WO2022269045A1 - Policy driven network slice orchestration - Google Patents

Abstract

Systems and methods for policy driven network slice orchestration are provided. In some embodiments, a method performed by a first node includes: receiving a request to allocate a slice comprising policies for network slice orchestration; determining if a new instance is required or a shared Network Slice Instance (Nsi) can be used, based on the policies; and applying one or more of the policies for. This may allow the flexibility to realize the orchestration process and to life cycle manage the 5G network slices. A policy driven approach provides the necessary intelligence to the system based on the requirement and the scenario for which the network slices have to be created. It also allows the user to control the procedures to meet business needs. It can also be used to apply the rules and constraints that the operator needs to apply based on the 5G slice requirements.

Description

POLICY DRIVEN NETWORK SLICE ORCHESTRA TION

Related Applications

[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application serial number 63/214,980, filed June 25, 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to network slice orchestration.

Background

[0003] 3GPP drives the standardization of Network Slice life cycle management. The direction of standardization needs to ensure that the Network slices can be managed and used for different business cases across industries. As the standards are evolving, there are certain gaps that need to be addressed.

[0004] Network slicing orchestration requires a standard way of describing the life cycle management of the Network slices. Since Network slices will be created for different segments of the industries, the business use cases are bound to be very different. To generalize these procedures to support a variety of use cases, it is necessary that they are flexible and extendable. The procedures require various different decisions points to be executed with the required data. Therefore, improved systems and methods for network slice orchestration are needed.

Summary

[0005] Systems and methods for policy driven network slice orchestration are provided. In some embodiments, a method performed by a first node for network slice orchestration includes: receiving a request to allocate a slice, the request comprising one or more policies for network slice orchestration; determining if a new (e.g., dedicated) instance is required or a shared Network Slice Instance (Nsi) can be used, based on the one or more policies for network slice orchestration; and applying one or more of the one or more policies for network slice orchestration.

[0006] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. To obtain the flexibility to realize the orchestration process and to life cycle manage the 5G network slices, policy driven approach provides the necessary intelligence to the system based on the requirement and the scenario for which the network slices have to be created. It also allows the user to control the procedures to meet business needs. It can also be used to apply the rules and constraints that the operator needs to apply based on the 5G slice requirements.

[0007] In some embodiments, there are a pre-defined set of policy types applied to different execution steps to apply and proceed with the orchestration. Additional execution points can be extended by custom policies and the orchestration system need to support it. [0008] In some embodiments, this is performed at both the E2E slice level (NSMF) and at Slice subnet level (NSSMF). With the requirement for slices coming into the orchestration system, the policy driven approach provides the decision-making capability based on the inputs in a flexible way. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0010] Figure 1 illustrates one example of a cellular communications system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0011] Figure 2 illustrates a wireless communication system represented as a 5G network architecture composed of core Network Functions (NFs), where interaction between any two NFs is represented by a point-to-point reference point/interface; [0012] Figure 3 illustrates a 5G network architecture using service-based interfaces between the NFs in the CP, instead of the point-to-point reference points/interfaces used in the 5G network architecture of Figure 2;

[0013] Figure 4 illustrates 3GPP Network Slice allocation procedures;

[0014] Figure 5 illustrates an allocateNsi and an allocateNssi and the details of networkSliceSharinglndicator; [0015] Figure 6 illustrates an allocateNssi and the details of resourceSharingLevels;

[0016] Figure 7 illustrates a Resource model such as the Network Resource Model (NRM) model for Network slicing has the IOCs and the profile datatypes associated; [0017] Figure 8 illustrates an NSI in a shared embodiment and a non-shared embodiment;

[0018] Figure 9 illustrates policy driven orchestration for Network Slices, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 10 illustrates types of policies for Network Slice, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 11 illustrates Slice Subnet Procedures, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 12 illustrates types of policies for Network Slice Subnet, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 13 illustrates methods for Network Slice (Nsi) Allocation Procedure, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 14 illustrates methods for NSSI allocation, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0024] Figure 15 is a schematic block diagram of a radio access node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] Figure 16 is a schematic block diagram that illustrates a virtualized embodiment of the radio access node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 17 is a schematic block diagram of the radio access node according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0027] Figure 18 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0028] Figure 19 is a schematic block diagram of the wireless communication device according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0029] Figure 20 illustrates a communication system includes a telecommunication network, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises an access network, such as a RAN, and a core network, according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0030] Figure 21 illustrates a communication system, a host computer comprises hardware including a communication interface configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system, according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0031] Figures 22-25 are flowcharts illustrating methods implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment.

[0032] The embodiments set forth below represent information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure.

[0033] Radio Node: As used herein, a "radio node" is either a radio access node or a wireless communication device.

[0034] Radio Access Node: As used herein, a "radio access node" or "radio network node" or "radio access network node" is any node in a Radio Access Network (RAN) of a cellular communications network that operates to wirelessly transmit and/or receive signals. Some examples of a radio access node include, but are not limited to, a base station (e.g., a New Radio (NR) base station (gNB) in a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Fifth Generation (5G) NR network or an enhanced or evolved Node B (eNB) in a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), a high-power or macro base station, a low-power base station (e.g., a micro base station, a pico base station, a home eNB, or the like), a relay node, a network node that implements part of the functionality of a base station (e.g., a network node that implements a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) or a network node that implements a gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU)) or a network node that implements part of the functionality of some other type of radio access node.

[0035] Core Network Node: As used herein, a "core network node" is any type of node in a core network or any node that implements a core network function. Some examples of a core network node include, e.g., a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), a Service Capability Exposure Function (SCEF), a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), or the like. Some other examples of a core network node include a node implementing an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a User Plane Function (UPF), a Session Management Function (SMF), an Authentication Server Function (AUSF), a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), a Network Exposure Function (NEF), a Network Function (NF) Repository Function (NRF), a Policy Control Function (PCF), a Unified Data Management (UDM), or the like.

[0036] Communication Device: As used herein, a "communication device" is any type of device that has access to an access network. Some examples of a communication device include, but are not limited to: mobile phone, smart phone, sensor device, meter, vehicle, household appliance, medical appliance, media player, camera, or any type of consumer electronic, for instance, but not limited to, a television, radio, lighting arrangement, tablet computer, laptop, or Personal Computer (PC). The communication device may be a portable, hand-held, computer-comprised, or vehicle- mounted mobile device, enabled to communicate voice and/or data via a wireless or wireline connection.

[0037] Wireless Communication Device: One type of communication device is a wireless communication device, which may be any type of wireless device that has access to (i.e., is served by) a wireless network (e.g., a cellular network). Some examples of a wireless communication device include, but are not limited to: a User Equipment device (UE) in a 3GPP network, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, and an Internet of Things (IoT) device. Such wireless communication devices may be, or may be integrated into, a mobile phone, smart phone, sensor device, meter, vehicle, household appliance, medical appliance, media player, camera, or any type of consumer electronic, for instance, but not limited to, a television, radio, lighting arrangement, tablet computer, laptop, or PC. The wireless communication device may be a portable, hand-held, computer-comprised, or vehicle-mounted mobile device, enabled to communicate voice and/or data via a wireless connection.

[0038] Network Node: As used herein, a "network node" is any node that is either part of the RAN or the core network of a cellular communications network/system. [0039] Transmission/ Reception Point (TRP): In some embodiments, a TRP may be either a network node, a radio head, a spatial relation, or a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state. A TRP may be represented by a spatial relation or a TCI state in some embodiments. In some embodiments, a TRP may be using multiple TCI states. In some embodiments, a TRP may a part of the gNB transmitting and receiving radio signals to/from UE according to physical layer properties and parameters inherent to that element. In some embodiments, in Multiple TRP (multi-TRP) operation, a serving cell can schedule UE from two TRPs, providing better Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) coverage, reliability and/or data rates. There are two different operation modes for multi-TRP: single Downlink Control Information (DCI) and multi- DCI. For both modes, control of uplink and downlink operation is done by both physical layer and Medium Access Control (MAC). In single-DCI mode, UE is scheduled by the same DCI for both TRPs and in multi-DCI mode, UE is scheduled by independent DCIs from each TRP.

[0040] In some embodiments, a set Transmission Points (TPs) is a set of geographically co-located transmit antennas (e.g., an antenna array (with one or more antenna elements)) for one cell, part of one cell or one Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) -only TP. TPs can include base station (eNB) antennas, Remote Radio Heads (RRHs), a remote antenna of a base station, an antenna of a PRS-only TP, etc. One cell can be formed by one or multiple TPs. For a homogeneous deployment, each TP may correspond to one cell.

[0041] In some embodiments, a set of TRPs is a set of geographically co-located antennas (e.g., an antenna array (with one or more antenna elements)) supporting TP and/or Reception Point (RP) functionality.

[0042] Note that the description given herein focuses on a 3GPP cellular communications system and, as such, 3GPP terminology or terminology similar to 3GPP terminology is oftentimes used. However, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to a 3GPP system.

[0043] Note that, in the description herein, reference may be made to the term "cell"; however, particularly with respect to 5G NR concepts, beams may be used instead of cells and, as such, it is important to note that the concepts described herein are equally applicable to both cells and beams.

[0044] Figure 1 illustrates one example of a cellular communications system 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. In the embodiments described herein, the cellular communications system 100 is a 5G system (5GS) including a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) and a 5G Core (5GC). In this example, the RAN includes base stations 102-1 and 102-2, which in the 5GS include NR base stations (gNBs) and optionally next generation eNBs (ng-eNBs) (e.g., LTE RAN nodes connected to the 5GC), controlling corresponding (macro) cells 104-1 and 104-2. The base stations 102-1 and 102-2 are generally referred to herein collectively as base stations 102 and individually as base station 102. Likewise, the (macro) cells 104-1 and 104-2 are generally referred to herein collectively as (macro) cells 104 and individually as (macro) cell 104. The RAN may also include a number of low power nodes 106-1 through 106-4 controlling corresponding small cells 108-1 through 108-4. The low power nodes 106-1 through 106-4 can be small base stations (such as pico or femto base stations) or RRHs, or the like. Notably, while not illustrated, one or more of the small cells 108-1 through 108-4 may alternatively be provided by the base stations 102. The low power nodes 106-1 through 106-4 are generally referred to herein collectively as low power nodes 106 and individually as low power node 106. Likewise, the small cells 108-1 through 108-4 are generally referred to herein collectively as small cells 108 and individually as small cell 108. The cellular communications system 100 also includes a core network 110, which in the 5G System (5GS) is referred to as the 5GC. The base stations 102 (and optionally the low power nodes 106) are connected to the core network 110.

[0045] The base stations 102 and the low power nodes 106 provide service to wireless communication devices 112-1 through 112-5 in the corresponding cells 104 and 108. The wireless communication devices 112-1 through 112-5 are generally referred to herein collectively as wireless communication devices 112 and individually as wireless communication device 112. In the following description, the wireless communication devices 112 are oftentimes UEs, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0046] Figure 2 illustrates a wireless communication system represented as a 5G network architecture composed of core Network Functions (NFs), where interaction between any two NFs is represented by a point-to-point reference point/interface.

Figure 2 can be viewed as one particular implementation of the system 100 of Figure 1. [0047] Seen from the access side the 5G network architecture shown in Figure 2 comprises a plurality of UEs 112 connected to either a RAN 102 or an Access Network (AN) as well as an AMF 200. Typically, the R(AN) 102 comprises base stations, e.g. such as eNBs or gNBs or similar. Seen from the core network side, the 5GC NFs shown in Figure 2 include a NSSF 202, an AUSF 204, a UDM 206, the AMF 200, a SMF 208, a PCF 210, and an Application Function (AF) 212. [0048] Reference point representations of the 5G network architecture are used to develop detailed call flows in the normative standardization. The N1 reference point is defined to carry signaling between the UE 112 and AMF 200. The reference points for connecting between the AN 102 and AMF 200 and between the AN 102 and UPF 214 are defined as N2 and N3, respectively. There is a reference point, Nil, between the AMF 200 and SMF 208, which implies that the SMF 208 is at least partly controlled by the AMF 200. N4 is used by the SMF 208 and UPF 214 so that the UPF 214 can be set using the control signal generated by the SMF 208, and the UPF 214 can report its state to the SMF 208. N9 is the reference point for the connection between different UPFs 214, and N14 is the reference point connecting between different AMFs 200, respectively. N15 and N7 are defined since the PCF 210 applies policy to the AMF 200 and SMF 208, respectively. N12 is required for the AMF 200 to perform authentication of the UE 112. N8 and N10 are defined because the subscription data of the UE 112 is required for the AMF 200 and SMF 208.

[0049] The 5GC network aims at separating UP and CP. The UP carries user traffic while the CP carries signaling in the network. In Figure 2, the UPF 214 is in the UP and all other NFs, i.e., the AMF 200, SMF 208, PCF 210, AF 212, NSSF 202, AUSF 204, and UDM 206, are in the CP. Separating the UP and CP guarantees each plane resource to be scaled independently. It also allows UPFs to be deployed separately from CP functions in a distributed fashion. In this architecture, UPFs may be deployed very close to UEs to shorten the Round Trip Time (RTT) between UEs and data network for some applications requiring low latency.

[0050] The core 5G network architecture is composed of modularized functions. For example, the AMF 200 and SMF 208 are independent functions in the CP. Separated AMF 200 and SMF 208 allow independent evolution and scaling. Other CP functions like the PCF 210 and AUSF 204 can be separated as shown in Figure 2. Modularized function design enables the 5GC network to support various services flexibly.

[0051] Each NF interacts with another NF directly. It is possible to use intermediate functions to route messages from one NF to another NF. In the CP, a set of interactions between two NFs is defined as service so that its reuse is possible. This service enables support for modularity. The UP supports interactions such as forwarding operations between different UPFs. [0052] Figure 3 illustrates a 5G network architecture using service-based interfaces between the NFs in the CP, instead of the point-to-point reference points/interfaces used in the 5G network architecture of Figure 2. Flowever, the NFs described above with reference to Figure 2 correspond to the NFs shown in Figure 3. The service(s) etc. that a NF provides to other authorized NFs can be exposed to the authorized NFs through the service-based interface. In Figure 3 the service based interfaces are indicated by the letter "N" followed by the name of the NF, e.g. Namf for the service based interface of the AMF 200 and Nsmf for the service based interface of the SMF 208, etc. The NEF 300 and the NRF 302 in Figure 3 are not shown in Figure 2 discussed above. Flowever, it should be clarified that all NFs depicted in Figure 2 can interact with the NEF 300 and the NRF 302 of Figure 3 as necessary, though not explicitly indicated in Figure 2.

[0053] Some properties of the NFs shown in Figures 2 and 3 may be described in the following manner. The AMF 200 provides UE-based authentication, authorization, mobility management, etc. A UE 112 even using multiple access technologies is basically connected to a single AMF 200 because the AMF 200 is independent of the access technologies. The SMF 208 is responsible for session management and allocates Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to UEs. It also selects and controls the UPF 214 for data transfer. If a UE 112 has multiple sessions, different SMFs 208 may be allocated to each session to manage them individually and possibly provide different functionalities per session. The AF 212 provides information on the packet flow to the PCF 210 responsible for policy control in order to support QoS. Based on the information, the PCF 210 determines policies about mobility and session management to make the AMF 200 and SMF 208 operate properly. The AUSF 204 supports authentication function for UEs or similar and thus stores data for authentication of UEs or similar while the UDM 206 stores subscription data of the UE 112. The Data Network (DN), not part of the 5GC network, provides Internet access or operator services and similar.

[0054] An NF may be implemented either as a network element on a dedicated hardware, as a software instance running on a dedicated hardware, or as a virtualized function instantiated on an appropriate platform, e.g., a cloud infrastructure.

[0055] Figure 4 illustrates 3GPP Network Slice allocation procedures. The provisioning of Network Slicing is defined by 3GPP in TS 28.531. 3GPP has defined allocate and deallocate procedures to accomplish provisioning of network slices from the 3GPP management systems. The procedures defined does not provide required flexibility and needs extensions to realize them. There is a need to define mechanisms to provide the user/operator to life cycle manage the any type of Network slices, be it standard or non-standard.

[0056] Figure 5 illustrates an allocateNsi and an allocateNssi and the details of networkSliceSharinglndicator.

[0057] 3GPP has defined allocate/deallocate procedures to create the slice and the slice subnets. The "allocateNsi" and "allocateNssi" is for the slice and slice subnet, respectively. Similarly, there are deallocate procedures.

[0058] The networkSliceSharinglndicator is defined in the serviceprofile to contain the value shared/non-shared so that subsequent service request can find sharable NSIs. allocateNsi procedure will first look for a shared service, if found it will associate it with the NSI. If not found it will create a new NSI and set the value for the attribute. [0059] Limitations

[0060] Use case where the operator wants to create a new service and set it to sharable cannot be defined.

[0061] Conditions to share the network slice is not possible. Figure 6 illustrates an allocateNssi and the details of resourceSharing Levels. resourceSharingLevels is defined in the sliceprofile to contain the value shared/non-shared so that subsequent slice subnet request can find sharable resources.

[0062] allocateNssi procedure will first look for a shared service, if found, it will associate it with the NSSI. If not found will create a new NSSI and set the value for the attribute. It can only be set if all the resources in the RAN and Core can be shared on non-shared. Which is equivalent to sharing the Network Slices and Slice subnets as a whole.

[0063] Figure 7 illustrates a Resource model. The Network Resource Model (NRM) model for Network slicing has the IOCs and the profile datatypes associated. But the slice and slice subnet capabilities do not exist.

[0064] Limitations

[0065] Does not define the capability of the Network Slice or Slice subnet required to be used while searching for the shared instances.

[0066] Figure 8 illustrates an NSI in a shared embodiment and a non-shared embodiment. [0067] The Network Slice instance is created and will be associated with every allocateNsi request received when the instance is to be shared. In case of non- shared, the instance will have only the service profile for which it is created. For the shared scenario, the multiple service profiles will be associated with the instance. [0068] Figure 4 illustrates procedures defined in 3GPP specifications.

[0069] 3GPP has defined allocate/deallocate procedures to create the slice and the slice subnets. The "allocateNsi" and "allocateNssi" is for the slice and slice subnet, respectively. Similarly, there are deallocate procedures.

[0070] There are several gaps in the proposed approach in 3GPP specifications and they are listed below. The process defined is rigid and follows a fixed approach. Use case where the operator would like to create a new NSI and make it a sharable one, is not possible. The process of allocating the sharing of NSSI cannot be driven with this approach in NSMF. The resourceSharingLevels defined in the slice profile must be set by NSMF and there is no control of defining what can be shared and what need not be shared. There are no mechanisms for the allocateNsi procedure to select the Network Slice based on certain criteria or selective approach is not possible. The networkSliceSharinglndicator set in the service profile does not mean that the NSSIs which are used/created for the service request are to have the same property, hence no way to define the allocation mechanism. networkSliceSharinglndicator and resourceSharingLevels overlap. Decomposition of NSI allocate request to NSSIs and translation of service profile to slice profiles do not exist.

[0071] NSIs are shared by services if the NSI is set to be shared. There are two aspects that need to be looked at. During the procedure call, it is not clear how the consumer would inform the NSMF that the service can use a shared NSI. In case, the NSI is created during the process, it is not clear how the producer will set the NSI as sharable.

[0072] Similarly, for NSSIs by NSSMF. There is a need for selective sharing based on certain instructions that are provided to NSMF. Selection of NSIs or setting the selection criteria for NSSIs must be driven in a more flexible way so that any rules can be defined and executed. Resource sharing not clearly defined.

[0073] As discussed above, Network slicing orchestration requires a standard way of describing the life cycle management of the Network slices. Since Network slices will be created for different segments of the industries the business use cases are bound to be very different. To generalize these procedures to support variety of use cases, it is necessary that they are flexible and extendable. The procedures require various different decisions points to be executed with the required data.

[0074] 3GPP drives the standardization of Network Slice life cycle management. The direction of standardization needs to ensure that the Network slices can be managed and used for different business cases across industries. As the standards are evolving, there are certain gaps that need to be addressed.

[0075] Flexibility required during orchestration of different steps of execution can be driven by a policy approach. There need to be a pre-defined set of policy types applied to different execution steps to apply and proceed with the orchestration. Additional execution points can be extended by custom policies and the orchestration system need to support it. In some embodiments, these policies are policy references and the policies are onboarded into the NSMF and/or NSSMF.

[0076] This is required at both the E2E slice level (NSMF) and at Slice subnet level (NSSMF). With the requirement for slices coming into the orchestration system, the policy driven approach provides the decision-making capability based on the inputs in a flexible way.

[0077] The allocation procedures defined by 3GPP in TS 28.531 with the profiles defined in TS 28.541 are not sufficient for realization of the orchestration process.

Where a more flexible approach with different dimensions based on the requirements need to be considered. Flence the policy driven approach for selection of shared instances, sharing, decomposition of E2E slice into slice subnets, translation, and transformation of the service profile attributes to slice profile attributes need to be provided. Similar approach is required at NSSMF layer as well. The orchestration procedure will execute the policy with the input as the policy context to determine the actions it needs to take during orchestration. In some embodiments, the context is used to match/compare different requests (e.g., allocateNsi, allocateNssi). For instance, a NsiSharing policy might require two requests/services be allowed to share an Nsi if the context is the same or is compatible.

[0078] To obtain the flexibility to realize the orchestration process and to life cycle manage the 5G network slices, policy driven approach provides the necessary intelligence to the system based on the requirement and the scenario for which the network slices have to be created. It also provides the user to control the procedures to meet the business needs. It can also be used to apply the rules and constraints that the operator needs to apply based on the 5G slice requirements.

[0079] Figure 9 illustrates policy driven orchestration for Network Slices, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0080] allocateNsi

[0081] The request for the creation of a E2E Slice have to provide required inputs for NSMF to drive the orchestration. This can include,

• N si Pol icy List

[0082] NsiPolicyList can be used to pass on the list of policies that be used by the procedures for orchestration. These policies can be used for the allocation of the NSIs and set the sharing Property of NSI. It can also determine the sharing property of the NSIs which needs to be set by NSMF in the slice profile.

[0083] Figure 10 illustrates types of policies for Network Slice, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0084] Characteristics of policy types

• The policies to be used are optional.

• Default behavior can be defined by configurable policies, and it must be possible to change the default behavior.

• If policies are defined in the allocate request, it take precedence over the default policies configured.

• It shall be possible to use multiple times the same policy types.

• Some of the policy types can be exposed to the consumer and some may be internal to the orchestration to execute the procedures.

[0085] Default Behavior

• The policies have to be configurable, where the operator replace with the custom policies that have to be used by default.

[0086] In case the policies are not defined in the service profile or slice profiles, the default policies will be applied.

[0087] Figure 11 illustrates Slice Subnet Procedures, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0088] allocateNssi [0089] The request for the creation of a Slice Subnet have to provide required inputs for NSSMF to drive the orchestration. This can include: NssiPolicyList.

[0090] NssiPolicyList can be used to pass on the list of policies that be used by the procedures during orchestration. These policies can be used for the selection of the NSSIs and set the sharing Property of NSSI in case they are created. It can also determine the sharing property of the NSSIs which needs to be set by NSSMF in the slice profile for required NSSIs in the hierarchy.

[0091] Figure 12 illustrates types of policies for Network Slice Subnet, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0092] Figure 13 illustrates methods for Network Slice (Nsi) Allocation Procedure, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0093] NSI selection

[0094] When the allocateNsi request is received by NSMF (step 1300), the first step is to determine if a new (e.g., dedicated) instance is required or a shared Nsi can be used (step 1302). This decision must be taken based on the input provided in the allocateNsi request in the policy context. The request can be in terms of a policy of type NsiSelectionPolicy. Each policy can have multiple contexts and the context information must be passed by the user. Shall check the request only for the shared or non-shared input. Based on the NsiSelectionPolicy and <<policy context>>, the output can be shared and non-shared. If non-shared, it will create a new Nsi (step 1304). If shared, then the next step needs to look for an NSI.

[0095] Searching of NSI

[0096] Search of Nsi is a twostep process (step 1306). Match the service requirements from the service profile. Matching may not always be "= ", it will be driven from the realistic constraints that contribute to the QoS, coverage etc. Apply the conditions for selections available in the NsiSelectionpolicy. The NSIs that are created and the services that are provided over the NSIs need to provide the information about its design, like the topology information, constraints, and conditions it is bound to etc... The result of the search execution will either provide a NSI meeting the above criteria or none if there are no NSIs. If a matching NSI is found the service profile is associates with the matching NSI (step 1308). The NSI is updated (step 1310) and the NSSI is updated (step 1312). If no matching NSI is found, a new NSI request will then be considered and a new NSI will get created (1304). [0097] Sharing of NSIs

[0098] After when the new Slice instance is created and the service profile is attached to it (step 1314), then the sharing properties need to be persisted for the subsequent allocateNsi request (step 1316). The information that needs to be shared is - Non-shared / Shared

[0099] Generic (with any sharing request when the criteria is satisfied).

[0100] Selective shared: This must be provided with the information on criteria it provides for the Network slices so that subsequent allocateNsi request can look at the criteria. [0101] The result of the policy execution needs to be stored so that the search engine can evaluate the search criteria.

[0102] The selection and sharing of the slices can be driven from two different policies. The sharing policy can set the sharing properties of the NSI. It is of type NsiSharablePolicy. [0103] Decomposition of NSI request

[0104] Decomposition step will translate the NSI request into the required number of NSSIs based on the criteria defined in the NsiDecompositionPolicy and its associated context (step 1318).

[0105] The decomposition needs inputs on, Rules required to allocate the NSSIs; The service requirements (service profile Inputs); Information from deployed assets may be required. Information like capability, capacity, coverage, vendor etc.

[0106] Creation of Slice Profiles

[0107] Translation of service profile to slice profile for every Slice Subnet identified to be allocated (step 1320). [0108] The translation rules can be defined in the

ServiceAttributeDecompositionPolicy. The inputs required to the translation module, Slices to be allocated, Service profile attributes, Inputs like capability, capacity, coverage, vendor etc...

[0109] Selection of NSSIs Policies [0110] Selection of the policies that need to be passed to NSSMF need to happen based on the expected NSSIs characteristics (step 1322). NSSI policies are determined by the NsiPolicies used during the creation of NSI. Then there is a feasibility check (step 1324) and the NSSIs are allocated (step 1326). [0111] Figure 14 illustrates methods for NSSI selection, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0112] When the allocateNssi request is received by NSSMF (step 1400), the first step is to determine if a new (or dedicated) instance is required or a shared Nssi can be used (step 1402). This decision can be taken based on the input provided in the allocateNssi request. The request can be in terms of a policy of type NssiSelectionPolicy. Each policy can have multiple contexts and the context information must be passed by the user.

[0113] Nssi can be of the type - non-shared / shared / selective shared. Non-shared is dedicated for the slice. Shared - any slice can use the Nssi and is available for the allocation search module if it meets the requirements. Selective shared - the slice can use the Nssi when a criterion other than the matching service profile attributes is considered. This can be defined in the NssiSelectionPolicy.

[0114] In some embodiments, the request is checked only for the shared or non- shared input. Based on the NssiSelectionPolicy and << policy context>>, the output can be shared and non-shared. If non-shared, it will create a dedicated Nssi. If shared, then the next step needs to look for a Nssi. NssiSelectionPolicy and << policy context>> need to be executed to determine if the requested Nssi need to shared or non-shared.

[0115] Searching of NSSI

[0116] Search of Nssi is a two step process (step 1404). Match the slice requirements from the slice profile. Matching may not always be "= ", it will be driven from the realistic constraints that contribute to the QoS, coverage, etc. Apply the conditions for selections available in the NssiSelectionpolicy. The NSSIs that are created and the services that are provided over the NSSIs need to provide the information about its design, like the topology information, constraints, and conditions it is bound to etc. The result of the policy execution will either provide a NSSI meeting the above criteria or none if there are no NSSIs. If a matching NSSI is found, the slice profile is associated (step 1406) and the NSSI is updated (step 1408). If no matching NSSI is found, a new NSSI request will then be considered and a new NSSI will get created (step 1410). [0117] Sharing of NSSIs

[0118] After when the new Slice subnet instance is created (e.g., in the management domain) and the slice profile is attached to it (step 1412), then the sharing properties need to be persisted for the subsequent allocateNssi request. At this point in time, any new NSSIs are not yet resolved, and they do not exist.

[0119] The information that need to be shared is - Non-shared or Shared. If shared, this can be: Generic or Selective shared. This has to be provided the information what criteria it provides for the Network slices so that subsequent allocateNssi request can look at the criteria. The result of the policy execution needs to be stored so that the search engine can evaluate the search criteria. The selection and sharing of the slice subnets can be driven from two different policies. The sharing policy can set the sharing properties of the NSSI (step 1414). It is of type NssiSharablePolicy.

[0120] NSSI Procedure

[0121] Design/assign is the process (step 1416) where the NSSI allocation procedure allocates values to the attributes from different sources like the inventory. It needs to translate some of the profile inputs into configuration attributes by using attributeTranslationPolicy.

[0122] From the requirements, NSSI topology is constructed or identified (from templates) and instance (blueprint) of which is created (step 1418).

[0123] For the instance designed a feasibility check is performed to evaluate the network instance created (step 1420).

[0124] When the feasibility check is passed, the resources are reserved for the orchestration procedures (step 1422). The realization of the slice subnets then happens by the orchestration application (step 1424).

[0125] Decomposition of NSSI request

[0126] Decomposition step will translate the requirement of having further NSSI based on the criteria defined in the NssiDecompositionPolicy and its associated context. [0127] The decomposition needs inputs on; Rules required to allocate the NSSIs.

The slice subnet requirements (slice profile Inputs). Information from deployed assets may be required. Information like capability, capacity, coverage, vendor, etc. After the design step, t is checked if it has an NSSI (step 1426). [0128] Creation of Slice Profiles

[0129] Translation of slice profile to low level slice profile for every Slice Subnet identified to be allocated (step 1428). The translation rules can be defined in the SliceAttributeDecompositionPolicy. The inputs required to the translation module; Slices to be allocated. Slice profile attributes: Inputs like capability, capacity, coverage, vendor etc. Shall be required.

[0130] Selection of NSSIs Policies

[0131] Selection of the policies that need to be passed to NSSMF need to happen based on the expected NSSIs characteristics (step 1430). NSSI policies are determined by the NsiPolicies used during the creation of NSSI.

[0132] Multiple services for an enterprise sharing a network slice.

[0133] In this example, multiple services of the same/similar type are provided for an enterprise, but for this service offering they are required to use the same NSI. This NSI is however not to be shared by any other entity.

[0134] In the allocateNsi, a nsiSelectionPolicy and nsiShareablePolicy are sent both with a context object/string uniquely identifying the enterprise and its service type. In the allocation procedure, only NSIs with this particular context are eligible for allocation. If a NSI does not yet exist, it will be created and the nsiShareablePolicy with context will be stored with the NSI. Thus, this NSI will "attract" any service with the right policy/context, while repelling any other.

[0135] Services of the same type for different enterprises sharing a network slice. [0136] Would work exactly as above, except that the policy context would identify the service type rather than the enterprise.

[0137] Service with a dedicated network slice

[0138] Some services may require a dedicated NSI (Although parts of the network slice may be shared with others, which would be dictated by other policies)

[0139] To facilitate this, the consumer (ordered) provides a nsSelectionPolicy and nsiSharingPolicy with the context set to a unique value (e.g., containing a random value). As the selection procedure will always search for a perfect match (context must match), no existing NSI can be used, and thus a new NSI will be created. As the context is unique, future services will not be allocated to this NSI.

[0140] Forced creation of new network slice. [0141] In this case the nsiSelectionPolcy is set with a unique context, while the nsiShareable is set with a context indicating the context in which the NSI can be shared. As the nsiSelectionPolicy has a unique context, no match will be found, thus a new NSI will be created. This new NSI can however be selected assuming a future request provides a matching context with the nsiSelectionPolicy.

[0142] Supporting UE connecting to two slices/services

[0143] Some UEs for some enterprise may need to simultaneously connect to two different services. If those services are realized as different slices, this necessitates some additional constraints (in addition to setting the policies dictating that dedicated NSIs will be used, see above example). The two network slices must in this case share some control plane functions, both the AMF (in the core) as well as in RAN. Independent allocation of NSIs and NSSIs purely based on ServiceProfile and SliceProfile does not automatically provide this.

[0144] The consumer (ordered) will in this case use a N si ResourceSharing Pol icy, e.g., a CustomType called NsiControlPlaneSharingPolicy. Both services will provide this, and they will use the same unique context that serve as an "association" between them.

[0145] The NSMF will create dedicated NSIs for the two services, but will based on the policy described above provide policies to the NSSMFs that will instruct them about the need of a shared control plane. For example, a SharedAMFPolicy could be sent to Core NSSMF.

[0146] The NSSMF will based on the policy and unique context make sure that the two slices will use a shared NSSI containing the control plane functions to be shared, and if such does not exist it will be created.

[0147] Figure 15 is a schematic block diagram of a radio access node 1500 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Optional features are represented by dashed boxes. The radio access node 1500 may be, for example, a base station 102 or 106 or a network node that implements all or part of the functionality of the base station 102 or gNB described herein. As illustrated, the radio access node 1500 includes a control system 1502 that includes one or more processors 1504 (e.g., Central Processing Units (CPUs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and/or the like), memory 1506, and a network interface 1508. The one or more processors 1504 are also referred to herein as processing circuitry. In addition, the radio access node 1500 may include one or more radio units 1510 that each includes one or more transmitters 1512 and one or more receivers 1514 coupled to one or more antennas 1516. The radio units 1510 may be referred to or be part of radio interface circuitry. In some embodiments, the radio unit(s) 1510 is external to the control system 1502 and connected to the control system 1502 via, e.g., a wired connection (e.g., an optical cable). However, in some other embodiments, the radio unit(s) 1510 and potentially the antenna(s) 1516 are integrated together with the control system 1502. The one or more processors 1504 operate to provide one or more functions of a radio access node 1500 as described herein. In some embodiments, the function(s) are implemented in software that is stored, e.g., in the memory 1506 and executed by the one or more processors 1504.

[0148] Figure 16 is a schematic block diagram that illustrates a virtualized embodiment of the radio access node 1500 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. This discussion is equally applicable to other types of network nodes. Further, other types of network nodes may have similar virtualized architectures. Again, optional features are represented by dashed boxes.

[0149] As used herein, a "virtualized" radio access node is an implementation of the radio access node 1500 in which at least a portion of the functionality of the radio access node 1500 is implemented as a virtual component(s) (e.g., via a virtual machine(s) executing on a physical processing node(s) in a network(s)). As illustrated, in this example, the radio access node 1500 may include the control system 1502 and/or the one or more radio units 1510, as described above. The control system 1502 may be connected to the radio unit(s) 1510 via, for example, an optical cable or the like. The radio access node 1500 includes one or more processing nodes 1600 coupled to or included as part of a network(s) 1602. If present, the control system 1502 or the radio unit(s) are connected to the processing node(s) 1600 via the network 1602. Each processing node 1600 includes one or more processors 1604 (e.g., CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, and/or the like), memory 1606, and a network interface 1608.

[0150] In some embodiments, the processing node can be used to implement any network node such as a network management node that can perform any of the methods disclosed herein.

[0151] In this example, functions 1610 of the radio access node 1500 described herein are implemented at the one or more processing nodes 1600 or distributed across the one or more processing nodes 1600 and the control system 1502 and/or the radio unit(s) 1510 in any desired manner. In some particular embodiments, some or all of the functions 1610 of the radio access node 1500 described herein are implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in a virtual environ ment(s) hosted by the processing node(s) 1600. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, additional signaling or communication between the processing node(s) 1600 and the control system 1502 is used in order to carry out at least some of the desired functions 1610. Notably, in some embodiments, the control system 1502 may not be included, in which case the radio unit(s) 1510 communicate directly with the processing node(s) 1600 via an appropriate network interface(s). [0152] In some embodiments, a computer program including instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to carry out the functionality of radio access node 1500 or a node (e.g., a processing node 1600) implementing one or more of the functions 1610 of the radio access node 1500 in a virtual environment according to any of the embodiments described herein is provided. In some embodiments, a carrier comprising the aforementioned computer program product is provided. The carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable medium such as memory).

[0153] Figure 17 is a schematic block diagram of the radio access node 1500 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. The radio access node 1500 includes one or more modules 1700, each of which is implemented in software. The module(s) 1700 provide the functionality of the radio access node 1500 described herein. This discussion is equally applicable to the processing node 1600 of Figure 16 where the modules 1700 may be implemented at one of the processing nodes 1600 or distributed across multiple processing nodes 1600 and/or distributed across the processing node(s) 1600 and the control system 1502.

[0154] Figure 18 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication device 1800 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the wireless communication device 1800 includes one or more processors 1802 (e.g., CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, and/or the like), memory 1804, and one or more transceivers 1806 each including one or more transmitters 1808 and one or more receivers 1810 coupled to one or more antennas 1812. The transceiver(s) 1806 includes radio-front end circuitry connected to the antenna(s) 1812 that is configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna(s) 1812 and the processor(s) 1802, as will be appreciated by on of ordinary skill in the art. The processors 1802 are also referred to herein as processing circuitry. The transceivers 1806 are also referred to herein as radio circuitry. In some embodiments, the functionality of the wireless communication device 1800 described above may be fully or partially implemented in software that is, e.g., stored in the memory 1804 and executed by the processor(s) 1802. Note that the wireless communication device 1800 may include additional components not illustrated in Figure 18 such as, e.g., one or more user interface components (e.g., an input/output interface including a display, buttons, a touch screen, a microphone, a speaker(s), and/or the like and/or any other components for allowing input of information into the wireless communication device 1800 and/or allowing output of information from the wireless communication device 1800), a power supply (e.g., a battery and associated power circuitry), etc.

[0155] In some embodiments, a computer program including instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to carry out the functionality of the wireless communication device 1800 according to any of the embodiments described herein is provided. In some embodiments, a carrier comprising the aforementioned computer program product is provided. The carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable medium such as memory).

[0156] Figure 19 is a schematic block diagram of the wireless communication device 1800 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless communication device 1800 includes one or more modules 1900, each of which is implemented in software. The module(s) 1900 provide the functionality of the wireless communication device 1800 described herein.

[0157] With reference to Figure 20, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes a telecommunication network 2000, such as a 3GPP- type cellular network, which comprises an access network 2002, such as a RAN, and a core network 2004. The access network 2002 comprises a plurality of base stations 2006A, 2006B, 2006C, such as Node Bs, eNBs, gNBs, or other types of wireless Access Points (APs), each defining a corresponding coverage area 2008A, 2008B, 2008C. Each base station 2006A, 2006B, 2006C is connectable to the core network 2004 over a wired or wireless connection 2010. A first UE 2012 located in coverage area 2008C is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 2006C. A second UE 2014 in coverage area 2008A is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 2006A. While a plurality of UEs 2012, 2014 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 2006.

[0158] The telecommunication network 2000 is itself connected to a host computer 2016, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, or as processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 2016 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 2018 and 2020 between the telecommunication network 2000 and the host computer 2016 may extend directly from the core network 2004 to the host computer 2016 or may go via an optional intermediate network 2022. The intermediate network 2022 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private, or hosted network; the intermediate network 2022, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 2022 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0159] The communication system of Figure 20 as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs 2012, 2014 and the host computer 2016. The connectivity may be described as an Over-the-Top (OTT) connection 2024. The host computer 2016 and the connected UEs 2012, 2014 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via the OTT connection 2024, using the access network 2002, the core network 2004, any intermediate network 2022, and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 2024 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 2024 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, the base station 2006 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from the host computer 2016 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 2012. Similarly, the base station 2006 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 2012 towards the host computer 2016. [0160] Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station, and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 21. In a communication system 2100, a host computer 2102 comprises hardware 2104 including a communication interface 2106 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 2100. The host computer 2102 further comprises processing circuitry 2108, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuitry 2108 may comprise one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The host computer 2102 further comprises software 2110, which is stored in or accessible by the host computer 2102 and executable by the processing circuitry 2108. The software 2110 includes a host application 2112. The host application 2112 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as a UE 2114 connecting via an OTT connection 2116 terminating at the UE 2114 and the host computer 2102. In providing the service to the remote user, the host application 2112 may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 2116. [0161] The communication system 2100 further includes a base station 2118 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 2120 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 2102 and with the UE 2114. The hardware 2120 may include a communication interface 2122 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 2100, as well as a radio interface 2124 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 2126 with the UE 2114 located in a coverage area (not shown in Figure 21) served by the base station 2118. The communication interface 2122 may be configured to facilitate a connection 2128 to the host computer 2102. The connection 2128 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in Figure 21) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, the hardware 2120 of the base station 2118 further includes processing circuitry 2130, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The base station 2118 further has software 2132 stored internally or accessible via an external connection. [0162] The communication system 2100 further includes the UE 2114 already referred to. The UE's 2114 hardware 2134 may include a radio interface 2136 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 2126 with a base station serving a coverage area in which the UE 2114 is currently located. The hardware 2134 of the UE 2114 further includes processing circuitry 2138, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE 2114 further comprises software 2140, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 2114 and executable by the processing circuitry 2138. The software 2140 includes a client application 2142. The client application 2142 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 2114, with the support of the host computer 2102. In the host computer 2102, the executing host application 2112 may communicate with the executing client application 2142 via the OTT connection 2116 terminating at the UE 2114 and the host computer 2102. In providing the service to the user, the client application 2142 may receive request data from the host application 2112 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 2116 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 2142 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

[0163] It is noted that the host computer 2102, the base station 2118, and the UE 2114 illustrated in Figure 21 may be similar or identical to the host computer 2016, one of the base stations 2006A, 2006B, 2006C, and one of the UEs 2012, 2014 of Figure 20, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in Figure 21 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of Figure 20.

[0164] In Figure 21, the OTT connection 2116 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host computer 2102 and the UE 2114 via the base station 2118 without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. The network infrastructure may determine the routing, which may be configured to hide from the UE 2114 or from the service provider operating the host computer 2102, or both. While the OTT connection 2116 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network). [0165] The wireless connection 2126 between the UE 2114 and the base station 2118 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 2114 using the OTT connection 2116, in which the wireless connection 2126 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the e.g., data rate, latency, power consumption, etc. and thereby provide benefits such as e.g., reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime, etc.

[0166] A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2116 between the host computer 2102 and the UE 2114, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2116 may be implemented in the software 2110 and the hardware 2104 of the host computer 2102 or in the software 2140 and the hardware 2134 of the UE 2114, or both. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which the OTT connection 2116 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which the software 2110, 2140 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 2116 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect the base station 2118, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 2118. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating the host computer 2102's measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency, and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that the software 2110 and 2140 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or 'dummy' messages, using the OTT connection 2116 while it monitors propagation times, errors, etc.

[0167] Figure 22 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 20 and 21. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 22 will be included in this section. In step 2200, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step 2202 (which may be optional) of step 2200, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 2204, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 2206 (which may be optional), the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 2208 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0168] Figure 23 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 20 and 21. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 23 will be included in this section. In step 2300 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 2302, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 2304 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

[0169] Figure 24 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 20 and 21. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 24 will be included in this section. In step 2400 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 2402, the UE provides user data. In sub-step 2404 (which may be optional) of step 2400, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In sub-step 2406 (which may be optional) of step 2402, the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE initiates, in sub-step 2408 (which may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step 2410 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

[0170] Figure 25 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 20 and 21. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 25 will be included in this section. In step 2500 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE.

In step 2502 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 2504 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0171] 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 Processor (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.

[0172] While processes in the figures may show a particular order of operations performed by certain embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be understood that such order is exemplary (e.g., alternative embodiments may perform the operations in a different order, combine certain operations, overlap certain operations, etc.).

[0173] Embodiments [0174] Group A Embodiments

[0175] Embodiment 1: A method performed by a first node, the method comprising one or more of: determining a pre-defined set of policy types for Network Slices; applying one or more of the pre-defined set of policy types for Network Slices to different execution steps; and extending additional execution points by custom policies. [0176] Embodiment 2: The method of embodiment 1 wherein one or more steps are required at a E2E slice level (NSMF) and/or at a Slice subnet level (NSSMF).

[0177] Embodiment 3: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the policy driven approach is used for one or more of: selection of shared instances, sharing, decomposition of the E2E slice into slice subnets, translation and transformation of the service profile attributes to slice profile attributes.

[0178] Embodiment 4: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the policy driven approach provides a decision-making capability based on inputs in a flexible way.

[0179] Embodiment 5: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein a similar approach is used at the NSSMF layer.

[0180] Embodiment 6: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein an orchestration procedure will execute the policy with the input as the policy context to determine the actions it need to take while orchestration.

[0181] Embodiment 7: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the user is provided to control the procedures to meet the business needs.

[0182] Embodiment 8: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein any of these steps are used to apply rules and/or constraints that the operator needs to apply based on 5G slice requirements.

[0183] Embodiment 9: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein the policies to be used are optional.

[0184] Embodiment 10: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein default behavior can be defined by configurable policies and it must be possible to change the default behavior. [0185] Embodiment 11: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein, if the policies are defined in an allocate request, they take precedence over the default policies configured.

[0186] Embodiment 12: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein it is possible to use multiple times the same policy types.

[0187] Embodiment 13: The method of any of the previous embodiments wherein some of the policy types can be exposed to a consumer and some may be internal to the orchestration to execute the procedures.

[0188] Embodiment 14: The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer via a transmission to a base station.

[0189] Group B Embodiments

[0190] Embodiment 15: A wireless device, the wireless device comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the wireless device.

[0191] Embodiment 16: A base station, the base station comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the base station.

[0192] Embodiment 17: A User Equipment, UE, the UE comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry; the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE. [0193] Embodiment 18: A communication system including a host computer comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a User Equipment, UE, wherein the cellular network comprises a base station having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the base station's processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0194] Embodiment 19: The communication system of the previous embodiment further including the base station.

[0195] Embodiment 20: The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

[0196] Embodiment 21: The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0197] Embodiment 22: A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a User Equipment, UE, the method comprising: at the host computer, providing user data; and at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station, wherein the base station performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0198] Embodiment 23: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the base station, transmitting the user data.

[0199] Embodiment 24: The method of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, the method further comprising, at the UE, executing a client application associated with the host application.

[0200] Embodiment 25: A User Equipment, UE, configured to communicate with a base station, the UE comprising a radio interface and processing circuitry configured to perform the method of the previous 3 embodiments.

[0201] Embodiment 26: A communication system including a host computer comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular network for transmission to a User Equipment, UE; wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the UE's components configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments. [0202] Embodiment 27: The communication system of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a base station configured to communicate with the UE.

[0203] Embodiment 28: The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the UE's processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0204] Embodiment 29: A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a User Equipment, UE, the method comprising: at the host computer, providing user data; and at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments. [0205] Embodiment 30: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the UE, receiving the user data from the base station.

[0206] Embodiment 31: A communication system including a host computer comprising: a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a User Equipment, UE, to a base station; wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the UE's processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0207] Embodiment 32: The communication system of the previous embodiment, further including the UE.

[0208] Embodiment 33: The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE and a communication interface configured to forward to the host computer the user data carried by a transmission from the UE to the base station.

[0209] Embodiment 34: The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; and the UE's processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data.

[0210] Embodiment 35: The communication system of the previous 4 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing request data; and the UE's processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data in response to the request data.

[0211] Embodiment 36: A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a User Equipment, UE, the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted to the base station from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0212] Embodiment 37: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the UE, providing the user data to the base station.

[0213] Embodiment 38: The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising: at the UE, executing a client application, thereby providing the user data to be transmitted; and at the host computer, executing a host application associated with the client application.

[0214] Embodiment 39: The method of the previous 3 embodiments, further comprising: at the UE, executing a client application; and at the UE, receiving input data to the client application, the input data being provided at the host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application, wherein the user data to be transmitted is provided by the client application in response to the input data.

[0215] Embodiment 40: A communication system including a host computer comprising a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a User Equipment, UE, to a base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the base station's processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments. [0216] Embodiment 41: The communication system of the previous embodiment further including the base station.

[0217] Embodiment 42: The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

[0218] Embodiment 43: The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; and the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data to be received by the host computer. [0219] Embodiment 44: A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a User Equipment, UE, the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving, from the base station, user data originating from a transmission which the base station has received from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0220] Embodiment 45: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the base station, receiving the user data from the UE.

[0221] Embodiment 46: The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising at the base station, initiating a transmission of the received user data to the host computer.

[0222] Group C Embodiments

[0223] Embodiment 47: A network management node, the network management node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the network management node.

[0224] At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in this disclosure. If there is an inconsistency between abbreviations, preference should be given to how it is used above. If listed multiple times below, the first listing should be preferred over any subsequent listing(s).

3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project

5G Fifth Generation

5GC Fifth Generation Core

5GS Fifth Generation System

AF Application Function

AMF Access and Mobility Function

AN Access Network

AP Access Point

ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit

AUSF Authentication Server Function

CPU Central Processing Unit

DN Data Network

DSP Digital Signal Processor eNB Enhanced or Evolved Node B • EPS Evolved Packet System

• E-UTRA Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access

• FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array . gNB New Radio Base Station

• gNB-DU New Radio Base Station Distributed Unit

• HSS Home Subscriber Server

• IoT Internet of Things

• IP Internet Protocol

• LTE Long Term Evolution

• MME Mobility Management Entity

• MTC Machine Type Communication

• NEF Network Exposure Function

• NF Network Function

• NR New Radio

• NRF Network Function Repository Function

• NSSF Network Slice Selection Function

• OTT Over-the-Top

• PC Personal Computer

• PCF Policy Control Function

• P-GW Packet Data Network Gateway

• QoS Quality of Service

• RAM Random Access Memory

• RAN Radio Access Network

• ROM Read Only Memory

• RRH Remote Radio Head

• RTT Round Trip Time

• SCEF Service Capability Exposure Function

• SMF Session Management Function

• UDM Unified Data Management

• UE User Equipment

• UPF User Plane Function [0225] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.

Claims

Claims

1. A method performed by a first node (1600) for network slice orchestration, the method comprising: receiving (1300) a request to allocate a slice, the request comprising one or more policies for network slice orchestration; determining (1302) if a new Network Slice Instance, Nsi, is required or a shared Nsi can be used, based on the one or more policies for network slice orchestration; and applying (130?) one or more of the one or more policies for network slice orchestration.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining if a new Nsi is required or a shared Nsi can be used comprises: if the slice is non-shared, creating (1304) a new Nsi for the slice; and if the slice is shared, determining (1306) if an existing Nsi can be shared with the slice.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein determining if an existing Nsi can be shared with the slice comprises: matching service requirements from a service profile, based on the one or more policies for network slice orchestration; and applying conditions for selections available, based on the one or more policies for network slice orchestration.

4. The method of any of claims 1 through 3 wherein the one or more policies for network slice orchestration comprises: policy references and the policies are onboarded into the first node (1600).

5. The method of any of claims 1 through 4 wherein applying one or more of the one or more policies for network slice orchestration comprises: if a new Nsi is required, the sharing properties are persisted for subsequent allocation requests (1316).

6. The method of any of claims 1 through 5 wherein the one or more policies for network slice orchestration comprises one or more of: information that the Slice can be shared/non-shared or selectively shared; a context for selectively sharing; a policy used to decompose the request to allocate a slice; a policy used to determine the sharable property of the Nsi; a policy used to determine the resource sharing types within the Nsi; a policy used to translate and transform the slice attributes into another slice profile for hierarchical Nsi allocation; a policy used to translate input attributes to the configuration set of attributes; and a custom policy.

7. The method of any of claims 1 through 6 wherein the first node (1600) comprises a Network Slice Management Function, NSMF.

8. The method of any of claims 1 through 7 wherein the request to allocate a slice comprises an allocateNsi.

9. The method of any of claims 1 through 8 wherein the one or more policies for network slice orchestration comprises one or more of: an NsiPolicyList; and an NssiPolicyList.

10. The method of any of claims 1 through 9 wherein the first node (1600) operates in a Fifth Generation, 5G, core network.

11. A method performed by a second node (1600) for network slice orchestration, the method comprising: receiving (1400) a request to allocate a slice subnet, the request comprising one or more policies for network slice orchestration; determining (1402) if a new Network Slice Subnet Instance, Nssi, is required or a shared Nssi can be used, based on the one or more policies for network slice orchestration; and applying one or more of the one or more policies for network slice orchestration.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein determining if a new Nssi is required or a shared Nssi can be used comprises: if the slice subnet is non-shared, creating (1410) a new Nssi for the slice subnet; and if the slice subnet is shared, determining (1404) if an existing Nssi can be shared with the slice.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein determining if an existing Nssi can be shared with the slice subnet comprises: matching the service requirements from the service profile, based on the one or more policies for network slice orchestration; and applying conditions for selections available, based on the one or more policies for network slice orchestration.

14. The method of any of claims 11 through 13 wherein the one or more policies for network slice orchestration comprises: policy references and the policies are onboarded into the second node (1600).

15. The method of any of claims 11 through 13 wherein applying one or more of the one or more policies for network slice orchestration comprises: if a new Nssi is required, the sharing properties are persisted for subsequent allocation requests (1414).

16. The method of any of claims 11 through 15 wherein the one or more policies for network slice orchestration comprises one or more of: information that the slice subnet can be shared/non-shared or selectively shared; a context for selectively sharing; a policy used to decompose the request to allocate a slice subnet; a policy used to determine the sharable property of the Nssi; a policy used to determine the resource sharing types within the Nssi; a policy used to translate and transform the slice attributes into another slice profile for hierarchical NSSI allocation; a policy used to translate input attributes to the configuration set of attributes; and a custom policy.

17. The method of any of claims 11 through 16 wherein the second node (1600) comprises a Network Slice Subnet Management Function, NSSMF.

18. The method of any of claims 11 through 17 wherein the request to allocate a slice subnet comprises an allocateNssi.

19. The method of any of claims 11 through 18 wherein the one or more policies for network slice orchestration comprises one or more of: an NsiPolicyList; and an NssiPolicyList.

20. The method of any of claims 11 through 19 wherein the second node (1600) operates in a Fifth Generation, 5G, core network.

21. A first node (1600) for network slice orchestration, the first node (1600) comprising one or more processors (1604) and memory (1606) configured to cause the first node (1600) to: receive a request to allocate a slice, the request comprising one or more policies for network slice orchestration; determine if a new Network Slice Instance, Nsi, is required or a shared Nsi can be used, based on the one or more policies for network slice orchestration; and apply one or more of the one or more policies for network slice orchestration.

22. The first node (1600) of claim 21 wherein the one or more processors (1604) and memory (1606) are further configured to cause the first node (1600) to perform the method of any of claims 2 to 10.

23. A second node (1600) for network slice orchestration, the second node (1600) comprising one or more processors (1604) and memory (1606) configured to cause the second node (1600) to: receive a request to allocate a slice subnet, the request comprising one or more policies for network slice orchestration; determine if a new Network Slice Subnet Instance, Nssi, is required or a shared Nssi can be used, based on the one or more policies for network slice orchestration; and apply one or more of the one or more policies for network slice orchestration.

24. The second node (1600) of claim 23 wherein the one or more processors (1604) and memory (1606) are further configured to cause the second node (1600) to perform the method of any of claims 12 to 20.