments, when the capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam still needs to be optimized, the method 100 further comprises: the CCO control parameters are reconfigured or restored.

Figure 2A illustrates a schematic diagram of an architecture supporting C-SON functions for capacity and coverage optimization, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 2A, the C-SON function achieves capacity and coverage optimization by:

monitoring: the C-SON function collects CCO-related performance measurements and CCO-related reports from NF nodes using management services for NF performance guarantees (MnS);

analysis: the C-SON function analyzes the CCO related performance measurement result and the CCO related report and determines whether the capacity and the coverage of a given cell or wave beam need to be optimized;

decision and execution: the C-SON function may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML) model training and reasoning to determine CCO-related actions for optimizing capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam, and use MnS for NF provisioning (NF provisioning) to reconfigure CCO control parameters associated with NF nodes;

evaluation: the C-SON function evaluates whether the Capacity and Coverage (CC) problems associated with a given cell or beam have been alleviated (i.e., whether the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam still need to be optimized) by analyzing CCO-related performance measurements received again via MnS for NF performance assurance, and reconfigures or restores CCO control parameters associated with the NF node using MnS for NF settings in the event that the capacity and coverage problems associated with the given cell or beam have not been alleviated.

In some embodiments, the C-SON function may be implemented by a base station (e.g., a next generation base station (gNB)) in cooperation with a MnS generator for NF performance guarantees and a MnS generator for NF settings for capacity and coverage optimization, provided that a Performance Measurement (PM) job control and settings application has been executed to allow the C-SON function to receive CCO-related performance measurements and CCO-related reports from the NF node when a given cell or beam associated with the NF node is in an operational state. Accordingly, mnS generators for NF performance guarantees should have the capability to allow one or more authorized consumers to collect CCO-related performance measurements and CCO-related reports, mnS generators for NF settings should have the capability to allow one or more authorized consumers to update CCO control parameters.

In some embodiments, the CCO control parameters to be updated by the C-SON function include one or more of the parameters listed in table 1.

Table 1

In some embodiments, the CCO-related performance measurements include one or more of the measurements listed in table 2.

Table 2 cco related performance measurements

In some embodiments, the CCO-related reports include one or more CCO-related reports listed in table 3.

Table 3 cco related reports

Fig. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram of a capacity and coverage optimization process 200 implemented assuming that a PM job control and setup application has been executed to allow a C-SON function to receive CCO-related performance measurements and CCO-related reports, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 2B, the capacity and coverage optimization process 200 includes:

the C-SON function receives CCO-related performance measurements that are used to detect capacity and coverage problems associated with a given cell or beam S201.

The C-SON function receives MDT reports, RLF reports, and RCEF reports that are used to detect capacity and coverage problems associated with a given cell or beam S202.

The C-SON function analyzes the CCO related performance measurements, MDT reports, RLF reports, and RCEF reports to determine if the capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam need to be optimized S203.

If the capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam needs to be optimized, the following steps are performed:

the C-SON function determines CCO-related actions to alleviate capacity and coverage issues associated with a given cell or beam S204.

S205, the C-SON reconfigures CCO control parameters through modifyMOIAttributes operation by using MnS for NF setting.

S205.A, the MnS generator for NF setup updates the CCO control parameters to the NF nodes associated with a given cell or beam.

S206, the MnS generator for NF setting sends a notice NotifyMOIAttributeValueChange to the C-SON function to indicate that the CCO control parameters are successfully updated.

S207, the C-SON function collects CCO-related performance measurements from NF nodes associated with a given cell or beam.

The C-SON function analyzes the CCO-related performance measurements to assess whether the capacity and coverage problems associated with a given cell or beam are alleviated S208.

If the capacity and coverage problems associated with a given cell or beam are not alleviated, then the following steps are performed:

the C-SON function reconfigures CCO control parameters associated with NF nodes (which are associated with a given cell or beam) through modifymiaattembutes operations using MnS for NF settings S209.

S209.A, the MnS generator for NF setup updates the CCO control parameters to the NF nodes associated with a given cell or beam.

S210, the MnS generator for NF setting sends a notice NotifyMOIAttributeValueChange to the C-SON function to indicate that the CCO control parameters are successfully updated.

Fig. 3-4 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that can implement aspects of the disclosed embodiments.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a network 300 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The network 300 may operate in accordance with 3GPP technical specifications for Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 5G/NR systems. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited in this respect and the described embodiments may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems and the like.

Network 300 may include a UE 302, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN) 304 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 302 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a wearable computer device, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an in-vehicle infotainment device, an in-vehicle entertainment device, a dashboard, a heads-up display device, an in-vehicle diagnostic device, a dashboard mobile device, a mobile data terminal, an electronic engine management system, an electronic/engine control unit, an electronic/engine control module, an embedded system, a sensor, a microcontroller, a control module, an engine management system, a network device, a machine-to-machine (M2M) or device-to-device (D2D) device, an internet of things (IoT) device, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, the network 300 may include multiple UEs directly coupled to each other through a sidelink interface. The UE may be an M2M/D2D device that communicates using a physical sidelink channel (e.g., without limitation, a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Fundamental Channel (PSFCH), etc.).

In some embodiments, the UE 302 may also communicate with an Access Point (AP) 306 over an over-the-air connection. The AP 306 may manage Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connections that may be used to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN 304. The connection between the UE 302 and the AP 306 may be in accordance with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 306 may be noneLine fidelity

A router. In some embodiments, the UE 302, RAN 304, and AP 306 may utilize cellular WLAN aggregation (e.g., LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA)/lightweight IP (LWIP)). Cellular WLAN aggregation may involve configuration by the RAN 304 of the UE 302 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

The RAN 304 may include one or more access nodes, such as AN Access Node (AN) 308. The AN 308 can terminate air interface protocols of the UE 302 by providing access stratum protocols including a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), a Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol, a Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol, and AN L1 protocol. In this manner, the AN 308 may enable a data/voice connection between the Core Network (CN) 320 and the UE 302. In some embodiments, AN 308 may be implemented in a discrete device or as one or more software entities running on a server computer (as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a distributed RAN (CRAN) or virtual baseband unit pool, for example). The AN 308 may be referred to as a Base Station (BS), next generation base station (gNB), RAN node, evolved node B (eNB), next generation eNB (ng eNB), node B (NodeB), roadside unit (RSU), transmit receive point (TRxP), transmit point (TRP), etc. The AN 308 can be a macrocell base station or a low power base station that provides a microcell, picocell, or other similar cell with a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth than a macrocell.

In embodiments where the RAN 304 comprises multiple ANs, they may be coupled to each other over AN X2 interface (if the RAN 304 is AN LTE RAN) or AN Xn interface (if the RAN 304 is a 5G RAN). In some embodiments, the X2/Xn interface, which may be separated into a control/user plane interface, may allow the AN to communicate information related to handover, data/context transfer, mobility, load management, interference coordination, and the like.

The AN of RAN 304 may each manage one or more cells, groups of cells, component carriers, etc., to provide UE 302 with AN air interface for network access. The UE 302 may be simultaneously connected with multiple cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 304. For example, UE 302 and RAN 304 may use carrier aggregation to allow UE 302 to connect with multiple component carriers, each corresponding to a primary cell (PCell) or a secondary cell (SCell). In a dual connectivity scenario, the first AN may be a primary network node providing a Master Cell Group (MCG) and the second AN may be a secondary network node providing a Secondary Cell Group (SCG). The first/second AN can be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc.

The RAN 304 may provide an air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in unlicensed spectrum, a node may use a License Assisted Access (LAA), enhanced LAA (eLAA), and/or further enhanced LAA (feLAA) mechanism based on Carrier Aggregation (CA) techniques of PCell/Scell. Prior to accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the node may perform a media/carrier sensing operation based on, for example, a Listen Before Talk (LBT) protocol.

In a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) scenario, the UE 302 or AN 308 may be or act as a Road Side Unit (RSU), which may refer to any transport infrastructure entity for V2X communication. The RSU may be implemented in or by AN appropriate AN or stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU"; an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU"; an RSU implemented in or by a next generation NodeB (gNB) may be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU" or the like. In one example, the RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located at the curb side that provides connection support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications/software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high speed events (e.g., collision avoidance, traffic warnings, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular/WLAN communication services. The components of the RSU may be enclosed in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or backhaul network.

In some embodiments, RAN 304 may be an LTE RAN 310 including an evolved node B (eNB), e.g., eNB 312. The LTE RAN 310 may provide an LTE air interface with the following features: subcarrier spacing (SCS) at 15 kHz; a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) waveform for Uplink (UL) and a cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) waveform for Downlink (DL); turbo codes for data and TBCC for control, etc. The LTE air interface may rely on channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) for CSI acquisition and beam management; relying on a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)/Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation; and relying on Cell Reference Signals (CRS) for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation, and on channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operate on the 6GHz sub-band.

In some embodiments, RAN 304 may be a Next Generation (NG) -RAN 314 having a gNB (e.g., gNB 316) or a gn-eNB (e.g., NG-eNB 318). The gNB 316 may connect with 5G-enabled UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gNB 316 may be connected to the 5G core through an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The NG-eNB 318 may also be connected with the 5G core over the NG interface, but may be connected with the UE over the LTE air interface. The gNB 316 and the ng-eNB 318 may be connected to each other over an Xn interface.

In some embodiments, the NG interface may be divided into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between the UPF 348 and nodes of the NG-RAN 314 (e.g., an N3 interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the access and mobility management function (AMF) 344 and nodes of the NG-RAN 314 (e.g., an N2 interface).

The NG-RAN 314 may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following features: variable subcarrier spacing (SCS); cyclic prefix-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) for Downlink (DL), CP-OFDM for UL, and DFT-s-OFDM; polarity, repetition, simplex, and reed-muller codes for control; and low density parity check codes (LDPC) for the data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on channel state reference signals (CSI-RS), PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation reference signals (DMRS) similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G-NR air interface may not use Cell Reference Signals (CRS), but may use Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) demodulation reference signals (DMRS) for PBCH demodulation; performing phase tracking of the PDSCH using a Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS); and time tracking using the tracking reference signal. The 5G-NR air interface may operate over the FR1 frequency band, which includes the 6GHz sub-band, or the FR2 frequency band, which includes the 24.25GHz to 52.6GHz frequency band. The 5G-NR air interface may include synchronization signals and PBCH blocks (SSBs), which are regions of a downlink resource grid including Primary Synchronization Signals (PSS)/Secondary Synchronization Signals (SSS)/PBCH.

In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may use a bandwidth portion (BWP) for various purposes. For example, BWP may be used for dynamic adaptation of SCS. For example, UE 302 may be configured with multiple BWPs, where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When the BWP is indicated to the UE 302 to change, the SCS of the transmission also changes. Another use case for BWP relates to power saving. In particular, the UE 302 may be configured with multiple BWPs with different numbers of frequency resources (e.g., PRBs) to support data transmission in different traffic load scenarios. BWPs containing a smaller number of PRBs may be used for data transmission with smaller traffic load while allowing power savings at UE 302 and, in some cases, at gNB 316. BWPs containing a large number of PRBs may be used in scenarios with higher traffic loads.

The RAN 304 is communicatively coupled to a CN 320, which includes network elements, to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (e.g., users of the UEs 302). The components of CN 320 may be implemented in one physical node or in different physical nodes. In some embodiments, network Function Virtualization (NFV) may be used to virtualize any or all functions provided by network elements of CN 320 onto physical computing/storage resources in servers, switches, and the like. Logical instances of CN 320 may be referred to as network slices, and logical instances of a portion of CN 320 may be referred to as network subslices.

In some embodiments, CN 320 may be LTE CN 322, which may also be referred to as EPC. The LTE CN 322 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 324, a Serving Gateway (SGW) 326, a serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) support node (SGSN) 328, a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 330, a Proxy Gateway (PGW) 332, and a policy control and charging rules function (PCRF) 334, which are coupled to each other by an interface (or "reference point"), as shown. The functions of the elements of the LTE CN 322 may be briefly introduced as follows.

The MME 324 may implement mobility management functions to track the current location of the UE 302 to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handover, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

The SGW 326 may terminate the S1 interface towards the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 322. The SGW 326 may be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handovers and may also provide an anchor for inter-3 GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, charging, and some policy enforcement.

SGSN 328 may track the location of UE 302 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, SGSN 328 may perform EPC inter-node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection specified by the MME 324; MME selection for handover, etc. The S3 reference point between MME 324 and SGSN 328 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3 GPP access network mobility in idle/active state.

HSS 330 may include a database for network users that includes subscription-related information that supports network entities handling communication sessions. HSS 330 may provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependency, etc. The S6a reference point between the HSS 330 and the MME 324 may enable transmission of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing user access to the LTE CN 320.

PGW 332 may terminate the SGi interface towards a Data Network (DN) 336, which may include an application/content server 338. The PGW 332 may route data packets between the LTE CN 322 and the data network 336. The PGW 332 may be coupled with the SGW 326 through an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. PGW 332 may also include a node (e.g., PCEF) for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Additionally, the SGi reference point between PGW 332 and data network 336 may be, for example, an operator external public, private PDN, or an operator internal packet data network for providing IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) services. PGW 332 may be coupled with PCRF 334 via a Gx reference point.

PCRF 334 is the policy and charging control element of LTE CN 322. PCRF 334 may be communicatively coupled to application/content server 338 to determine appropriate quality of service (QoS) and charging parameters for a service flow. PCRF 332 may provide the relevant rules to the PCEF (via the Gx reference point) with the appropriate Traffic Flow Template (TFT) and QoS Class Identifier (QCI).

In some embodiments, CN 320 may be a 5G core network (5 GC) 340. The 5GC 340 may include an authentication server function (AUSF) 342, an access and mobility management function (AMF) 344, a Session Management Function (SMF) 346, a User Plane Function (UPF) 348, a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) 350, a network open function (NEF) 352, an NF storage function (NRF) 354, a Policy Control Function (PCF) 356, a Unified Data Management (UDM) 358, and an Application Function (AF) 360, which are coupled to each other by an interface (or "reference point"), as shown. The functions of the elements of the 5GC 340 can be briefly described as follows.

The AUSF 342 may store data for authentication of the UE 302 and handle authentication related functions. The AUSF 342 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. AUSF 342 may exhibit a Nausf service based interface in addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 340 through reference points as shown.

The AMF 344 may allow other functions of the 5GC 340 to communicate with the UE 302 and the RAN 304 and subscribe to notifications regarding mobility events for the UE 302. The AMF 344 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., registering the UE 302), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 344 may provide for the transmission of Session Management (SM) messages between the UE 302 and the SMF 346 and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. The AMF 344 may also provide for the transmission of SMS messages between the UE 302 and the SMSF. The AMF 344 may interact with the AUSF 342 and the UE 302 to perform various security anchoring and context management functions. Further, the AMF 344 may be a termination point for the RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN 304 and the AMF 344; the AMF 344 may act as a termination point for NAS (N1) signaling and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. The AMF 344 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 302 over the N3 IWF interface.

SMF 346 may be responsible for SM (e.g., tunnel management between UPF 348 and AN 308, session establishment); UE IP address assignment and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of the UP function; configuring flow control at the UPF 348 to route the flow to the appropriate destination; termination of the interface to the policy control function; controlling a portion of policy enforcement, charging, and QoS; lawful interception (for SM events and interface to the LI system); terminate the SM portion of the NAS message; a downlink data notification; initiate AN specific SM message (sent to the AN 308 over N2 via the AMF 344); and determining the SSC pattern for the session. SM may refer to the management of PDU sessions, and a PDU session or "session" may refer to a PDU connection service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between the UE 302 and the data network 336.

The UPF 348 may serve as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point to interconnect with the data network 336, and a branch point to support multi-homed PDU sessions. The UPF 348 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, perform the user plane part of policy rules, lawful intercepted packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 348 may include an uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flows to the data network.

The NSSF 350 may select a set of network slice instances that serve the UE 302. NSSF 350 may also determine allowed Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI) and a mapping to a single NSSAI (S-NSSAI) of the subscription, if desired. The NSSF 350 may also determine a set of AMFs to use for serving the UE 302, or determine a list of candidate AMFs, based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRFs 354. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 302 may be triggered by the AMF 344 (with which the UE 302 registers by interacting with the NSSF 350), which may result in a change in the AMF. The NSSF 350 may interact with the AMF 344 via the N22 reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in the visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). Further, NSSF 350 may expose an interface based on the NSSF service.

NEF 352 may securely disclose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third parties, internal exposure/re-exposure, AF (e.g., AF 360), edge computing or fog computing systems, and the like. In these embodiments, NEF 352 may authenticate, authorize, or restrict AF. NEF 352 may also translate information exchanged with AF 360 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, NEF 352 may translate between the AF service identifier and the internal 5GC information. NEF 352 may also receive information from other NFs based on their public capabilities. This information may be stored as structured data at NEF 352 or at data store NF using a standardized interface. NEF 352 may then re-expose the stored information to other NFs and AFs, or for other purposes such as analysis. In addition, NEF 352 may expose an interface based on the Nnef service.

NRF 354 may support a service discovery function, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information of discovered NF instances to NF instances. NRF 354 also maintains information of available NF instances and the services it supports. As used herein, the terms "instantiate," "instance," and the like may refer to creating an instance, "instance" may refer to a specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. Further, NRF 354 may expose an interface based on the nrrf service.

PCF 356 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce these policy rules and may also support a unified policy framework to manage network behavior. PCF 356 may also implement a front end to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of UDM 358. In addition to communicating with functions through reference points as shown, the PCF 356 also exhibits an Npcf service-based interface.

UDM 358 may process subscription-related information to support network entities handling communication sessions and may store subscription data for UE 302. For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N8 reference point between UDM 358 and AMF 344. UDM 358 may include two parts: application front end and User Data Record (UDR). The UDR may store policy data and subscription data for UDM 358 and PCF 356, and/or structured data and application data for NEF 352 for exposure (including PFD for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 302). The UDR may expose an interface based on the nurr service to allow UDM 358, PCF 356, and NEF 352 to access a particular collection of stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notifications of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE (UDM front end) that is responsible for handling credentials, location management, subscription management, and the like. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. UDM 358 may expose a numm service based interface in addition to communicating with other NFs through reference points as shown.

AF 360 may provide application impact on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

In some embodiments, the 5GC 340 may enable edge computation by selecting an operator/third party service that is geographically close to the point where the UE 302 connects to the network. This may reduce delay and load on the network. To provide an edge calculation implementation, the 5GC 340 may select the UPF 348 near the UE 302 and perform traffic steering from the UPF 348 to the data network 336 over the N6 interface. This may be based on UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by AF 360. In this way, the AF 360 may influence UPF (re-) selection and traffic routing. Based on the operator deployment, the network operator may allow AF 360 to interact directly with the relevant NFs when AF 360 is considered a trusted entity. In addition, the AF 360 may expose a Naf service-based interface.

The data network 336 may represent various network operator services, internet access, or third party services that may be provided by one or more servers, including, for example, an application/content server 338.

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a wireless network 400 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 400 may include a UE 402 in wireless communication with AN 404. The UE 402 and the AN 404 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like-named components described elsewhere herein.

The UE 402 may be communicatively coupled with the AN 404 via a connection 406. Connection 406 is shown as an air interface to enable communicative coupling and may operate at millimeter wave or below 6GHz frequencies in accordance with a cellular communication protocol, such as an LTE protocol or a 5G NR protocol.

UE 402 may include a host platform 408 coupled with a modem platform 410. Host platform 408 may include application processing circuitry 412, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 414 of modem platform 410. The application processing circuitry 412 may run various applications for the UE 402 to obtain/receive its application data. The application processing circuitry 412 may also implement one or more layers of operations to send/receive application data to/from the data network. These layer operations may include transport (e.g., UDP) and internet (e.g., IP) operations.

The protocol processing circuitry 414 may implement one or more layers of operations to facilitate the transmission or reception of data over the connection 406. Layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuit 414 may include, for example, medium Access Control (MAC), radio Link Control (RLC), packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), radio Resource Control (RRC), and non-access stratum (NAS) operations.

The modem platform 410 may further include digital baseband circuitry 416, which digital baseband circuitry 416 may implement one or more layer operations "below" the layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry 414 in the network protocol stack. These operations may include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling/descrambling, encoding/decoding, layer mapping/demapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol/bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding/decoding, wherein these functions may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency, or spatial coding, reference signal generation/detection, preamble sequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generation/detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

Modem platform 410 may further include transmit circuitry 418, receive circuitry 420, RF circuitry 422, and RF front end (RFFE) circuitry 424, which may include or be connected to one or more antenna panels 426. Briefly, the transmit circuit 418 may include digital-to-analog converters, mixers, intermediate Frequency (IF) components, and the like; the receive circuitry 420 may include analog-to-digital converters, mixers, IF components, and the like; RF circuitry 422 may include low noise amplifiers, power tracking components, and the like; RFFE circuitry 424 can include filters (e.g., surface/bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beam forming components (e.g., phased array antenna components), and so forth. The selection and arrangement of components of transmit circuitry 418, receive circuitry 420, RF circuitry 422, RFFE circuitry 424, and antenna panel 426 (collectively, "transmit/receive components") may be specific to details of the particular implementation, e.g., whether the communication is Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) or Frequency Division Multiplexed (FDM), at mmWave or below 6GHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmit/receive components may be arranged in a plurality of parallel transmit/receive chains, and may be arranged in the same or different chips/modules, etc.

In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry 414 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functionality for the transmit/receive components.

UE reception may be established by and via antenna panel 426, RFFE circuitry 424, RF circuitry 422, receive circuitry 420, digital baseband circuitry 416, and protocol processing circuitry 414. In some embodiments, antenna panel 426 may receive transmissions from AN 404 by receiving beamformed signals received by multiple antennas/antenna elements of one or more antenna panels 426.

UE transmissions may be established via and through the protocol processing circuitry 414, the digital baseband circuitry 416, the transmit circuitry 418, the RF circuitry 422, the RFFE circuitry 424, and the antenna panel 426. In some embodiments, the transmit components of UE 402 may apply spatial filtering to the data to be transmitted to form transmit beams transmitted by the antenna elements of antenna panel 426.

Similar to UE 402, AN 404 may include a host platform 428 coupled with a modem platform 430. Host platform 428 may include application processing circuitry 432 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 434 of modem platform 430. The modem platform may also include digital baseband circuitry 436, transmit circuitry 438, receive circuitry 440, RF circuitry 442, RFFE circuitry 444, and antenna panel 446. The components of the AN 404 may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, the synonymous components of the UE 402. In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of AN 404 may perform various logical functions including, for example, radio Network Controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, according to some example embodiments. In particular, fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of hardware resources 500, hardware resources 500 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 510, one or more memory/storage devices 520, and one or more communication resources 530, where each of the processors, memory/storage devices, and communication resources may be communicatively coupled via a bus 540 or other interface circuitry. For embodiments utilizing node virtualization (e.g., network Function Virtualization (NFV)), hypervisor 502 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/subslices to utilize hardware resources 500.

Processor 510 may include, for example, a processor 512 and a processor 514. Processor 510 may be, for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

Memory/storage 520 may include a main memory, a disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage 520 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, or semi-volatile memory, such as Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), static Random Access Memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state memory, and the like.

The communication resources 530 may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripherals 504 or one or more databases 506 or other network elements via a network 508. For example, communication resources 530 may include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via USB, ethernet, etc.), a cellular communication component, a Near Field Communication (NFC) component, a wireless communication component, and/or a wireless communication component,

(or

Low energy) component,

Components, and other communication components.

The instructions 550 may include software, programs, applications, applets, applications, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 510 to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein. The instructions 550 may reside, in whole or in part, within at least one of the processor 510 (e.g., in a cache of the processor), the memory/storage 520, or any suitable combination thereof. Further, any portion of instructions 550 may be communicated to hardware resource 500 from any combination of peripherals 504 or database 506. Thus, the memory of processor 510, memory/storage 520, peripherals 504, and database 506 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

The following paragraphs describe examples of various embodiments.

Example 1 includes an apparatus for a centralized self-organizing network (C-SON), wherein the apparatus comprises a processor circuit configured to: receiving Capacity and Coverage Optimization (CCO) related performance measurements or CCO related reports from a Network Function (NF) node in a Radio Access Network (RAN); and determining whether capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam associated with the NF node need to be optimized based on the CCO-related performance measurements or the CCO-related reports.

Example 2 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to, when the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam need to be optimized: determining a CCO-related action for optimizing capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam based on the CCO-related performance measurements or the CCO-related reports; and reconfiguring CCO control parameters associated with the NF node based on the CCO-related action.

Example 3 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the CCO-related report includes a Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) report, a Radio Link Failure (RLF) report, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment failure (RCEF) report.

Example 4 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to, after the CCO control parameters are successfully updated to the NF node: receiving the CCO related performance measurements again from the NF nodes; and determining whether the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam still need to be optimized based on the CCO-related performance measurements.

Example 5 includes the apparatus of example 4, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to, when the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam still need to be optimized: reconfiguring or restoring the CCO control parameters.

Example 6 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the CCO-related performance measurements include one or more of the following measurements: a distribution of synchronization signal reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) per Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a distribution of synchronization signal reference signal received quality (SS-RSRQ), a distribution of number of active User Equipments (UEs) per SSB, a number of requested handover executions, a number of failed handover executions, a distribution of Downlink (DL) total Physical Resource Block (PRB) utilization, a distribution of Uplink (UL) total PRB utilization, DL PRBs for data traffic, DL total available PRBs, UL PRBs for data traffic, UL total available PRBs, average DL UE throughput in gNB, a distribution of DL UE throughput in gNB, average UL UE throughput in gNB, a distribution of UL UE throughput in gNB, average Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection number, maximum RRC connection number, a number of Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions requested to be setup, a number of PDU sessions successfully setup, and a number of PDU sessions failed to be setup.

Example 7 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the CCO control parameters include one or more of: a configured maximum transmit (Tx) power, a configured maximum Tx effective omni-directional radiated power (EIRP), a beam azimuth, a beam horizontal width, a beam tilt, a beam vertical width, a coverage shape, a digital tilt, and a digital azimuth.

Example 8 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the CCO-related action is determined using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML) model.

Example 9 includes a computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a processor circuit, cause the processor circuit to: receiving Capacity and Coverage Optimization (CCO) related performance measurements or CCO related reports from a Network Function (NF) node in a Radio Access Network (RAN); and determining whether capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam associated with the NF node needs to be optimized based on the CCO-related performance measurements or the CCO-related reports.

Example 10 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 9, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor circuit, further cause the processor circuit to, when capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam require optimization: determining a CCO-related action for optimizing capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam based on the CCO-related performance measurements or the CCO-related reports; and reconfiguring CCO control parameters associated with the NF node based on the CCO-related action.

Example 11 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 9, wherein the CCO-related report includes a Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) report, a Radio Link Failure (RLF) report, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment failure (RCEF) report.

Example 12 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 10, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor circuit, further cause the processor circuit to, after the CCO control parameters are successfully updated to the NF node: receiving the CCO related performance measurements again from the NF nodes; and determining whether the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam still need to be optimized based on the CCO-related performance measurements.

Example 13 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 12, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor circuit, further cause the processor circuit to, when the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam still need to be optimized: reconfiguring or restoring the CCO control parameters.

Example 14 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 9, wherein the CCO-related performance measurements include one or more of the following measurements: a distribution of synchronization signal reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) per Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a distribution of synchronization signal reference signal received quality (SS-RSRQ), a distribution of number of active User Equipments (UEs) per SSB, a number of requested handover executions, a number of failed handover executions, a distribution of Downlink (DL) total Physical Resource Block (PRB) utilization, a distribution of Uplink (UL) total PRB utilization, DL PRBs for data traffic, DL total available PRBs, UL PRBs for data traffic, UL total available PRBs, average DL UE throughput in gNB, a distribution of DL UE throughput in gNB, average UL UE throughput in gNB, a distribution of UL UE throughput in gNB, average Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection number, maximum RRC connection number, a number of Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions requested to be setup, a number of PDU sessions successfully setup, and a number of PDU sessions failed to be setup.

Example 15 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 10, wherein the CCO control parameters include one or more of the following: a configured maximum transmit (Tx) power, a configured maximum Tx effective omni-directional radiated power (EIRP), a beam azimuth, a beam horizontal width, a beam tilt, a beam vertical width, a coverage shape, a digital tilt, and a digital azimuth.

Example 16 includes the computer-readable storage medium of example 10, wherein the CCO-related action is determined using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML) model.

Example 17 includes a method for a centralized-self organizing network (C-SON), comprising: receiving Capacity and Coverage Optimization (CCO) related performance measurements or CCO related reports from a Network Function (NF) node in a Radio Access Network (RAN); and determining whether capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam associated with the NF node need to be optimized based on the CCO-related performance measurements or the CCO-related reports.

Example 18 includes the method of example 17, further comprising, when capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam need to be optimized: determining a CCO-related action for optimizing capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam based on the CCO-related performance measurements or the CCO-related reports; and reconfiguring CCO control parameters associated with the NF node based on the CCO-related action.

Example 19 includes the method of example 17, wherein the CCO-related report includes a Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) report, a Radio Link Failure (RLF) report, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment failure (RCEF) report.

Example 20 includes the method of example 18, further comprising, after the CCO control parameters are successfully updated to the NF node: receiving the CCO related performance measurement again from the NF node; and determining whether the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam still needs to be optimized based on the CCO related performance measurements.

Example 21 includes the method of example 20, further comprising, when capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam still need to be optimized: reconfiguring or restoring the CCO control parameters.

Example 22 includes the method of example 17, wherein the CCO-related performance measurements include one or more of the following measurements: a distribution of synchronization signal reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) per Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a distribution of synchronization signal reference signal received quality (SS-RSRQ), a distribution of number of active User Equipments (UEs) per SSB, a number of requested handover executions, a number of failed handover executions, a distribution of Downlink (DL) total Physical Resource Block (PRB) utilization, a distribution of Uplink (UL) total PRB utilization, DL PRBs for data traffic, DL total available PRBs, UL PRBs for data traffic, UL total available PRBs, average DL UE throughput in gNB, a distribution of DL UE throughput in gNB, average UL UE throughput in gNB, a distribution of UL UE throughput in gNB, average Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection number, maximum RRC connection number, a number of Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions requested to be setup, a number of PDU sessions successfully setup, and a number of PDU sessions failed to be setup.

Example 23 includes the method of example 18, wherein the CCO control parameters include one or more of the following: a configured maximum transmit (Tx) power, a configured maximum Tx effective omni-directional radiated power (EIRP), a beam azimuth, a beam horizontal width, a beam tilt, a beam vertical width, a coverage shape, a digital tilt, and a digital azimuth.

Example 24 includes the method of example 18, wherein the CCO-related action is determined using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML) model.

Example 25 includes an apparatus for a centralized self-organizing network (C-SON), including an apparatus to implement the method of any of examples 17-24.

Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description, a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that the embodiments described herein be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.

Claims (24)

1. An apparatus for a centralized self-organizing network (C-SON), wherein the apparatus comprises a processor circuit configured to:

receiving Capacity and Coverage Optimization (CCO) -related performance measurements or CCO-related reports from a Network Function (NF) node in a Radio Access Network (RAN); and

determining whether capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam associated with the NF node require optimization based on the CCO-related performance measurements or the CCO-related reports.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to, when the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam need to be optimized:

determining a CCO-related action for optimizing capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam based on the CCO-related performance measurements or the CCO-related reports; and

reconfiguring CCO control parameters associated with the NF node based on the CCO-related action.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the CCO-related report comprises a Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) report, a Radio Link Failure (RLF) report, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment failure (RCEF) report.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to, after the CCO control parameters are successfully updated to the NF node:

receiving the CCO related performance measurement again from the NF node; and

determining whether the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam still need to be optimized based on the CCO-related performance measurements.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to, when the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam still need to be optimized:

reconfiguring or restoring the CCO control parameters.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the CCO-related performance measurements comprise one or more of the following measurements: a distribution of synchronization signal reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) per Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a distribution of synchronization signal reference signal received quality (SS-RSRQ), a distribution of number of active User Equipments (UEs) per SSB, a number of requested handover executions, a number of failed handover executions, a distribution of Downlink (DL) total Physical Resource Block (PRB) utilization, a distribution of Uplink (UL) total PRB utilization, DL PRBs for data traffic, DL total available PRBs for data traffic, UL PRBs, UL total available PRBs, average DL UE throughput in gNB, a distribution of DL UE throughput in gNB, average UL UE throughput in gNB, a distribution of UL UE throughput in gNB, average Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection number, maximum RRC connection number, a number of Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions requested to be setup, a number of PDU sessions successfully setup, and a number of PDU sessions failed to be setup.

7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the CCO control parameters comprise one or more of: a configured maximum transmit (Tx) power, a configured maximum Tx effective omni-directional radiated power (EIRP), a beam azimuth, a beam horizontal width, a beam tilt, a beam vertical width, a coverage shape, a digital tilt, and a digital azimuth.

8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the CCO-related action is determined using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML) model.

9.A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a processor circuit, cause the processor circuit to:

receiving Capacity and Coverage Optimization (CCO) -related performance measurements or CCO-related reports from a Network Function (NF) node in a Radio Access Network (RAN); and

determining whether capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam associated with the NF node require optimization based on the CCO-related performance measurements or the CCO-related reports.

10. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the processor circuit, further cause the processor circuit to, when capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam need to be optimized:

determining a CCO-related action for optimizing capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam based on the CCO-related performance measurements or the CCO-related reports; and

reconfiguring CCO control parameters associated with the NF node based on the CCO-related action.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the CCO-related report comprises a Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) report, a Radio Link Failure (RLF) report, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment failure (RCEF) report.

12. The computer-readable storage media of claim 10, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor circuit, further cause the processor circuit to, after the CCO control parameters are successfully updated to the NF node:

receiving the CCO related performance measurement again from the NF node; and

determining whether the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam still need to be optimized based on the CCO-related performance measurements.

13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the processor circuit, further cause the processor circuit to, when the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam still need to be optimized:

reconfiguring or restoring the CCO control parameters.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the CCO-related performance measurements include one or more of the following measurements: a distribution of synchronization signal reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) per Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a distribution of synchronization signal reference signal received quality (SS-RSRQ), a distribution of number of active User Equipments (UEs) per SSB, a number of requested handover executions, a number of failed handover executions, a distribution of Downlink (DL) total Physical Resource Block (PRB) utilization, a distribution of Uplink (UL) total PRB utilization, DL PRBs for data traffic, DL total available PRBs, UL PRBs for data traffic, UL total available PRBs, average DL UE throughput in gNB, a distribution of DL UE throughput in gNB, average UL UE throughput in gNB, a distribution of UL UE throughput in gNB, average Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection number, maximum RRC connection number, a number of Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions requested to be setup, a number of PDU sessions successfully setup, and a number of PDU sessions failed to be setup.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the CCO control parameters include one or more of the following parameters: a configured maximum transmit (Tx) power, a configured maximum Tx effective omni-directional radiated power (EIRP), a beam azimuth, a beam horizontal width, a beam tilt, a beam vertical width, a coverage shape, a digital tilt, and a digital azimuth.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the CCO-related action is determined using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML) model.

17. A method for a centralized self-organizing network (C-SON), comprising:

receiving Capacity and Coverage Optimization (CCO) -related performance measurements or CCO-related reports from a Network Function (NF) node in a Radio Access Network (RAN); and

determining whether capacity and coverage of a given cell or beam associated with the NF node need to be optimized based on the CCO-related performance measurements or the CCO-related reports.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising, when the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam need to be optimized:

determining a CCO-related action for optimizing capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam based on the CCO-related performance measurements or the CCO-related reports; and

reconfiguring CCO control parameters associated with the NF node based on the CCO-related action.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the CCO-related report comprises a Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) report, a Radio Link Failure (RLF) report, or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment failure (RCEF) report.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising, after the CCO control parameters are successfully updated to the NF node:

receiving the CCO related performance measurement again from the NF node; and

determining whether the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam still need to be optimized based on the CCO-related performance measurements.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising, when the capacity and coverage of the given cell or beam still need to be optimized:

reconfiguring or restoring the CCO control parameters.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the CCO-related performance measurements include one or more of the following measurements: a distribution of synchronization signal reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) per Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a distribution of synchronization signal reference signal received quality (SS-RSRQ), a distribution of number of active User Equipments (UEs) per SSB, a number of requested handover executions, a number of failed handover executions, a distribution of Downlink (DL) total Physical Resource Block (PRB) utilization, a distribution of Uplink (UL) total PRB utilization, DL PRBs for data traffic, DL total available PRBs, UL PRBs for data traffic, UL total available PRBs, average DL UE throughput in gNB, a distribution of DL UE throughput in gNB, average UL UE throughput in gNB, a distribution of UL UE throughput in gNB, average Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection number, maximum RRC connection number, a number of Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions requested to be setup, a number of PDU sessions successfully setup, and a number of PDU sessions failed to be setup.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the CCO control parameters include one or more of the following: a configured maximum transmit (Tx) power, a configured maximum Tx effective omni-directional radiated power (EIRP), a beam azimuth, a beam horizontal width, a beam tilt, a beam vertical width, a coverage shape, a digital tilt, and a digital azimuth.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein the CCO-related action is determined using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML) model.

Images