WO2022184242A1

WO2022184242A1 - Association of coverage area of a network slice providing a service with radio coverage area

Info

Publication number: WO2022184242A1
Application number: PCT/EP2021/055222
Authority: WO
Inventors: Patrick Maguire
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2021-03-02
Filing date: 2021-03-02
Publication date: 2022-09-09

Abstract

A method performed by an operations support system, OSS, node (103, 700) in a communications network (100) is provided. The method includes associating (1001) a coverage area of a network slice providing a service with at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in the communications network. The method further includes generating (1003) a list of cells in the mobile network based on the associated coverage area and the at least a portion of the radio coverage area, the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area; and converting (1005) the list of cells to a radio coverage area list. Related nodes are also disclosed.

Description

ASSOCIATION OF COVERAGE AREA OF A NETWORK SLICE PROVIDING A

SERVICE WITH RADIO COVERAGE AREA

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to methods for associating a coverage area of a network slice providing a service with a radio coverage area of a mobile network, and related methods and apparatuses.

BACKGROUND

Fifth generation (5G) is more than just a new radio technology, it is about a broadening spectrum of device types and, therefore, service types which operator networks must support. While this may be achieved in some approaches with existing networks, compromises may exist such as network over-dimensioning and slow Time to Market and Time to Customer for new service introduction.

SUMMARY

A method performed by an operations support system, OSS, node in a communications network is provided. The method includes associating a coverage area of a network slice providing a service with at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in the communications network. The method further includes generating a list of cells in the mobile network based on the associated coverage area and the at least a portion of the radio coverage area, the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area. The method further includes converting (1005) the list of cells to a radio coverage area list.

An OSS node according to some embodiments includes at least one processor and at least one memory connected to the at least one processor. The at least one memory can store program code that when executed by the at least one processor causes the OSS node to perform operations including associate a coverage area of a network slice providing a service with at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in the communications network. The operations further include generate a list of cells in the mobile network based on the associated coverage area and the at least a portion of the radio coverage area, the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area; and convert the list of cells to a radio coverage area list.

An OSS node according to some embodiments is adapted to perform operations of associating a coverage area of a network slice providing a service with at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in the communications network. The operations further include generating a list of cells in the mobile network based on the associated coverage area and the at least a portion of the radio coverage area, the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area; and converting the list of cells to a radio coverage area list.

A computer program according to some embodiments includes program code to be executed by processing circuitry of an OSS node, whereby execution of the program code causes the OSS node in a communication network to perform operations including associating a coverage area of a network slice providing a service with at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in the communications network. The operations further include generating a list of cells in the mobile network based on the associated coverage area and the at least a portion of the radio coverage area, the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area; and converting the list of cells to a radio coverage area list.

A computer program product according to some embodiments includes a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry of an OSS node, whereby execution of the program code causes the OSS node to perform operations of associating a coverage area of a network slice providing a service with at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in the communications network. The operations further include generating a list of cells in the mobile network based on the associated coverage area and the at least a portion of the radio coverage area, the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area; and converting the list of cells to a radio coverage area list.

A potential advantage provided by various embodiments of the present disclosure may include automation of network operations for services needing radio coverage of any shape or size. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate certain non limiting embodiments of inventive concepts. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an end-to-end (E2E) communication network architecture in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a network architecture for data driven orchestration;

Figure 3 is a schematic illustrating a variety of communication services provided by multiple network slices as described in 3GPP TS 28.530, V16.3.0;

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an operations support system (OSS) node in a communications network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figures 5a-c are block diagrams illustrating procedures fulfilled by a network slice management function (NSMF), a network slice subnet management function (NSSMF), and an element manager/domain manger (network function management function (NFMF)), respectively, and their respective mapping to management services;

Figure 6 is a schematic illustrating associating a coverage area of a network slice providing a service to at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating elements of an OSS node in a communication network configured to perform operations according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a business support system (BSS) node in a communication network configured to perform operations according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a network slice subnet management (NSSMF) node in a communication network configured to perform operations according to various embodiments of the present disclosure; Figures 10 and 11 are flow charts illustrating operations of an OSS node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 12 is a block diagram of a wireless network in accordance with some embodiments; and

Figure 13 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Inventive concepts will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which examples of embodiments of inventive concepts are shown. Inventive concepts may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of present inventive concepts to those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present/used in another embodiment.

The following description presents various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. These embodiments are presented as teaching examples and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosed subject matter. For example, certain details of the described embodiments may be modified, omitted, or expanded upon without departing from the scope of the described subject matter.

To address a challenge of operator networks supporting a broadening spectrum of device types and service types, enabled by software-defined networking (SDN) and network function visualization (NFV) technology, network slicing is a proposed approach where logical networks are created and configured for a particular business purpose or customer. See e.g., “NGMN 5G White Paper”, dated 17 February 2015, by NGMN Alliance, https://www.ngmn.org/wp- content/uploads/NGMN 5G White Paper VI O.pdf (accessed March 1, 2021). In some approaches, network slices are described by “blueprints” that are machine readable to assist automation. As referred to herein, a “blueprint” refers to a description of exactly what type of resources/components a network slice is composed of, and how the resources/components are interconnected and configured to give desired characteristics, features, etc. The terms “blueprint” and “template” herein may be used interchangeably.

Once deployed, a network slice may support one or more services. See e.g., 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) TS 28.530, V16.3.0.

The following explanation of potential problems with some approaches is a present realization as part of the present disclosure and is not to be construed as previously known by others.

A service provider has no understanding of how an operator provides its network radio coverage and, as a consequence, in the 3GPP context, “coverage Area” has a generic definition in existing 3GPP TS as further discussed herein.

Likewise, presently in a 3GPP context, a network provider’s understanding of radio coverage is tracking areas, cells and their geographical positioning system (GPS) location and not a more generic understanding.

As a consequence, presently in the 3GPP context, there is a disconnect between a coverage area (e.g., “coverage Area” in 3GPP specifications) and a radio coverage area which may only be overcome by a large manual effort.

For example, presently, there is no solution/function in a network slice management function (NSMF), automated or otherwise, which converts a representation of a required network slice coverage data set as outlined in 3 GPP 28.541 V16.3.0, 22.261 V18.0.0and GSMA NG.116 to an available radio coverage tracking area (TA) list, so as to ensure 3GPP compliance in NSMF and network slice subnet management function (NSSMF) procedures as outlined in 3GPP TS 28.531, V16.4.0.

Moreover, it may be likely that many slices will have an input service requirement on radio coverage which is a defined geographical area, usually being a subset of the overall available operator network coverage. There can be various business driven reasons for this, e.g.:

Cost of radio coverage to a service provider may be the main operating expense cost so the service provider may want to ensure that they are only requesting service support in the geographical area they wish to offer their service in. For a service launch, it may be desirable to restrict the offering to a certain geographic location ( e.g., “I need 5G coverage in this college campus in the United States and subsequently I may expand to include other campuses across the United States.”); and/or

Some geographic areas may not be valid areas to offer the service in, etc.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide solutions to these and other potential problems. Various embodiments of the present disclosure align network slice template capability exposure with radio coverage based on an association (also referred to herein as a conversion or a mapping) of the exposed geographic coverage requirement into a radio configuration that can be consumable by a 3GPP compliant NSSMF, and subsequently a 3GPP compliant domain manger can consume and execute on the radio configuration.

A potential advantage provided by various embodiments of the present disclosure may include enablement of automation in network operations, e.g., for services requiring radio coverage of any shape and/or size scales. An additional potential advantages may include an aligned combination of feature capability exposure and the feature capabilities may ensure a standards compliance solution between aNSMF and a NSSMF as specified in 3GPP TS 28.541 V16.3.0. A further potential advantage may include that partial coverage of a network may be a powerful automated solution as operators look to optimize or improve their network paging load as the number of devices and services scales up.

While embodiments discussed herein are explained in the non-limiting context of 3GPP operations, the invention is not so limited. Instead, other operations may be used, including without limitation, the following additional examples: (1) Feature capability exposure can use different mapping capabilities (that is, different mapping capabilities may be supported by the radio coverage conversion operations); (2) The radio coverage conversion operation of mapping a radio coverage requirement to a set of 3GPP specified tracking areas is applicable beyond 3 GPP; (3) The radio coverage conversion operation can provide mapping of a radio coverage requirement to any deployed representation of radio coverage in the radio network; etc.

Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an end-to-end (E2E) communication network (e.g., including a 5G network) architecture in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. Communication network 100 includes network slices 115, 117, 119 for enabling operators to create multiple virtual networks over the same physical infrastructure. The physical infrastructure includes access network 113a, transport network 113b, core network 113c of mobile network 113, in communication with E2E orchestrator 101, business support system (BSS) node 105, domain manager (DM) element management system (EMS) 107, and 3GPP EMS 109 of cloud 111. Orchestration, including E2E orchestrator 101, includes a framework for supporting services and resources in an E2E communication network in, e.g., an automated way.

Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a network architecture for data driven orchestration. As used herein, “data driven” refers to a network in which at least some decisions are made based on data. Data driven orchestration network architecture 200 includes a network service database 201 including templates 203. Templates 203 include network slice templates 203 for various network services, e.g., healthcare service 207. Templates 203 include, e.g., mobile broadband 203a, nomadic broadband 203b, industry automation 203c, wire-line Internet access 203d, enterprise communication 203e, massive sensors/actuator 203f, etc. Network service database 201 is communicatively connected to network service resources 211 via network service composition 209. Network service composition 209 includes operations for creating combined services. Network service resources 211 includes access/mobility 213 including access 113a for mobile access and fixed access; service provider core 215; and service provider information technology (IT) cloud 217. Management and control resources 223 are configured for access/mobility 213, service provider core 215, and service provider IT cloud 217. Applications resources 219 are configured for service provider core 215 and service provider IT cloud 217. Transport resources 113b are configured for access/mobility 213, service provider core 215, and service provider IT cloud 217. Physical resources 225 include access, connectivity, computing, storage, etc. Logical networks 221 are created and configured for particular business purposes or customers, such as MBB basic 221a, media 221b, premium communication 221c, robotic communication 221d, heath 221e, and/or other services 221n.

Figure 3 is a schematic illustrating a variety of communication services provided by multiple network slices as described in 3GPP TS 28.530, V16.3.0. Figure 3 illustrates the relationship between communication service 301, network slices 115, 117, 119, and network slice subnets 121, 123, 125 for core network (CN) 113c and network slice subnets 127 and 129 for access network (AN) 113a. Transport network (TN) 113b supporting connectivity facilitates communications between CN 113c and AN 113a network functions.

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an operations support system (OSS) node in a communications network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to Figure 4, E2E orchestrator 101 includes OSS node 103, catalog 201 (e.g., database), NSMF 401, NSSMF 403, and adaptors element management system (EMS) 405 communicatively connected to domain 419 and 3 GPP EMS 407 communicatively connected to 3 GPP domain 421. A request/demand for a service in a coverage area of a network slice can be provided to E2E orchestrator via domain 419 or 3 GPP domain 421. Specifications representing network slices and network slice subnets are onboarded 411 to E2E orchestrator 101 in the OSS domain. These specifications are referred to herein as NSTs and NSSTs. Template design tool 409 includes templates 411a . . 411n, etc. for various services. Catalog 201 includes the onboarded templates for services from template design tool 409. Onboarded NSTs are exposed 423 northbound to a business support systems (BSS) domain 405 and are further used to compose services and customer offers. Such capability exposure 423 may align to TMF 633, Service Catalog Management API REST Specification, Release 18.5.1, whereby a narrowband system can access and query the details of a template. The capabilities of an NST are expressed by its description, input parameters (e.g., service profile), and any constraints associated with each input parameter in the input parameters.

Still referring to Figure 4, within a narrowband system, based on selection of a particular offer and/or service, a specific input parameter(s) (e.g., service profile) is selected and the required exposed 423 input parameters are populated and a service request 413 is sent to E2E orchestrator 101, which can trigger the instantiation of a NST

A NSI may include many network slice subnet instances (NSSIs), either dedicated or shared in nature. In order to provide radio coverage as part of the network slice, one of the NSSIs can provide the requested radio coverage. A network slice subnet has an associated set of requirements (e.g., those derived from communication service requirements) that are applicable to the network slice subnet constituents. This set of requirements is referred to herein as a slice profile.

The network slice has an associated set of requirements specified in communication service requirements; this set is referred to herein as a service profile. Service profiles are described further in, e.g., 3 GPP TS 28.531, V16.4.0.

A service profile is used to capture a set of requirements for a new network slice instance such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), mobile Internet of Things (MIoT), ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC), etc.

A service profile can be used to capture a set of specific industry requirements for creation of a network slice instance such as vehicle-to-everything (V2X), smart grid, remote healthcare, etc.

NSIs can be managed by a network slice management function (NSMF) 401 (e.g., via allocating 415 NSI including, e.g., a Coverage Area). NSSIs can be managed by a network slice subnet management function (NSSMF) 403 (e.g., via allocating 417 NSSI including, e.g., a coverage tracking area list (CoverageTAList).

OSS node 103 associates a coverage area of a network slice providing the requested service with at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in the communications network 100. OSS node 103 generates a list of cells in the mobile network based on the associated coverage area and the at least a portion of the radio coverage area. The list of cells is geographically located within the coverage area. OSS node 103 can convert the list of cells to a radio coverage list (e.g., a radio coverage tracking area list).

NSTs are managed by the NSMF (e.g., NSMF 401); NSSFs are managed by the NSSMF (e.g., NSSMF 403), and network functions are managed by an EMS or domain manager (e.g., EMS 405 or 3GPP EMS 407). Figures 5a-c are block diagrams illustrating procedures fulfilled by a NSMF, a NSSMF, and an EM/domain manger (network function management function), respectively, and their respective mapping to management services 501, 503, and 505, as described, e.g., in 3 GPP TS 28.531, V16.4.0 and 3 GPP TS 28.532, V16.2.0. Referring first to Figure 5a, NSMF 401 fulfills procedures for network slice instance allocation, network slice instance deallocation, and network slice modification; and their respective mapping to network slice management services 501 including allocating NSIs and deallocating NSIs for. Referring next to Figure 5b, NSSMF 403 fulfills procedures for network slice subnet instance allocation, network slice subnet instance deallocation, and network slice subnet modification; and their respective mapping to network slice subnet management services 503 including allocating NSSIs and deallocating NSSIs. Referring next to Figure 5c, EMS/domain manager 405 and/or 407 fulfills procedures for network function instance creation, network function instance, and network function instance deletion; and their respective mapping to network function management services including creating managed object instance(s) (MOI), deleting MOI, and modifying MOI attribute(s) .

Based on a service request received from a communication services management function (CSMF), a function residing northbound of the NSMF, the following two tables outline a flow for network slice instance creation and subsequent network slice subnet instance(s) creation, respectively. See e.g., 3 GPP TS 28.531, V16.4.0.

Example operations for network slice instance creation:

Example operations for network slice subnet instance creation:

Network slice coverage in the Service Profile, as input to NW Slice instance creation may be as follows (see e.g., 3GPP TS 28.541, V16.3.0) including a coverage area attribute:

The term UE herein refers to user equipment (e.g., UE 4200 of Figure 12 and/or EEs 4491, 4492 of Figure 13). Radio coverage in a network slice profile, as input to network slice subnet instance creation may be as follows (see e.g., 3GPP TS 28.541, V16.3.0) including a coverage area tracking list (coverageAreaTAList) attribute:

3GPP TS 28.541, V16.3.0 defines coverage area and coverageAreaTAList as follows:

As described in 3GPP TS 22.261, V18.0.0, several scenarios require the support of very high data rates or traffic densities of the 5G system. The scenarios address different service areas: urban and rural areas, office and home, and special deployments (e.g., massive gatherings, broadcast, residential, and high-speed vehicles). The scenarios and their performance requirements can be found in table 7.1-1 of 3GPP TS 22.261, V18.0.0 (described and shown below): Urban macro - The general wide-area scenario in urban area

Rural macro - The general wide-area scenario in rural area

Indoor hotspot - The scenario for offices and homes, and residential deployments.

Broadband access in a crowd - The scenario for very dense crowds, for example, at stadiums or concerts. In addition to a very high connection density the users want to share what they see and hear, putting a higher requirement on the uplink than the downlink.

Dense urban - The scenario for pedestrian users, and users in urban vehicles, for example, in offices, city centres, shopping centres, and residential areas. The users in vehicles can be connected either directly or via an onboard base station to the network.

Broadcast-like services - The scenario for stationary users, pedestrian users, and users in vehicles, for example, in offices, city centres, shopping centres, residential areas, rural areas and in high speed trains. The passengers in vehicles can be connected either directly or via an onboard base station to the network.

High-speed train - The scenario for users in trains. The users can be connected either directly or via an onboard base station to the network.

High-speed vehicle - The scenario for users in road vehicles. The users can be connected either directly or via an onboard base station to the network.

Airplanes connectivity - The scenario for users in airplanes. The users can be connected either directly or via an onboard base station to the network.

The term base station herein refers to a radio access network (RAN) node (also referred to as a network node, base station, eNodeB/eNB, gNodeB/gNB, etc.) of a RAN configured to provide cellular communication. A base station may be provided, for example, as discussed below with respect to network node 4160 of Figure 12, and/or base stations 4412a, 4412b, 4412c of Figure 13)

For GSMANG.116 [8], see chapter 3.4.2:

The availability of a service which is deployed into a network slice is determined by the configured coverage of the associated radio network slice subnet instance. The smallest granularity of network slice coverage area can be a tracking area. As used herein, tracking area refers to a property of a radio access network (RAN) cell that allows grouping of cell coverage in order to be used as part of idle user equipment (UE, e.g., UE 4200 of Figure 12 and/or UEs 4491, 4492 of Figure 13) paging. As discussed in 3GPP TS 38.413, V16.1.0, a tracking area identifier (TAI) information element is used to uniquely identify a tracking area:

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, a OSS node (e.g., OSS node 103 at E2E orchestrator 101) synchronizes a required data set from an underlying radio domain manager(s). In some embodiments, this is automated through subscribe/notifications integration functionality. The required data set includes (1) a domain manger identified s); (2) a gNodeB identifier; (3) a cell identified s); (4) a tracking area(s); and (5) a GPS cell location(s). In some embodiments, the GPS cell location(s) is onboarded manually as some operators do not configure their radio networks with location data. In other embodiments, there can be additional encryption on the data, and the SSO node decrypts the data when it wishes to use the data. A radio network involved in various embodiments includes full radio coverage in a geographic area of concern; adequate radio network capacity; and any required radio service quality (QCI) is available network wide.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide NST capability exposure. In some embodiments, the NST capability exposure is performed in declarative specification language (e.g., an E2E TOSCA Service template) which is exposed for a BSS system to consume. The declarative specification language (e.g., TOSCA Simple YAML standard template) can be used to model the features capabilities as capabilities of the declarative specification language ( e.g., capability description and input parameters with associated constraints).

Various embodiments of the present disclosure further include radio coverage conversion (also referred to herein as association or mapping) in the OSS node (e.g., OSS node 103 at E2E orchestrator 101). The conversion associates a coverage requirement (which is exposed in the NST as an input parameter (e.g., (coverageArea) with constraints) to a feature capability. In some embodiments, the associating includes, without limitation, the associations 600 shown in Figure 6. Figure 6 is a schematic illustrating associating a coverage area of a network slice providing a service to at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to Figure 6, in some embodiments, the associations include:

Associating an urban macro coverage area with a full radio network coverage area;

Associating a rural macro coverage area with a full radio network coverage area;

Associating an indoor hotspot coverage area with a GPS bounding box, a GPS center point with radius, and/or a polygon radio network coverage area;

Associating a broadband access in a crowd coverage area with a GPS bounding box, a GPS center point with radius, a polygon, and/or a multipolygon radio network coverage area;

Associating a dense urban coverage area with a GPS bounding box, a GPS center point with radius, a polygon, and/or a multipolygon radio network coverage area;

Associating a broadcast-like service coverage area with a full radio network coverage area; Associating a high speed train (along a rail line) coverage area with a polygon, and/or a multipolygon radio network coverage area;

Associating a high speed vehicle (along a road) coverage area with a polygon, and/or a multipolygon radio network coverage area.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure further include a BSS system (e.g., BSS node 105), after selecting a required/requested service profile and requiring/needing a radio coverage of, for example: (i) an indoor coverage in a circular type area, the BSS system specifies, according to the constraints of the exposed input parameter (e.g., coverageArea), one single GPS coordinate and a radius expressed in a distance (e.g., kilometers) which together outline the radio coverage (i.e., a GPS center point with radius); or (ii) and indoor coverage in a rectangular type area, the BSS system (e.g., BSS node 105) specifies, according to the constraints of the exposed parameter (e.g., coverageArea), four GPS coordinates to form a bounding box which together outline the radio coverage ( i.e., GPS bounding box); etc.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure further include, based on the requested feature capability (e.g., radio coverage area) and associated GPS data set, as specified in the declarative specification language (e.g., E2E Service template) input parameters received by an NSMF in the OSS node (e.g., OSS node 103 a E2E orchestrator 101), an appropriate geospatial query is constructed and executed against the geospatial database in the OSS node.

A list of cells is returned which are geographically located within the requested coverage area.

In some embodiments, this list can be optimized to ensure or determine that: (i) All of the cells are actually required based on determining an effective coverage area of each cell and determining if each cell contributes to the radio coverage area (in other words, e.g., some cells coverage may start on the border of the radio coverage area and through antenna direction configuration, only point outwards); and/or (ii) No additional cells are required based on determining an effective coverage area of all cells together to ensure or determine whether this meets the radio coverage requirement. If not, in some embodiments, a nearest neighbor query is used to add a new cell to the list, which can be recalculated and repeated if needed. Various embodiments of the present disclosure further include converting the list (or optimized list) to a tracking area list based on previously synchronized network data. In some embodiments the tracking area list is provided as an input to the NSSMF, e.g., according to 3 GPP TS 28.541 V16.3.0.

Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating elements of an operations support system (OSS) node (e.g., an OSS node at an E2E orchestrator, an OSS node in the cloud, etc.) in a communication network configured to perform operations according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, the OSS node may include network interface circuitry 707 (also referred to as a network interface) configured to provide communications with other nodes of the communication network and/or a radio access network RAN. The OSS node may also include a processing circuitry 703 (also referred to as a processor) coupled to the network interface circuitry, and memory circuitry 705 (also referred to as memory) coupled to the processing circuitry. The memory circuitry 705 may include computer readable program code that when executed by the processing circuitry 703 causes the processing circuitry to perform operations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, processing circuitry 703 may be defined to include memory so that a separate memory circuitry is not required.

As discussed herein, operations of the OSS node may be performed by processing circuitry 703 and/or network interface circuitry 707. For example, processing circuitry 703 may control network interface circuitry 707 to transmit communications through network interface circuitry 707 to one or more other network nodes and/or to receive communications through network interface circuitry from one or more other network nodes. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory 705, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 703, processing circuitry 703 performs respective operations (e.g., operations discussed below with respect to example embodiments relating to OSS nodes). According to some embodiments, OSS node 700 and/or an element(s)/function(s) thereof may be embodied as a virtual node/nodes and/or a virtual machine/machines.

Although OSS node 700 illustrated in Figure 7 may represent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise OSS nodes with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that an OSS node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of OSS node 700 are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, an OSS node may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., memory 705 may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a business support system (BSS) node (e.g., a BSS node in the cloud, a BSS node located at wi thin/ another node, etc.) in a communication network configured to perform operations according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, the BSS node may include network interface circuitry 807 (also referred to as a network interface) configured to provide communications with other nodes of the communication network and/or a radio access network RAN. The BSS node may also include a processing circuitry 803 (also referred to as a processor) coupled to the network interface circuitry, and memory circuitry 805 (also referred to as memory) coupled to the processing circuitry. The memory circuitry 805 may include computer readable program code that when executed by the processing circuitry 803 causes the processing circuitry to perform operations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, processing circuitry 803 may be defined to include memory so that a separate memory circuitry is not required.

As discussed herein, operations of the BSS node may be performed by processing circuitry 803 and/or network interface circuitry 807. For example, processing circuitry 803 may control network interface circuitry 807 to transmit communications through network interface circuitry 807 to one or more other network nodes and/or to receive communications through network interface circuitry from one or more other network nodes. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory 805, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 803, processing circuitry 803 performs respective operations (e.g., operations discussed below with respect to example embodiments relating to BSS nodes). According to some embodiments, BSS node 800 and/or an element(s)/function(s) thereof may be embodied as a virtual node/nodes and/or a virtual machine/machines.

Although BSS node 800 illustrated in Figure 8 may represent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise BSS nodes with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that an BSS node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of BSS node 800 are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, an BSS node may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., memory 805 may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a network slice subnet management (NSSMF) node (e.g., an NSSMF node in a mobile network, a NSSMF node in the cloud, etc.) in a communication network configured to perform operations according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, the NSSMF node may include network interface circuitry 907 (also referred to as a network interface) configured to provide communications with other nodes of the communication network and/or a radio access network RAN. The NSSMF node may also include a processing circuitry 903 (also referred to as a processor) coupled to the network interface circuitry, and memory circuitry 905 (also referred to as memory) coupled to the processing circuitry. The memory circuitry 905 may include computer readable program code that when executed by the processing circuitry 903 causes the processing circuitry to perform operations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, processing circuitry 903 may be defined to include memory so that a separate memory circuitry is not required.

As discussed herein, operations of the NSSMF node may be performed by processing circuitry 903 and/or network interface circuitry 907. For example, processing circuitry 903 may control network interface circuitry 907 to transmit communications through network interface circuitry 907 to one or more other network nodes and/or to receive communications through network interface circuitry from one or more other network nodes. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory 905, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 903, processing circuitry 903 performs respective operations (e.g., operations discussed below with respect to example embodiments relating to NSSMF nodes). According to some embodiments, NSSMF node 900 and/or an element(s)/function(s) thereof may be embodied as a virtual node/nodes and/or a virtual machine/machines.

Although NSSMF node 900 illustrated in Figure 9 may represent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise NSSMF nodes with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that an NSSMF node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of NSSMF node 900 are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, an NSSMF node may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., memory 905 may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

Operations of an OSS node (implemented using the structure of Figure 7) will now be discussed with reference to the flow charts of Figures 10 and 11 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, modules may be stored in memory 705 of Figure 7, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by respective processing circuitry 703, processing circuitry 703 performs respective operations of the flow chart.

Referring to Figure 10, a method of operating an OSS node according to some embodiments includes associating (1001) a coverage area of a network slice providing a service with at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in the communications network. In a preferred embodiment, information indicative of the coverage area is obtained from an exposed description representing a network slice delivering a service. Preferably, the service is requested via a business support system, BSS, node. The method further includes generating (1003) a list of cells in the mobile network based on the associated coverage area and the at least a portion of the radio coverage area. The list of cells is geographically located within the coverage area. The method further includes converting (1005) the list of cells to a radio coverage area list.

In some embodiments, the coverage area includes a geographic service region where the service is accessible.

In some embodiments, the geographic service region includes one of an urban macro region, a rural macro region, an indoor hotspot region, a broadband access in a crowd region, a dense urban region, a broadcast-like service region, a high speed train region, a high speed vehicle region, and a defined geographic region.

In some embodiments, the associating (1001) includes mapping the coverage area from an exposed description representing the network slice delivering the service to the at least a portion of a radio coverage area.

In some embodiments, the at least a portion of the radio coverage area includes at least one of a full radio access network, a global positioning system (GPS) bounding box, a GPS center point with a radius, a polygon, a multipolygon, and a defined radio coverage area.

In some embodiments, the generating (1003) includes querying a database containing geospatial data to identify the cells in the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area.

In some embodiments, the radio coverage area list is a radio coverage tracking area list.

Referring now to Figure 11, in some embodiments, the method further includes determining (1101) whether a first coverage area of each cell in the list of cells contributes to the at least a portion of the radio coverage area; and identifying (1103) the cells having a first coverage area that contribute to the at least a portion of the radio coverage area. The method further includes determining (1105) whether a second coverage area of all cells in the list of cells satisfies the at least a portion of the radio coverage area; and identifying (1107) that the second coverage area satisfies the at least a portion of the radio coverage area.

In some embodiments, the method further includes revising (1109) the list of cells based on either the identifying (1103) the cells having the first coverage area that contribute to the at least a portion of the radio coverage area or on the identifying (1107) that the second coverage area satisfies the at least a portion of the radio coverage area.

In some embodiments, the method further includes providing (1111) the radio coverage area list to a network slice subnet management node.

Various operations from the flow chart of Figure 11 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of OSS node and related methods. For example, operations of blocks 1101-1111 of Figure 11 may be optional.

Explanations are provided below for various abbreviations/acronyms used in the present disclosure.

Abbreviation Explanation

3 GPP Third Generation Partnership Project

5G Fifth Generation

BSS Business Support System

CSMF Communication Services Management Function

DL Downlink

DM Domain Manager

E2E End-To-End eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband gNodeB Base station in NR

GPS Global Positioning System

GSMA GSM Association

KM Kilometer

MIoT Mobile Internet of Things

NB Narrowband

NFV Network Function Virtualization NFVO Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator

NR New Radio NS Network Slice NSD Network Slice Description NSI Network Slice Instance NSMF Network Slice Management Function NSSMF Network Slice Subnet Management Function NSSI Network Slice Subnet Instance NST Network Slice Template NSST Network Slice Subnet Template NW Network OSS Operations Support System PNF Physical Network Function PLMN Public Land Mobile Network QCI Radio Service Quality RAN Radio Access Node SDN Software Defined Networking TA Tracking Area TAC Tracking Area Coverage TN Transport Network

TOSCA Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications

UE User Equipment

UL Uplink

URLLC Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication V2X Vehicle To Everything

VNF Virtualized Network Function

YAML Yet Another Markup Language/YAML Ain’t Markup Language

Additional explanation is provided below.

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

Figure 12 illustrates a wireless network in accordance with some embodiments.

Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wireless network (also referred to herein as a mobile network), such as the example wireless network illustrated in Figure 12. For simplicity, the wireless network of Figure 12 only depicts network 4106, network nodes 4160 and 4160b, and wireless devices (WDs) 4110, 4110b, and 4110c (also referred to user equipment (UE), as mobile terminals, or as communication devices). In practice, a wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device. Of the illustrated components, network node 4160 and wireless device (WD) 4110 are depicted with additional detail. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices’ access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wireless network may be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of the wireless network may implement communication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network 4106 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide- area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.

Network node 4160 and WD 4110 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.

As used herein, network node or node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, OSS nodes, BSS nodes, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with access to the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.

In Figure 12, network node 4160 includes processing circuitry 4170, device readable medium 4180, interface 4190, auxiliary equipment 4184, power source 4186, power circuitry 4187, and antenna 4162.

Processing circuitry 4170 is configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry 4170 may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 4170 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.

Processing circuitry 4170 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application- specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 4160 components, such as device readable medium 4180, network node 4160 functionality. For example, processing circuitry 4170 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 4180 or in memory within processing circuitry 4170. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 4170 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a network node may be performed by processing circuitry 4170 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 4180 or memory within processing circuitry 4170. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 4170 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 4170 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 4170 alone or to other components of network node 4160, but are enjoyed by network node 4160 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Alternative embodiments of network node 4160 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 12 that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node 4160 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node 4160 and to allow output of information from network node 4160. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 4160.

As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, the term WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE). Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a WD include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE) a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another WD and/or a network node. The WD may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the WD may be a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation. A WD as described above may represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, wireless device 4110 includes antenna 4111, interface 4114, processing circuitry 4120, device readable medium 4130, user interface equipment 4132, auxiliary equipment 4134, power source 4136 and power circuitry 4137. WD 4110 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by WD 4110, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within WD 4110.

Antenna 4111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface 4114. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 4111 may be separate from WD 4110 and be connectable to WD 4110 through an interface or port. Antenna 4111, interface 4114, and/or processing circuitry 4120 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another WD. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 4111 may be considered an interface.

As illustrated, interface 4114 comprises radio front end circuitry 4112 and antenna 4111. Radio front end circuitry 4112 comprise one or more filters 4118 and amplifiers 4116. Radio front end circuitry 4112 is connected to antenna 4111 and processing circuitry 4120, and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 4111 and processing circuitry 4120. Radio front end circuitry 4112 may be coupled to or a part of antenna 4111.

Processing circuitry 4120 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application- specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other WD 4110 components, such as device readable medium 4130, WD 4110 functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 4120 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 4130 or in memory within processing circuitry 4120 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry 4120 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry 4122, baseband processing circuitry 4124, and application processing circuitry 4126. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processing circuitry 4120 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 4130, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 4120 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 4120 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 4120 alone or to other components of WD 4110, but are enjoyed by WD 4110 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry 4120 may be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, as performed by processing circuitry 4120, may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 4120 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by WD 4110, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Device readable medium 4130 may be operable to store a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 4120. Device readable medium 4130 may include computer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 4120. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 4120 and device readable medium 4130 may be considered to be integrated.

Auxiliary equipment 4134 is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This may comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliary equipment 4134 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source 4136 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or power cells, may also be used. WD 4110 may further comprise power circuitry 4137 for delivering power from power source 4136 to the various parts of WD 4110 which need power from power source 4136 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 4137 may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry 4137 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case WD 4110 may be connectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power circuitry 4137 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source 4136. This may be, for example, for the charging of power source 4136. Power circuitry 4137 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source 4136 to make the power suitable for the respective components of WD 4110 to which power is supplied.

Figure 13 illustrates a virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments. Figure 13 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 4300 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized OSS node, a virtualized BSS node, a virtualized NSMF, a virtualized NSSMF, a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type of communication device) or components thereof and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines or containers executing on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 4300 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes 4330. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radio connectivity (e.g., an OSS node), then the network node may be entirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications 4320 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications 4320 are run in virtualization environment 4300 which provides hardware 4330 comprising processing circuitry 4360 and memory 4390. Memory 4390 contains instructions 4395 executable by processing circuitry 4360 whereby application 4320 is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment 4300, comprises general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices 4330 comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry 4360, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or special purpose processors. Each hardware device may comprise memory 4390-1 which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 4395 or software executed by processing circuitry 4360. Each hardware device may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 4370, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface 4380. Each hardware device may also include non- transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media 4390-2 having stored therein software 4395 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry 4360. Software 4395 may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 4350 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 4340 as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.

Virtual machines 4340 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 4350 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 4320 may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines 4340, and the implementations may be made in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry 4360 executes software 4395 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 4350, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 4350 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine 4340.

As shown in Figure 13, hardware 4330 may be a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 4330 may comprise antenna 43225 and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 4330 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration (MANO) 43100, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 4320.

Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment. In the context of NFV, virtual machine 4340 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtual machines 4340, and that part of hardware 4330 that executes that virtual machine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtual machines 4340, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).

Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more virtual machines 4340 on top of hardware networking infrastructure 4330 and corresponds to application 4320 in Figure 13.

In some embodiments, one or more radio units 43200 that each include one or more transmitters 43220 and one or more receivers 43210 may be coupled to one or more antennas 43225. Radio units 43200 may communicate directly with hardware nodes 4330 via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station.

In some embodiments, some signalling can be effected with the use of control system 43230 which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes 4330 and radio units 43200.

Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein.

Further definitions and embodiments are discussed below.

In the above-description of various embodiments of present inventive concepts, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of present inventive concepts. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which present inventive concepts belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

When an element is referred to as being "connected", "coupled", "responsive", or variants thereof to another element, it can be directly connected, coupled, or responsive to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected", "directly coupled", "directly responsive", or variants thereof to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Furthermore, "coupled", "connected", "responsive", or variants thereof as used herein may include wirelessly coupled, connected, or responsive. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity. The term "and/or" (abbreviated “/”) includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements/operations, these elements/operations should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element/operation from another element/operation. Thus a first element/operation in some embodiments could be termed a second element/operation in other embodiments without departing from the teachings of present inventive concepts. The same reference numerals or the same reference designators denote the same or similar elements throughout the specification.

As used herein, the terms "comprise", "comprising", "comprises", "include", "including", "includes", "have", "has", "having", or variants thereof are open-ended, and include one or more stated features, integers, elements, steps, components or functions but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, elements, steps, components, functions or groups thereof. Furthermore, as used herein, the common abbreviation "e.g.", which derives from the Latin phrase "exempli gratia," may be used to introduce or specify a general example or examples of a previously mentioned item, and is not intended to be limiting of such item. The common abbreviation "i.e.", which derives from the Latin phrase "id est," may be used to specify a particular item from a more general recitation.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of computer-implemented methods, apparatus (systems and/or devices) and/or computer program products. It is understood that a block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions that are performed by one or more computer circuits. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor circuit of a general purpose computer circuit, special purpose computer circuit, and/or other programmable data processing circuit to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, transform and control transistors, values stored in memory locations, and other hardware components within such circuitry to implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks, and thereby create means (functionality) and/or structure for implementing the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block(s).

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a tangible computer-readable medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks. Accordingly, embodiments of present inventive concepts may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) that runs on a processor such as a digital signal processor, which may collectively be referred to as "circuitry," "a module" or variants thereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternate implementations, the functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the flowcharts. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. Moreover, the functionality of a given block of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams may be separated into multiple blocks and/or the functionality of two or more blocks of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams may be at least partially integrated. Finally, other blocks may be added/inserted between the blocks that are illustrated, and/or blocks/operations may be omitted without departing from the scope of inventive concepts. Moreover, although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodiments without substantially departing from the principles of the present inventive concepts. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of present inventive concepts. Accordingly, the above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the examples of embodiments are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall within the spirit and scope of present inventive concepts. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of present inventive concepts are to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the present disclosure including the examples of embodiments and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.

Claims

Claims:

1. A method performed by an operations support system, OSS, node in a communications network, the method comprising: associating a coverage area of a network slice providing a service with at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in the communications network; generating a list of cells in the mobile network based on the associated coverage area and the at least a portion of the radio coverage area, the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area; and converting the list of cells to a radio coverage area list.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein the coverage area comprises a geographic service region where the service is accessible.

3. The method of Claim 2, wherein the geographic service region comprises one of an urban macro region, a rural macro region, an indoor hotspot region, a broadband access in a crowd region, a dense urban region, a broadcast-like service region, a high speed train region, a high speed vehicle region, and a defined geographic region.

4. The method of any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the associating comprises mapping the coverage area from an exposed description representing the network slice delivering the service to the at least a portion of a radio coverage area.

5. The method of Claim 4, wherein the at least a portion of the radio coverage area comprises at least one of a full radio access network, a global positioning system, GPS, bounding box, a GPS center point with a radius, a polygon, a multipolygon, and a defined radio coverage area.

6. The method of any of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the generating comprises querying a database containing geospatial data to identify the cells in the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area.

7. The method of any of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the radio coverage area list is a radio coverage tracking area list.

8. The method of any of Claims 1 to 7, further comprising one of: a) determining whether a first coverage area of each cell in the list of cells contributes to the at least a portion of the radio coverage area; and identifying the cells having a first coverage area that contribute to the at least a portion of the radio coverage area; and b) determining whether a second coverage area of all cells in the list of cells satisfies the at least a portion of the radio coverage area; and identifying that the second coverage area satisfies the at least a portion of the radio coverage area.

9. The method of Claim 8, further comprising: revising the list of cells based on either the identifying the cells having the first coverage area that contribute to the at least a portion of the radio coverage area or on the identifying that the second coverage area satisfies the at least a portion of the radio coverage area.

10. The method of any of Claims 1 to 9, further comprising: providing the radio coverage area list to a network slice subnet management node.

11. An operations support system, OSS, node in a communications network, the OSS node comprising: at least one processor; at least one memory connected to the at least one processor and storing program code that is executed by the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: associate a coverage area of a network slice providing a service with at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in the communications network; generate a list of cells in the mobile network based on the associated coverage area and the at least a portion of the radio coverage area, the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area; and convert the list of cells to a radio coverage area list.

12. The OSS node of Claim 11, wherein the coverage area comprises a geographic service region where the service is accessible.

13. The OSS node of Claim 12, wherein the geographic service region comprises one of an urban macro region, a rural macro region, an indoor hotspot region, a broadband access in a crowd region, a dense urban region, a broadcast-like service region, a high speed train region, and a high speed vehicle region, and a defined geographic region.

14. The OSS node of any of Claims 11 to 13, wherein the associate a coverage area comprises mapping the coverage area from an exposed description representing the network slice delivering the service to the at least a portion of a radio coverage area.

15. The OSS node of Claim 14, wherein the at least a portion of the radio coverage area comprises at least one of a full radio access network, a global positioning system, GPS, bounding box, a GPS center point with a radius, a polygon, a multipolygon, and a defined radio coverage area.

16. The OSS node of any of Claims 9 to 12, wherein the generate comprises querying a database containing geospatial data to identify the cells in the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area.

17. The OSS node of any of Claims 11 to 16, wherein the radio coverage area list is a radio coverage tracking area list.

18. The OSS node of any of Claims 11 to 17, whereby execution of the program code causes the at least one processor to perform operations further comprising one of: determine a first coverage area of each cell in the list of cells, determining whether the first coverage area of each cell contributes to the at least a portion of the radio coverage area, and identifying the cells having a first coverage area that contribute to the at least a portion of the radio coverage area; and determine a second coverage area of all cells in the list of cells, determining whether the second coverage area satisfies the at least a portion of the radio coverage area, and identifying that the second coverage area satisfies the at least a portion of the radio coverage area.

19. The OSS node of Claim 18, whereby execution of the program code causes the at least one processor to perform operations further comprising: revise the list of cells based on the identifying the cells having the first coverage that contribute to the at least a portion of the radio coverage area or on the identifying that the second coverage area satisfies the at least a portion of the radio coverage area.

20. The OSS node of any of Claims 11 to 19, whereby execution of the program code causes the at least one processor to perform operations further comprising: provide the radio coverage area list to a network slice subnet management node.

21. An operations support system, OSS, node in a communications network, the OSS node adapted to perform operations comprising: associating a coverage area of a network slice providing a service with at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in the communications network; generating a list of cells in the mobile network based on the associated coverage area and the at least a portion of the radio coverage area, the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area; and converting the list of cells to a radio coverage area list.

22. The OSS node of Claim 21 adapted to perform operations according to Claims

2 to 10.

23. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry of an operations support system, OSS, node in a communications network, whereby execution of the program code causes the OSS node to perform operations comprising: associating a coverage area of a network slice providing a service with at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in the communications network; generating a list of cells in the mobile network based on the associated coverage area and the at least a portion of the radio coverage area, the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area; and converting the list of cells to a radio coverage area list.

24. The computer program of Claim 23, whereby execution of the program code causes the OSS node to perform operations according to any of Claims 2 to 10.

25. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry of an operations support system, OSS, node, whereby execution of the program code causes the OSS node to perform operations comprising: associating a coverage area of a network slice providing a service with at least a portion of a radio coverage area of a mobile network in the communications network; generating a list of cells in the mobile network based on the associated coverage area and the at least a portion of the radio coverage area, the list of cells geographically located within the coverage area; and converting the list of cells to a radio coverage area list.

26. The computer program product of Claim 25, whereby execution of the program code causes the OSS node to perform operations according to any of Claims 2 to 10.