WO2020011350A1

WO2020011350A1 - Devices and methods for managing network resources

Info

Publication number: WO2020011350A1
Application number: PCT/EP2018/068817
Authority: WO
Inventors: Emmanouil Pateromichelakis; Xueli AN; Chenghui Peng; Chan Zhou; Apostolos KOUSARIDAS
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2018-07-11
Filing date: 2018-07-11
Publication date: 2020-01-16
Also published as: CN112425227A; CN112425227B

Abstract

The invention relates to a management entity for managing a plurality of network resources provided by a plurality of network slice instances in a communication network. The management entity comprises: a communication interface configured to receive an adjustment request from a user equipment, wherein the user equipment is attached to a first network slice instance, wherein the first network slice instance provides a first network resource to the user equipment, wherein the adjustment request defines an adjustment of the first network resource; and a processor configured to determine whether the first network slice instance is capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment.

Description

DESCRIPTION

DEVICES AND METHODS FOR MANAGING NETWORK RESOURCES

TECHNICAL FIELD

In general, the present invention relates to communication networks. More specifically, the present invention relates to devices, in particular a management entity, for managing network resources in a communication network.

BACKGROUND

According to the industry consensus, the 5th Generation (5G) mobile technology will be standardized and deployed by 2020. Compared to the 4G mobile telecommunication system, the 5G system will support use cases with very high variety in terms of performance attributes, for instance ultra-reliable communications for mission critical services, eHealth, public safety, real-time vehicle control, tactile Internet, connectivity for drones, and so on. To support services with such a diverse range of requirements, network slicing concepts are expected to be one of the key building blocks of 5G networks according to the recent agreements within standardization fora. It enables a service-tailored network function provisioning scheme, which aims especially at vertical industries integration. Network slicing is the collection of a set of technologies to create specialized, dedicated logical networks as a service in support of network service differentiation and meeting the diversified

requirements from vertical industries. A Network slice instance (NSI) is the realization of the network slicing concept. It is an E2E logical network, which comprises a group of network functions, resources and connection relationships.

Among all 5G use cases, many use cases are applied to the automotive industry. With the advent of automated driving functions, vehicles will be connected and they will communicate for the exchange of sensor data and planned trajectories. Autonomous driving sets stringent performance requirements (latency, reliability, capacity) for 5G communication systems. For instance, less than 10 ms end-to-end latency and reliability higher than 99.99% are required to support a wide range of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) use cases (e.g., cooperative collision avoidance, high density platooning, cooperative perception of self-driving vehicles). Hence, it is essential to understand how to design a NSI to support V2X communication with specific performance requirements. A network slice instance (NSI) can be designed and deployed based on the service-level- agreement (SLA) between the tenant and operator. However, after an NSI is deployed in the system, the exact system performance perceived by the terminals is very different, e.g. due to geographical location, environment, weather, etc. Therefore, if there is no 100%

guaranteed-service, it is very difficult for mobile networks to accommodate diversified and stringent requirements, e.g. from vertical industry. Thus, how to ensure vehicles to work appropriately under such conditions is a challenging problem, which can be considered to be composed of two parts: first, how to ensure guaranteed-performance end-to-end

communication of the V2X service (between two or more vehicles) in high dynamic environments; secondly, how to determine the required interaction between the application in the V2X-UE and the communication part in the UE and/or the cellular network so as to allow the capability at the terminal to modify the network requirements (and in particular the network slice adjustment at the V2X-UE side) so as to ensure guaranteed-performance end- to-end communication.

Future vehicles will often have different operation modes, which for instance could be categorized by the level of automation as shown in the exemplary communication network 100 of figure 1 : Mode 1 is an automatic driving mode, Mode 2 is an assisted driving mode and Mode 3 is a manual driving mode. Different operation modes can invoke different in- vehicle applications, e.g. platooning, see-through, real-time traffic map, etc. As illustrated in figure 1 , the different operation modes can be represented as a state machine, with the transition condition depending on the system performance. For example, if the system is in a high performance status, e.g. which can guarantee ultra-low latency and high reliability, a vehicle could transit from mode 3 to mode 2 or mode 1 . When the system performance is low (e.g. due to traffic congestion, geographical influence, etc.), the vehicle needs to make a transition from mode 1 to mode 3. Therefore, in order to support V2X communication, the V2X terminal operation has a high dependency on the system performance, i.e. the performance of the network 100.

Such operation dependency between the system and terminals or user equipments is not supported by the current 4G systems. Moreover, in current 4G systems the interaction between terminal and application is semi-static and does not consider the modes of operation.

In light of the above, there is a need for improved devices, systems and methods allowing for a more efficient management of network resources in a communication network. SUMMARY

It is an object of the invention to provide a management entity and user equipment as well as corresponding methods, allowing for managing network resources efficiently in a

communication network.

The foregoing and other objects are achieved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Further implementation forms are apparent from the dependent claims, the description and the figures.

Generally, embodiments of the invention relate to a management entity and a user equipment (UE) or terminal as well as corresponding methods to manage a plurality of network resources provided by a plurality of network slice instances in a communication network in an efficient manner. More specifically, embodiments of the invention can enable a tight cooperation between a user equipment and the communication network to facilitate services (especially with critical performance requirements) used at the user equipment, which includes two aspects: first, a user equipment is capable of requesting from the system, i.e. the management entity information about the current and/or near-future performance metrics, and/or the communication system, i.e. the management entity of the cellular network sends this message periodically to the user equipment. This enables system performance awareness. Secondly, according to embodiments the user equipment is capable of sending a set of customized properties of the network slice instances (NSIs) that are essential for certain use cases to the management entity, and the management entity can adjust the system in terms of network service provisioning for a specific terminal, which enables terminal-triggered and network-controlled network slice instance adjustments. This may result in a slice adjustment and/or slice re-selection.

Embodiments of the invention provide in particular the following advantages: Making the user equipment (e.g. a mobile terminal) aware of real-time and/or estimated/predicted network conditions and performance to be capable of triggering pro-active network slice re-selection and/or adjustment; and making the mobile network, i.e. the management entity capable of adjusting and/or adapting the NSI based on the user equipment’s actual/estimated performance requirement, taking into account also the network/slice situation (e.g.

congestion, availability, etc.) without affecting the performance of other user equipments. More specifically, according to a first aspect, the invention relates to a management entity for managing a plurality of network resources provided by a plurality of network slice instances in a communication network. The management entity comprises a communication interface configured to receive an adjustment request from a user equipment, wherein the user equipment is attached to a first network slice instance, wherein the first network slice instance provides a first network resource to the user equipment, wherein the adjustment request defines an adjustment of the first network resource. Moreover, the management entity comprises a processor configured to determine whether the first network slice instance is capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment.

The user equipment can comprise an application that is operated at least partly by the user equipment, e.g. a sidelink platooning application. The adjustment request can also be issued by this application.

The adjustment of the first network resource can comprise key performance indicator (KPI) or quality of service (QoS) parameters (e.g. delay, packet error rate, jitter, bit rate) and/or functional/protocol parameters and/or resource parameters (e.g. spectrum/bandwidth, cloud resource).

Thus, an improved management entity is provided, allowing adjusting the network resources for an user equipment in an efficient manner. In an embodiment, the management entity can be implemented by a single or distributed physical server of the operator of the

communication network. Alternatively the management entity can be implemented by a physical cloud server. According to a further alternative the management entity can be implemented as a network function of the communication network with the communication interface and the processor implemented as a virtual communication interface and a virtual processor of the network function.

In a further possible implementation form of the first aspect, the processor is configured, in case the first network slice instance is not capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment, to select a second network slice instance capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment and to attach the user equipment to the second network slice instance.

In a further possible implementation form of the first aspect, the communication interface is configured to provide the user equipment with information about the second network slice instance, in particular an identifier of the second network slice instance. In a further possible implementation form of the first aspect, the communication interface is further configured to inform the user equipment that the adjustment request is declined, in case the first network slice instance is not capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment.

In a further possible implementation form of the first aspect, the communication interface is further configured to inform the user equipment that the adjustment request is approved, in case the first network slice instance is capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment.

In a further possible implementation form of the first aspect, the processor is configured to determine a predicted performance metric on the basis of a current performance metric associated with the first network resource provided by the first network slice instance and wherein the communication interface is further configured, in particular in response to an information request from the user equipment, to provide the user equipment with information about the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric associated with the first network resource provided by the first network slice instance.

In a further possible implementation form of the first aspect, the processor is configured to determine a predicted performance metric on the basis of a current performance metric associated with the first network resource provided by the first network slice instance and the communication interface is further configured to provide the user equipment periodically and/or event-based, i.e. event-triggered, with information about the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric associated with the first network resource provided by the first network slice instance.

The event can be changes of the current performance metric being larger than a threshold value. Moreover, the communication interface can be configured to provide the user equipment with information about the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric periodically, i.e. at any predefined time intervals, not only equidistant intervals.

In a further possible implementation form of the first aspect, the communication interface is configured to provide the user equipment periodically and/or event-based with information about the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric associated with the first network resource provided by the first network slice instance, in response to a subscription request by the user equipment. In a further possible implementation form of the first aspect, the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric are associated with at least one radio access network, at least one transport network and/or at least one core network of the

communication network.

In a further possible implementation form of the first aspect, the information about the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric associated with the first network resource provided by the first network slice instance comprises: an identifier of the first network slice instance, in particular a S-NSSAI and/or a NSSAI; information about a current delay, a current error rate, a current jitter, current congestion levels, a current rate;

information about a predicted delay, a predicted error rate, a predicted jitter, predicted congestion levels, a predicted rate; and/or information about a prediction reliability time window, i.e. a time window, which defines for how long the predicted performance metric is reliable with a certain probability.

According to a second aspect, the invention relates to a corresponding method of managing a plurality of network resources provided by a plurality of network slice instances in a communication network, wherein the method comprises: receiving an adjustment request from a user equipment, wherein the user equipment is attached to a first network slice instance of the plurality of network slice instances of the communication network, wherein the first network slice instance provides a first network resource of the plurality of network resources to the user equipment, wherein the adjustment request defines an adjustment of the first network resource provided by the first network slice instance; and in response to receiving the adjustment request from the user equipment, determining whether the first network slice instance is capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment.

Thus, an improved method is provided, allowing managing a plurality of network resources in an efficient manner.

According to a third aspect the invention relates to a user equipment configured to use a first network resource provided by a first network slice instance in a communication network, wherein the user equipment comprises a communication interface configured to transmit an adjustment request to a management entity, wherein the management entity is configured to manage a plurality of network resources, including the first network resource, provided by a plurality of network slice instances, including the first network slice instance, in the communication network, wherein the adjustment request defines an adjustment of the first network resource provided by the first network slice instance.

Thus, an improved user equipment is provided, allowing triggering adjustment of the network resources in an efficient manner.

In a further possible implementation form of the third aspect, the user equipment further comprises a processor, wherein the processor is configured to implement a state machine for operating the user equipment in a plurality of states, including a first state and a second state, wherein operating the user equipment in the first state requires the first network resource and wherein operating the user equipment in the second state requires the adjusted first network resource.

In a further possible implementation form of the third aspect, the processor is configured to trigger transmission of the adjustment request to the management entity for transitioning from the first state to the second state.

According to a fourth aspect the invention relates to a corresponding method of operating a user equipment configured to use a first network resource provided by a first network slice instance in a communication network, wherein the method comprises: transmitting an adjustment request to a management entity of the communication network, wherein the management entity is configured to manage a plurality of network resources, including the first network resource, provided by a plurality of network slice instances, including the first network slice instance, in the communication network, wherein the adjustment request defines an adjustment of the first network resource provided by the first network slice instance.

Thus, an improved method is provided, allowing triggering adjustment of the network resources in an efficient manner.

According to a fifth aspect the invention relates to a communication network comprising a plurality of network slice instances, a management entity according to the first aspect of the invention and a user equipment according to the third aspect of the invention.

According to a sixth aspect the invention relates to a computer program comprising program code for performing the method of the second aspect and/or the method of the fourth aspect when executed on a computer. The invention can be implemented in hardware and/or software.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further embodiments of the invention will be described with respect to the following figures, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram illustrating different operation modes of a vehicular user equipment in a wireless communication network;

Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication network comprising a management entity according to an embodiment and a user equipment according to an embodiment;

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram illustrating interactions between a management entity according to an embodiment and a user equipment according to an embodiment;

Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram illustrating different operation modes of a user equipment according to an embodiment;

Fig. 5 shows a flow chart illustrating state transitions of a user equipment according to an embodiment;

Fig. 6 shows a diagram illustrating the signal flow between a management entity according to an embodiment and a user equipment according to an embodiment;

Fig. 7 shows a diagram illustrating the signal flow between a management entity according to an embodiment and a user equipment according to an embodiment;

Figs. 8A and 8B show diagrams illustrating the respective signal flow between a

management entity according to an embodiment and a user equipment according to an embodiment for two different network architectures;

Fig. 9 shows a diagram illustrating the signal flow between a management entity according to an embodiment and a user equipment according to an embodiment; Fig. 10 shows a diagram illustrating the signal flow between a management entity according to an embodiment and a user equipment according to an embodiment;

Fig. 1 1 shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication network comprising a management entity according to an embodiment and a user equipment according to an embodiment;

Fig. 12 shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication network comprising a management entity according to an embodiment and a user equipment according to an embodiment;

Fig. 13 shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication network comprising a management entity according to an embodiment and a user equipment according to an embodiment;

Fig. 14 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a method of managing a plurality of network resources in a communication network; and

Fig. 15 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a method of operating a user equipment in a communication network.

In the various figures, identical reference signs will be used for identical or at least functionally equivalent features.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form part of the disclosure, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific aspects in which the present invention may be placed. It will be appreciated that other aspects may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, as the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.

For instance, it will be appreciated that a disclosure in connection with a described method may also hold true for a corresponding device or system configured to perform the method and vice versa. For example, if a specific method step is described, a corresponding device may include a unit to perform the described method step, even if such unit is not explicitly described or illustrated in the figures.

Moreover, in the following detailed description as well as in the claims embodiments with different functional blocks or processing units are described, which are connected with each other or exchange signals. It will be appreciated that the present invention covers

embodiments as well, which include additional functional blocks or processing units that are arranged between the functional blocks or processing units of the embodiments described below.

Finally, it is understood that the features of the various exemplary aspects described herein may be combined with each other, unless specifically noted otherwise.

Figure 2 shows schematically components of a wireless or cellular communication network 200, namely a management entity 201 according to an embodiment and a user equipment or mobile terminal 231 according to an embodiment.

The management entity 201 is configured to manage a plurality of network resources provided by a plurality of network slice instances of the communication network 200. To this end, as illustrated in figure 2, the management entity 201 comprises a communication interface 203 and a processor 205.

The user equipment 231 is attached to a first network slice instance (NSI) of the

communication network 200 and is configured to use a first network resource provided by the first NSI. To this end, the user equipment 231 comprises a communication interface 233 and a processor 235.

As will be described in more detail further below, the communication interface 203 of the management entity 201 is configured to receive an adjustment request from the user equipment 231 , wherein the adjustment request defines an adjustment of the first network resource provided by the first NSI, and the processor 205 of the management entity 201 is configured to determine whether the first NSI is capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment 231.

In an embodiment, the wireless communication network 200 is a 5G network. In an embodiment, the management entity 201 can be implemented by a single or distributed physical server of the MNO of the communication network 200. Alternatively the management entity 201 can be implemented by a physical cloud server. According to a further alternative the management entity 201 can be implemented as a network function provided by the communication network 200 with the communication interface 203 and the processor 205 implemented as a virtual communication interface and a virtual processor of the network function. In an embodiment, the user equipment 231 can be implemented as a mobile user equipment 231 , in particular a vehicular user equipment 231 . In an embodiment, the user equipment 231 can be implemented as a communication unit of a vehicle. In an embodiment, a V2X application 231 a (as shown in figure 3) can run on the communication unit or on a different control unit of a vehicular terminal in communication therewith.

In the following further embodiments of the management entity 201 and the user equipment 231 will be described. As illustrated in figure 3, embodiments of the invention enable a tight interaction between the V2X application 231 a in the mobile terminal 231 (or in

communication therewith) and the management entity 201 of the communication network 200 (e.g. EPS, 5GS), so as to allow for controlling the NSI selection/adaptation, to ensure meeting the performance requirements. Thus, embodiments of the invention are based on two main aspects, namely, firstly, a system performance awareness by the V2X application 231 a and/or the user equipment 231 and, secondly, a terminal triggered and network controlled NSI adjustment.

As illustrated in step 1 of the embodiment shown in figure 3, for the system performance awareness by the user equipment 231 and/or the V2X application 231 a the user equipment 231 can request from the management entity 201 (referred to as communications system 231 in figure 3) information about the current and/or near future performance metrics associated with the plurality of NSIs provided by the communication network 200 and, in particular, the first NSI to which the user equipment 231 is attached for using the first network resource provided by the first NSI. According to embodiments of the invention, these performance metrics may include at least one of the following information elements and/or parameters: a slice identifier, in particular a S-NSSAI / NSSAI, for one or more of the plurality of NSIs, in particular the first NSI; information about the current NSI and/or network performance, such as information about delay, error rate, jitter, congestion levels, rate;

information about the expected performance and/or performance fluctuations concerning, for instance, the delay, error rate, jitter, congestion levels, rate; information about a time window for the validity of the expected performance, such as 1 minute, 1 hour and the like; and/or network analytics and/or measurements performed by a radio access network (RAN) and/or a core network (CN) of the communication network 200. The terminal triggered and network controlled NSI adjustment provided by embodiments of the invention is illustrated by steps 2a to 2d of figure 3. In step 2a the user equipment 231 and/or the V2X application sends a set of customized properties of the NSIs that are essential for certain use cases, i.e. the adjustment request, to the management entity 201 . In step 2b the management entity 201 receives the adjustment request. In step 2c, the management entity 231 can adjust the system in terms of network service provisioning for the specific user equipment 231 or for sets of user equipments affected by this change, including the user equipment 231 . In step 2d, the management entity 201 can send back notification with necessary parameters to the user equipment.

As already mentioned above, according to embodiments of the invention the user equipment 231 can be implemented as a vehicular or vehicle-type user equipment 231 comprising in-car services and communication-capability with the mobile communication network 200. In an embodiment, the vehicular user equipment 231 can be in different operational states or modes and in-car services could be only used when the user equipment 231 is in a certain state. Such state can be defined by, for instance, a slice type, such as eMBB state, URLLC state, and the like, and/or application types, such as, automated driving, assisted driving, manual driving. Figure 4 illustrates a state machine of the user equipment 231 according to an embodiment, where the states 401 , 402 and 403 could be, for instance, the automated driving state 401 , the assisted driving state 402, and the manual, i.e. non-assisted driving state 403.

The change from one state to another is called state transition. According to embodiments of the invention a state transition of the user equipment 231 can be actively or passively triggered. An active state transition can be triggered, for instance, by the decision of the user equipment 231 to use a service which requires a different state, e.g. a state transition from manual driving to assisted driving, or to simply terminate a service. A passive state transition can be triggered by changes of the performance of the communication network 200 and, in particular, the first NSI provided thereby. For instance, a degradation of the system performance larger than a predefined threshold can trigger the user equipment 231 to change from the automated driving state to the manual driving state.

Figure 5 shows a flow diagram illustrating steps involved in a state transition, as

implemented by embodiments of the invention. Before a service on the user equipment 231 is used, the user equipment 231 checks if it is in the right state to use the service. If this is not the case, a state change is triggered within the user equipment 231 (see step 501 of figure 5), and the user equipment 231 requests assistance by means of the adjustment request from the network 200, more specifically the management entity 201 , as shown in step 503 of figure 5. On the basis of the response to the adjustment request from the management entity 201 the user equipment 231 will either perform the desired state transition (step 507) or will remain in its present state (step 509).

Thus, in an embodiment, the processor 235 of the user equipment is configured to implement a state machine for operating the user equipment 231 in a plurality of states, including a first state and a second state, wherein operating the user equipment in the first state requires the first network resource and wherein operating the user equipment in the second state requires the adjusted first network resource. In an embodiment, the processor 235 of the user equipment is configured to trigger transmission of the adjustment request to the management entity 201 for transitioning from the first state to the second state.

In order to facilitate the state transition of the user equipment 231 , embodiments of the invention provide an interaction between the user equipment 231 and the mobile

communication network 200, in particular the management entity 231 for verifying the transition condition. According to embodiments of the invention, this can be implemented in two different ways.

According to a first alternative a request-response model, as illustrated in figure 6, can be implemented by embodiments of the invention. When the terminal, i.e. user equipment 231 is in state X and wants to transition to state y, it needs to obtain information about the performance of the communication network 200 and, in particular, the first NSI provided thereby. To this end, the user equipment 231 sends in step 601 of figure 6 a System metric request (SMRq) message to the system, i.e. the management entity 201 for requesting information about the system's current or near future performance. After the system 300 receives the SMRq message, it sends back a System metric Response (SMRp) message in step 603 of figure 6, which contains information about the system’s current or near future performance.

According to second alternative a publish-subscribe model, as illustrated in figure 7, can be implemented by embodiments of the invention. When the terminal, i.e. user equipment 231 is in state X, it sends in step 701 a System metric Subscribe (SMSb) message to the management entity 201 for subscribing to information about certain system performances, such as SINR, latency, reliability and the like. In response thereto, the management entity 201 sends the subscribed information to the user equipment via a System metric Publish (SMPb) message, as illustrated by steps 703, 705 and 707 of figure 7. This action could be triggered either by timer or by event (e.g. metric changes).

Thus, in an embodiment, the processor 205 of the management entity 201 is configured to determine a predicted performance metric on the basis of a current performance metric associated with the first network resource provided by the first network slice instance, wherein the communication interface 203 of the management entity 201 is further configured, in particular in response to the information request from the user equipment 231 , to provide the user equipment 231 with information about the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric.

In an embodiment, the processor 205 of the management entity 201 is configured to determine the predicted performance metric on the basis of the current performance metric associated with the first network resource provided by the first network slice instance, wherein the communication interface 203 of the management entity 201 is further configured to provide the user equipment 231 periodically and/or event-based with information about the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric. In an embodiment, the communication interface 203 of the management entity 201 is configured to provide the user equipment 231 periodically and/or event-based with information about the current

performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric, in response to a subscription request by the user equipment 231 .

In an embodiment, the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric are associated with at least one radio access network, at least one transport network and/or at least one core network of the communication network 200.

In an embodiment, the information about the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric comprises: an identifier of the first network slice instance, in particular a S-NSSAI and/or a NSSAI; information about a current delay, a current error rate, a current jitter, current congestion levels, a current rate; information about a predicted delay, a predicted error rate, a predicted jitter, predicted congestion levels, a predicted rate; and/or information about a prediction reliability time window.

In case the information required by the user equipment 231 only concerns performance metrics associated with a radio access network (RAN) of the communication network 200, the SMRq/SMRp/SMSb/SMPb described above in the context of figures 5 and 6 can be handled by the RAN 801 of the communication network 200, as illustrated in steps 81 1 and 813 of figure 8A. In this case, these messages are access stratum (AS) messages and the management entity 201 could be implemented at least partially in the RAN 801 of the communication network 200.

In case the information required by the user equipment 231 concerns performance metrics associated with a radio access network (RAN) and/or a core network (CN) of the

communication network 200, the SMRq/ SMRp/SMSb/ SMPb messages can be handled by the CN 803 of the communication network 200, as illustrated by steps 831 and 833 of figure 8B. In an embodiment, a CN network function (NF) 803 could collect and perform data mining on historical data which could provide prediction with certain confidence intervals for providing the required metric to the user equipment. In this case, the SMRq, SMRp, SMSb and SMPb messages are non-access stratum (NAS) messages and the management entity 201 could be implemented at least partially in the CN 803 of the communication network 200, in particular as a network function thereof.

As already described above, embodiments of the invention enable a terminal triggered and network controlled system resource allocation and/or adjustment. For instance, when the user equipment 231 is in a certain state, e.g. state X, it may want to update performance requirements, e.g. bandwidth. As already described above, in this case the user equipment 231 sends the adjustment request, e.g. the system adjustment request (SARq) message to the management entity 231 (as illustrated in step 901 of figure 9), which contains information about its future performance requirements. Such requirements could include: slice related information, such as slice type information; and/or performance related information, such as latency, bandwidth, reliability and the like. This information could be provided as an exact value or a predefined index.

After the management entity 201 receives the message, according to an embodiment it will first verify the message for instance based on the subscription information of the user equipment and/or slice information. If the SARq message is valid, the management entity 201 will perform the corresponding adjustment (see step 903 of figure 9), and send back a System adjustment response (SARp) message to the user equipment 231 (see step 905 of figure 9). In an embodiment, the SARp message can indicate one of the following adjustment results: (i) SUCCESS: Resource allocation is adjusted according to the requirement of the user equipment 231 ; (ii) REDIRECT : Recommend the user equipment 231 to associate with another system, in particular network slice instance, that can satisfy the requirement of the user equipment 231 ; or (iii) FAILURE: SARq is rejected by the management entity 201 . Thus, in an embodiment the processor 205 of the management entity 201 is configured, in case the first network slice instance is not capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment 231 , to select a second network slice instance capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment 231 and to attach the user equipment 231 to the second network slice instance. In an embodiment, the

communication interface 203 of the management entity 201 is configured to provide the user equipment 231 with information about the second network slice instance, in particular an identifier of the second network slice instance.

In an embodiment, the communication interface 203 of the management entity 201 is further configured to inform the user equipment 231 that the adjustment request is declined, in case the first network slice instance is not capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment 231 .

In an embodiment, the communication interface 203 of the management entity 201 is further configured to inform the user equipment 231 that the adjustment request is approved, in case the first network slice instance is capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment 231 .

As already described above, according to embodiments of the invention the SARq message and the SARp message are NAS messages and they can be processed by the management entity 231 implemented in form of a network function of the CN 803, such as an AMF 1001 of the CN 803 illustrated in figure 10. If the adjustment request cannot be met within the current attached network slice, i.e. the first network slice, a switching from one network slice to another network slice can be triggered without changing the AMF 1001. The corresponding steps are illustrated in more detail in figure 10. In step 101 1 of figure 10, the user equipment 231 triggers the procedure by sending the adjustment request in form of a PDU session modification request to the AMF 1001. In step 1012 of figure 10, the AMF 1001 triggers a PDU session modification procedure among the (R)AN 801 , an old SMF 1002, a PCF 1006 and a UDM 1007. However, as will be appreciated, a modification cannot be done for the current PDU session. Therefore, in step 1013 of figure 10, the AMF 1001 performs a SMF reselection and for selecting a new SMF 1003. Thereafter, in step 1014 of figure 10 the AMF 1001 triggers a PDU session establishment procedure among the (R)AN 801 , the new SMF 1003, a new UPF 1005, the PCF 1006 and the UDM 1007. Meanwhile, it releases the PDU session on the old SMF 1002 and the old UPF 1004. Finally, in step 1015 of figure 10 an AN- specific resource modification is performed (including a PDU session modification

command/ACK). The above described steps are slightly modified for the case that the adjustment cannot be done within the current attached network slice instance, i.e. the first network instance. In this case, a switching from one network slice to another network slice is triggered without changing the current AMF 1001. More specifically, in a first step the user equipment 231 triggers the procedure by sending a PDU session modification request to the AMF 1001 . In a second step the AMF triggers a PDU session modification procedure among the (R)AN 801 , the old SMF 1002, the PCF 1006 and the UDM 1007. However, as will be appreciated, modification cannot be done for the current PDU session. Therefore, in a third step the AMF 1001 attempts to perform a SMF reselection, but there is no SMF that can be selected. IN response thereto, in a fourth step the AMF 1001 suggests the user equipment 231 to perform a registration procedure, an AMF re-selection, a separated re-registration/association procedure or triggers a NS re-selection, e.g. via a NSSF.

In case the adjustment can be done within the current attached network slice, a modification PDU session modification procedure could cover this case.

Under further reference to figure 1 1 , according to embodiments of the invention the management entity 201 is provided as part of the network management plane of the communication network 200. Generally, the network management plane provides the following services: network slice instantiation, configuration, and activation. If the adjustment request from the user equipment 231 may influence not per-terminal adjustment, but as well as the entire network slice adjustment, this can be handled by the network management plane. In a corresponding embodiment, the user equipment sends the SARq message to the management entity 231 , which is a NAS message. After the management entity,

implemented, for instance, in form of the AMF 1001 , has received the request and verified the credentials of the user equipment 231 , it triggers the network service layer

communication with the network management layer. The network management layer evaluates the adjustment request and can trigger corresponding adjustment in all the related domains, i.e. AN 801 , CN 803, as illustrated in figure 1 1 , and a transport network.

Figure 12 shows a further embodiment of the communication network 200, including the management entity 231 and the user equipment 201 . In the embodiment shown in figure 12, the management entity is an application entity, which can be PLMN-owned and/or 3rd party application and/or vertical application. More specifically, the management entity 201 can be part of a V2X Application Server and/or a V2X Application Enabler Server (as defined in SA6, TR23.795) and/or an Application Function, AF (as defined in SA2, TS23.501 ). In such an embodiment, the management entity 231 is configured to monitor and process the system metrics for V2X Services (actual and/or abstracted and/or predicted). As already described above, when the V2X application 231 a of the user equipment 231 determines the adaptation of the V2X State (also referred to as Level of Automation, LoA), it sends to the management entity 201 the system adjustment request. The management entity 231 responds and triggers a system adjustment and in particular a slice instance resource adjustment or a slice instance re-selection.

Figure 13 shows a further embodiment of the communication network 200, including the management entity 231 and the user equipment 201 . In the embodiment shown in figure 13, the management entity 201 is a network entity. More specifically, the management entity 231 can be part of the Core Network Control Plane (CN-CP) and/or Radio Access Network (RAN) and/or the Slice Management System of the communication network 200. As already described above, the management entity 201 can be configured to monitor and process the system metrics for V2X Services (actual and/or abstracted and/or predicted). As already described above, when the V2X application 231 a of the user equipment 231 determines the adaptation of the V2X State (also referred to as Level of Automation, LoA), it sends to the management entity 201 the system adjustment request. The management entity 231 responds and triggers a system adjustment and in particular a slice instance resource adjustment or a slice instance re-selection.

Figure 14 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a method 1400 of managing a plurality of network resources provided by a plurality of network slice instances in a communication network 200. The method 1400 comprises the following steps: a step 1401 of receiving an adjustment request from a user equipment 231 , wherein the user equipment 231 is attached to a first network slice instance of the plurality of network slice instances, wherein the first network slice instance provides a first network resource of the plurality of network resources to the user equipment 231 , wherein the adjustment request defines an adjustment of the first network resource; and a step 1403, in response to receiving the adjustment request, of determining whether the first network slice instance is capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment 231.

Figure 15 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a method 1500 of operating a user equipment 231 configured to use a first network resource provided by a first network slice instance in a communication network 200.

The method 1500 comprises the following step 1501 : transmitting an adjustment request to a management entity 201 of the communication network 200, wherein the management entity 201 is configured to manage a plurality of network resources, including the first network resource, provided by a plurality of network slice instances, including the first network slice instance, in the communication network 200, wherein the adjustment request defines an adjustment of the first network resource.

While a particular feature or aspect of the disclosure may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations or embodiments, such feature or aspect may be combined with one or more other features or aspects of the other implementations or embodiments as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms "include", "have", "with", or other variants thereof are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprise". Also, the terms "exemplary", "for example" and "e.g." are merely meant as an example, rather than the best or optimal. The terms“coupled” and“connected”, along with derivatives may have been used. It should be understood that these terms may have been used to indicate that two elements cooperate or interact with each other regardless whether they are in direct physical or electrical contact, or they are not in direct contact with each other.

Although specific aspects have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of alternate and/or equivalent

implementations may be substituted for the specific aspects shown and described without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the specific aspects discussed herein.

Although the elements in the following claims are recited in a particular sequence with corresponding labeling, unless the claim recitations otherwise imply a particular sequence for implementing some or all of those elements, those elements are not necessarily intended to be limited to being implemented in that particular sequence.

Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the above teachings. Of course, those skilled in the art readily recognize that there are numerous applications of the invention beyond those described herein. While the present invention has been described with reference to one or more particular embodiments, those skilled in the art recognize that many changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

Claims

1. A management entity (201 ) for managing a plurality of network resources provided by a plurality of network slice instances in a communication network (200), wherein the management entity (201 ) comprises: a communication interface (203) configured to receive an adjustment request from a user equipment (231 ), wherein the user equipment (231 ) is attached to a first network slice instance, wherein the first network slice instance provides a first network resource to the user equipment (231 ), wherein the adjustment request defines an adjustment of the first network resource; and a processor (205) configured to determine whether the first network slice instance is capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment (231 ).

2. The management entity (201 ) of claim 1 , wherein the processor (205) is configured, in case the first network slice instance is not capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment (231 ), to select a second network slice instance capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment (231 ) and to attach the user equipment (231 ) to the second network slice instance.

3. The management entity (201 ) of claim 2, wherein the communication interface (203) is configured to provide the user equipment (231 ) with information about the second network slice instance, in particular an identifier of the second network slice instance.

4. The management entity (201 ) of claim 1 , wherein the communication interface (203) is further configured to inform the user equipment (231 ) that the adjustment request is declined, in case the first network slice instance is not capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment (231 ).

5. The management entity (201 ) of claim 1 , wherein the communication interface (203) is further configured to inform the user equipment (231 ) that the adjustment request is approved, in case the first network slice instance is capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment (231 ).

6. The management entity (201 ) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the processor (205) is configured to determine a predicted performance metric on the basis of a current performance metric associated with the first network resource provided by the first network slice instance and wherein the communication interface (203) is further configured, in particular in response to an information request from the user equipment (231 ), to provide the user equipment (231 ) with information about the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric.

7. The management entity (201 ) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the processor (205) is configured to determine a predicted performance metric on the basis of a current performance metric associated with the first network resource provided by the first network slice instance and wherein the communication interface (203) is further configured to provide the user equipment (231 ) periodically and/or event-based with information about the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric.

8. The management entity (201 ) of claim 7, wherein the communication interface (203) is configured to provide the user equipment (231 ) periodically and/or event-based with information about the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric, in response to a subscription request by the user equipment (231 ).

9. The management entity (201 ) of any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric are associated with at least one radio access network, at least one transport network and/or at least one core network of the communication network (200).

10. The management entity (201 ) of any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the information about the current performance metric and/or the predicted performance metric comprises: an identifier of the first network slice instance, in particular a S-NSSAI and/or a NSSAI;

information about a current delay, a current error rate, a current jitter, current congestion levels, a current rate; information about a predicted delay, a predicted error rate, a predicted jitter, predicted congestion levels, a predicted rate; and/or information about a prediction reliability time window.

1 1. A method (1400) of managing a plurality of network resources provided by a plurality of network slice instances in a communication network (200), wherein the method (1400) comprises: receiving (1401 ) an adjustment request from a user equipment (231 ), wherein the user equipment (231 ) is attached to a first network slice instance of the plurality of network slice instances, wherein the first network slice instance provides a first network resource of the plurality of network resources to the user equipment (231 ), wherein the adjustment request defines an adjustment of the first network resource; and in response to receiving the adjustment request, determining (1403) whether the first network slice instance is capable of providing the adjusted first network resource to the user equipment (231 ).

12. A user equipment (231 ) configured to use a first network resource provided by a first network slice instance in a communication network (200), wherein the user equipment (231 ) comprises: a communication interface (233) configured to transmit an adjustment request to a management entity (201 ), wherein the management entity (201 ) is configured to manage a plurality of network resources, including the first network resource, provided by a plurality of network slice instances, including the first network slice instance, in the communication network (200), wherein the adjustment request defines an adjustment of the first network resource.

13. The user equipment (231 ) of claim 12, wherein the user equipment (231 ) further comprises a processor (235), wherein the processor (235) is configured to implement a state machine for operating the user equipment (231 ) in a plurality of states, including a first state and a second state, wherein operating the user equipment in the first state requires the first network resource and wherein operating the user equipment in the second state requires the adjusted first network resource.

14. The user equipment (231 ) of claim 13, wherein the processor (235) is configured to trigger transmission of the adjustment request to the management entity (201 ) for transitioning from the first state to the second state.

15. A method (1500) of operating a user equipment (231 ) configured to use a first network resource provided by a first network slice instance in a communication network (200), wherein the method (1500) comprises: transmitting (1501 ) an adjustment request to a management entity (201 ) of the communication network (200), wherein the management entity (201 ) is configured to manage a plurality of network resources, including the first network resource, provided by a plurality of network slice instances, including the first network slice instance, in the communication network (200), wherein the adjustment request defines an adjustment of the first network resource.

16. A communication network (200) comprising a plurality of network slice instances, a management entity (201 ) according to any one of claims 1 to 10 and a user equipment (231 ) according to any one of claims 12 to 14.

17. A computer program product comprising program code for performing the method (1400) of claim 1 1 and/or the method (1500) of claim 15, when executed on a computer or a processor.