Conflict management of functions and services in radio smart controller user interface

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to conflict management of functions and services in a radio smart controller user interface. Conflict management of functions and services (e.g., RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC)) may be performed by displaying a plurality of policies for an interface service of a Radio Access Network (RAN); receiving an indication of a selection of a conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; determining whether an interface service of the RAN has a conflict based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; accepting a selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type when the interface service does not have a conflict, and displaying an indication of the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; and modifying a configuration of the RAN based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type.

Description

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 529,448, filed on December 5, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to computer networks, and more particularly to conflict management of functions and services with radio intelligent controllers. Background Art

[0003] Computer networks have become ubiquitous, and the number of network applications, network-connected devices, and types of network-connected devices is expanding rapidly. Such devices now include computers, smartphones, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, vehicles, medical equipment factory equipment, and more. 5G mobile network architecture enhances the ability to provide communication services using cloud-based network function virtualization (NFV). Private networks can be created using the radio access network (RAN) of a mobile network operator in combination with the functionality of a 5G core. For example, networks can be created for specific service level agreements (SLAs), special use cases, or other specific requirements. Examples of such networks include private mobile networks, industrial networks, private networks for connecting vehicles, and more. Summary of the invention

[0004] In general, the present invention describes conflict management techniques for functions and services in a user interface (UI), such as a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) of a mobile network RAN. For example, a network system may include a service management and coordination (SMO) framework that provides various framework functions and a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC configured according to the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) standard ("O-RAN architecture") to manage and / or monitor various aspects of the RAN and / or 5G core. The O-RAN architecture may include a non-RT RIC and a near real-time RIC (near-RT RIC), each of which performs different functions and services for RAN functions. For example, a non-RT RIC is a coordination and automation function that is configured to provide radio resource management, higher layer process optimization, policy optimization, and provide guidance, parameters, policies, and AI / ML models to support the operation of near-RT RIC functions in the RAN. The non-RT RIC may provide non-real-time (e.g., greater than one second) control of RAN elements and their resources on one or more applications (e.g., rApps), and the near-RT RIC may provide near real-time control of RAN elements and their resources on one or more applications (e.g., xApps). The O-RAN architecture includes several interfaces, such as A1, O1 and O2 interfaces, each of which is used to provide functions and services through which the SMO and RIC can configure or guide other components of the RAN. For example, the functions and services of the non-RT RIC may include policy management services and / or rich information services for the near-RT RIC provided through the A1 interface (collectively referred to as "A1 services" herein because they are provided through the A1 interface); performance management services, configuration management services and / or operations, administration and management (OAM) services of the O-RAN management element provided through the O1 interface (referred to as "O1 services" herein because they are provided through the O1 interface); configuration management services and performance management services of resources of the O-RAN cloud provided through the O2 interface (referred to as "O2 services" herein because they are provided through the O2 interface), and / or other services, such as service management and exposure (SME) services (e.g., registration of services, update of service registration), data management and exposure (DME) services and / or AI / ML services. According to the techniques disclosed herein, a non-RT RIC may include one or more microservices configured to provide conflict management of these functions and services.

[0005] According to the technology of the present disclosure, a non-RT RIC may provide policy conflict management for an A1 service. For example, a conflict manager of a non-RT RIC may receive a request from an application to execute an A1 service (e.g., create or update an application's policy) and determine whether the A1 service has a conflict due to the policy. Based on the determination of whether the A1 service has a conflict, the non-RT RIC may perform actions to resolve the conflict (e.g., by implementing (or not implementing) the application's policy based on conflict management rules). In some examples, a non-RT RIC may provide policy conflict management for an O1 service. For example, a conflict manager of a non-RT RIC may receive a request from an application to execute an O1 service (e.g., implement configuration changes of RAN elements, create performance jobs, etc.) and determine whether the O1 service has a conflict. Based on the determination of whether the O1 service has a conflict, the non-RT RIC may perform actions to resolve the conflict (e.g., by implementing (or not implementing) configuration changes based on conflict management rules). In some examples, a non-RT RIC may provide conflict management for an O2 service. For example, a conflict manager of a non-RT RIC may receive a request from an application to perform an O2 service (e.g., implement a configuration change of resources of an O-RAN cloud) and determine whether the O2 service has a conflict. Based on the determination of whether the O2 service has a conflict, the non-RT RIC may perform an action to resolve the conflict (e.g., by implementing (or not implementing) a configuration based on a conflict management rule). In some examples, the non-RT RIC may provide conflict management for policies of other services, such as SME services (e.g., registration of services, update of service registrations), DME services, and / or AL / ML services.

[0006] According to the techniques of this disclosure, a conflict manager of a non-RT RIC may display one or more policy conflicts and their resolution strategies to a user on a user interface of the non-RT RIC and provide the user with the ability to configure the conflict resolution strategy from the user interface of the non-RT RIC.

[0007] The technology may provide one or more technical advantages, which implement at least one practical application. For example, the technology in the present disclosure may provide conflict management in the RAN, and more specifically, for conflicts associated with A1, O1, or O2 services using non-RT RIC deployed according to the O-RAN framework. In addition, the technology in the present disclosure may provide a configurable conflict management system, so that an operator can configure various settings of the conflict management system through a UI, such as the implementation of specific conflict management rules (including conflict resolution strategies). When the requested policy is configured in the RAN according to the conflict management policy set by the user from the user interface as described herein, the RAN can reduce the number of conflicts and / or the impact of conflicts on resources that would otherwise occur.

[0008] In one example, the technology includes a radio access network intelligent controller (RIC) for a radio access network (RAN), the non-RT RIC including a processor circuit system; and a memory coupled to the processor circuit system, the memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor circuit system to display multiple policies for interface services of the RAN; receive an indication of a selection of a conflict resolution policy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determine whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; when the interface service does not have a conflict, accept the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type and display an indication of the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; and modify the configuration of the RAN based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type.

[0009] In another example, the technology includes a method comprising displaying multiple policies for an interface service of a radio access network (RAN); receiving an indication of a selection of a conflict resolution policy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determining whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; when the interface service does not have a conflict, accepting the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type and displaying an indication of the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; and modifying the configuration of the RAN based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type.

[0010] In another example, the technology includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a radio access network intelligent controller (RIC) for managing non-real-time events of a radio access network (RAN) to display multiple policies for an interface service of the RAN; receive an indication of a selection of a conflict resolution policy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determine whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; when the interface service does not have a conflict, accept the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type and display an indication of the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; and modify the configuration of the RAN based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type.

[0011] The details of one or more examples are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1A is a block diagram illustrating an example network system configured to provide conflict management of functions and services of a RAN in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure.

[0013] Figure 1B It is a graphic Figure 1A A block diagram of additional example details of service management and coordination of a non-RT RIC.

[0014] Figure 2A is a block diagram illustrating an example non-RTRIC that provides conflict management for A1 services in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure.

[0015] Figure 2B is a flow diagram of example conflict management for an A1 service in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure.

[0016] Figure 3A is a block diagram illustrating an example non-RTRIC that provides conflict management for O1 services in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure.

[0017] Figure 3B is a flow chart of example conflict management for an O1 service in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure.

[0018] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example non-RTRIC that provides conflict management for O2 services in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure.

[0019] Figure 5A is a block diagram illustrating an example non-RT RIC that provides conflict management for SME services in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure.

[0020] Figure 5B is a flow diagram of an example conflict management for an SME service in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure.

[0021] Figure 5C is a flow diagram illustrating another example conflict management of an SME service in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure.

[0022] Figure 6 is a flow diagram of example operations of a RIC configured to perform conflict management in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure.

[0023] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example computing system in detail according to the techniques of this disclosure.

[0024] Figure 8 is an example of a user interface that displays conflicts according to the techniques described in this disclosure.

[0025] Fig. 9 is an example of a user interface that displays a list of events according to the techniques described in this disclosure.

[0026] Fig.10 is an example of a user interface that displays selected event information according to the techniques described in this disclosure.

[0027] Fig.11 is an example of a user interface that displays conflicting settings according to the techniques described in this disclosure.

[0028] Fig.12 is an example of a user interface that displays conflicting settings edits according to the techniques described in this disclosure.

[0029] Fig.13 is an example of a user interface that displays edited conflicting settings according to the techniques described in this disclosure.

[0030] Fig.14 is another example of a user interface that displays conflicting settings according to the techniques described in this disclosure.

[0031] Fig.15 is an example of a user interface that displays edited conflict settings and conflict information according to the techniques described in this disclosure.

[0032] Fig.16 is another example of a user interface that displays conflicting settings according to the techniques described in this disclosure.

[0033] Fig.17 is another example of a user interface that displays conflicting settings according to the techniques described in this disclosure.

[0034] Fig.18 is a flow diagram of example operations of a RIC configured to perform conflict management of interface services using a user interface in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure.

[0035] Like reference characters refer to like elements throughout the text and drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] Figure 1A is a block diagram illustrating an example network system configured to provide conflict management of RAN functions and services according to one or more techniques of this disclosure. Figure 1AIn the example shown, the network system 100 includes a service and management coordinator (SMO) 112, a non-RT RIC 122, a near-RT RIC 124, one or more radio access networks (RANs), such as RAN 109, and a mobile core network (or simply “core”) 105, which provides user equipment 104a-104n (collectively referred to as “UE 104”) with access to one or more applications or services provided by a data network 140.

[0037] UE 104 may represent a smartphone, desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, smart watch, and / or "Internet of Things" (IOT) devices such as cameras, sensors, televisions, appliances, and the like. Figure 1A As shown, the network system 100 includes a RAN 109 that provides network access, data transmission, and other services to the UE 104. In some examples, the RAN 109 may be an open radio access network (O-RAN), a 5G mobile network RAN, a 4G LTE mobile network RAN, another type of RAN, or a combination of the above. For example, in a 5G radio access network, the RAN 109 includes multiple cell sites (or simply "cells"), each of which includes radio equipment, such as base stations 106A-106M (collectively referred to as "base stations 106"), also known as gNodeBs, to exchange packetized data within a data network, thereby ultimately accessing one or more applications or services provided by the data network 140. Each of the base stations 106 is divided into three functional components: a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), and a central unit (CU), which can be deployed in various configurations. The RU manages the radio frequency layer and has antenna arrays of various sizes and shapes. The DU performs low-level protocol processing. The CU performs upper-level protocol processing. Depending on the operator and service requirements, the base station 106 can be deployed as a whole, for example, the RU, DU and CU reside in the cell site, or these functionalities can be distributed on the cell site, and the CU resides in an edge cloud site that controls multiple distributed DUs. For example, O-RAN is a networking approach where decomposed functions can be used to deploy mobile front-end and mid-end networks. The decomposed functions can be cloud-based functions.

[0038] The radio access network 109 is connected to the core 105 to exchange data packets with the data network 140. The core 105 may be a 5G core network, and the data network (DN) 140 may represent, for example, one or more service provider networks and services, the Internet, third-party services, one or more IP-VPNs, IP-Multimedia subsystems, combinations thereof, or other networks or combinations of networks. In some examples, resources associated with services provided by a mobile network operator to tenants may be provided or managed by functions of components of the core 105 and / or RAN 109. In some examples, the core 105 implements various discrete control plane and user plane functions for the network system 100. Examples of 5G control plane functions that may be provided by the core 105 include an access mobility management function (AMF) that provides access mobility management services, a session management function (SMF) that provides session management services, a policy control function (PCF) that provides policy control services, a user data management (UDM) that provides network user data management, a network repository function (NRF) that provides a repository that can be used to register and discover services in the network operator's network, an authentication server function (AUSF) that provides authentication services, a network slice selection function (NSSF), a network slice management function (NSMF) that can be used to select an instance of an available network slice for use by any one of the UE devices 104, and a network slice subnet management function (NSS MF) that provides coordination, management, and orchestration of network slice subnet instances (NSSI). The core 105 may also include a user plane function (UPF) that provides packet routing, forwarding, and other network data processing functions (e.g., quality of service, packet inspection, traffic optimization, etc.). For more details on the services and functionality provided by the 5G Core, refer to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; System Architecture for the 5G System (5GS); Phase 2 (Release 18), TS 23.501 V18.2.2 (2023-07), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. More details on the O-RAN architecture can be found in the O-RAN Alliance's "O-RAN Working Group 1 (Use Cases and Overall Architecture) O-RAN Architecture Description". O-RAN.WG1.OAD-R003-v10.00, October 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0039] Various aspects of the RAN 109 and / or the core 105 may be managed and / or monitored by the SMO 112, the non-RT RIC 122, and the near-RT RIC 124. In some examples, the SMO 112, the non-RT RIC 122, and the near-RT RIC 124 may be operated by a mobile network operator that provides 5G services to tenants. The SMO 112 may coordinate and control management and automation aspects of the RAN 109 (e.g., network slicing, management, and coordination of O-Cloud, etc.). In addition, the SMO 112 may control various aspects of the non-RT RIC 122 and the near-RT RIC 124. The non-RT RIC 122 may provide non-real-time (e.g., greater than one second) control and optimization of RAN elements and resources (e.g., RUs, DUs, and CUs), workflow management, and policy-based control of applications and features of the near-RT RIC 124. The near-RT RIC 124 may provide near real-time (e.g., millisecond) control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via fine-grained data collection and actions. Figure 1B As further described in , non-RT RIC 122 and near-RT RIC 124 may be deployed as a highly scalable, microservices-based containerized architecture. In some examples, near-RT RIC 124 may be located within an edge or regional cloud.

[0040] The non-RT RIC 122 may host one or more applications, such as an application 123 that manages non-real-time events within the non-RT RIC 122 (e.g., Figure 1B The application 123 may utilize the functionality exposed via the non-RT RIC framework of the non-RT RIC 122. The application 123 may be used to control and manage RAN elements and resources, such as resources in the near-RT RIC 124, RAN nodes, and / or O-RAN cloud. The application 123 may also utilize network data, performance metrics, and user data to provide recommendations for network optimization and operational guidance (e.g., policies) to one or more applications of the near-RT RIC 124. The near-RT RIC 124 may host one or more applications, such as an application 125 that manages near real-time events within the near-RT RIC 124 (e.g., Figure 2A124). Applications 125 may utilize functionality exposed via the near-RT RIC framework of near-RT RIC 124. Near-RT RIC 124 may implement policies received from applications 123 of non-RT RIC 122, and may provide policy feedback to non-RT RIC 122. Although illustrated as being within non-RT RIC 122, any one or more of applications 123 may be implemented by a third party separate from non-RT RIC 122. Likewise, although illustrated as being within near-RT RIC 124, any one or more of applications 125 may be implemented by a third party separate from near-RT RIC 124.

[0041] As further described below, the non-RT RIC 122 can provide services using the A1, O1, and O2 interfaces. The A1 interface connects the non-RT RIC 122 and the near-RT RIC 124. The non-RT RIC 122 can perform services such as policy management services (e.g., creation and updating of policies), ML model management services, and / or rich information services via the A1 interface. Services performed via the A1 interface are referred to herein as "A1 services." The O1 interface may include an interface connecting the SMO 112 to O-RAN managed elements, such as near-RT RIC 124 and / or RAN nodes (e.g., O-RAN centralized units (O-CUs), O-RAN distributed units (O-DUs)). The non-RT RIC 122 can perform services such as configuration management services and performance management services (e.g., operations and maintenance (OAM) services), fault monitoring, file management, heartbeats, tracking, physical network function (PNF) discovery, software management, etc. of O-RAN managed elements via the O1 interface. Services performed via the O1 interface are referred to herein as "O1 services". The O2 interface may include an interface that connects the SMO 112 to the resources of the ORAN O-Cloud. The O-Cloud may include one or more physical infrastructure nodes that host O-RAN functions (e.g., virtual network functions), supporting software components, and appropriate management and coordination functions. The non-RT RIC 122 may perform services via the O2 interface, such as services that provide infrastructure management and / or network function deployment of resources in the O-Cloud (e.g., discovery and supervision of O-Cloud resources; inward and outward expansion of the cloud / deployment; fault, configuration, accounting, performance and security (FCAPS) of the cloud / deployment, software management of the cloud platform / deployment; creation / deletion of deployments and associated allocated O-Cloud resources). Services performed via the O2 interface are referred to herein as "O2 services". The non-RT RIC 122 may also perform other functions and services, such as service management and exposure (SME) services (e.g., registration of services, update of service registrations), data management and exposure (DME) services, AI / ML services, or similar items.

[0042] In some instances, there may be conflicts between functions and / or services (e.g., A1 services, O1 services, O2 services, etc.). Some conflicts may be directly observed by the framework functions (referred to herein as "direct conflicts"). For example, two or more applications 123 may request different settings for exactly the same parameters of a target (e.g., a first application requests a first priority for a network slice, while a second application requests a different second priority for the same network slice). The target may be a configurable parameter, setting, object, or resource of the RAN, such as a priority, policy, network slice, or network slice parameter. As another example, an application may perform a change that conflicts with a previously requested running configuration from the same or another application. As another example, an application may perform a change that exceeds the limits of a target or the RAN.

[0043] In some examples, some conflicts may not be directly observable, but dependencies between parameters and resources targeted by applications may be observable (referred to herein as "indirect conflicts"). For example, an application may perform a change that creates a system impact that is equivalent to a change performed by another application (e.g., the applications perform different actions, but the impact on the system is equivalent). The above are example types of conflicts, and are merely some examples of conflict types. Other conflicts may be observable, such as conflicts that cannot be directly observed where dependencies between applications are not obvious (referred to as "implicit conflicts").

[0044] According to the techniques described in the present disclosure, non-RT RIC 122 may provide conflict management for one or more non-RT RIC functions or services (e.g., A1 service, O1 service, O2 service, and other services). In this example, non-RT RIC 122 may include a conflict manager 121 configured to provide conflict management for one or more non-RT RIC functions or services. Conflict manager 121 may be implemented, for example, by one or more microservices.

[0045] As further described below, the non-RT RIC 122 may include a conflict manager 121 configured to determine whether the A1 service has a conflict. For example, the conflict manager 121 of the non-RT RIC 122 may determine whether the creation of the policy will result in a conflict in response to receiving a request from the application 123 to create a policy to be deployed to the near-RT RIC 124 via the A1 interface. If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is no conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the non-RT RIC 122 (e.g., the policy manager of the non-RT RIC 122) to continue to create the policy for the application 123. If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is a conflict (e.g., the policy statement will conflict with a previously deployed policy from the application or another application), the conflict manager 121 may direct the non-RT RIC 122 to perform an action to resolve the conflict. Such actions to resolve the conflict may include, for example, implementing (or not implementing) a policy based on one or more conflict management rules. Conflict management rules may include, for example, enforcing policies on a first-come, first-served basis, enforcing policies from applications with higher priority (referred to herein as "priority-based overriding"), enforcing policies based on the scope of policies (e.g., enforcing policies with a specific scope rather than a policy with a general scope), enforcing policies based on information object class (IOC) types, or based on IOC types and IOC attributes. In some examples, a user may specify which conflict management rule is applied to resolve a conflict.

[0046] In some examples, the application may request guidance from conflict manager 121 before creating a policy. In these examples, conflict manager 121 of non-RT RIC 122 may determine whether a conflict exists with the creation of a policy, and provide a response (e.g., a guidance response) indicating whether a conflict exists, including one or more recommendations for resolving the conflict, and / or identifying a cause of the conflict (e.g., identification of contradictory statements, etc.).

[0047] The conflict manager 121 of the non-RT RIC 122 may additionally or alternatively be configured to determine whether the O1 service has a conflict. For example, in response to a request to provide a configuration change or create a performance management (PM) job, the conflict manager 121 may determine whether the configuration and / or performance of the O1 service will cause a conflict (e.g., with the configuration and / or performance of the previous O1 service). If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is no conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the non-RT RIC 122 (e.g., the configuration manager or performance manager of the non-RT RIC 122) to continue to implement the O1 service. If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is a conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the non-RT RIC 122 to perform actions to resolve the conflict, such as implementing (or not implementing) the O1 service based on the above-mentioned conflict management rules (e.g., first-come, first-served; priority-based coverage; scope; etc.).

[0048] The conflict manager 121 of the non-RT RIC 122 may be further configured to determine whether the O2 service has a conflict. For example, the conflict manager 121 may request that a configuration change be provided on one or more resources of the O-RAN cloud. If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is no conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the non-RT RIC 122 (e.g., a configuration manager or a performance manager of the non-RT RIC 122) to continue to implement the O2 service. If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is a conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the non-RT RIC 122 to perform actions to resolve the conflict, such as implementing (or not implementing) the O2 service based on the above-mentioned conflict management rules (e.g., first-come, first-served; priority-based coverage; range; etc.).

[0049] Although the above examples are described with respect to A1, O1, and O2 services, the conflict manager 121 may provide conflict management for other services, such as a service management and exposure (SME) service that implements services provided through an internal interface (R1 interface) of the non-RT RIC 122 and their exposure and extensibility (e.g., registration of services, updates to service registrations, discoverability of services); a data management and exposure (DME) service that manages data of the application 123, and / or other services, such as AI / ML services. For example, when the application 123 performs service registration and / or updates to service registrations, the conflict manager 121 may determine whether there is a conflict for the SME service (e.g., determining whether the service conflicts with a previously registered service). If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is no conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the non-RT RIC 122 (e.g., the service manager of the non-RT RIC 122) to proceed with the registration or update of the SME service. If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is a conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the non-RT RIC 122 to perform an action to resolve the conflict, such as granting or denying the registration or update of the service. As another example, the conflict manager 121 may determine whether there is a conflict when the application 123 performs service discovery or authorization (e.g., determining whether the service conflicts with a previously discovered or authorized application). If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is no conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the non-RT RIC 122 (e.g., the service manager of the non-RT RIC 122) to continue to allow the service to be discovered. If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is a conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the non-RT RIC 122 to perform an action to resolve the conflict, such as denying discoverability of the service.

[0050] Figure 1B It is a graphic Figure 1A A block diagram of additional example details of the non-RT RIC 122 is provided. Figure 1B In the example shown, the SMO 112 may include a non-RT RIC 122, one or more AI / ML models 142, one or more functions 144 (e.g., NSSMF, NFMF, and other functions), and open interfaces such as an O1 terminal interface 168 and an O2 terminal interface 169. The SMO 112 may manage resources in the non-RT RIC 122, the near-RT RIC 124, the O-RAN managed elements (e.g., a centralized unit (O-CU) 146 of one or more base stations, an O-RAN decentralized unit (O-DU) 148), and the O-RAN cloud 150.

[0051] The non-RT RIC 122 may be deployed as a highly scalable microservices-based containerized architecture. In this example, the non-RT RIC 122 may host, deploy, and / or terminate one or more applications, such as rApp 123A to rApp 123N (collectively, "applications 123"). Applications 123 may represent applications that utilize functionality exposed via the framework of the non-RT RIC 122. Applications 123 may provide non-real-time (e.g., greater than one second) control of RAN elements and their resources to the non-RT RIC 122. Applications 123 may provide services for radio resource management, higher layer process optimization, policy optimization, and provide guidance, parameters, policies, and AI / ML models to support the operation of RAN functions.

[0052] For example, the application 123 may provide A1 services that provide and facilitate optimization of RAN operations and near-RT RIC 124, such as providing operational guidance (e.g., policies), enriched information (e.g., forecasts), and AL / ML services. A1 services may include policy management services, such as creation, update, and / or deletion of A1 policies; receiving policy feedback; querying policy types, identifiers, and states; defining which policy types are supported by near-RT RIC 124; and registering applications (xApps) of near-RT RIC 124 to specific policy types. A1 services may include enriched information services, such as providing data for model training of AI / ML models, such as prediction and / or data analysis.

[0053] The application 123 may provide O1 services that provide configuration management or performance management of O-RAN managed entities, such as near-RT RIC 124 and / or RAN nodes, such as O-CU 146, O-DU 148 (also referred to herein as "E2 nodes"). The O1 services may provide configuration management services to create, update and / or delete configurations of O-RAN managed entities. For example, the configuration management services may include provisioning operations (e.g., for NSS and NF provisioning) to create a managed object instance (MOI), obtain MOI attributes, modify MOI attributes and / or delete MOI. The O1 services may also provide performance management services that monitor the status of elements or components in the entities managed by the O-RAN. For example, the non-RT RIC 122 may create, modify or delete performance management jobs to send heartbeat messages to monitor the status and / or availability of services of RAN nodes, or send tracking messages to monitor link failures. The O1 service may also provide file management, such as pushing files to RAN nodes (e.g., software updates, beamforming profiles, ML models, security certificates, etc.).

[0054] Application 123 may provide O2 services that provide infrastructure management and / or network function deployment of resources in O-RAN cloud 150 (also referred to herein as "O-Cloud 150"). O2 services may provide discovery and supervision of O-Cloud resources; scale-in, scale-out (e.g., deploying resources with more or fewer processors) of clouds / deployments; FCAPS of clouds / deployments, software management of cloud platforms / deployments; create / delete deployments and associated allocated O-Cloud resources.

[0055] Application 123 may provide service management and exposure (SME) services, data management and exposure (DME) services, and / or other services. SME services may provide services that implement services provided through the internal interface (R1 interface 154) of non-RT RIC 122, and their exposure and extensibility through services including bootstrapping, service registration / deregistration or update of service registration, service discovery or notification, heartbeat, authentication, authorization, etc. Data management and exposure (DME) services may include services for managing data between applications 123 and their exposure. For example, application 123 may have different functions, such as application 123A configured to collect and analyze data, application 123B configured to generate ML models based on analysis results, and application 123N configured to use ML models for prediction or inference and / or generate control of RAN nodes based on prediction or inference. DME services may manage data shared between applications 123, such as collection of data, processing of data, and / or advertisement of data.

[0056] The non-RT RIC 122 may include one or more managers to handle A1, O1, O2, SME, DME services and other services. For example, the non-RT RIC 122 may include a policy manager 158, a performance manager 160, a configuration manager 162, a service manager 163, a data manager 155, and a conflict manager 121. The non-RT RIC 122 may include other managers configured to manage the installation and deployment of the application 123, such as an application manager and an onboard application.

[0057] The policy manager 158 is configured to control the deployment of policies (e.g., A1 services). For example, in response to receiving a request for an A1 service from an application 123 via the R1 interface 154, the R1 interface 154 sends the request to the policy manager 158 via the message bus 151. The policy manager 158 may process the A1 service and may send the A1 service to the A1 terminal 156 via the message bus 151, which provides the A1 service to the near-RT RIC 124 via the A1 interface 164. In some examples, the A1 interface may implement the A1AP application protocol based on the 3GPP framework.

[0058] The performance manager 160 is configured to control the deployment of O1 services for monitoring the performance of the near-RT RIC 124 and / or RAN nodes (e.g., O-CU 146, O-DU 148). For example, in response to receiving a request for an O1 service for monitoring the performance of the near-RT RIC 124 from the application 123 via the R1 interface 154, the R1 interface 154 sends the request to the performance manager 160 via the message bus 151. The performance manager 160 may process the O1 service and may send the O1 service to the O1 terminal 168, which provides the O1 service to the near-RT RIC 124 via the O1 interface 166. In some examples, the O1 interface may implement a REST / HTTPS API and / or NETCONF. The performance manager 160 may also be configured to control the deployment of O2 services to monitor the performance of the resources of the O-Cloud 150. For example, in response to receiving a request for an O2 service for monitoring resource performance within O-Cloud 150 via R1 interface 154, R1 interface 154 sends the request to performance manager 160. Performance manager 160 may process the O2 service and may send the O2 service to O2 terminal 169, which provides the O2 service to resources of O-Cloud 150 via O2 interface 167.

[0059] The configuration manager 162 is configured to control the deployment of O1 services configured by the near-RT RIC 124 and / or RAN nodes. For example, in response to receiving a request for the configured O1 services of the near-RT RIC 124 from the application 123 via the R1 interface 154, the R1 interface 154 sends the request to the configuration manager 162. The configuration manager 162 can process the O1 services and can send the O1 services to the O1 terminal 168, which provides the O1 services to the near-RT RIC 124 via the O1 interface 166. The configuration manager 162 can also be configured to control the deployment of O2 services configured by the resources of the O-Cloud 150. For example, in response to receiving a request for the O2 services for configuring the resources within the O-Cloud 150 from the application 123 via the R1 interface 154, the R1 interface 154 sends the request to the configuration manager 162. The configuration manager 162 may process the O2 service and may send the O2 service to the O2 terminal 169 , which provides the O2 service to resources of the O-Cloud 150 via the O2 interface 167 .

[0060] In some examples, the R1 interface 154 also exposes the application 123 to SME services, DME services, and / or other services. For example, in response to receiving a request for SME services from the application 123 via the R1 interface 154, the R1 interface 154 sends a request to the service manager 163. The service manager 163 can process SME services (e.g., registration / update services) and can send the SME services to the R1 terminal 152, which provides the SME services to the application 123 via the R1 interface 154 (e.g., sends a response to the application regarding registration, update, or discovery of services). Similarly, in response to receiving a request for DME services from the application 123 via the R1 interface 154, the R1 interface 154 sends a request to the data manager 155. The data manager 155 can process the DME services and can send the DME services to the R1 terminal 152, which provides the DME services to the application 123 via the R1 interface 154 (e.g., sends data from an application configured as a data producer to an application configured as a data consumer).

[0061] The R1 interface 154 may also expose the application 123 to slice subnet management services, such as the RAN NSSMF interface, to retrieve slice service level agreements (SLAs) and slice topologies, and / or to provide slice management, SLA and slice performance management notifications to the application 123.

[0062] According to the techniques described in this disclosure, the conflict manager 121 is configured to provide conflict management for services of the corresponding interface(s) of the non-RT RIC 122. In some examples, the conflict manager 121 may be implemented, for example, by one or more microservices of the non-RT RIC 122. Although the conflict manager 121 is illustrated as a separate microservice of the non-RT RIC 122, in some examples, the techniques described herein may be performed by one or more other microservices, such as the policy manager 158, the performance manager 160, the configuration manager 152, the service manager 163, and / or the data manager 155. In this example, in response to receiving a request from an A1 service, an O1 service, an O2 service, or other service (e.g., SME, DME), the R1 terminal 152 may send a message to the conflict manager 121 via the message bus 151 to perform conflict management for the A1 service, the O1 service, the O2 service, or other service.

[0063] As an example, the conflict manager 121 may provide conflict management for the A1 service to create, modify, or delete policies. A policy may be a declarative policy expressed using a formal statement that enables the non-RT RIC 122 to guide the near-RT RIC 124 functionality. As an example, a policy may include a scope identifier and one or more policy statements. The scope identifier may indicate what the policy statement will be applied to (e.g., cell, network slice, UE, UE group, quality of service (QoS) flow, etc.). One or more policy statements may specify policy objectives, such as policy objectives (e.g., QoS, quality of experience (QoE), UE level, slice SLA target) and policy resources (e.g., resource usage of the policy). Other examples of policy management services are described in O-RAN.WG2.A1GAP-R003-v03.01; "O-RAN Working Group 2 (Non-RT RIC and A1 Interface Working Group); A1 Interface: General Aspects and Principles", October 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. An example of a policy created by a first application (eg, rApp123A) is as follows:

[0064]

[0065] The scope of the above policy includes slices with a slice SLA target that specifies the maximum number of UEs (e.g., 10,000) and the maximum number of PDU sessions (e.g., 800), and specifies that the slice SLA resources of the target cells in the near-RT RIC domain include certain types of cells.

[0066] In some cases, the second application (e.g., rApp 123B) may request to create a policy that conflicts with the policy of the first application. For example, an example of a policy of the second application (e.g., rApp 123B) is as follows:

[0067]

[0068] The conflict manager 121 may determine whether there is a conflict between the policies of the applications 123 (rApps), for example, by determining whether a combination of scope and / or policy statements (e.g., target / resource statements) are contradictory and / or overlapping. In this example, the conflict manager 121 may determine that there is a conflict between target statements (e.g., a policy of a first application (rApp 123A) that specifies a maximum number of UEs as 10,000 and a policy of a second application (e.g., rApp 123B) that specifies a maximum number of UEs as 30,000).

[0069] Based on determining that there is a conflict between the objective statement of application policy 123A and the objective statement of application policy 123B, the conflict manager 121 may direct the non-RT RIC 122 to perform an action to resolve the conflict. In some examples, the conflict manager 121 may determine which conflicting policies to implement based on one or more conflict management rules. As an example, the conflict manager 121 may implement a first come first served rule. In this example, if the request to create a policy for the first application is before the request to create a policy for the second application, the non-RT RIC 122 may implement the policy of the first application. Alternatively or additionally, the conflict manager 121 may implement a priority-based override rule, in which the policy of the application with a higher priority is implemented. For example, the conflict manager 121 may implement the policy of the second application based on the second application having a higher priority than the first application. In some examples, the conflict manager 121 may override a policy with a general scope with a policy that specifies a narrower scope. For example, the non-RT RIC 122 may implement a policy for a UE-specific performance target instead of a policy that specifies a performance target for all UEs. In some examples, an operator may configure conflict management rules to apply to each policy statement. For example, an operator may configure an implementation of a first conflict management rule in response to determining a conflict with a first policy statement, and configure an implementation of a second conflict management rule different from the first conflict management rule in response to determining a conflict with a second policy statement. In some examples, parameters of network resources may be classified into different types, such as information object classes (IOCs), proxy classes, and data type parameters. IOCs describe information that can be used in a management interface. IOCs include attributes that represent various characteristics of IOCs. In these examples, non-RT RIC 122 may apply conflict management rules based on parameters or based on parameters and parameter types. In some examples, non-RT RIC 122 may provide conflict management rules that are configurable by operators (e.g., a user may specify the type of conflict management rule to be applied).

[0070] In some examples, an application (e.g., rApp A) may request policy guidance before requesting to create a policy. In these examples, in response to receiving a request for conflict guidance for a policy, the conflict manager 121 may check the target near-RT RIC 124 and / or check overlapping ranges, contradictory claims, verify limits (e.g., whether limits are exceeded), and / or conflicting indirect actions. The conflict manager 121 may provide a response (guidance response) including an indication of whether the policy creates a conflict. In some examples, the conflict manager 121 may provide a response including one or more recommendations for resolving the conflict (e.g., recommendations for resolving overlapping ranges). Alternatively or additionally, the conflict manager 121 may provide a response including information about the cause of the conflict, such as a list of contradictory claims (e.g., contradictory target / resource parameters).

[0071] As another example, the conflict manager 121 may provide conflict management for the O1 service to create a configuration request for a managed object instance (MOI) of an O-RAN managed element (e.g., near-RT RIC 124, O-CU 146, O-DU 148). In this example, a first application (e.g., rApp 123A) may have previously issued a configuration request to create an MOI for O-DU 148. The conflict manager 121 may determine whether a configuration request to create an MOI for O-DU 148 by a second application (e.g., rApp 123B) conflicts with a previous configuration request by the first application to create an MOI for O-DU 148. Based on the determination of whether there is a conflict between the configuration request of the first application and the configuration request of the second application, the conflict manager 121 may direct the non-RT RIC 122 to perform an action to resolve the conflict. The conflict manager 121 may determine which of the conflicting configuration requests to implement based on one or more conflict management rules (e.g., first-come, first-served; priority-based override; scope; etc.), as described above.

[0072] As another example, conflict manager 121 may provide conflict management for the O2 service to provide configuration changes to resources of O-Cloud 150. For example, a first application (e.g., rApp 123A) may have previously issued a configuration request to scale up the number of processors of resources of O-Cloud 150. Conflict manager 121 may determine whether a configuration request by a second application (e.g., rApp 123B) to provide a configuration change to a resource conflicts with a previous configuration of the resource requested by the first application. As an example, if the second application requests to configure the resources of O-Cloud 150 to reduce the number of processors to save energy, conflict manager 121 may determine that a conflict exists if the configuration request of the first application configures the resources to increase the number of processors for scalability. Based on a determination that a conflict exists between configuration requests for resources of O-Cloud 150, conflict manager 121 may direct non-RT RIC 122 to perform actions to resolve the conflict. The conflict manager 121 may determine which of the conflicting configuration requests to implement based on one or more conflict management rules (eg, first come, first served; priority-based override; scope; etc.), as described above.

[0073] Figure 2A 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example non-RTRIC 122 that provides conflict management for A1 services in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure. In this example, a conflict manager 121 may provide conflict management for A1 services (e.g., policy management requests) provided by applications 123 (rApps). Figure 2A The conflict manager 121 of FIG. 1 describes a technique for providing conflict management for A1 services, but the technique for providing conflict management for A1 services may alternatively or additionally be provided by Figure 1B The policy manager 158 or any other microservice of the non-RT RIC 122 may be executed.

[0074] The non-RT RIC 122 may include an A1 interface 164 that provides an interface between the non-RT RIC 122 and the near-RT RIC 124. The A1 interface 164 may support A1 services, such as policy management services, rich information services, and / or AI / ML services. In this example, the R1 terminal 152 may receive a request for an A1 service from the rApp 123A via the R1 interface 154, such as a request to create a policy for the near-RTRIC 124. The request may include a policy type identifier, a policy, and a scope identifier (e.g., an identifier of the near-RTRIC 124). In response, the R1 terminal 152 sends a message to the conflict manager 121 (e.g., via a message bus) to determine whether the A1 service has a conflict. For example, the conflict manager 121 may check the formal statements within the policy to find contradictory and / or overlapping combinations of scope and policy statements. The conflict manager 121 may determine whether there is a direct conflict between the policies of one or more applications 123. For example, the conflict manager 121 may determine whether each request specifies different settings for exactly the same parameters of the target (e.g., two policies include contradictory statements, such as setting different priorities for slices within a cell, setting different QoS priorities for UEs, setting contradictory technical specification (TS) guidance for UEs or slices, etc.), specify overlapping ranges, or whether the policy of application 123 performs changes that exceed the limits of the target or RAN (e.g., application 123 sets an unrealistic downlink throughput target for the UE). In some examples, the conflict manager 121 may determine whether there is an indirect conflict, such as whether one application sets a performance target for all UEs of a slice, while another application sets a UE-specific performance target, or whether one application performs load balancing per cell per slice to transfer the load to another cell, while another application performs a technical specification for the slice that prohibits the target cell from being a primary / secondary cell.

[0075] If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is no conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the policy manager 158 of the non-RT RIC 122 to continue creating a policy for the application 123. For example, the conflict manager 121 may direct the policy manager 158 to process a request to create a policy. The policy manager 158 may generate a command (e.g., an HTTP PUT statement) to create the policy and send the command to the A1 terminal 156, which in turn sends the command to the near-RT RIC 124 via the A1 interface 164. In response to creating the policy on the near-RT RIC 124, the near-RT RIC 124 may create and send a response to the A1 terminal 156 indicating that the policy has been created, which in turn transmits the response to the R1 terminal 152 to send the response to the rApp 123A.

[0076] If conflict manager 121 determines that a conflict exists, conflict manager 121 may direct non-RT RIC 122 to perform actions to resolve the conflict, such as implementing (or not implementing) A1 service based on the above rules (e.g., first-come, first-served; priority-based coverage; range; etc.).

[0077] In some examples, an application (e.g., rApp 123A) may request guidance before creating a policy. For example, R1 terminal 152 may receive a request for guidance on creating a policy (e.g., HTTP PUT method) for near-RT RIC 124 via R1 interface 154. R1 interface 154 sends the guidance request to conflict manager 121, which determines whether a conflict will occur if the policy is created. Based on the determination of whether a conflict exists, conflict manager 121 may generate a response to the guidance request that specifies whether the creation of the policy will create a conflict. In some examples, conflict manager 121 may provide one or more recommendations for resolving the conflict (e.g., recommendations for resolving overlapping scopes). Alternatively or additionally, conflict manager 121 may provide information about the cause of the conflict, such as a list of conflicting statements (e.g., conflicting target / resource parameters). Conflict manager 121 may send a response to the guidance request to R1 terminal 152, which in turn sends the response to rApp 123A.

[0078] Figure 2B is a flow chart of an example conflict management for an A1 service according to one or more techniques of the present disclosure. Figure 2A The conflict manager 121 describes Figure 2B , but it can also be applied to Figure 1B Policy Manager 158 or any other microservice of non-RT RIC 122. Although the request to create a policy describes Figure 2B The examples are described in , but the techniques can be similarly applied to the modification or deletion of policies.

[0079] exist Figure 2BIn the example of , steps (202) and (204) may represent steps for providing policy guidance. For example, application 123 may send a policy guidance request ("A1 Policy Guidance Request") (202) to R1 terminal 152, and R1 terminal 152 sends a message to conflict manager 121 to provide guidance on whether the creation of a policy will have a conflict. The policy guidance request may include an identifier (A1 Policy Type ID), a policy (A1 Policy), and an identifier of a target of the policy (Near-RT RIC ID). In response to determining whether a conflict exists, conflict manager 121 sends a response (A1 Policy Guidance Response) (204) to the application that sent the guidance request. As described above, the response to the guidance request may include an indication of whether the policy creates a conflict, one or more recommendations for resolving the conflict, information about the cause of the conflict, such as a list of conflicting statements, or any other information.

[0080] Steps (206) through (218) may represent steps for providing conflict management, as described in the present disclosure. For example, application 123 may send a request to create a policy (Create A1 Policy Request) (206) to R1 terminal 152. The request may include an identifier (A1 Policy Type ID), a policy (A1 Policy), and an identifier of near-RT RIC 124 (Near-RT RIC ID). R1 ​​terminal 152 sends a message to conflict manager 121 to determine if there is a conflict with the specified policy. Conflict manager 121 may validate the policy (208) and determine if there are any conflicts (210). For example, conflict manager 121 may examine the formal statements within the policy to find out if the combination of scope and policy statements contradicts and / or overlaps with other A1 policies.

[0081] In response to determining that there is no conflict, conflict manager 121 may direct policy manager 158 to create a policy request for near-RT RIC 124 (212). For example, policy manager 158 may perform an HTTP PUT request to create a policy on near-RT RIC 124. In response to creating the policy on near-RT RIC 124, near-RT RIC 124 may create and send a response to A1 terminal 156 indicating that the policy has been created (214), which in turn transmits the response to R1 terminal to send the response to the application (216).

[0082] In response to determining that a conflict exists, conflict manager 121 may create a response indicating that a conflict exists (create an A1 policy response) (218). In some examples, conflict manager 121 may implement one or more conflict management rules in response to determining that a conflict exists, such as first-come, first-served; priority-based override; scope of policy; etc.

[0083] Figure 3A1 is a block diagram illustrating an example non-RTRIC 122 that provides conflict management for O1 services in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure. In this example, a conflict manager 121 may provide conflict management for O1 services (e.g., configuration management or performance management requests) provided by applications 123 (rApps). Figure 1B The conflict manager 121 of FIG. 1 describes a technique for providing conflict management for O1 services, but the technique for providing conflict management for O1 services may alternatively or additionally be provided by Figure 1B The performance manager 160 and / or the configuration manager 162 or any other microservice of the non-RT RIC 122 may be executed.

[0084] The non-RT RIC 122 may include an O1 interface 166 that provides an interface between the SMO 112 and an infrastructure management framework (e.g., the xApp and E2 nodes of the near-RT RIC 124) that supports the O-RAN virtual network function. The O1 interface 166 may support O1 services, such as configuration management services and / or performance management services. In this example, the R1 terminal 152 may receive a request for an O1 service from the rApp 123A via the R1 interface 154, such as a configuration request to create an MOI for an O-RAN managed element (e.g., the O-DU 148 of the base station). In response, the R1 termination 152 sends a message to the conflict manager 121 to determine whether there is a conflict with the configuration modification requested by one or more applications 123. For example, an application may request to modify the configuration of a base station, such as a cell identifier. In this example, the conflict manager 121 may determine whether the configuration request to modify the cell identifier of the base station will result in a conflict.

[0085] If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is no conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the configuration manager 162 to continue to implement the O1 service. For example, the conflict manager 121 may direct the configuration manager 162 to process a request to create a configuration. The configuration manager 162 may generate a command to create a configuration (e.g., a createMOI request) and send the command to the O1 terminal 168, which in turn sends the command to the O-DU 148 via the O1 interface 166.

[0086] If conflict manager 121 determines that a conflict exists, conflict manager 121 may direct non-RT RIC 122 to perform actions to resolve the conflict, such as implementing (or not implementing) the O1 service based on the conflict management rules described above (e.g., first come first serve; priority-based coverage; scope; etc.).

[0087] As another example, R1 terminal 152 may receive a request to create a performance job (e.g., a performance guarantee) for O-DU 148. In response, R1 interface 154 sends a message to conflict manager 121 to determine whether there is a conflict with the creation of a performance job requested by one or more applications 123. For example, an application may request to create a performance job with overlapping IOCs and attributes, conflicting attribute value changes, specify different data networks, etc. In this example, conflict manager 121 may determine whether the request to create the performance job will result in a conflict.

[0088] If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is no conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the performance manager 160 to continue to implement the O1 service. For example, the conflict manager 121 may direct the performance manager 160 to process the request to create a performance job. The performance manager 160 may generate a command to create a performance job and send the command to the O1 terminal 168, which in turn sends the command to the O-DU 148 via the O1 interface 166.

[0089] If conflict manager 121 determines that a conflict exists, conflict manager 121 may direct non-RT RIC 122 to perform actions to resolve the conflict, such as implementing (or not implementing) the O1 service based on the conflict management rules described above (e.g., first come first serve; priority-based coverage; scope; etc.).

[0090] Figure 3B is a flow chart of an example conflict management of an O1 service according to one or more techniques of the present disclosure. Figure 3A The conflict manager 121 describes Figure 3B , but it can also be applied to Figure 1B performance manager 160 or configuration manager 162. Although the request for modifying the configuration request describes Figure 3B The examples are described in , but the technology can also be applied to the creation or deletion of configuration requests and / or the creation, modification, or deletion of performance jobs.

[0091] exist Figure 3B In the example of , application 123 may send a request for an O1 service (e.g., to create, modify, or delete a configuration or performance job) to R1 terminal 152 (302), and R1 terminal 152 sends a message to conflict manager 121 to determine whether there is a conflict with the specified O1 service. Conflict manager 121 may verify the O1 service and determine whether the O1 service has any conflicts (304).

[0092] In response to determining that there is no conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the configuration manager 162 or the performance manager 160 (depending on the type of O1 service) to continue implementing the O1 service. For example, the configuration manager 162 may process the O1 service for the O-RAN managed element (e.g., near-RT RIC 124, O-CU 146, O-DU 148) by generating a command (e.g., modify attribute request) to modify the attribute of the O-RAN managed element, and send the command to the O1 terminal 168, which in turn sends the command to the O-RAN managed element (e.g., O-DU 148) via the O1 interface 166 (306). Similarly, the performance manager 160 may process the O1 service for the O-RAN managed element by generating a command to create a performance job, and send the command to the O1 terminal 168, which in turn sends the command to the O-RAN managed element via the O1 interface 166. In response to performing the O1 service (e.g., modifying MOI attributes, creating a performance job, etc.), the O-RAN managed element may create and send a response (308) to the O1 terminal 168. The conflict manager 121 may generate a response to the O1 service request and send the response to the R1 terminal 152, which in turn sends the response to the application (310).

[0093] In some examples, conflict manager 121 may notify an application of a configuration change of an O-RAN managed element (if the application subscribes to configuration change notifications). For example, in response to a configuration change, the O-RAN managed element may send a notification of the configuration change to O1 terminal 168 (312). Configuration manager 121 may generate a notification of the configuration change and send the notification to R1 terminal 152, which in turn sends the notification to an application that subscribes to receive notifications of configuration changes for O-RAN managed elements (314).

[0094] Figure 4 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example non-RTRIC 122 that provides conflict management for O2 services in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure. In this example, a conflict manager 121 may provide conflict management for O2 services (e.g., configuration management or performance management requests) provided by applications 123 (rApps). Figure 1B The conflict manager 121 of the embodiment describes a technique for providing conflict management of O2 services, but the technique for providing conflict management of O2 services may alternatively or additionally be provided by Figure 1B The conflict management of the O2 service performed by the conflict manager 121 may be substantially similar to the operation of the conflict management of the O1 service, such as Figure 3B As described and illustrated in .

[0095] The non-RT RIC 122 may include an O2 interface 167 that provides an interface between the SMO 112 and one or more resources of the O-RAN cloud 150. The O2 interface 167 may support O2 services, such as configuration management services and / or performance management services for resources of the O-Cloud 150, such as one or more physical infrastructure nodes that host O-RAN functions (e.g., virtual network functions), supporting software components, and appropriate management and coordination functions. In this example, the R1 terminal 152 may receive a request for an O2 service via the R1 interface 154, such as a request to modify the configuration of a node of the O-Cloud 150. The request may specify a modification to the node configuration to use an additional processor for scalability. In response, the R1 interface 154 sends a message to the conflict manager 121 to determine whether there is a conflict with the configuration modification requested by one or more applications 123. The conflict manager 121 may provide conflict management for the O2 service, similar to the conflict management for the O1 service described above. In this example, conflict manager 121 may determine whether a configuration request to modify a node's configuration to use an additional processor would result in a conflict (eg, with a previous request to configure the node to use fewer processors to save energy).

[0096] If the conflict manager 121 determines that there is no conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the configuration manager 162 to continue implementing the O2 service. For example, the conflict manager 121 may direct the configuration manager 162 to process the request to create a configuration. The configuration manager 162 may generate a command to create a configuration and send the command to the O2 terminal 169, which in turn sends the command to the node of the O-Cloud 150 via the O2 interface 167.

[0097] If conflict manager 121 determines that a conflict exists, conflict manager 121 may direct non-RT RIC 122 to perform actions to resolve the conflict, such as implementing (or not implementing) O2 service based on the conflict management rules described above (e.g., first come first serve; priority-based coverage; range; etc.).

[0098] Figure 5A 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example non-RT RIC 122 that provides conflict management for SME services in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure. In this example, a conflict manager 121 may provide conflict management for SME services (e.g., service requests) provided by an application 123 (rApp). Figure 1BThe conflict manager 121 of EMBODIMENT 1 describes techniques for providing conflict management for SME services, but the techniques for providing conflict management for SME services may alternatively or additionally be performed by the service manager 163 or any other microservice of the non-RT RIC 122 .

[0099] The non-RT RIC 122 may include an R1 interface 154 that provides an interface between one or more applications 123 and the R1 terminal 152. The R1 interface 154 exposes the application 123 to the SME service. The SME service may provide services that implement the R1 service and its openness and extensibility through services including bootstrapping, service registration / deregistration or update of service registration, service discovery or notification, heartbeat, authentication, authorization, etc. In this example, the R1 terminal 152 may receive a request for SME services from the rApp 123A via the R1 interface 154, such as a request to register the service via the R1 interface 154. The request may specify an identifier of the rApp 123A, a service profile, or other information for registering the service. In response, the R1 interface 154 sends a message to the conflict manager 121 to determine whether there is a conflict with the request to register the service.

[0100] Conflict manager 121 may determine whether the request to register the service will result in a conflict (e.g., a conflict with a previously registered request). If conflict manager 121 determines that there is no conflict, conflict manager 121 may direct service manager 163 to continue registering the service. Service manager 163 may register the service and send a response to the service registration to R1 terminal 152, which in turn sends the response to rApp 123A via R1 interface 154.

[0101] If conflict manager 121 determines that a conflict exists, conflict manager 121 may direct non-RT RIC 122 to perform actions to resolve the conflict, such as implementing (or not implementing) the SME service based on the conflict management rules described above (e.g., first come, first served; priority-based coverage; scope; etc.).

[0102] Figure 5B is a flow diagram of an example conflict management for an SME service in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure. Figure 5B is relative to Figure 5A The present invention is described with reference to the conflict manager 121 of the present invention, but may also be applied to the service manager 163 or any other microservice of the non-RT RIC 122. Figure 5B The examples described in are described for registering a service, but the technology can also be applied to modifying or deleting a service.

[0103] exist Figure 5BIn the example of , application 123 may send an SME service request (e.g., a registration service request) to R1 terminal 152, and R1 terminal 152 sends a message to conflict manager 121 to determine whether there is a conflict with the specified SME service. Conflict manager 121 may check the authorization of the service request (504), verify the service request (506), and determine whether the service request has any conflicts (508).

[0104] In response to determining that there is no conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the service manager 163 to continue implementing the SME service. For example, the service manager 163 may process the SME service by registering the service (510). The service manager 163 sends a response to the service registration to the R1 terminal 152, which in turn sends the response to the application 123 via the R1 interface 152 (512).

[0105] Figure 5C is a flow diagram illustrating another example conflict management of an SME service in accordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure. Figure 5C is relative to Figure 5A The present invention is described with reference to the conflict manager 121 of the present invention, but may also be applied to the service manager 163 or any other microservice of the non-RTRIC 122 .

[0106] exist Figure 5C In the example of , application 123 may send an SME service request (e.g., a service discovery request) to R1 terminal 152 (522), and R1 terminal 152 sends a message to conflict manager 121 to determine whether there is a conflict with the specified SME service. Conflict manager 121 may check the authorization of the service discovery request (524) and determine whether the service discovery request has any conflicts (526).

[0107] In response to determining that there is no conflict, the conflict manager 121 may direct the service manager 163 to continue implementing the SME service. For example, the service manager 163 may handle the SME service by allowing (or not allowing) the service to be discovered. The service manager 163 sends a response to the service discovery request to the R1 terminal 152, which in turn sends the response to the application 123 via the R1 interface 152 (528).

[0108] Figure 6 is a flow chart of example operations of a radio access network intelligent controller (RIC) configured to perform conflict management according to the techniques described in this disclosure. Figure 1B The example operations 600 are described with reference to the non-RT RIC 122 .

[0109] exist Figure 6In the example of FIG. 6 , non-RT RIC 122 may receive a request from an application to perform a service using an interface of non-RT RIC 122 (602). For example, non-RT RIC 122 may receive a request from application 123 (e.g., a request for an A1 service, an O1 service, etc.) via R1 interface 154 and send a message to conflict manager 121 to determine whether the service has a conflict.

[0110] The non-RT RIC 122 may determine whether the services have conflicts (604). For example, the non-RT RIC 122 may include one or more microservices (e.g., a conflict manager 121) configured to provide conflict management for services of corresponding interface(s) (e.g., A1, O1, O2 interfaces) and services available on those interfaces (one or more). In some examples, the conflict manager 121 is configured to determine whether the A1 services (e.g., policies) of the near-RT RIC 124 from the application 123 (rApp) have conflicts. For example, the conflict manager 121 may determine whether there are conflicts between the policies of the application 123 (rApp), for example, by determining whether there are contradictory and / or overlapping combinations of scopes and / or policy statements (e.g., target / resource statements). In some examples, the conflict manager 121 is configured to determine whether the O1 services (e.g., configuration management services, performance management services) of the O-RAN managed element from the application 123 (rApp) have conflicts. For example, the conflict manager 121 may determine whether a request to provide a configuration of an O-RAN managed element (e.g., a request to create or update a managed object instance (MOI)) will conflict with a previous configuration of the O-RAN managed element. In some examples, the conflict manager 121 is configured to determine whether an O2 service (e.g., configuration management service, performance management service) of a resource of the O-RAN cloud from an application 123 (rApp) has a conflict. For example, the conflict manager 121 may determine whether a request to provision a configuration of a resource of the O-RAN cloud will conflict with a previous configuration of the resource of the O-RAN cloud. In some examples, the conflict manager 121 is configured to determine whether other services have a conflict, such as SME services, DME services, AI / ML services, or other services provided by the non-RT RIC 122.

[0111] In response to determining that the services have a conflict ("Yes" of step 604), the non-RT RIC 122 may perform actions to resolve the conflict (606). In some examples, the conflict manager 121 may determine which of the conflicting policies to implement based on one or more conflict management rules. As an example, the conflict manager 121 may implement a first-come, first-served rule. In this example, if the request to create a policy for the first application is before the request to create a policy for the second application, the non-RT RIC 122 may implement the policy of the first application. Alternatively or additionally, the conflict manager 121 may implement a priority-based override rule, in which the policy of the application with a higher priority is implemented. For example, the conflict manager 121 may implement the policy of the second application based on the second application having a higher priority than the first application. In some examples, the conflict manager 121 may override a policy that specifies a general range with a policy that specifies a narrower range. For example, the non-RT RIC 122 may implement a policy for UE-specific performance targets on a more general policy that specifies performance targets for all UEs, or for a narrower policy, a more general policy that covers a broad application in the case of a specific UE. In some examples, the operator may configure conflict management rules to apply to each policy statement. For example, the operator may configure an implementation of a first conflict management rule in response to determining a conflict with a first policy statement, and configure an implementation of a second conflict management rule different from the first conflict management rule in response to determining a conflict with a second policy statement. In some examples, parameters of network resources may be classified into different types, such as information object classes (IOCs), proxy classes, and data type parameters. IOCs describe information that can be used in management interfaces. IOCs include attributes that represent various characteristics of IOCs. In these examples, the non-RT RIC 122 may apply conflict management rules based on parameters or based on parameters and parameter types. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 122 may provide conflict management rules that are configurable by the operator (e.g., a user may specify the type of conflict management rule to be applied).

[0112] If conflict manager 121 determines that there is no conflict (“No” of step 604), conflict manager 121 and non-RTRIC 122 may implement services (608). In some examples, if conflict manager 122 determines that the A1 service (e.g., creating a policy for near-RTRIC 124) does not have a conflict, conflict manager 121 directs policy manager 158 of non-RT RIC 122 to continue creating a policy for near-RT RIC 124 (e.g., generating an HTTP PUT statement to create a policy and sending the command to A1 terminal 156, which in turn sends the command to near-RT RIC 124 via A1 interface 164). In some examples, if conflict manager 121 determines that the O1 service (e.g., providing configuration for the O-RAN managed element) does not have a conflict, conflict manager 121 directs configuration manager 162 (or performance manager 160 if the request is to create or update a performance job) to continue providing configuration for the O-RAN managed element (e.g., generating a command to modify the MOI attribute of the O-RAN managed element and sending the command to O1 terminal 168, which in turn sends the command to the O-RAN managed element via O1 interface 166. ... If the O2 service (e.g., providing configuration for resources of the O-RAN cloud) does not have a conflict, the conflict manager 121 directs the configuration manager 162 (or the performance manager 160 if the request is to create or update a performance job) to continue providing configuration for resources of the O-RAN cloud (e.g., generating commands to modify the configuration of physical infrastructure nodes that host O-RAN functions (e.g., virtual network functions), supporting software components, and appropriate management and coordination functions, and sending the commands to the O2 terminal 169, which in turn sends the commands to the resources of the O-RAN cloud via the O2 interface 167.

[0113] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example computing system according to the technical details of the present disclosure. Figure 7 In this example, computing system 700 may implement, for example, a non-real-time RIC such as Figure 1A , Figure 1B , Figure 2A , Figure 3A , Figure 4 and Figure 5A Non-RTRIC 122.

[0114] The computing system 700 includes one or more processors 720, one or more input devices 722, one or more output devices 723, one or more communication units 719, and one or more storage devices 721. In some examples, the computing system 700 is a cloud computing system, a server farm, and / or a server cluster (or a portion thereof) that provides services to client devices and other devices or systems. In other examples, the computing system 700 can be implemented by one or more virtualized computing instances (e.g., virtual machines, containers) of a data center, a cloud computing system, a server farm, and / or a server cluster.

[0115] One or more devices, modules, storage areas, or other components of computing system 700 may be interconnected to implement inter-component communications (physical, communicative, and / or operational). In some examples, such connectivity may be provided by a communication channel (e.g., Figure 1B The method may be provided by a message bus 151), a system bus, a network connection, an inter-process communication data structure, or any other method for transmitting data.

[0116] One or more processors 720 of computing system 700 may implement functionality associated with conflict management of non-RT RICs and / or execute instructions associated with one or more modules illustrated and / or described herein, including application 123, policy manager 158, performance manager 160, configuration manager 162, service manager 163, data manager 155, and conflict manager 121. One or more processors 720 may be a processing circuit system that performs operations according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, a portion of a processing circuit system that performs operations according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, and / or may include a processing circuit system that performs operations according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure. Examples of processors 720 include microprocessors, application processors, display controllers, auxiliary processors, one or more sensor hubs, and any other hardware configured to function as a processor, processing unit, or processing device. Computing system 700 may use one or more processors 720 to perform operations according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure using software, hardware, firmware, or a mixture of hardware, software, and firmware resident in and / or executed at computing system 700. Any one or more of the application 123, policy manager 158, performance manager 160, configuration manager 162, service manager 163, data manager 155, and conflict manager 121 may be hosted by a cloud provider or other third party.

[0117] One or more communication units 719 of computing system 700 may communicate with devices external to computing system 700 by transmitting and / or receiving data, and in some aspects may operate as input devices and output devices. In some examples, communication unit 719 may communicate with other devices over a network. In other examples, communication unit 719 may send and / or receive radio signals over a radio network, such as a cellular radio network. In other examples, communication unit 719 of computing system 700 may send and / or receive satellite signals over a satellite network, such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) network. Examples of communication unit 719 include a network interface card (e.g., an Ethernet card), an optical transceiver, a radio frequency transceiver, a GPS receiver, or any other type of device that can send and / or receive information. Other examples of communication unit 719 may include a device that can transmit and / or receive information over a network. Devices that communicate with GPS, NFC, ZigBee, and cellular networks (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G), as well as those found in mobile devices Radios and Universal Serial Bus (USB) controllers and the like. Such communications may adhere to, implement or comply with appropriate protocols, including Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), Ethernet, Bluetooth, NFC or other technologies or protocols.

[0118] The one or more input devices 722 may represent any input device of the computing system 700 not separately described herein. The one or more input devices 722 may generate, receive, and / or process input from any type of device capable of detecting input from a person or a machine. For example, the one or more input devices 722 may generate, receive, and / or process input in the form of electrical, physical, audio, image, and / or visual input (e.g., peripherals, keyboards, microphones, cameras).

[0119] The one or more output devices 723 may represent any output device of the computing system 700 not described separately herein. The one or more output devices 723 may generate, receive, and / or process input from any type of device capable of detecting input from a person or a machine. For example, the one or more output devices 723 may generate, receive, and / or process output in the form of electrical and / or physical output (e.g., peripheral devices, actuators).

[0120] One or more storage devices 721 within the computing system 700 may store information for processing during operation of the computing system 700. The storage device 721 may store program instructions and / or data associated with one or more of the modules described according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure. One or more processors 720 and one or more storage devices 721 may provide an operating environment or platform for these modules, which may be implemented as software, but may include any combination of hardware, firmware, and software in some examples. One or more processors 720 may execute instructions, and one or more storage devices 721 may store instructions and / or data of one or more modules. The combination of the processor 720 and the storage device 721 may retrieve, store, and / or execute instructions and / or data of one or more applications, modules, or software. The processor 720 and / or the storage device 721 may also be operably coupled to one or more other software and / or hardware components, including but not limited to one or more of the components of the computing system 700 and / or one or more devices or systems illustrated as being connected to the computing system 700.

[0121] In some examples, one or more storage devices 721 are temporary storage, which means that the primary purpose of one or more storage devices is not long-term storage. The storage device 721 of the computing system 700 may be configured for short-term storage of information as volatile memory, and therefore if it is deactivated, the stored content is not retained. Examples of volatile memory include random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM) and other forms of volatile memory known in the art. In some examples, the storage device 721 also includes one or more computer-readable storage media. The storage device 721 may be configured to store a larger amount of information than volatile memory. The storage device 721 may be additionally configured for long-term storage of information as non-volatile storage space, and retain information after activation / deactivation cycles. Examples of non-volatile memory include magnetic hard disks, optical disks, flash memory, or various forms of electrically programmable memory (EPROM) or electrically erasable programmable (EEPROM) memory.

[0122] The computing system 700 may provide conflict management for a particular application 123. As described above, the application 123 may manage non-real-time events within the non-RTRIC 122, such as events that do not require a response time of less than one second. The application 123 may utilize functionality exposed via the non-RT RIC framework of the computing device 700. The application 123 may be used to control and manage RAN elements and resources, such as near-RT RICs, RAN nodes, and / or resources in an O-RAN cloud. The application 123 may provide one or more services that are executed using interfaces (e.g., A1 interfaces, O1 interfaces, O2 interfaces, etc.) of the computing system 700. For example, the application 123 may include services such as policies 732 for near-RT RICs, configuration instructions 734 for O-RAN managed elements, performance jobs 736 for O-RAN managed elements, services 738 for managing services and / or data, and the like.

[0123] Computing system 700 may include one or more modules or units configured to perform one or more services or functions of application 123, such as policy manager 158, performance manager 160, configuration manager 162, service manager 163, data manager 155, and conflict manager 121, as described above.

[0124] For example, the policy manager 158 is configured to control the deployment of policies (eg, using the A1 service). For example, the policy manager 158 may receive a request for the A1 service from the application 123 (eg, via Figure 1B R1 interface 154), processes requests for A1 services from applications 123, and uses the A1 interface (e.g., Figure 1B The A1 interface 164 of the embodiment performs the A1 service of the near-RT RIC. In some examples, the A1 interface may implement the A1AP application protocol based on the 3GPP framework.

[0125] The performance manager 160 is configured to control the deployment of O1 services for monitoring O-RAN managed elements (e.g. Figure 1B For example, the performance manager 160 can obtain the performance of the near-RT RIC 124, O-CU 146, O-DU 148 from the application 123 (e.g., via Figure 1B The R1 interface 154 of the embodiment receives a request for an O1 service for monitoring the performance of the near-RT RIC, processes the O1 service, and uses the O1 interface (e.g., Figure 1BThe O1 interface 166 of the O-RAN managed element performs O1 services for the O-RAN managed element. In some examples, the O1 interface may implement a REST / HTTPS API and / or NETCONF. The performance manager 160 may also be configured to control the deployment of O2 services to monitor the performance of resources of the O-RAN cloud. For example, the performance manager 160 may receive a request for an O2 service for monitoring the performance of resources in the O-RAN cloud (e.g., via Figure 1B R1 interface 154), processes requests for O2 services, and may use the O2 interface (e.g., Figure 1B The O2 interface 167) performs O2 services for the resources of the O-RAN cloud.

[0126] Configuration manager 162 is configured to control the deployment of O1 services for configuration of near-RT RIC 124 and / or RAN nodes. For example, configuration manager 162 may be configured from application 123 (eg, via Figure 1B R1 interface 154) receives a request for a configured O1 service for an O-RAN managed element, processes the request for the O1 service, and may use the O1 interface (e.g., Figure 1B The configuration manager 162 may also be configured to control the deployment of O2 services to configure resources of the O-RAN cloud. For example, the configuration manager 162 may be configured to control the deployment of O2 services from the application 123 (e.g., via Figure 1B The R1 interface 154 of the O-RAN cloud receives a request for an O2 service to configure resources in the O-RAN cloud, processes the O2 service, and can use the O2 interface (e.g., Figure 1B The O2 interface 167) performs O2 services for the resources of the O-RAN cloud.

[0127] The service manager 163 is configured to manage services, such as registration of services, update of service registration, service discovery, etc. For example, the service manager 163 may receive a request for an SME service from an application 123 (eg, via Figure 1B R1 interface 154), performs SME services (e.g., registration / update services) for one or more applications 123, and uses the R1 interface (e.g., Figure 1B R1 interface 154) sends a response to one or more applications 123.

[0128] The data manager 155 is configured to manage the data of the application 123. For example, the data manager 155 may receive a request for a DME service from the application 123 (eg, via Figure 1B R1 interface 154), performs DME services for one or more applications 123 (e.g., sends data from an application configured as a data producer to an application configured as a data consumer), and uses the R1 interface (e.g., Figure 1BR1 interface 154) sends a response to one or more applications 123.

[0129] The computing system 700 includes a conflict manager 121 configured to provide conflict management for services executed using interfaces other than RT RIC. In this example, the conflict manager 121 includes an analysis engine 740, an action engine 742, and one or more conflict management rules 744.

[0130] In some examples, the analysis engine 740 is configured to determine whether there are contradictory and / or overlapping combinations of scopes and / or policy statements (e.g., target / resource statements) of A1 services performed using the A1 interface. In some examples, the analysis engine 740 is configured to determine whether a request to configure one or more O-RAN managed elements performed using the O1 interface or a request to configure one or more resources of the O-RAN cloud performed using the O2 interface will result in a conflict (e.g., a conflicting MOI). In some examples, the analysis engine 740 is configured to determine whether a request for performance operations of one or more O-RAN managed elements performed using the O1 interface or a request for performance operations of one or more resources of the O-RAN cloud performed using the O2 interface will result in a conflict (e.g., overlapping IOCs and attributes, conflicting attribute value changes, specifying different data networks, etc.). In some examples, the analysis engine 740 is configured to determine whether a request for management services performed using the R1 interface will result in a conflict (e.g., a conflict with a previously registered service or a previously implemented application).

[0131] In response to determining that the service has a conflict, the action engine 742 is configured to resolve the determined conflict. For example, the action engine 742 can implement the service based on one or more conflict management rules 744. As described above, the conflict management rules 744 can include, for example, implementing policies on a first-come, first-served basis, implementing policies from applications with higher priority, implementing policies based on a scope of policies, implementing policies based on IOC types, or implementing policies based on IOC types and IOC attributes.

[0132] In some examples, a user may specify which conflict management rule to apply to resolve the conflict via a user interface module (UI) 786. The UI module 786 may generate data indicating various user interface screens that graphically depict the conflict management rules. The UI module 786 may output data indicating the various user interface screens, such as for display by a separate display device. The UI module 786 may also output data indicating a graphical user interface element soliciting input for display. The input may be, for example, a conflict management rule to be applied to a particular service, a query, or other input.

[0133] According to the techniques of this disclosure, conflict manager 121 may interact with user interface 786 , display information to a user by generating a user interface for displaying output data on output device(s) 723 , and receive input data from a user via input device(s) 721 .

[0134] In some examples, conflict manager 121 (using user interface 786 ) may provide a user with the ability to view captured A1 policy conflicts and their conflict resolution policies. Figure 8 800 is an example of a user interface 800 that displays conflicts according to the techniques described in the present disclosure. The user interface 800 includes a Conflicts 802 tab. When the Conflicts 802 tab is selected, the conflict manager 121 generates a display 800 to show a summary of existing events (e.g., conflict events) and a graphical chart 804. In this example, the user interface 800 shows a total number of events 806, a number of detected conflicts 808, a number of allowed conflicts 810, a number of blocked conflicts 812, and a number of guided conflicts 814. In this example, the chart 804 shows a time conflict event graph, where the y-axis is the number of events and the x-axis is the number of blocked conflicts, guided conflicts, and allowed conflicts over a period of time. The user interface 800 also shows a selection of an event list 816 and a selection of a conflict setting 818.

[0135] The conflict manager 121 (using the UI 786 ) may provide the user with the ability to view conflict-related events by selecting the event list 816 . Fig. 9 900 is an example of a user interface for an event list 816 according to the techniques described in the present disclosure. In this example, the columns of the conflict event list view include event type 902, which has allowed values ​​of A1-P guidance request, A1-P guidance response, A1-P conflict detection, and A1-P conflict resolution; time presentation 904, which displays the time in a human-readable format; source rApp 906, which shows the rApp name (which may include a hyperlink to a filtered rApp display), rule ID 908, which shows the rule ID (when hovered, A1 policy type, conflict resolution policy, and rApp priority information may be shown); result 910, which shows allowed values ​​of allow, block, or direct; and description 912, which shows example allowed values ​​of "A1-P conflict guidance request message received from rApp", "A1-P conflict guidance response message sent to rApp", "A1-P conflict detected", and "A1-P conflict resolved". For example, the event list view may show all conflict events that occurred within a time period such as a month (e.g., sorted by newest to oldest by default). Conflict manager 121 may support filtering of the list of events in user interface 900 for each column.

[0136] The conflict manager 121 (using the user interface 786) may provide the user with the ability to view the A1-P guide request and response messages generated by the rApp. Fig. 9 786), the conflict manager 121 may allow the A1-P request response messages to be displayed, and the messages may be filtered for display. The conflict manager 121 (using the UI 786) may also provide the user with the ability to monitor A1 events in real time and / or historically. The conflict manager 121 may allow the A1-P conflict events to be displayed on the event and log display (when generated), and the A1-P conflict events may be filtered for display.

[0137] The conflict manager 121 can provide the user with the ability to view the details of a selected event. For example, the user can select an item in the event type 902 list, and in response, the conflict manager 121 (using UI 786) displays information about the selected event. Fig.10 1 is an example of a user interface 1000 that displays information about a selected event according to the techniques described in this disclosure. In this example, event details 1002 show additional information about the selected event. Fig.10 As shown), when the event type 1004 is an A1 policy (A1-P) guidance request 1006, the event details 1002 may show the category 1008, type (e.g., event type 1004), component 1010 (e.g., conflict manager 121), description 1012, time 1014, source rApp 1016, A1 policy type 1018, target near-RT RIC 1020 and A1-P policy guidance request message content 1022.

[0138] In another example, when the event type is A1-P guidance response, the event details 1002 may show the category 1008, type (e.g., event type 1004), component 1010, description 1012, time 1014, source rAPP 1016, A1 policy type 1018, target near-RT RIC 1020, and A1-P policy guidance response message content.

[0139] In another example, when the event type is A1-P conflict detection, the event details may show category 1008, type 1004, component 1010, description 1012, time 1014 and information related to the A1-P creation / update operation that generates the conflict, such as the source rAPP (e.g., the rApp that generates the A1-P and conflicts with the A1-P creation / update), A1 policy type, target near-RT RIC, A1-P creation / update time and A1 policy content, as well as information related to the conflicting A1-P that has been previously generated, such as the conflicting rApp (e.g., the rApp that generates the A1-P and conflicts with it), A1 policy type, target near-RT RIC, A1-P creation / update time and A1 policy content.

[0140] In another example, when the event type is A1-P conflict resolution, the event details may show category 1008, type 1004, component 1010, description 1012, time 1014, rule ID, applied resolution policy (ALLOW, first-come-first-served (FCFS), or policy-based override (PBO)), resolution result (ALLOWED / BLOCKED), and information related to the A1-P create / update operation that generated the conflict, such as the source rAPP (e.g., the rApp that generated the A1-P create / update that conflicts with the A1-P), the A1 policy type, the target near-RT RIC, the A1-P create / update time, and the A1 policy content, as well as information related to the conflicting A1-P that has been previously generated, such as the conflicting rApp (e.g., the rApp that generated the A1-P with which the new A1-P conflicts), the A1 policy type, the target near-RT RIC, the A1-P create / update time, and the A1 policy content.

[0141] By choosing Figure 8 In response to the conflicting settings 818, the conflict manager 121 (using the user interface 786) may provide the user with the ability to view a summary of the conflict resolution settings. Fig.11 11 is an example of a user interface 1100 that displays conflicting settings according to the techniques described in this disclosure. A user can view the default available rules that are automatically populated by the non-RT RIC 122.

[0142] In some examples, the conflict manager 121 (using UI 786) can provide the user with the ability to configure conflict resolution strategies for non-RT RIC 122, view a summary of the selected conflict resolution settings, edit the selected conflict resolution settings, and select conflict resolution. In some examples, the possible conflict resolution strategies to be displayed include ALLOW, FCFS, and PBO. The conflict manager 121 can also provide the user with the ability to view help text on the output device (one or more) 723 to understand what each strategy does. The conflict manager 121 can also (using UI 786) provide the user with the ability to select conflict resolution to be applied to all A1 policy types (ALLA1 POLICY TYPES) ​​or each A1 policy type (PER EACH A1 POLICY TYPE). If the user selects all A1 policy types, the conflict manager 121 can allow the user to select only conflict resolution strategies (such as ALLOW, FCFS, or PBO). If PER EACH A1 POLICY TYPE is selected, the conflict manager 121 may allow the user to select a conflict resolution strategy (such as ALLOW, FCFS, or PBO) for each supported A1 policy type (e.g., specified by PolicyTypeId) shown in the conflict management settings display 1100 (e.g., including, for example, in "ORAN Working Group (WG) 2 (Non-RT RIC and A1 Interface WG) A1 Interface: Type Definition", O-RAN.WG2.A1TD-R003-v06.00, October 2023, or other versions and sections referenced below).

[0143] In one example, the following A1 type definitions may be supported.

[0144] ORAN_QoSTarget_2.0.0 (which can be used for QoS targets as described in section 7.2.1 of the A1 Interface: Type Definition).

[0145] ORAN_QoETarget_2.0.0 (which can be used for QoE target as described in section 7.2.2 of the A1 Interface: Type Definition).

[0146] ORAN_TrafficSteeringPreference_2.0.0 (which can be used for traffic steering preference as described in section 7.2.3 of the A1 Interface: Type Definition).

[0147] ORAN_QoSandTSP_2.0.0 (which can be used with resource-directed QoS optimization as described in Section 7.2.4 of the A1 Interface: Type Definition).

[0148] ORAN_QoEandTSP_2.0.0 (which can be used for QoE optimization with resource directives as described in Section 7.2.5 of the A1 interface, type definition).

[0149] ORAN_UELevelTarget_1.0.0 (which can be used for UE level targets as described in section 7.2.6 of the A1 Interface: Type Definition).

[0150] ORAN_SliceSLATarget_2.0.0 (which can be used for slice SLA targets as described in section 7.2.7 of the A1 Interface: Type Definition).

[0151] ORAN_LoadBalancing 1.0.0 (which can be used for load balancing as described in section 7.2.8 of the A1 Interface: Type Definition).

[0152] In other examples, other A1, O1, O2 and / or SME type definitions may also be supported.

[0153] If priority-based override (PBO) is selected as the conflict resolution strategy, conflict manager 121 (using UI 786) may also provide the user with the ability to define new priorities for each onboard rApp.

[0154] The conflict manager 121 may provide the user with the ability to select rules and edit the corresponding conflict resolution settings (in one embodiment, deletion of rules is not allowed). Fig.11 As shown, a user may select an item (such as rule ID 1 1102) in the list of conflicting settings 818. In this example, the resolution policy 1104 of rule ID 1 1102 / RAN interface policy type is currently FCFS 1106. Fig.12 1-5 , involving such changes to the resolution policy configured by the user (including determining whether a conflict exists due to the change in the resolution policy). Fig.13786) shows the resolution policy 1104 for rule ID 1 1102 as having a value of "ALLOW" 1302.

[0155] Fig.14 is another example of a user interface 1400 that displays conflicting settings according to the techniques described in this disclosure. In this example, Fig.14 As shown, the user may select an item (such as rule ID 1 1102) in the list of conflict settings 818. In this example, the resolution strategy 1104 for rule ID 1 1102 may be set by the user to PBO 1402 (e.g., using a drop-down menu), such as Fig.12 1102 to PBO 1402. In response, the conflict manager 121 changes the resolution policy 1104 of rule ID 1 1102 accordingly within the conflict manager 121 and performs any necessary conflict resolution processing, as described above with reference to FIGS. 1-5 , involving such change in the resolution policy configured by the user (including determining whether a conflict exists due to the change in the resolution policy). In addition, the conflict manager 121 displays rApp priority settings 1404 (e.g., for admission control, traffic steering, and Rssiaa applications (e.g., rApps)) corresponding to the PBO resolution policy.

[0156] Fig.15 1 is an example of a user interface 1500 that displays edited conflict settings and conflict information according to the techniques described in this disclosure. If such a change in the resolution policy 1104 results in a conflict, as determined by the conflict manager 121, the conflict may be highlighted to the user (e.g., as indicated by a symbol 1502 as "!"). The conflict manager 121 (using the UI 786) now shows the resolution policy 1104 for rule ID 1 1102 as having the value of PBO 1402, rApp priority settings 1404 (e.g., for Admission Control, Trafficsteering, and Rssiaa applications (example rApps)), and conflict information 1504 notifying the user of the conflict created by the new resolution policy settings. In response, the user may then additionally edit the resolution policy 1104 for rule ID 1 1102 to remove the conflict.

[0157] Fig.16 16 is another example of a user interface 1600 that displays conflicting settings according to the techniques described in this disclosure. Fig.16 As shown, the user may select an item (such as rule ID 1 1102) in the list of conflict settings 818. In this example, Fig.12 1-5 , involving such change in the resolution policy configured by the user (including determining whether a conflict exists due to the change in resolution policy). The conflict manager 121 may also show the rApp priority 1404 of “N / A” 1604 corresponding to the resolution policy 1104 of FCFS 1602.

[0158] Fig.13 , 14 16 illustrate three different settings of the resolution policy 1104 for sample rule ID 1 1102. After the resolution policy 1104 (ALLOW, FCFS, or PBO) is set for sample rule ID 1 1102 and no conflicts arise due to the change, the conflict manager 121 may update the display of conflict settings 818 to reflect the change in resolution policy.

[0159] Fig.17 is another example of a user interface 1700 that displays conflicting settings according to the techniques described in this disclosure. In an example where the resolution policy 1104 has been set to ALLOW (e.g. Fig.13 If no conflict is detected, the conflict manager 121 may display an ALLOW state 1702 of the resolution strategy 1104 for rule ID 1 1102 on the user interface 1700. In addition, the conflict manager 121 may display an indication 1704 ("Configuration Saved Successfully") indicating that the change has been successfully made.

[0160] although Figure 8-Figure 17 The example illustrates an A1 policy type that processes an A1 service, but the conflict manager 121 may perform similar processing on an O1 service, an O2 service, and an SME service (eg, through an R1 interface).

[0161] Fig.18is a flow diagram of example operations of a RIC configured to perform conflict management for interface services using a user interface in accordance with the techniques described in this disclosure.

[0162] At block 1802 , the conflict manager 121 displays a plurality of policies of corresponding policy types for interface services of the RAN.

[0163] At block 1804, the conflict manager 121 receives the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type.

[0164] At block 1806, the conflict manager 121 determines whether the service of the RAN has a conflict with the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type.

[0165] At block 1808, when the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type does not have a conflict (the "No" branch of 1806), the conflict manager 121 accepts the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type and displays the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type. At block 1812, the configuration of the RAN is modified based at least in part on the selected conflict resolution strategy.

[0166] At block 1810 , when there is a conflict in the selected conflict resolution strategy (“Yes” branch of 1806 ), the conflict manager 121 does not accept the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type and displays at least one of an indication of the conflict and conflict information.

[0167] Thus, the conflict manager 121 (using UI 786) may receive an indication of a selected conflict resolution strategy for a policy from a user, determine whether the RAN's service has a conflict with the selected conflict resolution strategy, and output an indication to the user if a conflict occurs so that the user may take corrective action.

[0168] The following are examples of the described techniques.

[0169] Example 1: A radio access network intelligent controller (RIC) for a radio access network (RAN) includes a processor circuit system; and a memory coupled to the processor circuit system, the memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor circuit system to: display multiple policies for interface services of the RAN; receive an indication of a selection of a conflict resolution policy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determine whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; when the interface service does not have a conflict, accept the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type and display an indication of the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; and modify the configuration of the RAN based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type.

[0170] Example 2: The RIC according to Example 1, further comprising, when the interface service has a conflict, not accepting the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type, and displaying at least one of an indication of the conflict and conflict information.

[0171] Example 3: The RIC of any of Examples 1 and 2, wherein the indication of the selection of the conflict resolution strategy is received from a user via a user interface of the RIC.

[0172] Example 4: The RIC of any one of Examples 1 to 3, wherein the selected conflict resolution strategy comprises one of admit, first-come-first-serve, and policy-based override.

[0173] Example 5: The RIC of Example 4, wherein when the selected conflict resolution policy is policy-based override, the instructions when executed further cause the processing circuitry to display priorities of the plurality of applications, and the indication of the conflict indicates at least one of the plurality of applications causing the conflict.

[0174] Example 6: The RIC of example 5, wherein when the selected conflict resolution policy is policy-based override, the instructions when executed further cause the processing circuitry to receive a new priority for at least one application of the plurality of applications.

[0175] Example 7: The RIC of any one of Examples 1 to 6, wherein the selected RAN interface policy type is associated with a conflict resolution policy.

[0176] Example 8: The RIC of Example 7, wherein the selected RAN interface policy type comprises an A1 policy type, and the selected RAN interface policy type is associated with the A1 type definition.

[0177] Example 9: The RIC according to any one of Examples 1 to 8, wherein the RAN includes at least one interface, the at least one interface including at least one of the A1 interface, the O1 interface, the O2 interface and the R1 interface of the RIC.

[0178] Example 10: According to any one of Examples 1 to 9, the RIC, wherein in order to determine whether a service has a conflict, the instruction further causes the processor circuit system to: determine whether one or more statements of the first policy contradict one or more statements of the second policy based on a comparison of the first policy of the application with the second policy of the application and one of the different applications.

[0179] Example 11: A RIC according to any one of Examples 1 to 10, wherein in order to determine whether a service has a conflict, the instruction also causes the processing circuit system to: determine whether one or more statements of the first policy overlap in scope with one or more statements of the second policy based on a comparison of the first policy of the application with the second policy of the application or a different application.

[0180] Example 12: The RIC of any of Examples 1 to 11, wherein to determine whether the service has a conflict, the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to: determine whether one or more statements within the applied policy exceed a limit of a target of the policy.

[0181] Example 13: An RIC according to Example 12, wherein the policy includes a first policy, and wherein the instruction further causes the processing circuit system to: receive a request for conflict guidance for an implementation of a second policy from a second application among one or more applications; determine whether the second policy has a conflict; and provide a guidance response to the application based on the determination of whether the second policy has a conflict.

[0182] Example 14: The RIC of example 13, wherein the guidance response comprises one or more of: an indication of the conflict and whether the second policy creates the conflict; one or more recommendations to resolve the conflict; and conflict information identifying a cause of the conflict.

[0183] Example 15: The RIC of any of Examples 1 to 14, wherein to determine whether the service has a conflict, the instructions further cause the processor circuitry to determine whether the service has at least one of a direct conflict, an indirect conflict, or an implicit conflict.

[0184] Example 16: A method comprising displaying multiple policies for an interface service of a radio access network (RAN); receiving an indication of a selection of a conflict resolution policy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determining whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; when the interface service does not have a conflict, accepting the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type and displaying an indication of the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; and modifying the configuration of the RAN based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type.

[0185] Example 17: The method according to Example 16 further includes not accepting the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type when the interface service has a conflict, and displaying at least one of an indication of the conflict and conflict information.

[0186] Example 18: The method of any one of Examples 16 and 17, wherein the indication of the selection of the conflict resolution strategy is received from a user via a user interface of a non-real-time (RT) radio access network intelligent controller (RIC).

[0187] Example 19: A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a radio access network intelligent controller (RIC) for managing non-real-time events of a radio access network (RAN) to: display multiple policies for interface services of the RAN; receive an indication of a selection of a conflict resolution policy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determine whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; when the interface service does not have a conflict, accept the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type and display an indication of the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type; and modify the configuration of the RAN based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type.

[0188] Example 20: The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of Example 19, wherein the selected RAN interface policy type is associated with a conflict resolution policy.

[0189] The techniques described in this disclosure may be implemented at least in part in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. For example, various aspects of the described techniques may be implemented in one or more programmable processors, including one or more microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or any other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuit systems, as well as any combination of these components. The term "processor" or "processing circuitry" may generally refer to any of the aforementioned logic circuit systems, alone or in combination with other logic circuit systems, or any other equivalent circuit systems. A control unit including hardware may also perform one or more of the techniques disclosed herein.

[0190] Such hardware, software, and firmware may be implemented in the same device or in separate devices to support the various operations and functions described in this disclosure. In addition, any described unit, module, or component may be implemented together or separately as a discrete but interoperable logical device. Describing different features as modules or units is intended to emphasize different functional aspects and does not necessarily mean that these modules or units must be implemented by separate hardware or software components. On the contrary, the functionality associated with one or more modules or units may be performed by separate hardware or software components, or integrated in common or separate hardware or software components.

[0191] The techniques described in the present disclosure may also be embodied or encoded in a computer-readable medium containing instructions, such as a computer-readable storage medium. The instructions embedded or encoded in the computer-readable medium may cause a programmable processor or other processor to perform the method, for example, when the instructions are executed. Computer-readable media may include non-transitory computer-readable storage media and temporary communication media. Tangible and non-transitory computer-readable storage media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, hard disk, compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), floppy disk, tape, magnetic media, optical media, or other computer-readable storage media. The term "computer-readable storage media" refers to a physical storage medium, rather than a signal, carrier wave, or other temporary medium.

Claims

1. A radio access network intelligent controller RIC for a radio access network RAN, the RIC include: processor circuitry; as well as a memory coupled to the processor circuitry, the memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor circuitry to: Displaying multiple policies for interface services of the RAN; receiving an indication of a selection of a conflict resolution policy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determining, based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type, whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict; accepting the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type and displaying an indication of the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type when the interface service does not have the conflict; as well as The configuration of the RAN is modified based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type.

2. The RIC according to claim 1, further comprising: include: When the interface service has the conflict, the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type is not accepted, and at least one of an indication of the conflict and conflict information is displayed.

3. The RIC of claim 1, wherein the indication of the selection of the conflict resolution strategy is received from a user through a user interface of the RIC.

4. The RIC of claim 1, wherein the conflict resolution strategy selected comprises one of: allow, first-come-first-served, and policy-based override.

5. The RIC of claim 4, wherein when the conflict resolution strategy selected is a policy-based override, the instructions, when executed, further cause the processing circuit system to display priorities of a plurality of applications, and the indication of the conflict indicates at least one application of the plurality of applications that caused the conflict.

6. The RIC of claim 5, wherein when the conflict resolution policy selected is a policy-based override, the instructions, when executed, further cause the processing circuitry to receive a new priority for at least one application of the plurality of applications.

7. The RIC according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the selected RAN interface policy type is associated with a conflict resolution policy.

8. The RIC of claim 7, wherein the selected RAN interface policy type comprises an A1 policy type, and the selected RAN interface policy type is associated with an A1 type definition.

9. The RIC according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the RAN comprises at least one interface, and the at least one interface comprises at least one of the following of the RIC: an A1 interface, an O1 interface, an O2 interface, and an R1 interface.

10. The RIC of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein to determine whether the service has the conflict, the instructions further cause the processor circuitry to: Based on a comparison of a first policy of an application with a second policy of the application and one of a different application, a determination is made as to whether one or more statements of the first policy contradict one or more statements of the second policy.

11. The RIC of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein to determine whether the service has the conflict, the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to: Based on a comparison of a first policy for the application and a second policy for the application or a different application, a determination is made as to whether one or more statements of the first policy overlap in scope with one or more statements of the second policy.

12. The RIC of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein to determine whether the service has the conflict, the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to: A determination is made as to whether one or more statements within the applied policy exceed limits of a target of the policy.

13. The RIC of claim 12, wherein the policy comprises a first policy, and wherein the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to: receiving, from a second application of the one or more applications, a request for conflicting guidance for implementation of a second policy; determining whether the second policy has the conflict; and Based on the determination of whether the second policy has the conflict, a directed response is provided to the application.

14. The RIC of claim 13, wherein the guidance response comprises one or more of the following: said indication of said conflict and whether said second policy creates said conflict; one or more recommendations for resolving the conflict; as well as The conflict information identifies a cause of the conflict.

15. The RIC of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein to determine whether the service has the conflict, the instructions further cause the processor circuitry to determine whether the service has at least one of: a direct conflict, an indirect conflict, or an implicit conflict.

16. A mobile networking conflict management method, include: Displaying a plurality of policies for an interface service of a radio access network RAN; receiving an indication of a selection of a conflict resolution policy for a selected RAN interface policy type; determining, based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type, whether the interface service of the RAN has a conflict; accepting the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type and displaying an indication of the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type when the interface service does not have the conflict; as well as The configuration of the RAN is modified based on the selected conflict resolution policy for the selected RAN interface policy type.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: include: When the interface service has the conflict, the selected conflict resolution strategy for the selected RAN interface policy type is not accepted, and at least one of an indication of the conflict and conflict information is displayed.

18. The method according to any of claims 16 to 17, wherein the indication of the selection of the conflict resolution strategy is received from a user via a user interface of a non-real-time radio access network intelligent controller, RIC.

19. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions for causing one or more programmable processors to be configured to perform the method of any one of claims 16-18 or to be configured as a RIC of any one of claims 1-15.

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