KR20220142860A - Method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving network slice configuration in communication - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a 5G or pre-5G communication system for supporting a higher data rate beyond a 4G communication system, such as LTE. A method for transmitting a network slice configuration by using a network slice configuration registry (NSCR) in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure comprises the following processes of: receiving a request for disclosure of a network slice configuration of a network function management function (NFMF) from a first network slice subnet management function (NSSMF); in response to the request for disclosure of the network slice configuration of the NFMF, storing the network slice configuration of the NFMF therein; receiving a request for subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF from a second NSSMF; and in response to the request for subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF, transmitting the network slice configuration of the NFMF to the second NSSMF.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING/RECEIVING NETWORK SLICE CONFIGURATION IN COMMUNICATION}

The present disclosure relates to a communication system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving a network slice configuration in a communication system.

Efforts are being made to develop an improved 5G (5 ^th -Generation) communication system or pre-5G communication system to meet the increasing demand for wireless data traffic after the commercialization of the 4G (4 ^th -Generation) communication system. . For this reason, the 5G communication system or the pre-5G communication system is called a system after a 4G network (beyond 4G network) communication system or a long term evolution (LTE) system (post LTE).

In order to achieve a high data rate, the 5G communication system is being considered for implementation in a very high frequency (mmWave) band (eg, 60 gigabytes (60 GHz) band). In order to alleviate the path loss of radio waves and increase the propagation distance of radio waves in the very high frequency band, in the 5G communication system, beamforming, massive MIMO, and Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO) are used. ), array antenna, analog beam-forming, and large scale antenna technologies are being discussed.

In addition, for network improvement of the system, in the 5G communication system, an evolved small cell, an advanced small cell, a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network: cloud RAN), an ultra-dense network (ultra-dense network) , device to device communication (D2D), internet of things (IoT), wireless backhaul, moving network, cooperative communication, coordinated multi-points (CoMP), and Techniques such as reception interference cancellation are being developed.

In addition, in the 5G system, advanced coding modulation (ACM) methods such as hybrid FSK and QAM modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC), and advanced access technologies such as filter bank multi carrier (FBMC), NoMA (non orthogonal multiple access), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) are being developed.

Meanwhile, it is targeting the area of network slicing, which is a core function that increases the monetization of 5G solutions. The network slicing is a technique that allows to create at least one logically separated network slice using different configurations and quality of service (QoS) requirements on a shared basic infrastructure. In such a network slicing technique, a method for efficiently transmitting and receiving a network slice configuration between slicing management systems included in different levels is required.

The present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving a network slice configuration in a communication system.

In addition, the communication system of the present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving a network slice configuration using a registry for the network slice configuration.

A method of transmitting a network slice configuration by a network slice configuration registry (NSCR) in a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first network slice subnet management function (NSSMF) ), receiving a request for publication on a network slice configuration of a network function management function (NFMF); in response to a request for disclosure of the network slice configuration of the NFMF, storing the network slice configuration of the NFMF therein; receiving, from the second NSSMF, a request for subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF; and transmitting the network slice configuration of the NFMF to the second NSSMF in response to a request for subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF.

In addition, the method for receiving a network slice configuration in a first network slice subnet management function (NSSMF) of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a network slice configuration registry (NSCR) the process of sending a request for subscription to a network slice configuration of a network function management function system (NFMF); and receiving the network slice configuration of the NFMF from the NSCR in response to a request for subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF, wherein the network slice configuration of the NFMF is a network slice configuration of the NFMF from a second NSSMF It is characterized in that it is stored inside the NSCR in response to a request for disclosure on the NSCR.

In addition, in the communication system of the present disclosure, an apparatus for transmitting a network slice configuration by a network slice configuration registry (NSCR) includes: a transceiver; storage; and at least one processor connected to the transceiver and the storage unit, wherein the at least one processor is configured to be configured from a first network slice subnet management function (NSSMF) system. (network function management function: NFMF) receives a request for publication on the network slice configuration to store the network slice configuration of the NFMF in the storage unit, and from the second NSSMF, a request for subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF and is configured to control the transceiver to transmit the network slice configuration of the NFMF to the first NSSMF in response to a request for subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF.

In addition, an apparatus for receiving a network slice configuration in a first network slice subnet management function (NSSMF) of the communication system of the present disclosure includes: a transceiver; storage; and at least one processor connected to the transceiver and the storage unit, wherein the at least one processor is a network slice configuration registry (NSCR), a network function management function system : NFMF) transmits a request for subscription to the network slice configuration, and controls the transceiver to receive the network slice configuration of the NFMF from the NSCR in response to the request of subscription for the network slice configuration of the NFMF. , characterized in that the network slice configuration of the NFMF is stored in the NSCR in response to a request for publication of the network slice configuration of the NFMF from the second NSSMF.

1 is a diagram showing a general network slicing architecture;
2 is a diagram showing an example of forming a multi-level hierarchy of a general network slicing architecture;
3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
4 is a diagram illustrating operations for transmitting and receiving a network slicing configuration in the NSCR 300 of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
5 is a diagram illustrating an operation of receiving a publish/update request in the NSCR 300 of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
6 is a diagram illustrating an operation of receiving a subscription request for a configuration in the NSCR 300 of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
7 is a diagram illustrating an operation of receiving a query request for a specific configuration in the NSCR 300 of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
8A and 8B are diagrams illustrating a push operation for a configuration in the NSCR 300 of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
9 is a diagram illustrating an operation of receiving a recall request for a subscription in the NSCR 300 of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
10 is a diagram illustrating an operation of receiving a recall request for a configuration in the NSCR 300 of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration matching operation in the NSCR 300 of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
12 is a diagram illustrating an operation for receiving a configuration in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
13 is a diagram illustrating an example of transmitting a publication of a new/updated configuration to an NSCR in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
14 is a diagram illustrating another example of transmitting a publication of a new/updated configuration to an NSCR in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
15 is a diagram illustrating an example of transmitting a subscription request for configuration to the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
16 is a diagram illustrating another example of transmitting a subscription request for configuration to the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
17 is a diagram showing an example of transmitting a recall request for configuration to the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
18 is a view showing another example of transmitting a recall request for configuration to the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
19 is a diagram illustrating an example of transmitting a recall request for subscription to the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
20 is a view showing another example of transmitting a recall request for a subscription to the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
21 is a diagram showing an example of transmitting a query request for configuration to the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system 1200 of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
22 is a view showing another example of transmitting a query request for configuration to the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
23 is a diagram illustrating an example of receiving a configuration from the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
24 is a diagram illustrating another example of receiving a configuration from the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
25 is a diagram illustrating another example of receiving a configuration from the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
26 is a diagram illustrating an operation of receiving a configuration recall notification from the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
27 is a diagram illustrating a sequence diagram for east-west configuration propagation in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
28 is a diagram illustrating a sequence diagram for East-West configuration propagation using separate workflow steps publish/subscribe in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
29 is a diagram illustrating a sequence diagram for East-West configuration propagation using an external system in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
30 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sequence diagram for north-south configuration propagation in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
31 is a diagram illustrating another example of a sequence diagram for north-south configuration propagation in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
32 is a diagram illustrating an example of configuration publish/subscribe using new configuration creation in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
33A and 33B are diagrams illustrating another example of configuration publishing/subscription using new configuration creation in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
34 is a diagram illustrating an example of configuration publish/subscribe using configuration update in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
35A and 35B are diagrams illustrating another example of configuration publish/subscribe using configuration update in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
36 is a diagram illustrating an example of updating a configuration in an East-West method of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
37A and 37B are diagrams illustrating an example of a method of using configuration selection in an East-West scheme of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
38A and 38B are diagrams illustrating an example of a method for transmitting and receiving a configuration using NSCR in an East-West scheme in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
39A and 39B are diagrams illustrating another example of a method of transmitting and receiving a configuration using MFs and NSCRs, which are clients, in an East-West method of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
40 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for transmitting and receiving a configuration using NSCR in a north-south method of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
41 and 42 are diagrams illustrating an example including a TN configuration in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
43A and 43B are diagrams illustrating an example of a method for transmitting and receiving a configuration using NSCR when including a TN domain in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
44A and 44B are diagrams illustrating an example of a runtime configuration update in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
45 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an entity or system for transmitting and receiving a network slicing configuration in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in the description of the present disclosure, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present disclosure, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the terms described below are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present disclosure, which may vary according to intentions or customs of users and operators. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the content throughout this specification.

First, terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure are defined as follows.

Network slice instance (NSI) - An instance of a network slice.

Network slice subnet instance (NSSI) - a component part of the NSI. In general, NSSI covers some technology domain (eg, a core network).

Managed function (MF) - It is an application-layer concept of a 5G network function (eg, access and mobility management function (AMF) or session management function (SMF)).

Network slice management function (NSMF) - part of the 3GPP slicing management system responsible for the management of NSI, higher-level for network slice subnet management function (NSSMF) level) function.

NSSMF - Part of the 3GPP slicing management system that is responsible for the management of NSSIs and may be considered dependent on NSMF or other NSSMFs.

Network slice subnet management function (root-NSSMF) - has a direct relationship to the NSMF in a fully 3GPP-compliant architecture, and tailors the native NSSMF higher than other NSSMFs It is a custom name. In typical embodiments, the functionality of NSMF and root-NSSMF is merged into one management system (ie, NSMF + root-NSSMF).

Network function management function (NFMF) - 3GPP slicing management framework capable of application-level management of MFs running in VNF (virtualized network function), PNF (physical network function), and CNF (cloud-native network function) It is part of the framework.

slicing management system - A generic name for any system that manages any one of the slicing entities, and may be referred to as, for example, a management system or MS.

Slicing managed entity - A general name for any slicing entity managed by the slicing management system, and may be referred to as, for example, a managed entity or an ME.

Network repository function (NRF) - A repository function that stores information about other MFs.

service profile - an object containing the desired NSSAI as well as the SLA-related requirements raised for the NSI.

slice profile - an object containing the desired NSSAI as well as service level agreements (SLA)-related requirements raised for the NSSI.

Network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) - a set of call-processing-level identifiers of slices.

single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI)—a single call-processing-level identifier.

In general, the 5G system architecture developed within the 3GPP standardization assumes functional division into components called MFs. The MF represents a logic application running in VNFs/PNFs/CNFs. MFs perform a well-defined set of functionalities in 3GPP documents and communicate with each other via standardized interfaces called reference points.

And creating a network slice assumes the occurrence of slice-only MFs and new instances of reuse of MFs that can be shared among multiple slices. For example, dedicated MFs are a user plane function (UPF) or a session management function (SFM), and shared MFs are an access and mobility management function (AMF) and a network slice selection function (NSSF). , unified data management (UDM) and network repository function (NRF).

Also, the organization of slices, including the decision to generate new MF instances or reuse existing MF instances, is the role of the management and orchestration (MANO) layer of the 5G system.

In particular, 3GPP standardization provides an architectural framework for network slice management and orchestration. The 3GPP approach to network slicing can be characterized as follows.

- Hierarchical: NSI is composed of hierarchical NSSIs that can be managed by a hierarchy of NSSMFs, and the top-level (NSI) is managed by the NSMF.

- declarative: higher-level management functions request a specific configuration state, but do not specify specific actions and actions on how to get to that state.

- SLA/requirements-based: High-level management functions specify requirements for lower-level management functions such as SLA requirements, but specify specific configuration parameters. does not provide

In particular, the 3GPP network slice management and orchestration framework does not standardize operations for inter-layer slice configuration. A higher-layer management function (eg, NSMF) cannot request a specific configuration from a lower-layer management function (eg, NSSMF) - except for SLA requirements exchanged by a declarative method. Instead, 3GPP assumes that such configuration is performed automatically outside of the above proposed network slicing management and orchestration framework. That is, in terms of managing the network slicing, subnets (eg, NSSIs) generating the network slice (eg, NSI) are assumed to be independent of each other, and from the NSMF in a north-south manner No configuration of any kind is required except for the slice profile passed to NSSSMF. In particular, the standards assume that no configuration in an east-west manner is required.

Hereinafter, an example of a general network slicing architecture will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 .

1 shows a typical network slicing architecture.

Referring to FIG. 1, a general network slicing architecture includes slicing management systems 107, 109, and 111 that manage each of the network slicing entities NSI entity 101, NSSI entity 103, and MF entity 105. . The network slicing entities 101 , 103 , 105 and the slicing management systems 107 , 109 , 111 corresponding to the network slicing entities 101 , 103 , 105 are configured by nested NSSIs in FIG. 2 . It is possible to form a multi-level hierarchical as an example of

The first-level slicing management system 107 is, for example, a 3GPP NSMF, and manages the NSI entities 101 . And the (N-1)th-level slicing management system 109 is, for example, 3GPP NSSMF, and manages the NSSI entities 103 . In addition, the Nth-level slicing management system 111 is, for example, 3GPP NFMF, and manages the MF entities 105 .

2 shows an example of forming a multi-level hierarchical structure of a general network slicing architecture, and is a network slicing architecture including an example of a logical network slice organization and a corresponding management system. As shown in FIG. 2 , in a general case, each network slice component may be managed by a separate management system, and the management systems may belong to different organizations.

Referring to FIG. 2 , an NSI 1 entity 201 is managed by a first-level slicing management system 213 (eg, NSMF).

And the root-NSSI 1 entity 203 is managed by the second-level slicing management system 215 (eg, native root-NSSMF), and by lower-level slicing management systems (eg, NSSMFs) It consists of managed NSSIs.

The NSSI entity may include additional nested NSSI entities 205 , 207 and/or MF entities 209 , 211 .

The NSSI 1 entity 205 may be, for example, a core network, and is managed by the third-level slicing management system 1 217 . And the NSSI 2 entity 207 may be, for example, a RAN, and is managed by the third-level slicing management system 2 219 .

The MF entities 209 and 211 are application-layer aspects of network functionality, managed by a dedicated, and managed by a lowest-level slicing management system (eg, NFMF). As an example, the MF 1 entity 209 may be an AFM entity, and the MF 2 entity 211 may be a gNB.

In order to service a scenario in which the network slice entities (ie, NSSI entities and MF entities) are deployed, and a specific, dynamically changing scenario, the network slice entities need to be provided with a configuration. The configuration in network slicing solutions can generally be divided into two categories as follows.

- SLA configuration: relates to the network slice and QoS characteristics of the components for the network slice. As an example, the SLA configuration includes a slice guaranteed throughput per session.

- Non-SLA (non-SLA) configuration: It is not directly related to the SLA configuration of the network slice. In one example, a non-SLA configuration includes reachability information that allows components to communicate with each other, such as IP addresses.

During network slice creation, it is not assumed that all components are designed, created, and configured at the same time. For example, some components may already exist and may be used by other entities. As another example, the sharing of components among entities is one of the core network slicing principles. As another example, some components may be created by different organizations in different timeframes. As another example, each component of the network slice (subnet, MF) is preferably designed as an encapsulated entity independently of other components. As another example, since dependencies between entities are being dynamically set and changed during the lifecycle of the entities, it is impossible to transmit a configuration only at the time of configuration creation, and reconfiguration through runtime configuration update is not possible. must be supported

Configurations in these network slicing entities can be configured internally or externally. For example, the network slice configuration may be manually provided or automatically generated by an operator of the slicing management system internally. As another example, the network slice configuration may be externally provided by an external system (eg, another slicing management system) or the input for creation may be provided by an external system.

External configuration provisioning in the transmission/reception (or propagation) of configuration in the hierarchical network slicing management system may be performed in the following two ways.

- North-south method: passed from the upper-level slicing management system to the lower-level slicing management system. That is, according to the standardized 3GPP network slicing management and orchestration framework of FIG. 2 , the SLA configuration is a large subset of the non-SLA configuration shown in phases 1, 2, 3 and 4, and delivered in a north-south manner. do. For reference, in step 1, the first-level slicing management system 213 receives SLA characteristics (eg, 3GPP service profile) from the user as a user input. In the second step, the first-level slicing management system 213 converts the SLA configuration converted into low-level SLA characteristics (eg, a service profile converted into a slice profile) to the second-level slicing management system 215 . transmit In step 3, the second-level slicing management system 215 manages the SLA configuration decomposed into low-level SLA characteristics (eg, a service profile decomposed into low-level slice profiles) for third-level slicing management. systems 217 , 219 . In step 4, each of the third-level slicing management systems 217 and 219 is an SLA configuration that is decomposed into MF-oriented SLA (MF-oriented SLA) characteristics (eg, a slice converted into an MF-specific SLA configuration). profile) to each of the fourth-level slicing management systems 221 and 223 .

- East-west scheme: potentially using a higher-level slicing management system, passed between two same-level slicing management systems. Communication such as the East-West scheme (shown as step A in FIG. 2) is covered by 3GPP standardization (implemented only in the NRF) only at the level between MFs. Here, step A indicates that the attributes of the MF 1 entity 209 need to be configured in the MF 2 entity 211 .

And the East-West method of configuration provisioning is also required for non-SLA configuration propagation among slice components (shown as step B in FIG. 2 ) in the slicing management systems, which is not covered by standardization. Here, step B indicates that the properties of the NSSI 1 entity 205 need to be configured in the NSSI 2 entity 207 .

Accordingly, a method for improving external configuration provisioning (in particular, the East-West method) in a hierarchical network slicing management system is required.

The most simplified approach to network slice configuration is one of the following:

- Pre-configuration of all components using the desired parameters during the design phase.

- Manual configuration of all components using the desired parameters at runtime.

- To pre-configure a top-level slicing management system (eg, NSMF) using all the information required in the lower-levels.

The network slice configuration performed in the pre-configuration manner may occur before or after slice instantiation. As an example, during network slice creation, AMF reachability information (ie, AMF IP address) in the gNB may be manually configured.

However, in the case of manual configuration in the pre-configuration manner, non-automation problems may arise. And in the case of pre-configuration during design, each component needs to be aware of other components during design. This makes it impossible to independently design component parts (eg, NSSI entities). And in the case of a top-level pre-configuration, all of the lower-level configuration details need to be input into a top-level slicing management system (eg, NSMF). Such a structure of the slicing management system provides a very poor separation of concerns between management layers, and is very complex, cumbersome, and error prone. Also in the case of top-level pre-configuration, the same problems in the case of component sharing will arise. Also in all cases runtime updates of the slice are an issue. At this time, in steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 of FIG. 2, both the SLA configuration and the non-SLA configuration are propagated from the highest-level slicing management system to the lowest-level slicing management system.

The configuration for the network slice may use a 3GPP NRF-based autodiscovery scheme. In the example of configuration performed outside of the network slicing management/orchestration framework using 3GPP NRF-based auto-discovery, the MF 2 entity 211 needs to learn the IP address of the MF 1 entity 209 . Here, the IP address is not part of the SLA and cannot be passed in the service/slice profile, and the MF 2 entity 211 is needed to reach the MF 1 entity 209 .

and the slicing management systems 213, 215, 217, 219, 221, 223 propagate the slice-related configuration (eg, SLA) on the north-south basis in steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 . At this time, the propagated information does not include any information about IP addressing. Additionally, 3GPP can be discovered by the MF 2 entity 211 by allowing the IP address to reach the NFR entity 225 in step 5 and obtain a list of AMFs supporting a specific NSSAI set, including the AMF IP@ list. assume that there is

However, in the case of the 3GPP NRF-based autodiscovery scheme, the process of network slice creation and operation is significantly simplified. Basically, all non-SLA related configuration is done transparently, and there is no concern for the slicing management systems. However, there are some strong assumptions and limitations:

- The 3GPP NRF-based autodiscovery scheme requires all elements of the NRF discovery mechanism.

- The 3GPP NRF-based autodiscovery scheme shall not support non-3GPP network functions.

- NRF entity 225 exchanges configuration only on said MFs level.

- It may be desirable for the slicing management system to have some control over non-SLA configuration in slices.

- Only NRF support information can be found. No mechanism propagates any configuration or information.

Assuming that the 3GPP NRF-based auto-discovery cannot be used (eg, not all NFs support NRF), an alternative way of non-SLA configuration provisioning is possible. Alternatively, provisioning an East-West configuration using a “centralized workflow” approach may be performed as follows.

The MF 2 entity 211 (eg, gNB) needs to know the AMF IP@ in order to connect to the NSSI 1 entity 205 (eg, the core network). To this end, the root-NSSFM of the second-level slicing management system 215 queries the NSSMF 1 of the third-level slicing management system 217 that manages the NSSI 1 entity 205 for the AMF IP@. Next, the NSSMF 1 of the third-level slicing management system 217 queries the MF 1 entity 209 (eg, AMF) for the IP@ of the NSSMF 1, and responds to the NSMF 1. And the root-NSSFM of the two-level slicing management system 215 passes the AMF IP@ to the third-level slicing management system 219 . The third-level slicing management system 219 then configures the AMF IP@ in the MF 2 entity 211 .

This centralized workflow assumes that certain configuration parameters can only be queried after some instantiation stage has been reached, and that providing the configuration is required to proceed to instantiation. It can quickly become very complicated.

And a centralized workflow can result in a weak separation of concerns in a standardized, layered network slice management/orchestration framework. That is, based on the architectural realization (NSSI entity encapsulates all of the basic entities of the NSSI entity: low-level, nested NSSIs and MFs vs non-encapsulation), the centralized walk The flow may block the layered organization of the standardized network slice management/orchestration framework. And the higher-layer management function (eg NSMF) in the centralized workflow must be aware of the lower-level network functions specifics.

Also, centralized workflows are complex, prone to failure, and have the risk of deadlocks.

To solve these problems, the present disclosure includes a network slice configuration registry (NSCR) as a new entity within the network slice management/orchestration framework, and uses distributed configuration workflows by the NSCR to propose embodiments.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, NSCR may be co-located with NSMF or root-NSSMF. And, in contrast to NRF, which serves as a configuration broker only between management functions, NSCR is the slicing management system (eg, NFMF, NSSMF, or NFMF, etc.), as well as management entities (eg, It is used to exchange configuration parameters between management entities and management systems between all levels of the overall network slice management/orchestration framework, including MF entities, NSSI entities, or NSI entities, etc.).

And by using NSCR in embodiments of the present disclosure, slice configuration activities can be decomposed into small, independent workflows that are the responsibilities of low-level slicing management systems. In addition, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the 'centralized workflow' can be prevented because the final role of the NSCR is that the entities as described above publish and subscribe to slice configuration parameters.

In particular, embodiments of the present disclosure combine a general public/subscribe configuration registry with network slice configuration workflows that decompose, simplify, and distribute the process of network slice configuration as follows.

- Use of the publish/subscribe pattern for network slice management at all levels of the standardized, layered network slice management/orchestration framework or other, commercialized network slicing solutions

- Allows configuration of slice parameters different from those defined in the service profile or slice profile

- Allows configuration of parameters other than those supported by NRF

- Avoid complex, centrally managed workflows in NSMF/root-NSSMF

- Still maintaining control over configuration preparation and provisioning at the slicing management layer

Hereinafter, a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving a network slice configuration according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 45 .

3 shows an example of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3 , steps A1 , A2 , and A3 are part of workflow A, driven by the third-level slicing management system 1 317 . And step B1 and step B2 are part of workflow B, driven by the third-level slicing management system 2 319 . Also, step C is driven by the NSCR 300 . Here, workflows A and B are independent in that workflows A and B can be started independently. Although step C above must be executed after step A3, this relationship is implicit and need not be constructed anywhere. And in FIG. 3 , the NSMF of the first-level slicing management system 313 and the root-NSSMF of the second-level slicing management system 315 do not directly participate in the workflow A, workflow B, and C steps.

The first-level slicing management system 313 manages the NSI 1 entity 301 . And the second-level slicing management system 315 manages the root-NSSI 1 entity 303 . The third-level slicing management system 1 317 manages the NSSI 1 entity 305, and the NSSI 1 entity 305 may be a core network. The third-level slicing management system 2 319 manages an NSSI 2 entity 307 , and the NSSI 2 entity 307 may be a RAN. The fourth-level slicing management system 1 321 may manage the MF 1 entity 309 , and the MF 1 entity 309 may be an AMF entity. The fourth-level slicing management system 2 323 manages an MF 2 entity 311 , and the MF 2 entity 311 may be a gNB.

Then, the NSCR 300 performs a configuration push (config push) to the third-level slicing management system 2 (319).

The third-level slicing management system 1 317 requests a configuration parameter (eg, IP@) to the MF 1 entity 309 in step A1, and in step A2, from the fourth-level slicing management system 1 321 Receives a configuration parameter (eg, IP@) of the MF 1 entity 309 . And the third-level slicing management system 1 (317) publishes (publishes) the configuration parameters to the NSCR (300) in step A3.

The third level slicing management system 2 319 performs a subscription for a specific configuration parameter to the NSCR 300 in step B1, and MF 2 to the fourth level slicing management system 2 323 in step B2 A configuration (eg, MF 1 IP@) passed to the entity 311 is transmitted.

Hereinafter, a detailed operation of the NSCR 300 shown in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 10 .

4 shows operations of transmitting and receiving a network slicing configuration in the NSCR 300 of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the NSCR 300 receives a configuration publish/update configuration request requesting to publish or update the configuration ( 401 ), and an external system (eg, a slicing management system) configures the configuration. Stores published or updated configurations locally (i.e. internally) by allowing them to publish or update . As an example, when the NSCR 300 receives a publish/update request, it performs an operation as shown in FIG. 5 . That is, referring to FIG. 5 , the NSCR 300 receives a configuration disclosure/update request from an external system, stores the new configuration if the configuration requested to be disclosed is a new configuration, and stores the new configuration if the configuration requested to be disclosed is an existing configuration. Update the configuration (501). The NSCR 300 then checks whether any existing subscriptions to the stored new configuration or updated existing configuration exist or a new subscription has been created ( 503 ). If there are existing subscriptions or a new subscription is created for the stored new or updated existing configuration, NSCR 300 pushes the stored new or updated existing configuration to the subscribed external system (505). . Here, the external system may be one of a subscriber, a subscription system, and another slicing management system. On the other hand, if there are no existing subscriptions or no new subscriptions are created for the stored new configuration or the updated existing configuration, the NSCR 300 waits or operates until receiving a configuration publication/update request from an external system again to quit According to such a procedure as in FIG. 5 , the NSCR 300 may receive a configuration publication/update request from an external system and store the configuration 401 therein.

Referring back to FIG. 4 , when the NSCR 300 receives a subscription for configuration request for a specific configuration ( 403 ), the NSCR 300 allows the external system to subscribe to the requested configuration. As an example, when the NSCR 300 receives a subscription request for configuration, it performs an operation as shown in FIG. 6 . That is, referring to FIG. 6 , when the NSCR 300 receives a subscription request for a configuration, it stores details about the requested configuration ( 603 ). Then, the NSCR 300 matches the requested configuration with the configuration stored therein, and determines whether a matching configuration is useful ( 603 ). Here, matching for the configuration may be performed according to predetermined matching rules. If the matching configuration is available, NSCR 300 pushes the matching configuration to the external system (605). On the other hand, if the matching configuration is not useful, the NSCR 300 determines whether the matching configuration is useful again or stops the operation. Then when the matching configuration becomes available or the matching configuration is updated, the matching configuration will be pushed to the external system. In this case, the subscription request may specify the maximum number of matches to be returned (eg, 1, N, ALL). According to this operation, when the NSCR receives a request to join the configuration from the external system ( 605 ), it may transmit a matching configuration to the external system.

Then, the NSCR 300 receives a query request for a specific configuration from an external system (405), and allows the external system to download the specific configuration. For example, when the NSCR 300 receives a query request for the specific configuration, the NSCR 300 performs an operation as shown in FIG. 7 . That is, referring to FIG. 7 , the NSCR 300 checks a query for a new configuration ( 701 ), and determines whether the matching configuration is useful by matching the new configuration with a configuration stored therein ( 703 ). If the NSCR 300 is useful, it transmits a matching configuration, and if the matching configuration is not useful, it sends a configuration response indicating that the matching configuration is not useful (705). The matching of the configuration is performed according to the parameters transmitted in the query request for the specific configuration and matching rules defined in the NSCR 300 . The parameters sent in the query request for the particular configuration are similar to the parameters sent in the subscription request for the configuration. According to this operation, when receiving a query request for a specific configuration, the NSCR 300 may transmit a matching configuration to the external system based on matching of the configuration.

Referring back to FIG. 4 , the NSCR 300 performs a push operation on the configuration. The push action is triggered by the availability of a subscribed configuration or an update to that configuration. A specific push operation may be performed as shown in FIG. 8A or FIG. 8B.

- notification and pull (shown in FIG. 8A ): NSCR 300 sends a notification 801 to external system 800 that a new or updated configuration is available. Then, when the NSCR 300 receives a configuration request from the external system 800 ( 803 ), the NSCR 300 transmits the new or updated configuration to the external system 800 ( 805 ). Through this notification and pull manipulation, the external system 800 can download the new or updated configuration from the NSCR 300 .

- Push from NSCR 300 (shown in FIG. 8B ) - NSCR 300 sends ( 807 ) a new or updated configuration to external system 800 .

The NSCR 300 receives a recall subscription (hereinafter, recall subscription) request for a subscription ( 409 ), allowing the external system to recall an existing subscription of the external system. As an example, when the NSCR 300 receives a recall request for subscription, it performs an operation as shown in FIG. 9 . That is, referring to FIG. 9 , the NSCR 300 confirms that the recall request for the subscription has been received ( 901 ), and deletes the subscription specified by the external system ( 903 ). After this operation is performed in the NSCR 300, the external system that has requested a recall for the subscription no longer receives updates related to the subscribed configuration.

And when NSCR 300 receives a recall request for configuration (411). Allows an external system to request a configuration recall to recall the configuration. As an example, when the NSCR 300 receives a recall request for a configuration, it performs an operation as shown in FIG. 10 . That is, referring to FIG. 10 , the NSCR 300 confirms that the recall request for the configuration has been received ( 100 ), and checks whether at least one external system subscribed to the configuration for which the recall is requested exists ( 1003 ). If there is at least one external system subscribed to the configuration for which the recall is requested, the NSCR 300 transmits a configuration recall notification to the at least one subscription system ( 1005 ). On the other hand, if at least one external system subscribed to the configuration for which the recall is requested does not exist, the NSCR 300 internally deletes the configuration for which the recall is requested ( 1007 ). After this action is performed in NSCR 300, all external systems currently subscribed to the configuration will receive the configuration recall notification and will no longer create new configurations for the configuration for which the recall has been requested.

The data models and internal configuration of the NSCR 300 performing the operation shown in FIG. 4 are as follows.

First, essential data models in the NSCR 300 may include configuration and subscription.

The configuration payload included in the configuration is not limited to any specific format, and includes, for example, key-value pairs, text or binary files. And the configuration may include metadata supporting configuration selection, matching, and access control. As an example, the configuration may include at least one of the following metadata.

- configuration name and/or identifier

- Slice identifier (eg, NSI Id, S-NSSAI) or subnet identifier (eg, NSSI Id)

- Subnet identifier Tenant identifier

- Publisher identifier (eg, NSSMF Id, NSMF Id) and/or type (eg, NSSMF)

- Publisher additional information, for example, publisher geolocation information

-Target information: information that supports selecting the correct configuration for the subscribed external system when the NSCR 300 has more than one matching configuration

The configuration including the metadata is provided in an operator-triggered publish request for a new/updated configuration. The metadata may be automatically populated by the NSCR 300 .

And the characteristics of the subscription may be at least one of the following subscription parameters.

- Configuration name and Id

- Filters: information used to select a specific configuration when several configurations with the same configuration name exist

- Maximum number of matches (1, N, ALL): If there are more matches than the maximum number of matches, the best matches are selected. And the criterion of the best match is the number of matching properties.

- Subscriber ID

- Subscriber Slice Id or Subnet Id

- Additional subscriber information. For example: Type, Geolocation, Tenant Id

These subscription parameters may be provided with a subscription request for configuration triggered by an external system requesting subscription. And some of the subscription parameters may be automatically added by the NSCR (300).

In the internal logic of NSCR 300, subscription and specific configuration matching are based on two mechanisms (ie, a filtering mechanism and a selection mechanism).

The filtering mechanism allows the NSCR 300 to perform matching on a subscription of a configuration based on information specified in the subscription (ie, filters). As an example, the filtering mechanism may only provide a configuration name or additionally a configuration Id. And the subscription can specify more parameters to reduce the number of matching configurations. The filters match either exactly on a particular property or using a pattern (eg Regexp). And the filters may require the presence or absence of a specific characteristic.

The selection mechanism allows the NSCR 300 to perform matching for subscriptions of a configuration based on information specified in the configuration (ie, target information). Here, the selection mechanism is driven by a selection policy that defines how to perform selection. The selection policy may be manually configured or provided externally (eg, by a slicing management system). Examples of the selection policy are as follows.

- If several configurations match, the most recently published one is chosen.

- If several configurations match, choose randomly.

- If several configurations match, use round-robin selection.

- If several configurations match, choose the configuration with characteristic X (higher, lower) than Y.

- if several configurations match, select according to the mapping of subscription property Y of configuration property X (i.e., if C property X = P (C PropertyX=P), S property Y=Q(S PropertyY=Q) choose to join).

- for a particular subscription characteristic, do not select a configuration with characteristic X;

In configuration/subscription properties translation, the NSCR 300 allows translation of subscription and configuration properties according to a defined mapping. And mapping allows transforming a property into another property using the same value or a value that is converted according to a conversion rule. For example, in the mapping, the numerical values are the transformed characteristic value = X * original characteristic value (ie, Numerical values: translated property value = X * original property value), and the string values are the transformed characteristic value = concatenated (original property value). property value + suffix string) (ie String values: translated property value = concatenate (original property value + suffix string)). This mapping is useful for transforming characteristics between different vendors or organizations.

As an example, in the NSCR 300, a matching operation of the configuration shown in FIG. 11 may be performed inside. Referring to FIG. 11 , NSCR 300 compares subscription filters to available configurations and selects matching configurations ( 1101 ). The NSCR 300 then compares the matching configuration targets to the configuration characteristics, selects the matching configuration targets ( 1103 ), and applies the selection policy to the remaining configurations ( 1105 ). The NSCR 300 then selects the best N=maximum number of matches from the remaining configurations ( 1107 ).

Hereinafter, an operation of the slicing management system that interacts with the NSCR described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 12 to 26 .

First, if a management entity (eg, NSSI entity, MF entity, NF entity) has some integrated management functions, the management entity may recognize the management entity itself as a slicing management system, and may be directly integrated with NSCR have. In this case, all operations and interactions defined for the slicing management system are valid for the management entity. Such a possibility is illustrated in Figures 39a and 39b.

12 illustrates an operation for receiving a configuration in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

First, the slicing management system 1200 interacts with the NSCR 300 and requires the following input information to interact with the NSCR 300 .

- NSCR access information (eg, IP address, port, etc.)

- specification of configurations: the origin of the configuration (eg, a characteristic of a management entity, a characteristic of an external system), information required to calculate the configuration (eg, to be executed to obtain the components of the configuration) Contains information about triggers to publish, update, recall said configuration expressed as action(s), dependent configurations, required transformations) and conditions, specific step numbers, etc.

- specification of subscriptions: description of the target configuration, input information required to create a subscription, information on the destination (local, external system) of the obtained configuration and information about subscriptions and triggers for recalling subscriptions expressed as conditions, specific step numbers, etc.

Referring to FIG. 12 , the slicing management system 1200 transmits a publish/update request for a configuration to the NSCR 300 ( 1201 ). Here, the request for publishing/updating the configuration includes publishing of a new/updated configuration.

The publication of the new/updated configuration may be performed in other variations (eg, automatic publication according to a specification (the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 13 ) or explicit publication (the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 14 ). can be triggered by

13 shows an example of transmitting the publication of a new/updated configuration to the NSCR in the slicing management system of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment shown in FIG. 13 relates to an operation of transmitting a publication for a new/updated configuration from the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 to be triggered by automatic publication according to specification.

Referring to FIG. 13 , the slicing management system 1200 starts an operation when the slicing management system workflow is called. The initiation may be triggered externally (eg, an API call) or internally (eg, a response to specific conditions of a job mechanism, a management system, or a management entity).

The slicing management system 1200 executes a workflow step 1301 that may perform the creation of a configuration or an update of an existing configuration. Then, the slicing management system 1200 checks whether the configuration has become useful or an existing configuration has been updated (1303). If the configuration becomes available or the existing configuration is updated, the slicing management system 1200 checks whether the configuration is currently available in the slicing management system 1200 ( 1305 ). If the configuration is currently available in the slicing management system 1200, the slicing management system 1200 adds the configuration as additional configuration information (1309). On the other hand, if the configuration is not currently available in the slicing management system 1200, the slicing management system 1200 sends a query request for the configuration to an external system (ie, the NSCR 300) (1307), from the external system. Receive the configuration. Here, the slicing management system 1200 when the configuration is not available in the current slicing management system 1200 is a method of sending a query request for the configuration to an external system (ie, NSCR 300), but an alternative , the configuration may be received directly from a source system of the configuration.

Then, the slicing management system 1200 adds the configuration as additional configuration information, publishes or updates the configuration to which the configuration additional information is added (1311), and checks whether new or updated configurations exist (1313). If there are more new or updated configurations, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds again to step 1305 , and if there are no new or updated configurations, checks whether additional workflow steps exist ( 1315 ). Then, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds to step 1301 again if there are more steps to be executed in the workflow.

14 shows another example of transmitting the publication of a new/updated configuration to the NSCR in the slicing management system of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment shown in FIG. 14 relates to an operation of transmitting a publication of a new/updated configuration in the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 is triggered by an explicit publication. The procedure shown in Fig. 14 starts when an explicit publish operation is executed inside the currently executing workflow.

Referring to FIG. 14 , the slicing management system 1200 checks whether a configuration is currently available in the slicing management system 1200 ( 1401 ). If the configuration is currently available in the slicing management system 1200, the slicing management system 1200 adds the configuration as additional configuration information (1405). On the other hand, if the configuration is not currently available in the slicing management system 1200, the slicing management system 1200 sends a query request for the configuration to an external system (ie, the NSCR 300) (1403), from the external system. Receive the configuration. Here, the slicing management system 1200 when the configuration is not available in the current slicing management system 1200 is a method of sending a query request for the configuration to an external system (ie, NSCR 300), but an alternative , the configuration may be received directly from a source system of the configuration.

Then, the slicing management system 1200 adds the configuration as additional configuration information, publishes or updates the configuration to which the configuration additional information is added (1407), and checks whether there are more new or updated configurations (1409) . If there are more new or updated configurations, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds to step 1401 again.

Referring back to FIG. 12 , the slicing management system 1200 transmits a subscription request for configuration to the NSCR 300 ( 1203 ). The operation of transmitting a subscription request for configuration to the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system 1200 may be performed in other variations (eg, automatic subscription according to explicit (the embodiment shown in FIG. 15 ) or explicit subscription ( FIG. 15 ). 16)) can be triggered.

15 shows an example of transmitting a subscription request for configuration to the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment shown in FIG. 13 relates to an operation of transmitting a subscription request for configuration to the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system 1200 to be triggered by automatic subscription according to specification.

Referring to FIG. 15 , the operation of sending a subscription request for configuration from the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 is triggered internally or externally, and is started when the slicing management system workflow is executed.

The slicing management system 1200 verifies that all input information required by the subscription specification is available ( 1501 ). If all input information required by the subscription specification is useful, the slicing management system 1200 adds all the input information as metadata for subscription (1503) and sends a subscription request for configuration to the NSCR 300 do (1505). The slicing management system 1200 then checks if there are any other subscription specifications that may be requested based on currently available information (1507). If there are any other subscription specifications that may be requested based on currently available information, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds again to step 1503 . On the other hand, if there is no other subscription specification that could be requested based on currently available information, then the slicing management system 1200 verifies that the configurations required to execute the next workflow step exist ( 1509 ).

If there are configurations required to execute the next workflow step, the slicing management system 1200 verifies that all required configurations are locally available ( 1511 ). On the other hand, if the components required to execute the next workflow step do not exist, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds to the next steps of the executed workflow ( 1515 ). The slicing management system 1200 then proceeds to the next steps of the executed workflow even if all required configurations are locally available (1515). However, the slicing management system 1200 waits until the NSCR 300 sends the required configuration 1513 if all required configurations are not available locally, and the steps in the currently executing workflow are Check if more exist (1517). If there are more steps in the currently executed workflow, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds to step 1501 again.

Meanwhile, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds to step 1509 when all input information required by the subscription specification is not available.

16 shows another example of transmitting a subscription request for configuration to the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment shown in FIG. 13 relates to an operation in which the slicing management system 1200 transmits a subscription request for configuration to the NSCR 300 is triggered by an explicit subscription.

Referring to FIG. 16 , the operation of the slicing management system 1200 sending a subscription request for configuration to the NSCR 300 begins when the explicit logic to create a subscription is triggered as part of the currently executing workflow. .

The slicing management system 1200 adds metadata for subscription as subscription additional information (1601), and transmits a subscription request to the NSCR 300 (1603). The slicing management system 1200 then checks whether there are any other subscription specifications that may be requested based on currently available information ( 1605 ). If there are any other subscription specifications that may be requested based on currently available information, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds again to step 1601 .

Referring back to FIG. 12 , the slicing management system 1200 transmits a recall request for the configuration to the NSCR 300 ( 1205 ). The operation of transmitting a recall request for a configuration from the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 may be performed in other variations (eg, automatic recall of an undesired configuration (the embodiment shown in FIG. 17 ) or an explicit recall ( 18)) may be triggered.

17 illustrates an example of transmitting a configuration recall request to the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment shown in FIG. 17 relates to being triggered by automatic recall of at least one configuration that does not require an operation of transmitting a recall request for a configuration to the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system 1200 .

Referring to FIG. 17 , the operation of sending a recall request for a configuration from the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 is started when the slicing management system workflow is called. The initiation may be triggered externally (eg, an API call) or internally (eg, a reaction to certain conditions of a job mechanism, a management system, or a management entity).

The slicing management system 1200 executes the workflow step ( 1701 ) and verifies that the resulting configuration of the execution of the workflow step is invalid or invalid ( 1703 ). If the configuration is invalid or invalid as a result of executing the workflow step, the slicing management system 1200 sends a recall request for the configuration to the NSCR 300 ( 1705 ), and the workflow step currently being executed Checks whether this has caused invalidation of the other configuration. If the currently executing workflow step results in invalidation of another configuration, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds to step 1705 again.

On the other hand, if the configuration resulting from the execution of a workflow step is useful, or if the workflow step currently being executed does not result in invalidation of another configuration, the slicing management system 1200 may add more steps to the workflow. Check if it exists (1709). If there are more steps in the workflow, the flow proceeds to step 1701 again.

18 shows another example of transmitting a recall request for configuration to the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment shown in FIG. 18 relates to an operation of transmitting a recall request for a configuration in the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 is triggered by an explicit recall.

Referring to FIG. 18 , the operation of sending a recall request for a configuration to the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system 1200 is the workflow being executed in the slicing management system 1200 using an explicit configuration recall call. It starts when

The slicing management system 1200 transmits a recall request for a configuration to the NSCR 300 ( 1801 ), and checks whether there are more configurations to be recalled at the current time ( 1803 ). If there are more configurations to be recalled at the current time point, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds to step 1801 again.

Referring back to FIG. 12 , the slicing management system 1200 transmits a recall request for a subscription to the NSCR 300 ( 1207 ). The operation of sending a recall request for a subscription to the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system 1200 may be performed in other variations (eg, automatic recall of unsolicited subscriptions (the embodiment shown in FIG. 19 ) or explicit recall ( 20)) may be triggered.

19 shows an example of transmitting a recall request for subscription to the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment shown in FIG. 19 relates to an operation of sending a recall request for a subscription to the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system 1200 being triggered by automatic recall of subscriptions that are not required.

Referring to FIG. 19 , the operation of sending a recall request for a subscription from the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 is started when the slicing management system workflow is called. The initiation may be triggered externally (eg, an API call) or internally (eg, a reaction to certain conditions of a job mechanism, a management system, or a management entity).

The slicing management system 1200 executes the workflow step (1901) and verifies that the resulting configuration of the workflow step execution is invalid or invalid (1903). If, as a result of executing the workflow step, the configuration is invalid or invalid, the slicing management system 1200 sends a recall request for the subscription to the NSCR 300 (1905), and the currently executed workflow step Checks whether this has caused invalidation of the other configuration. If the currently executed workflow step causes invalidation of another configuration, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds to step 1905 again.

On the other hand, if the configuration resulting from the execution of a workflow step is useful, or if the workflow step currently being executed does not result in invalidation of another configuration, the slicing management system 1200 may add more steps to the workflow. Check to see if it exists (1909). If there are more steps in the workflow, the flow proceeds to step 1901 again.

20 shows another example of transmitting a recall request for subscription to the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiment shown in FIG. 20 relates to an operation of transmitting a recall request for a subscription from the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 to be triggered by an explicit recall.

Referring to FIG. 20 , the operation of sending a recall request for a subscription from the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 is that the workflow is being executed in the slicing management system 1200 using an explicit configuration recall call. It starts when

The slicing management system 1200 transmits a recall request for a subscription to the NSCR 300 (2001), and checks whether there are more subscriptions to be recalled at the current time (2003). If there are more subscriptions to be recalled at the current point in time, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds to step 2001 again.

Referring back to FIG. 12 , the slicing management system 1200 transmits a query request for a configuration to the NSCR 300 ( 1209 ). The operation of sending a query request for a configuration from the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 may be performed in other variations (eg, an automatic query of the required configurations (the embodiment shown in FIG. 21 ) or an explicit query ( FIG. 21 ). 22)) can be triggered.

21 shows an example of transmitting a configuration query request to the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system 1200 of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 21 , an operation of transmitting a query request for a configuration from the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 may be triggered by an automatic query of the required configurations.

Referring to FIG. 21 , the operation of transmitting a query request for configuration from the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 is started when the workflow is running in the slicing management system 1200 . The initiation may be triggered externally (eg, an API call) or internally (eg, a reaction to certain conditions of a job mechanism, a management system, or a management entity).

The slicing management system 1200 checks whether the configuration is required to perform an operation of transmitting a query request for the configuration to the NSCR (300) (2101). If the configurations are required to perform the operation of transmitting the query request for the configuration to the NSCR 300, the slicing management system 1200 checks whether all the required configurations are useful (2103). If all the required configurations are not available, the slicing management system 1200 sends a query to the NSCR 300 requesting the missing configurations (2105), and the missing configurations are obtained (i.e., received) (2107).

If the missed configurations are obtained (ie received), the slicing management system 1200 stores the obtained configurations (2109), and whether the obtained configurations are specified to be propagated to at least one other external system. Confirm (2111). If the obtained configurations are specified to be propagated to at least one other external system, the slicing management system 1200 converts the configuration characteristics according to the mapping in consideration of the specific configuration format of the at least one other external system ( 2113), and transmits the converted configurations to the at least one other external system (2115). And when the obtained configurations are not specified to be propagated to other external systems or when the converted configurations are transmitted to the at least one other external system, the process proceeds to step 2103 again.

On the other hand, if the missed configurations are not obtained (ie received), the slicing management system 1200 waits for a given period of time before querying the NSCR 300 again for the configuration (2117), step Proceed to 2105.

On the other hand, if it is not the configurations required to perform the operation of transmitting the query request for the configuration to the NSCR 300 or all required configurations are useful, the slicing management system 1200 performs the following workflow steps and (2119), and check whether there are more workflow steps to be executed (2121). If there are more workflow steps to be executed, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds to step 2101 again.

22 shows another example of transmitting a configuration query request to the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 22 , an operation of transmitting a configuration request from the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 may be triggered by an explicit query.

Referring to FIG. 22 , the operation of transmitting a query request for configuration from the slicing management system 1200 to the NSCR 300 is started when the workflow is running in the slicing management system 1200 .

The slicing management system 1200 transmits a query request for a configuration requesting configuration to the NSCR 300 (2201), and checks whether the requested configuration has been obtained (ie, received) (2203).

If the missed configurations are obtained (ie, received), the slicing management system 1200 stores the obtained configurations therein ( 2205 ), and propagates the obtained configurations to at least one other external system. Make sure it is specified (2207). If the obtained configurations are specified to be propagated to other external systems, the slicing management system 1200 converts the configuration characteristics according to the mapping taking into account the specific configuration format of at least one other external system ( 2209 ) , transmits the converted configurations to the at least one other external system (2211).

Referring back to FIG. 12 , the slicing management system 1200 receives a configuration from the NSCR 300 ( 1211 ). The operation of receiving the configuration from the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system 1200 may include other variations (eg, receiving the configuration asynchronously (the embodiment shown in FIG. 23 ), asynchronous notification and pull (shown in FIG. 24 ). in the embodiment) or block and wait for configuration (the embodiment shown in FIG. 25 )).

23 shows an example of receiving a configuration from the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 23 , the operation of receiving the configuration from the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system 1200 may be triggered asynchronously.

Referring to FIG. 23 , the slicing management system 1200 receives a configuration through a push operation from the NSCR 300 ( 2301 ), and stores the received configuration locally (ie, internally) ( 2303 ).

Check whether the received configuration is specified to be propagated to at least one other external system (2305). If the received configuration is specified to be propagated to at least one other external system, the slicing management system 1200 converts the configuration characteristics according to the mapping in consideration of the specific configuration format of the at least one other external system ( 2307), and transmits the converted configuration to the at least one other external system (2309).

24 shows another example of receiving a configuration from the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 24 , the operation of receiving the configuration from the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system 1200 may be triggered by an asynchronous notification and pull.

Referring to FIG. 24 , the slicing management system 1200 receives a notification from the NSCR 300 about configuration availability according to an existing subscription ( 2401 ). Then, the slicing management system 1200 downloads the configuration from the NSCR 300 ( 2403 ), and stores the downloaded configuration locally (ie, internally) ( 2405 ).

It is checked whether the downloaded configuration is specified to be propagated to at least one other external system (2407). If the received configuration is specified to be propagated to at least one other external system, the slicing management system 1200 converts the configuration characteristics according to the mapping in consideration of the specific configuration format of the at least one other external system ( 2409), and transmits the converted configuration to the at least one other external system (2411).

25 shows another example of receiving a configuration from the NSCR 300 in a slicing management system of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 25, the operation of receiving the configuration from the NSCR 300 in the slicing management system 1200 may be triggered by blocking and waiting for the configuration.

Referring to FIG. 25 , an operation of receiving a configuration in the slicing management system 1200 starts when a workflow is running in the management system. The initiation may be triggered externally (eg, an API call) or internally (eg, a job mechanism, a reaction to a specific condition of a management system or a management entity).

The slicing management system 1200 checks whether the configuration is required to perform the operation of receiving the configuration (2501). The slicing management system 1200 verifies that all required configurations are available ( 2503 ) if they are configurations required to perform the operation of receiving the configuration. If all required configurations are available, the slicing management system 1200 waits for a configuration push from the NSCR 300 ( 2505 ), stores the configuration ( 2507 ), and propagates the configuration to at least one other external system. Check that it is specified to be possible (2509). If the configuration is specified to be propagated to at least one other external system, the slicing management system 1200 converts the configuration characteristics according to the mapping taking into account the specific configuration format of the at least one other external system (2511) , transmits the converted configuration to the at least one other external system (2513). Then, if the configuration is not specified to be propagated to other external systems or if the configuration is transmitted to the at least one other external system, the process proceeds to step 2503 again.

On the other hand, when it is not the configurations required to perform the operation of receiving the configuration, or when all the required configurations are useful, the slicing management system 1200 performs the next workflow step ( 2515 ), and the workflow steps to be executed are Check if more exist (2517). If there are more workflow steps to be executed, the slicing management system 1200 proceeds to step 2501 again.

Referring back to FIG. 12 , the slicing management system 1200 receives a configuration recall notification from the NSCR 300 ( 1213 ). As an example, the slicing management system 1200 performs an operation of receiving a configuration recall notification from the NSCR 300 as shown in FIG. The operation of FIG. 26 begins at an asynchronous point upon receipt of the configuration recall notification.

Referring to FIG. 26 , the slicing management system 1200 receives a configuration recall notification from the NSCR 300 ( 2601 ) and checks whether the configuration deletion is specified to be propagated to other external systems ( 2603 ). If the configuration deletion is specified to be propagated to another external system, the slicing management system 1200 converts configuration properties according to the mapping in consideration of a specific configuration format of the other external system ( 2605 ). The slicing management system then removes the configuration from the other external system (2607), and deletes the locally (ie, internally stored) configuration (2609).

Next, with reference to FIGS. 27 to 29 , in the network slicing architecture, an east-west configuration propagation method based on a method of transmitting and receiving a configuration between an external system (ie, a slicing management system) and an NSCR of the present disclosure described above Examples of will be described.

Here, the operations performed in each of the diagrams of FIGS. 27 to 29 may be as follows, as an example.

- Can relate to network slices (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to communication service, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from communication service)

- may relate to network slice subnets (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to slice, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from slice)

- may relate to administrative functions (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to a subnet, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from a subnet)

27 shows a sequence diagram for east-west configuration propagation in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The sequence diagram for east-west configuration propagation shown in FIG. 27 is Automatic Publish, Automatic Subscription, and Push from NSCR. and East-West Configuration Propagation using variants of Receive Configuration asynchronously. At this time, variations other than the above variations may also be used. And the embodiment of the present disclosure may propagate the configuration between two slicing management systems that cannot communicate directly through the NSCR.

Referring to FIG. 27 , the parallel execution shown in the diagram is an optional operation. That is, the operation requests 2709 and 2711 from the top level slicing management system 2701 are optional. Alternatively, action requests 2709, 2711 may be triggered internally.

And the specifications of configurations and subscriptions are determined in all slicing management systems that connect with NSCR 2703 to allow the configurations and subscriptions to be created automatically.

In FIG. 27 , the top level slicing management system 2701 may communicate with the NSCR 2703 , and may communicate with all slicing management systems 2705 , 2707 on level N−. As an example, the top-level slicing management system 2701 may be, for example, CSMF, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, or a network functions virtualization orchestrator (NFVO). Here, the level N− represents a higher level lower than N by one or more levels.

Slicing Management System 1 2705 on Level N can communicate with NSCR 2703 , but not with Slicing Management System 2 2707 on Level N. And, the level N-phase slicing management system 1 2705 should only respond to requests of the top level slicing management system 2701 , but should not initiate communication with the top level slicing management system 2701 . The level N-phase slicing management system 1 2705 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

Slicing Management System 2 2707 on Level N can communicate with NSCR 2703 , but not with Slicing Management System 1 2705 on Level N. The level N-on slicing management system 2 2707 should only respond to requests of the top level slicing management system 2701 , but should not initiate communication with the top level slicing management system 2701 . The level N-phase slicing management system 2 2707 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

Referring to FIG. 27 , the top-level slicing management system 2701 sends an operation request requesting an operation to each of the level N-phase slicing management system 1 2705 and the level N-phase slicing management system 2 2707 . (2709, 2711).

When the level N-phase slicing management system 1 2705 confirms that the configuration is available as in step 1201 of FIG. 12 and the method of the procedure described in FIG. 13 ( 2713 ), it publishes the configuration to the NSCR 2703 . do (2715).

And the level N-on slicing management system 2 2707 confirms that there is a configuration required by the subscription specification as in step 1203 of FIG. 12 and by the method of the procedure described in FIG. 15 (2717), for the configuration Requests for membership to NSCR (2703) (2719).

The NSCR 2703 then performs a subscription and matching for configuration (2721), pushing the matching configuration to the slicing management system 2 2707 on level N-level (2723). The slicing management system 2 2707 on level N may then obtain a matching configuration from the NSCR 2703 (2725).

28 shows a sequence diagram for east-west configuration propagation using separate workflow steps publish/subscribe in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The sequence diagram for the separate workflow steps shown in FIG. 28, east-west configuration propagation with publish/subscribe as separate workflow steps, is in the asynchronous notification and pull variant. We use explicit publish (which is a dedicated workflow step), explicit subscribe (which is a dedicated workflow step), and receive configuration to exemplify the case of the East-West configuration propagation above. At this time, variations other than the above variations may also be used. And an embodiment of the present disclosure is to propagate the configuration between two slicing management systems that cannot communicate directly through the NSCR.

The parallel execution shown in the diagram of FIG. 28 is an optional operation. That is, the operation requests 2809 and 2811 from the top level slicing management system 2801 are optional. Alternatively, action requests 2809 , 2811 may be triggered internally.

In FIG. 28 , the top level slicing management system 2801 may communicate with the NSCR 2803 , and may communicate with all slicing management systems 2805 , 2807 on level N−. As an example, the top-level slicing management system 2801 may be, for example, CSMF, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, or a network functions virtualization orchestrator (NFVO). Here, the level N− represents a higher level level lower than N by one or more levels.

Slicing Management System 1 on Level N- 2805 may communicate with NSCR 2803 , but not with Slicing Management System 2 on Level N-2807 . And, the level N-phase slicing management system 1 2805 should only respond to the requests of the top level slicing management system 2801 , but should not initiate communication with the top level slicing management system 2801 . The level N-phase slicing management system 1 2805 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

The slicing management system 2 2807 on level N can communicate with the NSCR 2803, but not the slicing management system 1 2805 on the level N-level. The level N-on slicing management system 2 2807 should only respond to requests of the top level slicing management system 2801 , but should not initiate communication with the top level slicing management system 2801 . The level N-phase slicing management system 2 2807 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

Referring to FIG. 28 , the top-level slicing management system 2801 sends an operation request requesting an operation to each of the level N-phase slicing management system 1 2805 and the level N-phase slicing management system 2 2807. (2809, 2811).

Then, the level N-phase slicing management system 1 2805 discloses the configuration to the NSCR 2703 by the method of the procedure described in FIG. 14 (2813). In addition, the level N-top slicing management system 2 2807 requests the NSCR 300 to subscribe for configuration by the method described with reference to FIG. 16 (2815).

The NSCR 2803 then performs a subscription and matching on the configuration (2817), notifying the available configuration to the level N-on slicing management system 2 2707 (2819). The NSCR 2803 then receives and 2821 the configuration from the slicing management system 2 2707 on level N-by the method of the procedure described in FIGS. 8A, 8B, 9 and 10 . And the level N-phase slicing management system 2 (2707) may download (2823) the configuration from the NSCR (2803) by the method of the procedure described with reference to FIG. 24, and obtain (2725).

29 shows a sequence diagram for east-west configuration propagation using an external system in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The sequence diagram for East-West configuration propagation shown in FIG. 29 shows the East-West configuration propagation case using external systems. An embodiment of the present disclosure resides in propagating configuration between two slicing management systems that cannot communicate directly.

Referring to Fig. 29, the parallel execution shown in the diagram is optional. That is, the operation requests 2913 and 2915 from the top-level slicing management system 2901 are optional. Alternatively, action requests 2913 , 2915 may be triggered internally.

Also, although the embodiment of FIG. 29 additionally illustrates automatic publishing and automatic subscription, other variations may be used. And in the embodiment of Fig. 29 the specifications of configurations and subscriptions are determined in all slicing management systems that are integrated with NSCR to allow the configurations and subscriptions to be created automatically.

In FIG. 29 , the top level slicing management system 2901 may communicate with the NSCR 2903 , and may communicate with all slicing management systems 2905 , 2907 on level N−. As an example, the top-level slicing management system 2901 may be CSMF, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS or NFVO. Here, the level N− represents a higher level level lower than N by one or more levels.

The slicing management system 1 2905 on level N can communicate with the NSCR 2903, but not the slicing management system 2 2907 on the level N-level. And, the slicing management system 1 2905 on level N should only respond to the requests of the top-level slicing management system 2901, but should not initiate communication with the top-level slicing management system 2901. The level N-phase slicing management system 1 2905 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

Slicing Management System 2 2907 on Level N can communicate with NSCR 2903, but not with Slicing Management System 1 2905 on Level N. The level N-on slicing management system 2 2907 should only respond to requests of the top level slicing management system 2901 , but should not initiate communication with the top level slicing management system 2901 . The level N-phase slicing management system 2 2907 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

The slicing management system 3 on level N-- 2909 is to communicate with the top-level slicing management system 2901 , the slicing management system 2 on the level N- 2907 and the slicing management system 4 2911 on the level N-- can't and the slicing management system 3 on level N- 2909 should only respond to requests of the slicing management system 1 2905 on the level N-, but communicates with the slicing management system 1 2905 on the level N- should not be initiated The level N-on slicing management system 3 2909 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

The slicing management system 4 2911 on level N-- is to communicate with the top-level slicing management system 2901, the slicing management system 1 2905 on the level N- and the slicing management system 3 2909 on the level N-- can't and the level N-on slicing management system 4 2911 must only respond to requests of the level N-on slicing management system 2 2907, but communicates with the level N-on slicing management system 2 2907 should not be initiated The level N-on slicing management system 4 2911 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

Referring to FIG. 29 , the top-level slicing management system 2901 sends an operation request requesting an operation to the level N-phase slicing management system 1 2905 and the level N-phase slicing management system 2 2907 respectively. (2913, 2915).

Then, the slicing management system 1 on level N-2905 identifies a useful configuration (2915), and requests the slicing management system 3 on level N- 2909 to obtain the configuration (2917). In response to this request, the slicing management system 1 2905 on level N receives the configuration from the slicing management system 3 2909 on the level N-level 2919, and the configuration received by the method of the procedure described in FIG. 13 . Published in NSCR (2903) (2921).

The level N-phase slicing management system 2 2907 confirms that there is a configuration required by the subscription specification by the method of step 1203 of FIG. 12 and the procedure described in FIG. 15 (2923), and sets the subscription to the NSCR ( 2903) (2925).

Thereafter, the NSCR 2903 performs subscription and matching on the configuration (2927) to obtain a configuration useful by the method of the procedure described in FIGS. 8A, 8B, 9 and 10 on level N-phase slicing management system 2 ( 2707) to push (2929). Then, the slicing management system 2 2707 on level N acquires the configuration (2931), and sets the configuration in the slicing management system 4 2911 on level N- by the method of the procedure described in FIG. 23 (2933) ).

Next, with reference to FIGS. 30 and 31 , examples of a North-South configuration propagation scheme based on a method of transmitting and receiving configuration between an external system (ie, a slicing management system) and an NSCR of the present disclosure described above in a network slicing architecture to explain

Here, the operations performed in the diagrams of FIGS. 30 and 31 may be as follows, as an example.

- Can relate to network slices (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to communication service, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from communication service).

- May relate to network slice subnets (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to slice, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from slice).

- may relate to administrative functions (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to subnet, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from subnet).

30 shows an example of a sequence diagram for north-south configuration propagation in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The sequence diagram for north-south configuration propagation shown in FIG. 30 represents propagating the configuration from the top-level slicing management system 3001 to the low-level management system 3005 via the NSCR 3003 .

Referring to Fig. 30, the parallel execution shown in the diagram is an optional operation. That is, the action request 3009 from the top-level slicing management system 3001 is optional. Alternatively, action requests 3009 may be triggered internally.

Although this embodiment additionally illustrates auto-publishing and auto-subscribing, auto-publishing and auto-subscribing are not mandatory, and other variations may be used. And when automatic publishing and subscription is enabled, the specifications of configurations and subscriptions are determined in all slicing management systems that integrate with NSCR.

In FIG. 30 , the top level slicing management system 3001 may communicate with the NSCR 3003 , and may communicate with all systems at level N−. As an example, the top-level slicing management system 3001 may be, for example, CSMF, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, or NFVO. Here, the level N− represents a higher level lower than N by one or more levels.

Slicing Management System 1 ( 3005 ) on Level N- may communicate with NSCR ( 3003 ). And, the level N-phase slicing management system 1 3005 should only respond to the requests of the top level slicing management system 3001, but should not initiate communication with the top level slicing management system 3001. The level N-phase slicing management system 1 3005 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

Referring to FIG. 30 , the top-level slicing management system 3001 publishes the configuration to the NSCR 3003 ( 3007 ), and sends an operation request requesting an operation to the slicing management system 1 ( 3005 ) on level N- ( 3009).

Then, the level N-on slicing management system 1 ( 3005 ) confirms that there is a configuration required by the subscription specification ( 3011 ), and requests a subscription to the NSCR ( 2703 ) for the configuration ( 3013 ).

Then, the NSCR 3003 performs subscription and matching on the configuration ( 3015 ), pushing the valid configuration to the slicing management system 1 ( 3005 ) on level N- ( 3017 ). The level N-on slicing management system 1 ( 3005 ) then obtains the configuration ( 3019 ).

31 shows another example of a sequence diagram for north-south configuration propagation in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The sequence diagram for north-south configuration propagation shown in FIG. 31 represents propagating the configuration from the lower-level management system 3105 to the top-level slicing management system 3101 via the NSCR 3003 .

Referring to Fig. 31, the parallel execution shown in the diagram is an optional operation. And the action request 3109 from the top level slicing management system 3101 is optional. Alternatively, action requests 3009 may be triggered internally.

Although this embodiment additionally shows automatic publication and automatic subscription, automatic publication and automatic subscription are not mandatory, and other variations may be used. And when automatic publishing and subscription is enabled, the specifications of configurations and subscriptions are determined in all slicing management systems that integrate with NSCR.

In FIG. 31 , the top level slicing management system 3101 may communicate with the NSCR 3003 , and may communicate with all systems at level N−. As an example, the top-level slicing management system 3101 may be, for example, CSMF, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS or NFVO. Here, the level N− represents a higher level lower than N by one or more levels.

Slicing Management System 1 3105 on Level N may communicate with NSCR 3103 . And, the level N-phase slicing management system 1 3105 should only respond to the requests of the top level slicing management system 3101 , but should not initiate communication with the top level slicing management system 3101 . The level N-phase slicing management system 1 3105 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

Referring to FIG. 31 , the top-level slicing management system 3001 subscribes a configuration to the NSCR 3003 ( 3107 ), and sends an operation request requesting an operation to the slicing management system 1 ( 3005 ) on level N- ( 3109).

And the slicing management system 1 on level N ( 3105 ) identifies a useful configuration ( 3111 ) and publishes the configuration to the NSCR 3103 ( 3113 ). Then, the NSCR 3103 performs subscription and matching on the configuration (3115), and pushes the configuration to the top-level slicing management system 3001 (3117). Accordingly, the top-level slicing management system 3001 may obtain the configuration ( 3119 ).

Next, examples of a method of transmitting and receiving a configuration between an NSCR and at least one slicing management system in a configuration in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 32 to 35A and 35B . Here, FIGS. 32 and 33A and 33B relate to embodiments in which configuration publication/subscription is performed using new configuration creation in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIGS. 34 and 35A and 35B are In a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, configuration publication/subscription is performed using configuration update.

First, FIG. 32 shows an example of configuration publishing/subscription using new configuration creation in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

An embodiment of the present disclosure resides in propagating the configuration from the slicing management system 2 3205 to the slicing management system 1 3203 . At this time, the configuration disclosed by the slicing management system 2 3205 is derived from the configuration disclosed by the slicing management system 3 3207 .

Each of the slicing management system 1 3203, the slicing management system 2 3205 and the slicing management system 3 3207 shown in FIG. 32 may communicate with the NSCR 3201, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS. , NFVO, MF or NF.

Referring to FIG. 32 , when the slicing management system 1 3203 transmits a subscription request for a configuration from the slicing management system 2 3205 to the NSCR 3201 ( 3209 ), the NSCR 3201 is the configuration is still useful. Confirm that the configuration is not done (3211). When the slicing management system 2 3205 sends a subscription request for a configuration from the slicing management system 3 3207 to the NSCR 3201 ( 3213 ), the NSCR 3201 confirms that the configuration is a configuration that is not yet available. (3215).

Then, when the NSCR 3201 receives the configuration publication from the slicing management system 3 3207 ( 3217 ), it confirms that the configuration from the slicing management system 3 3207 is useful ( 3219 ). The NSCR 3201 then pushes the configuration from the slicing management system 3 3207 to the slicing management system 2 3205 ( 3221 ).

And the slicing management system 2 3205 processes the configuration to derive a new configuration (3223). At this time, the slicing management system 2 (3205) adds information that is not useful in the slicing management system 3 (3207).

The NSCR 3201 receives, from the slicing management system 2 3205, a disclosure about the configuration from the slicing management system 2 3205, 3225, the configuration from the slicing management system 2 3205 is useful. check (3227). Accordingly, the NSCR 3201 discloses the configuration from the slicing management system 2 3205 to the slicing management system 1 3203 .

33A and 33B show another example of configuration publishing/subscription using new configuration creation in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The configuration publish/subscribe method using new configuration creation shown in FIGS. 33A and 33B relates to the configuration publish/subscribe chaining case using configuration creation. An embodiment of the present disclosure resides in propagating the configuration from the slicing management system 1 3305 on level N-level to the management system 2 3307 on level N-level. The configuration published by management system 3 on level N- 3309 is updated by slicing management system 1 on level N- adding its own additional information.

And the action requests 3311 and 3313 in the top-level slicing management system 3301 may be optional, or alternatively, may be triggered internally. Also, the operation request 3315 from the slicing management system 1 3305 on level N-to the management system 3 3309 on level N- may also be optional. The workflow executing in management system 3 3309 on the level N--may be triggered internally, resulting in the creation/updating of the configuration.

An example of the operation performed in FIGS. 33A and 33B is as follows.

- Can relate to network slices (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to communication service, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from communication service).

- May relate to network slice subnets (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to slice, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from slice).

- may relate to administrative functions (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to subnet, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from subnet).

Referring to FIGS. 33A and 33B , the top-level slicing management system 3301 requests an operation to the level N-phase slicing management system 1 3305 and the level N-phase management system 2 3307 respectively (3311 and 3313). ). Then, the slicing management system 1 3305 on level N-level requests operation 3315 to the management system 3 3309 on the level N-.

The level N-on slicing management system 1 ( 3305 ) sends a subscription request for configuration to the NSCR ( 3303 ) ( 3317 ).

And if the management system 3 3309 on level N-- confirms that the configuration is useful (3319), it transmits a request to publish the configuration from the management system 3 3309 on level N--to the NSCR 3303. . The NSCR 3303 then performs a subscription and matching for the configuration from management system 3 3309 on level N-- 3323 , to slicing management system 1 3305 on level N-- Push configuration from management system 3 3309 (3325).

The slicing management system 1 3305 on level N then processes the configuration to derive a new configuration 3327 . At this time, the slicing management system 1 3305 on level N-level adds additional information that is not useful in the management system 3 3309 on level N-. As an example, the NSSMF may add at least one of an NSSI Id, an S-NSSAI list, and an NSI Id. As another example, the NSMF may add at least one of an NSI Id and an S-NSSAI.

And slicing management system 1 3305 on level N sends a publish request for configuration from management system 2 3307 on level N to NSCR 3303 (3329).

When it is confirmed (3331) that the level N-phase management system 2 (3307) needs to proceed (that is, a configuration that needs to proceed), the level N-phase management system 2 (3307) goes to the NSCR 3303 Send a subscription request for configuration from (3333). At this time, the filter conditions specified by the management system 2 3307 on level N in the subscription request for the configuration configure the NSCR 3303 to the configuration before the configuration is created by the slicing management system 1 3305 on the level N-level. avoid matching. As an example, the slicing management system 1 3305 update on level N may add additional information to the configuration required by the filter.

The NSCR 3303 performs subscription and matching 3335 on the configuration from management system 2 3307 on level N, so that the slicing management system 2 3307 on level N-2 management system on level N-2 2 Push the configuration from 3307 (3337). The level N-phase slicing management system 2 3307 may then obtain the configuration 3339 .

Next, embodiments of configuration publishing/subscription using configuration update will be described with reference to FIGS. 34 and 35A and 35B .

34 illustrates an example of configuration publish/subscribe using configuration update in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

An embodiment of the present disclosure resides in propagating the configuration from the slicing management system 3 3407 to the slicing management system 1 3403 . The configuration published by the slicing management system 3 3407 is updated by the slicing management system 2 3405 adding its own additional information.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented as follows.

- Can relate to network slices (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to communication service, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from communication service).

- May relate to network slice subnets (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to slice, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from slice).

- may relate to administrative functions (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to subnet, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from subnet).

Referring to FIG. 34 , each of the slicing management system 1 3203 , the slicing management system 2 3205 and the slicing management system 3 3207 shown in FIG. 32 may communicate with the NSCR 3201 , and for example, the NSMF , NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

The NSCR 3401 receives a subscription request for a configuration from slicing management system 3 3407 using a filter from slicing management system 1 3403 ( 3409 ), and confirms that the configuration is not yet available ( 3411 ). ). At this time, the slicing management system 1 3403 filter conditions in the subscription request to the configuration prevent the NSCR 3401 from matching the configuration before the update from the slicing management system 2 3405 . As an example, the slicing management system 2 3405 update may add additional information to the configuration required by the filter.

and the NSCR 3401 receives a subscription request for a configuration from a slicing management system 3 3407 from a slicing management system 2 3405, 3413 the configuration is not yet available and the filter disables a match check (3415).

The NSCR 3401 receives a request for configuration disclosure from the slicing management system 3 3407 (3417), and confirms that the configuration from the slicing management system 3 3407 is useful (3419). Accordingly, the NSCR 3401 pushes the configuration from the slicing management system 3 3407 to the slicing management system 2 3405 (3421). The slicing management system 2 ( 3405 ) then performs configuration processing and performs configuration updates using the new additional information ( 3423 ). At this time, the slicing management system 2 (3405) adds additional information that is not useful in the slicing management system 3 (3407). As an example, the NSSMF may add an NSSI Id, an S-NSSAI list, and an NSI Id. As another example, the NSMF may add NSI Id and S-NSSAI.

The slicing management system 2 3405 requests the NSCR 3401 to publish the configuration from the slicing management system 3 3407 with additional information (3425). Then, the NSCR 3401 confirms that the configuration from the slicing management system 3 3407 with the new additional information is useful, and the new additional information enables a match between the configuration and the subscription to the slicing management system 1 3403 (3427). And the NSCR 3401 discloses the configuration from the slicing management system 3 3407 to the slicing management system 1 3403 (3431).

35A and 35B show another example of configuration publish/subscribe using configuration update in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

35A and 35B , the top-level slicing management system 3501 sends an operation request requesting an operation to each of the level N-phase slicing management system 1 3505 and the level N-phase management system 2 3507 , respectively. do (3511, 3513). And slicing management system 1 on level N- 3505 sends an operation request to management system 3 3509 on level N- ( 3515 ).

And the level N-on slicing management system 1 (3505) sends a request to join the configuration to the NSCR (3503) (3517).

The management system 3 3509 on level N-- confirms that the configuration is useful (3519), and requests the NSCR 3503 to publish the configuration for the management system 3 3509 on level N-- (3521) . Then, NSCR 3503 performs subscription and matching for configuration of management system 3 on N-- (3523), so as to slicing management system 1 (3505) on level N-, management system 3 (3509) on N-- Push the configuration for (3525). Then, slicing management system 1 3505 on level N performs configuration processing and derives a configuration update 3527, and updates configuration to management system 3 3509 on level N with additional information to NSCR 3503 ) to (3529).

The slicing management system 2 3507 on level N identifies the configuration that needs to proceed (3531), and uses an additional filter to register the subscription of the configuration to the management system 3 3509 on the N-level NSCR 3503 to request (3533). The NSCR 3503 then subscribes and matches the configuration with additional information (3535) and pushes the configuration to the slicing management system 2 3507 on level N-level (3537). The slicing management system 2 ( 3507 ) on level N- may thus obtain the configuration ( 3539 ).

Next, a method of performing configuration update in the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 36 .

36 illustrates an example of updating the configuration in the East-West method of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

An embodiment of the present disclosure updates the configuration between the slicing management system 1 3605 on level N-and the management system 2 3607 on the level N- and the management system 3 3609 on the level N- through the NSCR 3603 to send and receive data for The configuration update is the result of an operation in the entity managed by the slicing management system 1 3605 on level N-level. The action of performing the configuration update may be triggered externally (from a top-level management system) or internally (manually or automatically according to some conditions). And although the embodiment of the present disclosure additionally illustrates automatic publication and automatic subscription, automatic publication and automatic subscription are not mandatory and other variations may be used. Also, when automatic publishing and subscription is enabled, the specifications of configurations and subscriptions are determined in all management systems 3601 , 3605 , 3607 , 3609 integrated with NSCR 3603 .

The operations executed in the present disclosure are as follows as an example.

- Can relate to network slices (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to communication service, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from communication service)

- may relate to network slice subnets (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to slice, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from slice)

- may relate to administrative functions (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to a subnet, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from a subnet)

In FIG. 36 , the top level slicing management system 3601 may communicate with the NSCR 3603 , and may communicate with all systems at level N−. As an example, the top-level slicing management system 3601 may be CSMF, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS or NFVO.

The slicing management system 1 3605 on level N may communicate with the NSCR 3603 , but not the slicing management system 2 3607 on the level N-level. The level N-phase slicing management system 1 3605 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

The slicing management system 2 on level N-3607 may communicate with the NSCR 3603 , but not with the slicing management system 1 3605 on the level N-. The level N-phase slicing management system 2 3607 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

The level N-on slicing management system 3 3609 cannot communicate with the top level slicing management system 3601 and the level N-on slicing management system 2 3607 . The level N-on slicing management system 3 3609 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

In the operation of FIG. 36 , it is assumed that the level N-on slicing management system 2 3607 is already subscribed to the configuration from the level N-on slicing management system 1 3605 ( 3611 ).

When the top-level slicing management system 3601 requests an operation from the level N-phase slicing management system 1 3605 (3613), the level N-phase slicing management system 1 3605 confirms the operation request therein (3615) ).

And if the slicing management system 1 on level N-3605 determines that the configuration has changed and needs to be updated (3617), it requests the NSCR 3603 to publish the configuration (3619). When the NSCR 3603 confirms that the subscription and matching to the configuration are updated (3621), it pushes the configuration to the management system 2 (3607) on level N- (3623). Accordingly, management system 2 on level N- 3607 obtains the updated update (3625), and forwards the updated configuration to management system 3 on level N- 3609 (3627).

Meanwhile, as described with reference to FIG. 11 , the NSCR 300 may compare subscription filters with useful configurations and select matching configurations. The East-West method using this configuration selection may be performed, for example, as shown in FIGS. 37A and 37B .

37A and 37B illustrate an example of a method of using configuration selection in an East-West scheme of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The embodiment of the present disclosure shown in FIGS. 37A and 37B is directed to selecting a configuration via NSCR 3703 and propagating to management system 3 3709 on level N-. While there are two available configurations that are matching, the subscription of management system 3 3709 on level N specifies that only one configuration is required.

The operations executed in the present disclosure are as follows as an example.

- Can relate to network slices (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to communication service, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from communication service).

- May relate to network slice subnets (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to slice, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from slice).

- may relate to administrative functions (feasibility check, reservation, instantiation, assignment to subnet, reconfiguration, termination, deallocation from subnet).

Although embodiments of the present disclosure further illustrate automatic publication and automatic subscription, automatic publication and automatic publication are not mandatory. When automatic publishing and subscription is enabled, the specifications of configurations and subscriptions are determined in all slicing management systems that integrate with NSCR.

37A and 37B , the top level slicing management system 3701 may communicate with the NSCR 3703 , and may communicate with all systems 3705 , 3707 , 3709 at level N−. As an example, the top-level slicing management system 3701 may be CSMF, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS or NFVO.

The slicing management system 1 3705 on level N can communicate with the NSCR 3703, but not the slicing management system 2 3707 on the level N-level. The level N-phase slicing management system 1 3705 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

Slicing Management System 2 3707 on Level N may communicate with NSCR 3703 , but not with Slicing Management System 1 3705 on Level N. The level N-phase slicing management system 2 3707 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

The level N-on slicing management system 3 3709 cannot communicate with the top level slicing management system 3701 and the level N-on slicing management system 2 3707 . The level N-phase slicing management system 3 3709 may be, for example, NSMF, NSSMF, NFMF, EMS, NFVO, MF or NF.

37A and 37B , the top-level slicing management system 3701 requests operation to the level N-phase slicing management system 1 3705 and the level N-phase management system 2 3707 respectively (3711 and 3713) ). And if the level N-on slicing management system 1 3705 determines that the configuration is useful (3715), it publishes the configuration to the NSCR 2703 (3707). And if management system 2 (3707) on level N- also confirms that the configuration is useful (3719), it publishes the configuration to NSCR 2703 (3721).

When the level N-phase management system 3 3709 receives an operation request from the top level slicing management system 3701 (3723), it confirms that there is a configuration that needs to proceed (ie, there is a configuration that needs to proceed). and (3725), and sends a subscription request for configuration to the NSCR (3703) (3727). The NSCR 3703 performs a subscription to a configuration, identifies two matching configurations (2729), and applies a filtering and selection mechanism to select an optimal configuration (3731). The NSCR 3703 then pushes the selected configuration to the management system 3 3709 on the level N-to (3735). Accordingly, the level N-phase management system 3 3709 may obtain the configuration 3737 .

The level N-phase management system 1 ( 3705 ) applies filtering and selection ( 3733 ).

The operation for which an update is to be performed in these operations may be triggered externally (from the top level slicing management system 3701) or internally (manually or automatically according to some conditions).

In the above, propagation of messages for transmitting and receiving a configuration between the NSCR and at least one slicing management system in the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure has been described.

Hereinafter, examples to which embodiments of the present disclosure are applied in a system included in a network slicing architecture will be described.

38A and 38B show an example of a method of transmitting and receiving a configuration using NSCR in an East-West scheme in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

38A and 38B, the top-level slicing management system is NSMF 3801, the slicing management system included in the core domain is NSSMF 1 3805, and the slicing management system included in the RAN domain is NSSMF 2 (3809) is assumed. And the slicing management system at a lower level than NSSMF 1 (3805) is NFMF 1 (3807), and the slicing management system at a lower level than NSSMF 2 (3809) is NFMF 2 (3809), and the NFMF 1 (3807) is AMF. , it is assumed that the NFMF 2 3809 is a gNB. The AMF belongs to NSSI 1, and the gNB belongs to NSSI 2. NSSI 1 and NSSI 2 are constituent elements of NSI.

Under this assumption, the embodiment of FIGS. 38A and 38B is for configuring AMF IP@ in the gNB. The information such as IP@ is not part of the standard service profile or slice profile. And in the embodiment of FIGS. 38A and 38B , the configuration parameters may be at least one of key-value pairs, text files, and binary files. There are no restrictions on the types of these configuration parameters. In a typical embodiment, the NSCR 3803 does not parse or understand the configuration, meaning that it can handle arbitrary parameters.

When publishing the configuration, the publisher (publisher) as additional information, publisher Id (eg, nssiId), publisher type (eg, NSSI or NSSMF), published information type (eg, AMF IP type) ) and at least one of nsiId or S-NSSAI may be provided.

And the NSCR 3803 may include logic for selection of a specific configuration for a specific requestor. This functionality is important when there are multiple publishers of the same type of parameters. As an example, there may be multiple Core NSSIs using multiple AMFs. And the NSCR 3803 may include rules and logic to provide a specific AMF IP@ to a specific NSSI or gNB. Such rules may be hardcoded or configured as part of an NSI instance by some slicing management system, eg NSMF 3801 .

The NSSMF 1 3805 and NSSMF 2 3809 encapsulate the configuration parameters published/subscribed by the management function. In some embodiments, NFMF 1 3807 and NFMF 2 3811 may be direct publishers or subscribers of the configuration.

The configuration may in particular apply at least one of the following:

- MF (encapsulated by NSSI)

- MF (directly, using NFMF as publisher/subscriber)

- NSSI

- transport network (TN) controller and/or transport network via TN NSSMF

And the NSCR 3803 can be a single logical entity, or the NSCR 3803 can be decomposed into a hierarchy of NSCRs. NSCR 3803 also enables runtime modifications of NSSI that do not require NSMF actions.

38A and 38B, NSSMF 1 (3805) is pre-configured to publish AMF IP@ (3813). And NSSMF 2 (3809) is pre-configured to subscribe to AMF IP@ (3815).

When the singi NSMF 3801 receives a slice instant from an operator ( 3817 ), NSSI 2 is assigned to NSSMF 2 ( 3809 ). Then, the NSSMF 2 (3809) transmits the NSSI 2 Id to the NSMF (3801) (3821).

The NSSMF 2 (3809) confirms that the NSSI allocation cannot proceed and a configuration parameter is required (3823). And when NSSMF 2 3809 requests configuration subscription to NSCR 2803 (3825), it may receive subscription confirmation and configuration parameters are not available (3827). Here, the message requesting the configuration subscription may include parameter names: AMF IP@, nssiId: uuid4, and nsiId: uuid4.

Singhi NSMF 3801 assigns NSSI 1 to NSSMF 1 3805 (3829), and receives NSSI 1 Id from NSSMF 1 3805 (3831). The NSSMF 1 (3805) requests AMF IP@ to NFMF 1 (3807) (3833), and receives AMF IP@ from NFMF 1 (3807) (3835). And the NSSMF 1 (3805) discloses the configuration as the NSCR (3803) (3837). The configuration disclosed herein may include parameter name: AMF IP@, value: 10. 10. 192. 8, nssiId: uuid4, nsiId: uuid4.

Thereafter, the NSCR 3803 transmits AMF IP@ 10. 10. 192.8 to the NSSMF 2 3809 . And NSSMF 2 (3809) sets the AMF IP@ in NFMF 2 (3811). Through this operation, the configuration is completed, and NSSI instantiation may proceed (3843).

39A and 39B illustrate another example of a method of transmitting and receiving a configuration using MFs and NSCRs, which are clients, in the East-West method of the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

39A and 39B, the top-level slicing management system is NSMF 3901, the slicing management system included in the core domain is NSSMF 1 (3905), and the slicing management system included in the RAN domain is NSSMF 2 (3909) is assumed. And it is assumed that the slicing management system at a lower level than the NSSMF 1 3805 is the AMF 3907 , and the slicing management system at the lower level than the NSSMF 2 3809 is the gNB 3909 .

39A and 39B the MFs are directly integrated with NSCR 3903, which allows the MFs to exchange configurations across different NSSIs and domains without relaying through the NSSMFs 3905, 3909. .

Referring to FIGS. 39A and 39B , upon receiving the slice instantaneous slice instantaneous from the operator ( 3913 ), the singi NSMF ( 3901 ) allocates NSSI 2 as NSSMF 2 ( 3909 ). Then, the NSSMF 2 (3909) transmits the NSSI 2 Id to the NSMF (3901) (3917).

The NSSMF 2 (3909) confirms that the NSSI allocation cannot proceed and a configuration parameter is required (3919). And when NSSMF 2 3909 requests configuration subscription to NSCR 3903 (3921), it may receive subscription confirmation and configuration parameters are not available (3925). Here, the message requesting the configuration subscription may include parameter names: AMF IP@, nssiId: uuid4, and nsiId: uuid4.

Singhi NSMF 3901 assigns NSSI 1 to NSSMF 1 3905 (3927), and receives NSSI 1 Id from NSSMF 1 3905 (3929). AMF (3907) discloses configuration as NSCR (3903) (3931). The configuration disclosed here may include parameter name: AMF IP@, value: 10. 10. 192. 8, nssiId: uuid4, nsiId: uuid4. And when the subscribed parameters are useful (3933), the NSCR 3903 forwards the AMF IP@ 10. 10. 192.8 to the gNB 3911 (3935). Through this operation, the configuration is completed, and NSSI instantiation may proceed ( 3937 ).

40 shows an example of a method of transmitting and receiving a configuration using NSCR in a north-south method of a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

40, the top-level slicing management system is NSMF 4001, the high-level slicing management system is NSSMF 1 4005, and the low-level slicing management system is NFMF 4007, the NFMF ( 4007) is assumed to be a gNB.

Under this assumption, the embodiment of FIG. 40 is in configuring the AMF IP@ in the gNB, and the AMF IP@ is known by the NSMF 4001 and needs to be propagated to the slicing management systems hierarchy.

Referring to FIG. 40 , NSSMF 4005 is pre-configured to subscribe to AMF IP@. The NSMF 4001 receives the slice instantiate from the operator 4000 ( 4011 ) and publishes the configuration ( 4015 ). The configuration disclosed herein may include parameter name: AMF IP@, value: 10. 10. 192. 8, nssiId: uuid4, nsiId: uuid4. And the construct may be generated by NSMF 4001, taken from user input or inserted into a slice template (4013).

Then, the NSMF 4001 allocates an NSSI to the NSSMF 4005 and receives the NSSI Id from the NSSMF 4005 ( 419 ). The NSSMF 4005 requests a configuration subscription to the NSCR 2903 (4021), and receives a subscription confirmation and AMF IP@10.10.192.8 (4023, 4025). Accordingly, the NSSMF 4005 may set the AMF IP@ to the NFMF 4007 (4027).

On the other hand, the TN mentioned as a feature applicable to the configuration above may be configured as shown in FIGS. 41 and 42 .

41 and 42 show an example including a TN configuration in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 41 , the NSMF + root-NSSMF 4101 manages the NSI, the NSSMF1 4103 manages the NSSI core, and the NSSMF2 4105 manages the NSSI RAN. And NSSMF2 (4107) manages NSSI TN, NFMF 1 (4109) manages AMF, and NFMF2 (4111) manages gNB. Also, the TN controller 4113 manages the gNB. Here, the NSSI TN must be configured to connect other NSSIs as shown in FIG. 42 .

In this embodiment, the NSCR provides the configuration used to create a TN connection between the RAN and the core NSSIs. In this particular embodiment, the TN NSSI, managed by the TN NSSMF, is used.

This is a standards-based EP_Transport feature (3GPP TR 28.541-g50) that describes the TN endpoint of the NSSI, but does not provide any explicit way to pass EP_Transport information between NSSIs. When an embodiment of the present disclosure is used, the NSMF does not need to relay TN-specific information between NSSMFs as shown in FIGS. 43A and 43B .

43A and 43B show an example of a method of transmitting and receiving a configuration using NSCR when a TN domain is included in the network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 43A and 43B , each of NSSMF 1 4305 and NSSMF 2 4307 is configured in advance to disclose EP_transport characteristics ( 4313 and 4315 ).

The NSMF 4301 receives the slice instantiate from the operator 4300 ( 4317 ), and assigns NSSI 1 to the NSSMF 1 4305 ( 4319 ). The NSSMF 1 4305 publishes the configuration to the NSCR 4303 (4321_. Here, the published configuration may include a parameter name: EP_transport, a value: EP_Transport 1, nssiID: nssiID 1, nsiID: nsiID 1.

The NSMF 4301 allocates NSSI 2 to NSSMF 2 4307 (4323), and receives NSSI 2 Id from NSSMF 2 4307 (4325). The NSSMF 2 (4307) discloses the configuration (4327). The configuration disclosed herein may include parameter name: EP_transport, value: EP_Transport 1, nssiID: nssiID 2, nsiID: nsiID 1.

In addition, the NSMF 4301 generates a TN NSSI to the NSSMF TN 4309 and connects nssiId1 and nssiId2 (4329).

The NSSMF TN 4309 sends a configuration subscription to the NSCR 4303 (4331). Here, the configuration subscription may include parameter names: EP_Transport, nssiId: nssiId1, nsiId: nsiId1. Then, the NSCR 4303 transmits EP_Transport1 to the NSSMF TN 4309 (4333).

The NSSMF TN 4309 also sends a configuration subscription to the NSCR 4303 (4335). Here, the configuration subscription may include parameter names: EP_Transport, nssiId: nssiId2, nsiId: nsiId1. Then, the NSCR 4303 transmits EP_Transport2 to the NSSMF TN 4309 (4337).

The NSSMF TN 4309 configures a TN between the endpoint 1: EP_Transport1 and the endpoint 2: EP_Transport2 (4339).

44A and 44B show an example of a runtime configuration update in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The runtime configuration update shown in FIGS. 44A and 44B is required during runtime as well as during network slice instantiation. In this embodiment, the NSSI is modified at runtime, which results in a change of one of the above configuration parameters (AMF IP@). The changed configuration parameters must be propagated to other NSSIs and MFs. Because of NSCR, this operation is transparent to NSMF.

44A and 44B, it is assumed that NSSMF 1 4405 is pre-configured to publish and update AMF IP@ (4413), and NSSMF2 4409 is already subscribed to AMF IP@ (4415).

When the NSSMF 1 4405 receives the NSSI1 modification and the AMF change to another vendor from the operator 4400 ( 4417 ), the NSSMF 1 4405 transmits the AMF modification to the NFMF 1 4407 . Accordingly, NFMF 1 (4407) performs an AMF modification that results in an IP@ change (4421).

The NSSMF 1 (4405) requests AMF IP@ acquisition to NFMF 1 (4407) (4423), receives AMF IP@ from NFMF 1 (4407) (4425), and NSCR (4403) discloses AMF IP@ (4403). do (4427). At this time, the NSSMF 1 (4405) updates the existing value (4429).

And when the NSSMF 2 4409 is already subscribed to the AMF IP@ (4431), the NSSMF 1 4405 notifies the NSSMF 2 4409 that the AMF IP@ has been changed to a new AMF IP@ value (4433). ). Then, the NSSMF 2 (4409) sets the AMF IP@ to the NFMF 2 (4411) (4435).

Meanwhile, the NSMF 4401 does not participate in the update operation (4437).

45 shows the configuration of an entity or system that transmits and receives a network slicing configuration in a network slicing architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For convenience of description, illustration and description of components not directly related to the present disclosure will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 45, an entity or system that transmits and receives a network slicing configuration in the network slicing architecture is the entity or system described in FIGS. 3 to 44, and each entity or system includes a transceiver 4501, a control unit 4503, and The storage unit 4505 may be configured.

The transceiver 4501 transmits/receives a message or data for transmitting/receiving a configuration with another entity or another system. For example, the transceiver 4501 may transmit/receive a request and configuration for disclosure, update, subscription, recall, query, and deletion of a network slicing configuration with another entity or another system.

The controller 4503 includes at least one processor connected to the transceiver 4501, and the entity or system described above in an embodiment of the present disclosure (ie, described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 44A and 44B). You can perform all of the operations of For example, the controller 4503 processes a request for at least one of publishing, updating, subscribing, recalling, querying, deleting, and updating a network slicing configuration received from another entity or another system.

The storage unit 4505 may be connected to the transceiver 4501 and the control unit 4503 to store all information, data, and messages required for transmitting/receiving a configuration in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

For convenience of understanding, the transceiver 4501, the control unit 4503, and the storage 4505 are separately illustrated, but the transceiver 4501, the control unit 4503, and the storage 4505 are one It may be implemented as a component.

The present disclosure described above with reference to FIGS. 3 to 44A and 44B brings the following advantages to the network slicing management and orchestration systems by using NSCR:

- An embodiment of the present disclosure decomposes complex, centrally driven network slicing configuration workflows into smaller, locally-oriented configuration workflows, configured by slicing management systems/management entities at appropriate levels can do. Accordingly, there is no need to participate in configuration flows for higher-level slicing management systems.

- An embodiment of the present disclosure may provide explicit guidelines on how to provision a required configuration between slicing management systems and management entities in the East-West configuration not covered by standardization.

- Embodiments of the present disclosure may provide improved separation of concerns in configuration management. Accordingly, the high-level slicing management system does not need to interpret and manage the low-level details.

- Embodiments of the present disclosure may have improved efficiency of configuration provisioning. For example, an embodiment of the present disclosure does not need to pass configuration through all levels of slicing slicing management systems as in the prior art. And in an embodiment of the present disclosure, configurations are coordinated asynchronously and directly between interdependent workflows.

- NSCR may serve a superset of NRF functionalities using coverage for slicing management systems as well as management functions irrespective of their positioning in the hierarchy.

On the other hand, the embodiments of the present disclosure disclosed in the present specification and drawings are merely provided for specific examples to easily explain the technical content of the present disclosure and help the understanding of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. That is, it is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art to which other modifications are possible based on the technical spirit of the present disclosure. In addition, each of the above embodiments may be operated in combination with each other as needed.

Claims (20)

A method for transmitting a network slice configuration by a network slice configuration registry (NSCR) in a communication system, the method comprising:
Receiving, from a first network slice subnet management function system (NSSMF), a request for publication of a network slice configuration of a network function management function system (NFMF);
in response to a request for disclosure of the network slice configuration of the NFMF, storing the network slice configuration of the NFMF therein;
receiving, from the second NSSMF, a request for subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF; and
and transmitting the network slice configuration of the NFMF to the second NSSMF in response to a request for subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF.
The method of claim 1,
The first NSSMF and the second NSSMF are a network slicing management system of the same level, and the NFMF is a network slicing management system of a lower level than the first NSSMF.
The method of claim 1,
receiving a query for a specific configuration;
in response to a query for the specific configuration, sending the matching configuration if there is a matching configuration available for the specific configuration;
receiving, from the second NSSMF, a recall request of a subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF;
in response to the recall request, deleting a subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF;
receiving a recall request for the network slice configuration of the NFMF from the second NSSMF and confirming whether at least one system subscribed to the network slice configuration of the NFMF exists;
transmitting a configuration recall notification to the at least one system when the at least one system subscribed to the network slice configuration of the NFMF exists; and
When the at least one system subscribed to the network slice configuration of the NFMF does not exist, the method further comprising the step of deleting the network slice configuration of the NFMF.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the network slice configuration of the NFMF transmitted to the second NSSMF is transmitted to the at least one other system by the second NSSMF when it is specified to be propagated to at least one other system. How to send.
The method of claim 1, wherein the stored network slice configuration of the NFMF is updated during network slice instantiation or runtime,
The second NSSMF manages a network slice subnet instance (NSSI) transport network (TN), wherein the NSSI TN is configured to connect other NSSIs,
and the NSCR provides a configuration used to create a TN connection between the different NSSIs.
A method for receiving a network slice configuration in a first network slice subnet management function (NSSMF) of a communication system, the method comprising:
sending, to a network slice configuration registry (NSCR), a request for subscription to a network slice configuration of a network function management function (NFMF); and
Receiving the network slice configuration of the NFMF from the NSCR in response to a request for subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF,
and the network slice configuration of the NFMF is stored inside the NSCR in response to a request for publication of the network slice configuration of the NFMF from a second NSSMF.
7. The method of claim 6,
The first NSSMF and the second NSSMF are management systems of the same level, and the NFMF is a management system of a lower level than the second NSSMF.
7. The method of claim 6,
sending a query for a specific configuration;
receiving the matching configuration from the NSCR in response to the query for the specific configuration if there is a matching configuration available for the specific configuration;
Transmitting a recall (recall) request of the subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF;
receiving a recall request for the network slice configuration of the NFMF in response to the recall request, and checking whether at least one system subscribed to the network slice configuration of the NFMF exists;
transmitting a configuration recall notification to the at least one system when the at least one system subscribed to the network slice configuration of the NFMF exists; and
When the at least one system subscribed to the network slice configuration of the NFMF does not exist, the method further comprising the step of deleting the network slice configuration of the NFMF.
The receiving method according to claim 6, further comprising the step of transmitting the network slice configuration of the NFMF to the at least one other system when it is specified to be propagated to the at least one other system.
The method of claim 6, wherein the network slice configuration of the NFMF is updated during network slice instantiation or runtime,
The first NSSMF manages a network slice subnet instance (NSSI) transport network (TN), the NSSI TN is configured to connect other NSSIs,
and the NSCR provides a configuration used to create a TN connection between the different NSSIs.
An apparatus for transmitting a network slice configuration by a network slice configuration registry (NSCR) in a communication system, the apparatus comprising:
transceiver;
storage; and
It includes at least one processor connected to the transceiver and the storage unit,
The at least one processor,
Receiving, from a first network slice subnet management function system (NSSMF), a request for publication of a network slice configuration of a network function management function (NFMF), the network slice configuration of the NFMF stores in the storage unit, receives, from the second NSSMF, a request for subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF, and responds to the request of subscription for the network slice configuration of the NFMF to the first NSSMF of the NFMF Transmitting device, characterized in that configured to control the transceiver to transmit the network slice configuration.
12. The method of claim 11,
The first NSSMF and the second NSSMF are a network slicing management system of the same level, and the NFMF is a network slicing management system of a lower level than the first NSSMF.
The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor comprises:
controlling the transceiver to receive a query for a specific configuration, and in response to the query for the specific configuration, to transmit the matching configuration when there is a useful matching configuration for the specific configuration;
Receive, from the second NSSMF, a recall request of a subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF, and in response to the recall request, delete the subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF,
Receiving a recall request for the network slice configuration of the NFMF from the second NSSMF and confirming whether there is at least one system subscribed to the network slice configuration of the NFMF,
When the at least one system subscribed to the network slice configuration of the NFMF exists, controlling the transceiver to transmit a configuration recall notification to the at least one system,
When the at least one system subscribed to the network slice configuration of the NFMF does not exist, the transmission device characterized in that it is configured to delete the network slice configuration of the NFMF.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the network slice configuration of the NFMF transmitted to the second NSSMF is transmitted to the at least one other system by the second NSSMF when it is specified to be propagated to at least one other system. transmission device.
The method of claim 11, wherein the stored network slice configuration of the NFMF is updated during network slice instantiation or runtime,
The second NSSMF manages a network slice subnet instance (NSSI) transport network (TN), wherein the NSSI TN is configured to connect other NSSIs,
and the NSCR provides a configuration used to create a TN connection between the different NSSIs.
An apparatus for receiving a network slice configuration from a first network slice subnet management function (NSSMF) of a communication system, the apparatus comprising:
transceiver;
storage; and
It includes at least one processor connected to the transceiver and the storage unit,
The at least one processor,
to a network slice configuration registry (NSCR), sending a request for subscription to a network slice configuration of a network function management function (NFMF), configured to control the transceiver to receive the network slice configuration of the NFMF from the NSCR in response to a request,
The receiving device, characterized in that the network slice configuration of the NFMF is stored in the NSCR in response to a request for publication of the network slice configuration of the NFMF from the second NSSMF.
17. The method of claim 16,
The first NSSMF and the second NSSMF are management systems of the same level, and the NFMF is a management system of a lower level than the second NSSMF.
The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor comprises:
Control the transceiver to transmit a query for a specific configuration,
confirm that, in response to the query for the specific configuration, the matching configuration has been received from the NSCR if there is a useful matching configuration for the specific configuration,
Controls the transceiver to transmit a recall (recall) request of subscription to the network slice configuration of the NFMF,
Receives a recall request for the network slice configuration of the NFMF in response to the recall request, checks whether at least one system subscribed to the network slice configuration of the NFMF exists, and subscribes to the network slice configuration of the NFMF When at least one system exists, the transceiver is controlled to transmit a configuration recall notification to the at least one system, and when the at least one system subscribed to the network slice configuration of the NFMF does not exist, the NFMF Receiving device, characterized in that configured to delete the network slice configuration.
The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor comprises:
and controlling the transceiver to transmit to the at least one other system when the network slice configuration of the NFMF is specified to be propagated to the at least one other system.
The method of claim 16, wherein the network slice configuration of the NFMF is updated during network slice instantiation or runtime,
The first NSSMF manages a network slice subnet instance (NSSI) transport network (TN), the NSSI TN is configured to connect other NSSIs,
and the NSCR provides a configuration used to create a TN connection between the different NSSIs.

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