Determining the energy performance of a portion of a wireless communication network

Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to a network entity for a wireless communication network, the network entity comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the network entity to: receive, from an analytics consumer, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; receive, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; analyse the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; and transmit, to the analytics consumer, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

Description

DETERMINING THE ENERGY PERFORMANCE OF A PORTION OF A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to the field of determining the energy performance of a portion of a wireless communication network. This document defines a network entity for a wireless communication network and an analytics consumer for a wireless communication network and methods thereof.BACKGROUND

[0002] A wireless communications system may include one or multiple network communication devices, such as base stations, which may support wireless communications for one or multiple user communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE), or other suitable terminology. The wireless communications system may support wireless communications with one or multiple user communication devices by utilizing resources of the wireless communication system (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers, or the like). Additionally, the wireless communications system may support wireless communications across various radio access technologies including third generation (3G) radio access technology, fourth generation (4G) radio access technology, fifth generation (5G) radio access technology, among other suitable radio access technologies beyond 5G (e.g., sixth generation (6G)).SUMMARY

[0003] An article “a” before an element is unrestricted and understood to refer to “at least one” of those elements or “one or more” of those elements. The terms “a,” “at least one,” “one or more,” and “at least one of one or more” may be interchangeable. As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of’ or “one or more of’ or “one or both of’) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on”shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on. Further, as used herein, including in the claims, a “set” may include one or more elements.

[0004] There is provided a network entity for a wireless communication network, the network entity comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the network entity to: receive, from an analytics consumer, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; receive, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; analyse the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; and transmit, to the analytics consumer, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0005] There is provided a processor for a wireless communication network, comprising: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: receive, from an analytics consumer, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; receive, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; analyse the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; and transmit, to the analytics consumer, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0006] There is provided a method by a network entity for a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving, from an analytics consumer, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wirelesscommunication network; receiving, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; analysing the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; transmitting, to the analytics consumer, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0007] There is provided an analytics consumer for a wireless communication network, the analytics consumer comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the analytics consumer to: transmit, to a network entity, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; and receive, from the network entity, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0008] There is provided a processor (for example, an analytics consumer) for a wireless communication network, comprising: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: transmit, to a network entity, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; receive, from the network entity, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0009] There is provided a method by an analytics consumer for a wireless communication network, the method comprising: transmitting, to a network entity, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; receiving, from the network entity, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0011] Figure 2 illustrates an overview of NWDAF flavours including the potential input data sources and output consumers.

[0012] Figure 3 illustrates an overview of a 5G NR network QoS architecture.

[0013] Figure 4 illustrates a signalling diagram for determining the energy performance of a portion of a wireless communication network, according to one or more embodiments.

[0014] Figure 5 illustrates an example of a user equipment (UE) 500 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 6 illustrates an example of a processor 600 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 7 illustrates an example of a network equipment (NE) 700 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method performed by a NE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method performed by an analytics consumer in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] Currently, analytics on energy matters focus on network resource level and perform: (i) root cause analysis for an energy problem encountered in the Radio Access Network (RAN) or Fifth Generation Core (5GC) or (ii) provide recommendations for applying energy saving states on New Radio (NR) cells and 5G core User Plane Functions (UPFs).

[0020] This disclosure focuses on deriving analytics for energy saving and energy efficiency considering a range of different granularities such as User Equipment (UE), Quality of Service (QoS) flow or application, Packet Data Unit (PDU) session and network slice. In addition, it defines the notion of useful output to derive energy efficiency for the different granularities of UE, QoS flow, and PDU session. This information can be exposed to a 3rd party or a generic consumer within the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN).

[0021] This disclosure defines a new Analytics ID and new attributes to request energy analytics per UE, QoS flow, PDU session, network slice and Network Function (NF). Inaddition, it defines meta data related to energy cost, energy efficiency and supplementary energy cost for reporting.

[0022] Regarding energy consumption this disclosure: (i) estimates the load pattern of UE(s) or QoS Flow or PDU session or network slice or NF, (ii) relates the estimated load pattern with the Central Processing Unit (CPU) needed per Radio Access Network (RAN) and Fifth Generation Core (5GC) node, and (iii) estimates the amount of network resources as a percentage. For energy efficiency, it defines the notion of useful output via: (i) Application Function (AF) feedback, (ii) performance analytics, (iii) combination of performance measurements, (iv) percentage of QoS Flows or PDU session with the desired performance. This disclosure also defines the notion of supplementary energy cost as the addition network resource needed to support the desired performance.

[0023] Currently the Operations, Administration and Maintenance (0AM) defines energy cost per RAN and 5GC nodes and there is no notion of energy cost per UE, QoS flow, PDU session and slice. In addition, it defines energy efficiency per slice not per UE, QoS flow, PDU session and the definition of useful output is only specified for the case of slice leaving a gap for other granularities. There is also no consideration for quantifying supplementary resources needed for supporting the desired performance related to a UE, QoS flow, PDU session and slice.

[0024] Aspects of the present disclosure are described in the context of a wireless communications system.

[0025] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more NE 102, one or more UE 104, and a core network (CN) 106. The wireless communications system 100 may support various radio access technologies. In some implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a 4G network, such as an LTE network or an LTE- Advanced (LIE- A) network. In some other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a NR network, such as a 5G network, a 5G- Advanced (5G-A) network, or a 5G ultrawideband (5G-UWB) network. In other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a combination of a 4G network and a 5G network, or other suitable radio access technology includingInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20. The wireless communications system 100 may support radio access technologies beyond 5G, for example, 6G. Additionally, the wireless communications system 100 may support technologies, such as time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), or code division multiple access (CDMA), etc.

[0026] The one or more NE 102 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region to form the wireless communications system 100. One or more of the NE 102 described herein may be or include or may be referred to as a network node, a base station, a network element, a network function, a network entity, a radio access network (RAN), a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), or other suitable terminology. An NE 102 and a UE 104 may communicate via a communication link, which may be a wireless or wired connection. For example, an NE 102 and a UE 104 may perform wireless communication (e.g., receive signaling, transmit signaling) over a Uu interface.

[0027] An NE 102 may provide a geographic coverage area for which the NE 102 may support services for one or more UEs 104 within the geographic coverage area. For example, an NE 102 and a UE 104 may support wireless communication of signals related to services (e.g., voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc.) according to one or multiple radio access technologies. In some implementations, an NE 102 may be moveable, for example, a satellite associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN). In some implementations, different geographic coverage areas associated with the same or different radio access technologies may overlap, but the different geographic coverage areas may be associated with different NE 102.

[0028] The one or more UE 104 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region of the wireless communications system 100. A UE 104 may include or may be referred to as a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a subscriber device, a transmitter device, a receiver device, or some other suitable terminology. In some implementations, the UE 104 may be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 104 may be referred to as anInternet-of-Things (loT) device, an Internet-of-Everything (loE) device, or machine-type communication (MTC) device, among other examples.

[0029] A UE 104 may be able to support wireless communication directly with other UEs 104 over a communication link. For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a device-to-device (D2D) communication link. In some implementations, such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) deployments, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) deployments, or cellular-V2X deployments, the communication link may be referred to as a sidelink. For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a PC5 interface.

[0030] An NE 102 may support communications with the CN 106, or with another NE102, or both. For example, an NE 102 may interface with other NE 102 or the CN 106 through one or more backhaul links (e.g., SI, N2, N2, or network interface). In some implementations, the NE 102 may communicate with each other directly. In some other implementations, the NE 102 may communicate with each other or indirectly (e.g., via the CN 106. In some implementations, one or more NE 102 may include subcomponents, such as an access network entity, which may be an example of an access node controller (ANC). An ANC may communicate with the one or more UEs 104 through one or more other access network transmission entities, which may be referred to as a radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmission-reception points (TRPs).

[0031] The CN 106 may support user authentication, access authorization, tracking, connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The CN 106 may be an evolved packet core (EPC), or a 5G core (5GC), which may include a control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management functions (AMF)) and a user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), or a user plane function (UPF)). In some implementations, the control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management (e.g., data bearers, signal bearers, etc.) for the one or more UEs 104 served by the one or more NE 102 associated with the CN 106.

[0032] The CN 106 may communicate with a packet data network over one or more backhaul links (e.g., via an SI, N2, N2, or another network interface). The packet data network may include an application server. In some implementations, one or more UEs 104 may communicate with the application server. A UE 104 may establish a session (e.g., a protocol data unit (PDU) session, or the like) with the CN 106 via an NE 102. The CN 106 may route traffic (e.g., control information, data, and the like) between the UE 104 and the application server using the established session (e.g., the established PDU session). The PDU session may be an example of a logical connection between the UE 104 and the CN 106 (e.g., one or more network functions of the CN 106).

[0033] In the wireless communications system 100, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may use resources of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers)) to perform various operations (e.g., wireless communications). In some implementations, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support different resource structures. For example, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support different frame structures. In some implementations, such as in 4G, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support a single frame structure. In some other implementations, such as in 5 G and among other suitable radio access technologies, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures (i.e., multiple frame structures). The NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures based on one or more numerologies.

[0034] One or more numerologies may be supported in the wireless communications system 100, and a numerology may include a subcarrier spacing and a cyclic prefix. A first numerology (e.g., / r=0) may be associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. In some implementations, the first numerology (e.g., / r=0) associated with the first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may utilize one slot per subframe. A second numerology (e.g., / r=l) may be associated with a second subcarrier spacing (e.g., 30 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A third numerology (e.g., / r=2) may be associated with a third subcarrier spacing (e.g., 60 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix or an extended cyclic prefix. A fourth numerology (e.g., / r=3) may be associated with a fourth subcarrier spacing(e.g., 120 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A fifth numerology (e.g., / r=4) may be associated with a fifth subcarrier spacing (e.g., 240 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix.

[0035] A time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to frames (also referred to as radio frames). Each frame may have a duration, for example, a 10 millisecond (ms) duration. In some implementations, each frame may include multiple subframes. For example, each frame may include 10 subframes, and each subframe may have a duration, for example, a 1 ms duration. In some implementations, each frame may have the same duration. In some implementations, each subframe of a frame may have the same duration.

[0036] Additionally or alternatively, a time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to slots. For example, a subframe may include a number (e.g., quantity) of slots. The number of slots in each subframe may also depend on the one or more numerologies supported in the wireless communications system 100. For instance, the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth numerologies (i.e., / r=0, jU=l, / r=2, jU=3, / r=4) associated with respective subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz may utilize a single slot per subframe, two slots per subframe, four slots per subframe, eight slots per subframe, and 16 slots per subframe, respectively.# Each slot may include a number (e.g., quantity) of symbols (e.g., OFDM symbols). In some implementations, the number (e.g., quantity) of slots for a subframe may depend on a numerology. For a normal cyclic prefix, a slot may include 14 symbols. For an extended cyclic prefix (e.g., applicable for 60 kHz subcarrier spacing), a slot may include 12 symbols. The relationship between the number of symbols per slot, the number of slots per subframe, and the number of slots per frame for a normal cyclic prefix and an extended cyclic prefix may depend on a numerology. It should be understood that reference to a first numerology (e.g., / r=0) associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may be used interchangeably between subframes and slots.

[0037] In the wireless communications system 100, an electromagnetic (EM) spectrum may be split, based on frequency or wavelength, into various classes, frequency bands, frequency channels, etc. By way of example, the wireless communications system 100 may support one or multiple operating frequency bands, such as frequency range designationsFR1 (410 MHz - 7.125 GHz), FR2 (24.25 GHz - 52.6 GHz), FR3 (7.125 GHz - 24.25 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz - 114.25 GHz), FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz - 71 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz - 300 GHz). In some implementations, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may perform wireless communications over one or more of the operating frequency bands. In some implementations, FR1 may be used by the NEs 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for cellular communications traffic (e.g., control information, data). In some implementations, FR2 may be used by the NEs 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for short-range, high data rate capabilities.

[0038] FR1 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least three numerologies). For example, FR1 may be associated with a first numerology (e.g., / r=0), which includes 15 kHz subcarrier spacing; a second numerology (e.g., / r=l), which includes 30 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a third numerology (e.g., / r=2), which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing. FR2 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least 2 numerologies). For example, FR2 may be associated with a third numerology (e.g., / r=2), which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a fourth numerology (e.g., / r=3), which includes 120 kHz subcarrier spacing.

[0039] Network analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) is deployed in the 5G core network via the introducing of Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF). The NWDDAF may consider the support of various analytics types that can be distinguished using different Analytics IDs, e.g., “UE Mobility”, “NF Load”, etc. as elaborated in TS 23.288 V18.3.0 (Sept 2023) titled “Architecture enhancements for 5G systems (5GS) to support network data analytics services”. Each NWDAF may support one or more Analytics IDs and may have the role of: (i) AI / ML inference called NWDAF Analytics Logical Function (AnLF), or (ii) AI / ML training called NWDAF Model Training Logical Function (MTLF) or (iii) both.

[0040] Figure 2 illustrates an overview of NWDAF flavours, indicated generally by reference numeral 200, including the potential input data sources and output consumers. The various NWDAF deployment flavours and their respective input data sources and the potential consumer for analytics output results are illustrated. Optionally, a first DCCF 212 receives inputs from 5G Core Network Functions 202, Application Functions 204,untrusted application functions 204 via a network exposure function 206, 5G core repositories 208, and 0AM data 210. The 5G Core Repositories 208 may comprise a Network Repository Function (NRF), a Binding Support Function (BSF), an Analytics Data Repository Function (ADRF), a Unified Data Management (UDM), and / or a Unified Data Repository (UDR). The 0AM 210 may comprise a Management Services (MnS) Producer or a Management Function (MF) that provides Performance Measurements, Key Performance indicators, Configuration Management, and Alarm information. Optionally, the first DCCF 212 may provide data to an NWDAF AnLF / MTLF 214, an NWDAF AnLF 216, and an NWDAF MTLF 218.

[0041] The NWDAF containing AnLF / MTLF 214, the NWDAF containing AnLF 216, and the NWDAF containing MTLF 218 may pass on data, i.e., analytics results, to the second DCCF 222. The second DCCF 222 may further provide, i.e., distribute, such data to the 5G Core Network Functions 224, Application Functions 228, untrusted application functions 228 via a network exposure function 226, 5G core repositories 230, and 0AM data 232. The 5G Core Repositories 230 may comprise an Analytics Data Repository Function (ADRF), a Unified Data Management (UDM), and / or a Unified Data Repository (UDR). The 0AM 232 may comprise a Management Services (MnS) Consumer or a Management Function (MF).

[0042] In operation, an NWDAF relies on various sources of data input including data from 5G core NFs 202, AFs 204, 5G core repositories 208, and 0AM data 210. An NWDAF may provide in turn analytics output results to 5G core NF, AFs, and 0AM. Optionally, DCCF and MFAF may be involved to distribute and collect repeated data towards or from various data sources.

[0043] Currently, analytics on energy saving provided by the 0AM using the Management Data Analytics (MDA) clause 8.4.4 of 3GPP TS 28.104 vl 8.0.0 (June 2023) titled “Management and orchestration; Management Data Analytics (MDA)” focus on:• Energy efficiency NFs problems related to excessive energy consumption of a specific NF.• Energy saving recommendations related too NR cells indicating the cells that shall enter an energy saving state and which neighbouring cells shall take over the traffic considering when, i.e., the time interval of this activity. o 5G core UPFs indicating the UPFs shall enter an energy saving state and the other UPFs that shall take over the traffic considering when, i.e., the time interval of this activity.• Statistics of traffic load per cell and the energy saving ratio per cell, i.e., ratio of a cell being in energy saving state per time window.

[0044] These types of analytics focus on network resource level and perform either: root cause analysis for an energy problem encountered in the RAN or 5G core; or provide recommendations for applying energy saving states on NR cells and 5G core UPFs.

[0045] Considering this type for energy saving analytics, it is difficult to derive the energy cost per UE, or QoS flow or application or PDU connectivity. In other words, there is no notion of energy saving analytics per individual session or session type, which can be exposed towards a consumer.

[0046] Figure 3 illustrates an overview of a 5G NR network QoS architecture, indicated generally by reference numeral 300. The architecture 300 comprises a User Equipment 305, a NodeB (NB) 306 (e.g., a general Node B (gNB)) and a User Plane Function 325.

[0047] A PDU session 360 provides connectivity from the UE 305 to the UPF 325 via the NB 306. The UE 305 may handle multiple PDU sessions 360 for being connected to different external networks or end points.

[0048] Each PDU session 360 may support one or more QoS flows (e.g., QoS Flow 1, 364, QoS Flow 2, 365, QoS Flow 3, 366) and in turn each QoS flow 364, 365, 366 may allow multiple data flow that require the same QoS treatment as described in TS 23.501 V18.3.0 (Sept 2023) titled “System architecture for the 5G System (5GS)”. Figure 3 illustrates an overview of the 5GNR network QoS architecture in TS 38.300 V17.6.0 (Sept 2023) titled “NR and NG-RAN Overall Description”. Figure 3 shows the relation between QoS Flows 364, 365, 366 and PDU session 360.

[0049] Energy efficiency is specified in clause 6.7 of TS 28.554 V18.3.1 (Sept 2023) titled “5G end to end Key Performance Indicators (KPI)” as:• RAN: The ratio of the data volume divided by the energy consumption.• 5GC: The ratio of “the useful output in 5GC”, which can be defined with respect to the specific 5GNFs considered divided by the energy consumption.

[0050] Clause 6.7.2 TS 28.554 V18.3.1 defines energy efficiency in the context of network slicing as the ratio of performance of the network slice divided to the energy consumption of the network slice. Depending on the type of network slice there is a different notion of performance. Specifically, for:• enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) slice: performance is the sum of Uplink(UL) and Downlink (DL) data volumes at N3 interface(s) of the network slice, divided by the energy consumption of the network slice.• Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) slice: there are two notions of performance, one considering only latency when the amount of data that needs to be transferred is negligible and a second one that combines two factors, i.e., both latency and data volume. Performance is defined as follows: the inverse of the average end-to-end user plane latency of the network slice. the sum of UL and DL traffic volumes at N3 or N9 interface(s) on a per Single - Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI) basis multiplied by the inverse of the end-to-end user plane latency of the network slice.• Massive Internet of Things (MIoT) slice: performance is the maximum number of subscribers registered to the network slice.

[0051] Currently, there is no notion of energy efficiency per UE, or QoS flow or application or PDU connectivity or NF, since there is an open issue on the definition of the useful output in 5GC per difference granularity.

[0052] The solution described herein relates to a new analytics service, i.e., with a new Analytics ID, focusing on the energy performance (e.g., statistical or expected energy cost or energy efficiency) considering different types of granularities (for example, a granularity may be a portion of the wireless communication network). A granularity (or portion of the wireless communication network) may include one or more of:1. A Device or UE;2. A session, including per: (i) data flow (e.g., application), (ii) Quality of Service(QoS) flow and (iii) Packet Data Unit (PDU);3. A network including: (i) network slice and (ii) NF.

[0053] In some examples, the energy performance (e.g., energy cost and / or energy efficiency) concentrates on the user plane only without considering the energy impact from invoking the corresponding services in the control plane, which are responsible for establishing and controlling the user plane.

[0054] In some examples, the energy consumption related statistics or predictions concentrate on being able to:1. Estimate the load pattern and hence the data volume related to the portion of the wireless communication network (e.g., UE(s) or QoS Flow or PDU session or network slice or network function) and keep a record that shall reflect a statistical or predictive load pattern, e.g., on average, related to the corresponding granularity / portion of the wireless communication network considered.2. Relate the estimated data volume and associate it with the CPU needed per node, i.e., Physical Network Function (PNF) and Virtual Network Function (VNF), concentrating on the data plane, which may include 5G core User Plane Functions (UPFs) and Radio Access Network (RAN) nodes. The CPUconsumption can then be correlated with the energy consumption as specified in TS 28.552 V18.4.0 (Sept 2023) titled “5G performance measurements”.3. Estimate the number of nodes or amount of cloud resources (e.g., as a percentage) required or being involved in relation with the corresponding energy granularity case considered.

[0055] In some examples, the energy efficiency related statistics or predictions concentrates on being able to:1. Estimate the perceived performance either from: a. the AF data or feedback related to a specific application; b. the NWDAF concentrating on service experience or DN performance analytics regarding an application, network slice or a UE; c. specific performance measurements and KPIs including at least one of the following: i. data volume within a specific time window considering best effort traffic; ii. packet loss and / or drop rates per data volume within a specific time window; iii. end-to-end latency per a specified data volume. d. the user profile that provides the maximum bit rate, allowed services, wake up time if the user relates to a sensor device and allowed user mobility. e. the number and duration of disruptions per PDU session; f. need for modifications of a QoS Flow and the direction of modification, lower or higher QoS;g. percentage of QoS Flows with the desired performance divided by the total number, per PDU session; h. percentage of PDU sessions with desired performance to the total number per UE.2. Divide with the estimated performance to the energy consumption.

[0056] Energy efficiency related to NFs or network slice can be obtained from the 0AM as specified in the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) of clause 6.7.2 TS 28.554 VI 8.3.1 (Sept 2023) titled “5G end to end Key Performance Indicators (KPI)”.

[0057] The energy performance may comprise supplementary energy consumption which concentrates on the use of additionally network resources at off-peak times (i.e., at times where these additional network resources such as general Node B (gNB) and UPFs are powered off to save energy) and can be estimated as follows:1. estimate the perceived performance as in the case of energy efficiency;2. estimate the additional network resources beyond the ones already powered off that are needed to support it.

[0058] The characterization of the load pattern is useful for energy related calculations and may consider the:• Device or UE type, e.g., mobile user, Internet of Things (loT) device, MobileInitiated Connection Only (MICO), drone, etc.• Application characteristics, i.e., UL / DL throughput, data volume, time schedule, etc.• Communication patterns, i.e., communication periodicity, active and inactive time periods, etc.• Type of network slice that provide information related to the service type, e.g., broadband, loT, URLLC.• Data network (DN) involved, i.e., DN, that indicates the location from where or towards data is exchanged.• User profile (from User Data Manager (UDM) / User Data Repository (UDR) considering UE ID or group UE ID): relates to UE location, UE mobility pattern, service permissions, allowed QoS profiles, session continuity support, Data Network Name (DNN) access, etc.• Geographical area, i.e., Tracking Area (TA) or cell(s) identity involved.

[0059] This data, load pattern related to a data flow, QoS Flow, or PDU session characterization may be:• Deterministic if there is prior knowledge of the communication pattern, e.g., for loT devices that wake up and transmit certain measurements that specific point in time.Expected UE Behaviour parameters as specified in TS 23.502 V18.3.0 (Sept 2023) titled “Procedures for the 5G System (5GS)”.• Analytics by knowing the Application ID:Analytics ID =” Communication Analytics” as specified in TS 23.288 VI 8.3.0 (Sept 2023) titled “Architecture enhancements for 5G System (5GS) to support network data analytics services” (see load per session).• Estimating application type as per TR 23.700-81 VI 8.0.0 (December 2022) titled “Study of Enablers for Network Automation for the 5G System (5GS)”, clause 6.9 - NWDAF-assisted application detection;Data Volume and bit rate for UL / DL;Data transmission activity / inactivity periods and duration.

[0060] In some examples, the goal of analytics may be to provide energy performance (e.g., energy cost and / or energy efficiency and / or supplementary energy consumption analytics) of the granularity / portion of the wireless communication network to the respective consumer.

[0061] Some examples of this idea are described by introducing a new Energy Analytics ID for NWDAF considering the different options for input data and output results, e.g., statistics and predictions. The input data may be data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0062] The same principles may also be applied for the case of Application Data Analytics Enablement Service (AD AES) where analytics are determined in the application plane.

[0063] The Energy Analytics may be identified by a new Analytics ID.

[0064] The Energy Analytics may allow NWDAF to provide statistics and / or predictions on energy performance (e.g., expected energy consumption and / or energy efficiency and / or supplementary energy consumption) for a given portion of the wireless communication network e.g., (i) UE or group of UEs, (ii) QoS Flow(s), (iii) PDU session(s), (iv) serviced in the form of network slice(s), or (v) network resources such as NFs, or a combination of the mentioned options.

[0065] The service consumer may be an Application Service Provider (ASP), or it can also be another Network Function (NF), e.g., Policy Control Function (PCF), or the Operations, Administration and Maintenance (0AM), e.g., slice management entity.

[0066] The consumer of these analytics may indicate in the request:• Analytics ID = "Energy Analytics". The Analytics ID provides an insight related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network (e.g., energy cost and energy efficiency).• Preferred energy analytics output i.e., energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network such as i) energy cost, ii) energy efficiency, iii) supplementary energy consumption or any combination.• Target of Analytics Reporting may contain at least one of:A single UE (SUPI) or a group of UEs (an Internal Group ID).A PDU session or a group of PDU sessions per UE or per group of UEs.A QoS flow or a group of QoS flows per PDU session.A network slice (S-NSSAI) or a group of network slices.A NF or a group of NFs, e.g., within a network domain or geographical Area of Interest.• Analytics Filter Information:Optionally, geographical Area of Interest (list of TA or Cells) which restricts the area in focus.Optionally, network slice (S-NSSAI) that restricts the focus.Optionally, time window of interest, indicating start and stop time or start time and duration.• Target ASP ID (MAC address or IP 3-tuple) or Application ID.• Optionally, maximum number of objects.• Optionally, a preferred level of accuracy of the analytics or per analytics subset.• Optionally, preferred order of reporting the results, for the time slot entries: ascending or descending time slot.• Optionally, Reporting Thresholds, which apply only for subscriptions and indicate conditions on the level to be reached for respective analytics information to be notified by NWDAF:Energy cost or energy efficiency, e.g., when it surpasses an indicated threshold limit.Energy cost or energy efficiency, e.g., when it surpasses an indicated threshold limit with respect to the target of analytics reporting, e.g., with respect to: a single UE or specific UEs in a given group of UEs,■ PDU session or specific PDU session related to a single or different UEs;■ a QoS flow or specific QoS flows related to a single or different UEs;■ a network slice (S-NSSAI) or a group of network slices.Network load, e.g., average, on a specified geographical Area of Interest or network domain, when it is below or above an indicated threshold limit.• Analytics target period indicates the time-period over which the statistics / prediction are requested.• In a subscription, reporting Notification Correlation ID and the NotificationTarget Address are included as well as the subscription time duration within which reports shall be provided and optionally a periodic reporting time.

[0067] The NWDAF supporting data analytics on energy performance of the wireless communication network such as energy consumption and / or energy efficiency and / or supplementary energy consumption shall be able to collect UE related, application information from ASPs, network information from the 5G core and 0AM respectively.

[0068] Table 1 below illustrates the input data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network collected from 5GS for the purpose of determining the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. Generic Information can be used for all different granularities / portions of the wireless communication network to complement the input data per UE, QoS Flow, PDU session and Network slice / NF, which are shown separately.Table 1: Input data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0069] The types of data shown in table 1 may be used by the network entity to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. For example, the data may be collected from 5GS for Energy Consumption.

[0070] In some examples, the input data listed in table 1 may be used to gain knowledge related to: (i) the involved UE(s) and their location, including potential locations (due to mobility), (ii) RAN and 5GC network utilization related to the involved UPFs and gNBs, (iii) energy performance information of UPFs and gNBs in the region of interest.

[0071] Then depending on the desired granularity / portion of the wireless communication network, further information can be obtained focusing on the associated data volume and communications patterns as well as the potential communication end points within the indicated time window including:• Target UE(s): i) data volume, ii) max data volume;• QoS Flow: i) App ID, ii) location of DNN, iii) expected behaviour or QoS flow patterns or QoS Flow Identifier (QFI) info;• PDU Session: i) PDU ID, ii) data volume, iii) location of DNN;• Network Slice: i) S-NSSAI ID, ii) load of NFs within a network slice, iii) max data volume per slice.

[0072] The communication patterns can be obtained with respect to the needs of the different granularities / portion of the wireless communication network by aggregating QoS Flows to PDU session and PDU session to UE communications and network slice communication patterns.

[0073] In some examples, the NWDAF may calculate the energy cost related to a UE or group of UE, QoS Flow, PDU session or network slice by collecting one or more of the following information:• timestamp of UE(s) served by a cell ID or a set of cell ID(s) and UPF ID(s);• amount of data used or bit rate while the UE, QoS Flow, PDU session, network slice is served by this cell(s) and UPF(s);• total data handled by that cell(s) an UPF(s) during that time stamp;• total number of UEs served by the cell(s) and UPF(s) during time stamp;• energy utilisation of cell(s) and UPF(s) during time stamp.

[0074] Table 2 below shows the types of data that may be used by the network entity to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. For example, the data may be collected from 5GS for Energy Efficiency.Table 2: Input data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0075] Complementing the energy expenditure information in Table 1, the energy efficient input data in Table 2 can further provide an insight on the performance of a UE, PDU session, QoS flow or application, network slice and NF.

[0076] In some examples, the performance measurement may include one or more of data volume, latency and active UEs for evaluating the energy efficiency of different types of network slices, this disclosure proposes to use packet loss and packet drop as a means to measure the portion of data that needs to be retransmitted (for example, data that was transmitted up to a certain point without reaching the destination).

[0077] In some examples, the energy efficiency estimations may consider the additional energy cost for awaking network resources, e.g., NF. For this reason, energy states of RAN and 5GC nodes can provide information regarding the network resources in powered-off state. This may also help to calculate the supplementary energy costs for the case of off- peak times.

[0078] Depending on the requested level of accuracy, data collection may be provided on samples (e.g., spatial subsets of UEs or UE group, temporal subsets of UE location information).

[0079] Table 2 above lists information that may be obtained from different data sources.

[0080] One or more of the data types listed in Table 1 and / or Table 2 may be used to determine the energy performance of the portion of the mobile network.

[0081] The NWDAF may analyse one or more of the data types listed in Table 1 and / or Table 2 (i.e., data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network) to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0082] The NWDAF may output the requested (i.e., requested in the first request message of claim 1) energy performance of the portion of the mobile network.

[0083] For example, the NWDAF may output the energy cost and / or energy efficiency and / or supplementary energy consumption of the portion of the wireless communication network. For example, the portion of the wireless communication network may include one or more of UE, QoS Flow, PDU session, network slice / NF.

[0084] The NWDAF may transmit, to the analytics consumer, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. For example, the report message may comprise analytics results such as statistics and / or predictions related to the portion of the wireless communication network. For statistics the desired window is in the past, while for predictions it involves future times.

[0085] For example, Table 3 below describes examples of statistics or predictions related to the energy performance of a UE or group of UEs. In some examples, Table 3 below describes examples of statistics or predictions related to the energy cost of a UE or group of UEs. In some examples, Table 3 below describes examples of statistics or predictions related to the energy efficiency of a UE or group of UEs.Table 3: Statistics and predictions related to the energy performance of a UE or group ofUEs.

[0086] For example, Table 4 below describes examples of statistics or predictions related to the energy performance of a PDU session. In some examples, Table 4 below describes examples of statistics or predictions related to the energy cost of a PDU session. In some examples, Table 4 below describes examples of statistics or predictions related to the energy efficiency of a PDU session.Table 4: Statistics and predictions related to the energy performance of a PDU Session.

[0087] For example, Table 5 below describes examples of statistics or predictions related to the energy performance of a QoS Flow. In some examples, Table 5 below describes examples of statistics or predictions related to the energy cost of a QoS Flow. In some examples, Table 5 below describes examples of statistics or predictions related to the energy efficiency of a QoS Flow.Table 5: Statistics and predictions related to the energy performance of a QoS Flow.

[0088] For example, Table 6 below describes examples of statistics or predictions related to the energy performance of a Network Slice. In some examples, Table 6 below describes examples of statistics or predictions related to the energy cost of a Network Slice. In some examples, Table 6 below describes examples of statistics or predictions related to the energy efficiency of a Network Slice.Table 6: Statistics and predictions related to the energy performance of a NetworkSlice

[0089] Energy consumption costs per Network Function NF or RAN nodes are already specified in the 0AM in clause 5.1.1.19 TS 28.552 V18.4.0. Energy efficiency can also be provided by the 0AM if it is a RAN node as described in clause 6.7.1 TS 28.554 VI 8.3.1 and for 5GC NFs as described in clause 6.7.4 TS 28.554 V18.3.1.

[0090] The number of path information entries is limited by the maximum number of objects provided as part of Analytics Reporting Information.

[0091] The NWDAF provides energy cost or energy efficiency information Analytics to a consumer at the time requested by the analytics consumer in the Analytics target period:• Analytics ID set to "Energy Analytics".• Notification Target Address including the address of the analytics consumer.• Notification Correlation Id, for the analytics consumer to correlate notifications from NWDAF if subscription applies.• Analytics specific parameters at the time indicated in the Analytics target period.

[0092] Figure 4 illustrates a signalling diagram for a process, indicated generally by reference numeral 400, for determining the energy performance of a portion of a wireless communication network, according to one or more embodiments.

[0093] The process 400 may comprise an Analytics Consumer 410, a First NWDAF (Energy Analytics) 415, a Network Repository Function (NRF) 420, a Second NWDAF 416, a Session Management Function (SMF) / User Plane Function (UPF) 425, an Accessand Mobility Function (AMF) 430, an Application Function (435) and an Operations, and Administration and Maintenance (0AM) / Management Data Analytics Function (MDAF) 440.

[0094] The process commences at step 471, the analytics consumer 410 may be either pre-configured with the appropriate First NWDAF (Analytics ID = Energy Analytics) 415 or it may discover the First NWDAF 415 through NRF 420. The analytics consumer 410 may transmit to the First NWDAF 415, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network. For example, the analytics consumer 410 may issue a subscription to the First NWDAF 415, for example by transmitting a nwdaf AnalyticsSubscription Subscribe message to the First NWDAF 415. In some examples, the analytics consumer 410 may issue an on-demand request to the First NWDAF 415, for example by transmitting an Nnwdaf_AnalyticsInfo_Request (Analytics ID = Energy Analytics, target of analytics, filter information, etc.) message to the selected First NWDAF 415. The subscription or on- demand request may be a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network.

[0095] In step 472, the First NWDAF 415 may receive, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. For example, the First NWDAF 415, following receipt of a subscription or request for energy analytics from the analytics consumer 410, may collect the required input data (if not collected already). The input data may be data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0096] In step 472a, the First NWDAF 415 discovers (e.g., via the NRF 420 using the Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request service) the NFs that the First NWDAF 415 needs to collect data from. The First NWDAF 415 may provide a region where the involved UEs reside or provide an indicated geographical area of interest.

[0097] In step 472b, the NRF 420 replies, for example, using the Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request response service providing the corresponding NFs.

[0098] In step 473a, the First NWDAF 415 requests or subscribes to Second NWDAF 416 in order to receive data related to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network from the Second NWDAF 416. For example, the First NWDAF 415 may send a request message (e.g., using an Analytics ID = UE Communication, or Analytics ID = UE Mobility, Analytics ID = Network Performance Analytics ID = DN Performance or Analytics ID = NF Load) to receive data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; for example, the data may include mobility analytics related to the involved UEs and network performance or DN analytics or NF load analytics in the region where the involved UEs reside or explicitly indicated by geographical area of interest. For example, the First NWDAF 415 may send a Nnwdaf_AnalyticsInfo_Request service message or Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Subscribe service message to Second NWDAF 416.

[0099] In step 473 b, the First NWDAF 415 receives a response message comprising data related to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network from the Second NWDAF 416. For example, the First NWDAF 415 may receive the requested analytics in a Nnwdaf AnalyticsInfo Request response message or Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Notify message from the Second NWDAF 416.

[0100] In some examples, NL load measurements may be obtained from the NRF 420.

[0101] In step 474a, the First NWDAF 415 subscribes to SMF and / or UPF 425 in order to receive data related to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network from the SMF / UPF 425. For example, the First NWDAF 415 may send a Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe message and / or Nupf_EventExposure_Subscribe service message to the SMF / UPF 425 to obtain UE, PDU session or QoS flow information.

[0102] In step 474b, the First NWDAF 415 receives a response message comprising data related to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network from the SMF / UPF 425. For example, the UE, PDU session and QoS flow information, which is received from SMF and / or UPF may be provided to the First NWDAF 415 in a Nsmf_EventExposure_Notify message and / or Nupf_EventExposure_Notify message from the SMF / UPF 425.

[0103] In step 475a, the First NWDAF 415 subscribes to AMF 430 in order to receive data related to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network from the AMF 430. For example, the First NWDAF 415 may send a Namf EventExposure Subscribe service message to the AMF 430 to get the location of the involved UEs or the gNB information that serves an indicated UE.

[0104] In step 475b, the First NWDAF 415 receives a response message comprising data related to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network from the AMF 430. For example, the AMF 430 may send a Namf_EventExposure_Notify message to the First NWDAF 415.

[0105] In some examples, the UE location information may also or alternatively be obtained from a Location Management Function (LMF) (not shown).

[0106] In step 476a, the First NWDAF 415 subscribes to the AF 435 in order to receive data related to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network from the AF 435. For example, the First NWDAF 415 may send a Naf_EventExposure_Subscribe service message to the AF 435 to get the expected UE behaviour if possible and / or other application related data.

[0107] In step 476b, the First NWDAF 415 receives a response message comprising data related to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network from the AF 435. For example, the AF 435 may send a Naf_EventExposure_Notify service message to the First NWDAF 415.

[0108] In some examples, if the AF 435 is untrusted, the First NWDAF 415 may subscribe to notifications regarding data collected from the AF 435 via NEF (not shown).

[0109] In step 477, the First NWDAF 415 requests or subscribes to 0AM 440 services related to Configuration Management (CM) in order to receive data related to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network from the 0 AM 440. For example, the First NWDAF 415 may request or subscribe to 0AM 440 services related to CM for obtaining energy saving state (e.g., powered-off or “sleeping”) and / or maintenance state and / or fault state related to network equipment, e.g., UPF 425 from the 0AM 440.The 0AM 440 may additionally provide network performance measurements related to theradio resource utilization, energy consumption measurements and energy efficiency KPIs as well as packet drop and packet loss measurements for both RAN and 5GC.

[0110] In addition, in step 477, the First NWDAF 415 can also request or subscribe to MDA 440 in order to receive data related to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network from the MDA 440. For example, the First NWDAF 415 may request or subscribe to MDA 440 to receive assisted energy saving analytics; for example, using (MDA Type = MDAAssistedEnergySaving.EnergySavingAnalysis), as described in clause 6.2.14 TS 23.288 V18.3.0 to receive recommendations related to network equipment that can potentially enter energy saving state (i.e., be powered-off).

[0111] In some examples, to identify the network equipment that would request CM energy saving states, the First NWDAF 415 can rely on the region where the involved UEs reside or on the indicated geographical area of interest.

[0112] In step 478, the First NWDAF 415 analyses the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. For example, the First NWDAF 415 (Analytics ID = Energy Analytics) derives the requested analytics.

[0113] In step 479, the First NWDAF 415 transmits, to the analytics consumer 410, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. For example, the First NWDAF 415 may send a Nnwdaf AnalyticsInfo Request response message or Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Notify message to the analytics consumer 410, which contains statistics and / or predictions (Energy Analytics, Subscription Correlation ID, etc.).

[0114] In some examples, the wireless communication network may notify the First NWDAF 415 of any updates or changes to the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. For example, changes related to UE mobility or network or DN performance, etc.) or changes on location of the involved UEs reported by the AMF 430, or regarding the application characteristics reported by the AF 435 or the CM and MDA 440 reported by the 0AM 440 can trigger updated notifications tothe First NWDAF 415 provided that the First NWDAF 415 subscribed to receive updates once a new report is prepared.

[0115] For example, in step 480, the Second NWDAF 416 may transmit a first notification message to the First NWDAF 415. For example, the Second NWDAF 416 may transmit a Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Notify message to the First NWDAF 415.

[0116] For example, in step 481, the SMF / UPF 425 may transmit a second notification message to the First NWDAF 415. For example, the SMF / UPF 425 may transmit a Nsmf_AnalyticsSubscription_Notify / Nupf_AnalyticsSubscription_Notify message to the First NWDAF 415.

[0117] For example, in step 482, the AMF 430 may transmit a third notification message to the First NWDAF 415. For example, the AMF 430 may transmit a Namf_EventExposure_Notify message to the First NWDAF 415.

[0118] For example, in step 483, the AF 435 may transmit a fourth notification message to the First NWDAF 415. For example, the AF 435 may transmit a Naf_EventExposure_Notify message to the First NWDAF 415.

[0119] For example, in step 484, the OAM / MDAF 440 may transmit a fifth notification message to the First NWDAF 415. For example, the OAM / MDAF 440 may transmit a Notification of 0AM data collection or MDA analytics results message to the First NWDAF 415.

[0120] In step 485, following receipt of any of the above notification messages, the First NWDAF 415 may analyse the updated or changed data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine an updated energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. For example, the First NWDAF 415 (Energy Analytics) may derive new analytics; taking into account the most recent data collected.

[0121] In step 486, the First NWDAF 415 transmits, to the analytics consumer 410, a second report message comprising the updated energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. For example, once the analytics reporting period isreached or the reporting thresholds are crossed, the First NWDAF 415 (Energy Analytics) provides a notification using a Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Notify (Energy Analytics, Subscription Correlation ID, etc.) message to the analytics consumer 410.

[0122] There is provided, a method by a network entity for a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving, from an analytics consumer, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; receiving, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; analysing the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; transmitting, to the analytics consumer, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0123] Such a method enables an analytics consumer to request the network entity to provide the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network.

[0124] The network entity may be an analytics function. The network entity may be a Network Data Analytics Function, NWDAF. The network entity may be an analytics producer network entity.

[0125] The wireless communication network may comprise one or more of: a user equipment, UE; a core network, a Radio Access Network, RAN. The wireless communication network may comprise one or more of a Session Management Function, SMF; a User Plane Function, UPF; a NWDAF; an Access and Mobility management Function, AMF; an Operations, Administration, and Maintenance, 0AM, function; an Application Function, AF; Network Exposure Function, NEF; a Management Data Analytics, MDA, Function; Model Training Logical Function, MTLF; Network Repository Function, NRF; general Node B, gNB; Analytics Logical Function, ANLF; Policy Control Function, PCF: Physical Network Function, PNF; User Data Manager, UDM; Virtual Network Function, VNF. The wireless communication network may be a fifth Generation, 5G, wireless communication network.

[0126] The analytics consumer may be an application service provider. The analytics consumer may be a third party. The analytics consumer may be a network function. The analytics consumer may be a Policy Control Function, PCF. The analytics consumer may be an Operations, Administration, and Maintenance, 0AM, function.

[0127] The analytics consumer may be pre-configured with the network entity. The analytics consumer may discover the network entity. The analytics consumer may discover the network entity through a Network Function Repository Function, NRF.

[0128] The first request message may be a subscription to the network entity. The first request message may be an on-demand request to the network entity. The request message may comprise an analytics ID. The analytics ID may correspond to a request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network.

[0129] The portion of the wireless communication network may be a granularity of the wireless communication network.

[0130] Receiving, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may comprise collecting, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0131] Analysing the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may comprise collecting the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0132] The data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may be sent to the network entity in response to a second request message transmitted to the wireless communication network. The data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may be sent to the analytics producer network entity in response to a second request message transmitted to the wireless communication network. The second request message may be transmitted to the wireless communication network by the network entity. The second request messagemay be transmited to the wireless communication network by a different entity. The second request message may comprise a request for data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. The second request message may be sent to one or more entities in the wireless communication network. The second request message may be sent to one or more entities in the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0133] The data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may be related to communication within the wireless communication network by the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0134] The energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may comprise the energy consumption of the portion of the wireless communication network. The energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may comprise the energy efficiency of the portion of the wireless communication network. The energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may comprise the energy cost of the portion of the wireless communication network. The energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may comprise the supplementary energy consumption of the portion of the wireless communication network. The supplementary energy consumption of the portion of the wireless communication network may include the energy consumption corresponding to the use of additional network resources (e.g., gNBs or UPFs) at off-peak times (for example, at times where the additional network resources are powered off to save energy).

[0135] The energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may comprise statistical analysis of the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network of the wireless communication network. The energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may comprise prediction of the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network of the wireless communication network.

[0136] The energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may comprise performance information of the portion of the wireless communication network. The energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication networkmay comprise energy expenditure of the portion of the wireless communication network. The energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may comprise energy efficiency of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0137] The energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may comprise supplementary energy expenditure of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0138] The supplementary energy expenditure may comprise supplementary energy consumption.

[0139] The portion of the wireless communication network may be the granularity of the wireless communication network. The portion of the wireless communication network may be one or more user equipment, UE. The portion of the wireless communication network may be one or more Quality of Service (QoS) Flow(s). The portion of the wireless communication network may be one or more Packet Data Unit (PDU) session(s). The portion of the wireless communication network may be one or more network slice(s). The portion of the wireless communication network may be one or more Network Function(s).

[0140] Optionally, the portion of the wireless communication network comprises communications of one or more of: one or more user equipment; one or more packet data unit, PDU, session(s); one or more quality of service, QoS, flow(s); one or more network slice(s); or one or more network function(s).

[0141] Optionally, the user equipment may be a remote unit. Optionally, the user equipment may be a user device. Optionally, the user equipment may be a mobile device.

[0142] Optionally, the one or more quality of service, QoS, flow(s) may be a QoS flow or a group of QoS flows per packet data unit, PDU, session.

[0143] Optionally, the one or more network function(s) may be within a network domain. The one or more network function(s) may be within a geographical area of interest.

[0144] Optionally, the first request message further comprises an indication for restricting the portion of the wireless communication network to one or more of: a geographical area; a network slice; or a time window of interest.

[0145] Optionally, the geographical area may be one or more Tracking Area(s), TA. The geographical area may be one or more cells. The geographical area may be a set of geographical ordered coordinates.

[0146] Optionally, the first request message further comprises a second request for reporting if the portion of the wireless communication network surpasses an energy performance threshold and / or a load threshold.

[0147] Optionally, the energy performance threshold may be a maximum energy performance threshold. Optionally, the energy performance threshold may be a minimum energy performance threshold.

[0148] Optionally, the energy performance threshold may be an energy performance threshold for the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0149] Optionally, the load threshold may be a maximum load threshold. The load threshold may be a minimum load threshold.

[0150] Optionally, the load threshold may be a load threshold for the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0151] Optionally, determining the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network comprises determining one or more of: an energy consumption; an energy cost; an energy efficiency; or a supplementary energy consumption of the portion.

[0152] Optionally, determining the energy consumption of the portion of the wireless communication network comprises determining, from the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network, the volume or a bit rate of the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0153] Optionally, the volume or bit rate of the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may be determined from user data in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. Optionally, the volume or bit rate of the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may be determined from usercommunication behaviour in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. Optionally, the volume or bit rate of the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may be determined from application information in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. Optionally, the volume or bit rate of the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may be determined from session connectivity and / or session modification information in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. Optionally, the volume or bit rate of the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network may be determined from network performance information in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0154] Optionally, determining the energy consumption of the portion of the wireless communication network further comprises determining, from the volume or bit rate of the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network, the energy expenditure of one or more network nodes involved in handling communication in respect of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0155] Optionally, the energy expenditure may be the total energy expenditure for all handling traffic per network node.

[0156] Optionally, determining the energy consumption in handling communications with respect to the portion of the wireless communication network further comprises calculating the energy consumption from the volume or bit rate of the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network and the energy expenditure of the one or more network nodes involved in handling communication in respect of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0157] Optionally, determining the energy efficiency in handling communications with respect to the portion of the wireless communication network comprises: determining, from the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network, the useful output of a user plane of the portion of the wireless communication network; and calculating the energy efficiency from the energy consumption of the portionof the wireless communication network and the useful output of the user plane of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0158] Optionally, the useful output of the user plane of the portion of the wireless communication network may depend on a target imposed by the application. For example, for a PDU session, the useful output may be characterized by the number of applications supported as desired (based on the application specific assessment criteria) or based on SLA to the total number of applications on that PDU session.

[0159] Optionally, the useful output may be determined from application information data in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. Optionally, the useful output may be determined from service performance data in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. Optionally, the useful output may be determined from service experience analytics in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. Optionally, the useful output may be determined from performance measurements data in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. Optionally, the performance measurements may comprise data volume. Optionally, the performance measurements may comprise latency. Optionally, the performance measurements may comprise packet loss and drop. Optionally, the performance measurements may comprise the number of active user equipment. Optionally, the performance measurements may comprise a combination of one or more of data volume, latency, packet loss and drop or number of active UEs. Optionally, the useful output may be determined from a percentage of QoS Flows with the desired performance for the portion of the wireless communication network (e.g., a PDU session). Optionally, the useful output may be determined from a percentage of PDU sessions with the desired performance for the portion of the wireless communication network (e.g., a UE).

[0160] Optionally, determining the supplementary energy consumption in handling communication with respect to the portion of the wireless communication network comprises determining, from the data related to the energy performance of the portion ofthe wireless communication network, the traffic pattern of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0161] Optionally, the traffic pattern may be determined from user data in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. Optionally, the traffic pattern may be determined from user communication behaviour in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. Optionally, the traffic pattern may be determined from application information in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. Optionally, the traffic pattern may be determined from session connectivity and / modification information in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. Optionally, the traffic pattern may be determined from network performance information in the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0162] Optionally, determining the supplementary energy consumption in handling communication in respect of the portion of the wireless communication network comprises determining, from the traffic pattern of the portion of the wireless communication network, one or more network node required to leave an energy saving state to support the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0163] Optionally, transmitting, to the wireless communication network, a second request message for data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0164] Optionally, the second request message may be for collection of data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0165] There is provided, a network entity for a wireless communication network, the network entity comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the network entity to: receive, from an analytics consumer, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; receive, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion ofthe wireless communication network; analyse the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; and transmit, to the analytics consumer, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0166] Such a network entity is able to provide an analytics consumer with information relating to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network.

[0167] The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the wireless communication network comprises communications of one or more of: one or more user equipment; one or more packet data unit, PDU, session(s); one or more quality of service, QoS, flow(s); one or more network slice(s); or one or more network function(s).

[0168] Optionally, the first request message further comprises an indication for restricting the portion of the wireless communication network to one or more of: a geographical area; a network slice; or a time window of interest.

[0169] Optionally, the first request message further comprises a request for reporting if the portion of the wireless communication network surpasses an energy performance threshold and / or a load threshold.

[0170] Optionally, the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: determine one or more of: an energy consumption; an energy cost; an energy efficiency; or a supplementary energy consumption of the portion.

[0171] Optionally, the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: determine, from the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network, the volume or a bit rate of the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0172] Optionally, the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: determine, from the volume or bit rate ofthe data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network, the energy expenditure of one or more network nodes involved in handling communication in respect of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0173] Optionally, the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: calculate the energy consumption from the volume or bit rate of the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network and the energy expenditure of the one or more network nodes involved in handling communication with respect to the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0174] Optionally, the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: determine, from the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network, the useful output of a user plane of the portion of the wireless communication network; and calculate the energy efficiency from the energy consumption of the portion of the wireless communication network and the useful output of the user plane of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0175] Optionally, the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: determine, from the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network, the traffic pattern of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0176] Optionally, the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: determine, from the traffic pattern of the portion of the wireless communication network, one or more network nodes required to leave an energy saving state to support the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0177] Optionally, the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: transmit, to the wireless communication network, a second request message for data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0178] There is provided, a processor for a wireless communication network, comprising: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: receive, from an analytics consumer, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; receive, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; analyse the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; and transmit, to the analytics consumer, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0179] Such a processor enables a network entity to provide an analytics consumer with information relating to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network.

[0180] There is provided, a method by an analytics consumer for a wireless communication network, the method comprising: transmitting, to a network entity, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; receiving, from the network entity, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0181] Such a method enables the analytics consumer to request information relating to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network from a network entity.

[0182] Optionally, the first request message further comprises an indication for restricting the portion of the wireless communication network to one or more of: a geographical area; a network slice; or a time window of interest.

[0183] Optionally, the first request message further comprises a second request for reporting if the portion of the wireless communication network surpasses an energy performance threshold and / or a load threshold.

[0184] There is provided, an analytics consumer for a wireless communication network, the analytics consumer comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupledwith the at least one memory and configured to cause the analytics consumer to: transmit, to a network entity, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; and receive, from the network entity, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0185] Such an analytics consumer is able to request information relating to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network from a network entity.

[0186] Optionally, the first request message further comprises an indication for restricting the portion of the wireless communication network to one or more of: a geographical area; a network slice; or a time window of interest.

[0187] Optionally, the first request message further comprises a second request for reporting if the portion of the wireless communication network surpasses an energy performance threshold and / or a load threshold.

[0188] There is provided, a processor for a wireless communication network, comprising: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: transmit, to a network entity, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; receive, from the network entity, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0189] Such a processor enables an analytics consumer to request information relating to the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network from a network entity.

[0190] This disclosure focuses on deriving analytics for energy saving and energy efficiency considering a range of different granularities (e.g., portions of a wireless communication network) such as UE, QoS flow or application, PDU session and network slice. In addition, it defines the notion of useful output to derive energy efficiency for the different granularities of UE, QoS flow, and PDU session. This information can be exposed to a 3rd party or a generic consumer within the PLMN.

[0191] In addition, this disclosure defines a new Analytics ID and new attributes to request energy analytics per UE, QoS flow, PDU session, network slice and NF. It further defines meta data related to energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network which may include energy cost, energy efficiency or supplementary energy cost for reporting.

[0192] Regarding energy consumption this disclosure: (i) estimates the load pattern of UE(s) or QoS Flow or PDU session or network slice or NF, (ii) relates the estimated load pattern with the CPU needed per RAN and 5GC node, and (iii) estimates the amount of network resources as a percentage. For energy efficiency, it defines the notion of useful output via: (i) AF feedback, (ii) performance analytics, (iii) combination of performance measurements, (iv) percentage of QoS Flows or PDU session with the desired performance. This disclosure also defines the notion of supplementary energy cost as the addition network resource needed to support the desired performance.

[0193] An 0AM defines energy cost per RAN and 5GC nodes but an 0AM does not currently define energy cost per UE, QoS flow, PDU session and slice. In addition, an 0AM defines energy efficiency per slice but an 0AM does not currently define energy efficiency not per UE, QoS flow, PDU session. Furthermore, the definition of useful output is only specified for the case of slice leaving a gap for other granularities. There is also no consideration for quantifying supplementary resources needed for supporting the desired performance related to a UE, QoS flow, PDU session and slice.

[0194] In some examples, a new Analytics ID is provided in NWDAF which may contain one or more of the following:• Energy cost analytics per UE, QoS flow, PDU session, network slice.• Energy efficiency analytics per UE, QoS flow, PDU session,• Supplementary cost analytics per UE, QoS flow, PDU session and network slice.

[0195] There is provided, a network entity [analytics function] for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the network entity to: receive analyticsrequest for providing energy consumption and / or energy efficiency, that indicates the granularity of reporting; collects the required input data to determine energy consumption and / or energy efficiency; transmit a report message to the consumer to provide analytics related to at least one energy consumption and / or energy efficiency for an indicated granularity an indicated time window.

[0196] Optionally, the request message comprises the granularity of reporting containing at least one of: a single UE (SUPI) or a group of UEs (an Internal Group ID) ; a PDU session or a group of PDU sessions per UE or per group of UEs; a QoS flow or a group of QoS flows per PDU session; a network slice (S-NSSAI) or a group of network slices; a NF or a group of NFs, e.g., within a network domain or Area of Interest.

[0197] Optionally, the request message comprises filtering information containing at least one of: area of Interest (list of TA or Cells) which restricts the area in focus; network slice (S-NSSAI) that restricts the focus; time window of interest, indicating start and stop time or start time and duration.

[0198] Optionally, the request message comprises reporting thresholds information to report upon surpassing in either direction at least one of: the determined energy consumption or energy efficiency; the determined energy consumption or energy efficiency with respect to a single UE or specific UEs in a given group of UEs; PDU session or specific PDU session related to a single or different UEs; a QoS flow or specific QoS flows related to a single or different UEs; a network slice (S-NSSAI) or a group of network slices; average network load on the indicated area of interest.

[0199] Optionally, the energy consumption analytics is determined per indicated granularity by: calculating the data volume or bit rate for an specified time duration per said indicated granularity considering input data related to at least one of: user data and / or user communication behaviour; application information; session connectivity and modification information; network performance information; determining the network nodes involved in the establishing communications in the time duration per said indicated granularity; obtaining the energy expenditure information related to the said network nodes involved [this is the total energy expenditure for all handling traffic per network node]; relating the data volume per said indicated granularity with the computing resources consumed in eachnetwork node and with the energy consumption that corresponds to the said consumed computing resources.

[0200] Optionally, the energy efficiency analytics is determined per indicated granularity by: determining the useful output considering at least one of the following input: application information; service performance and / or service experience analytics; combination of performance measurements [data volume, latency, packet loss and drop, number of active UEs]; percentage of QoS Flows with the desired performance for the granularity of PDU session; percentage of PDU sessions with the desired performance for the granularity of UE; dividing the said useful output with the determined energy consumption.

[0201] Optionally, the supplementary energy consumption analytics is determined per indicated granularity by: calculating the traffic pattern per said indicated granularity considering input data related to at least one of: user data and / or user communication behaviour; application information; session connectivity information; network performance information; determining the additional network nodes that need to leave an energy saving state to support the communications per said granularity with the desired performance.

[0202] Optionally, the analytics statistics and / or predictions is determined per indicated granularity and contain at least one of: performance information per said indicated granularity; energy expenditure information per said indicated granularity; energy efficiency information per said indicated granularity; supplementary energy expenditure information per said indicated granularity; confidence degree.

[0203] Figure 5 illustrates an example of a UE 500 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The UE 500 may include a processor 502, a memory 504, a controller 506, and a transceiver 508. The processor 502, the memory 504, the controller 506, or the transceiver 508, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. These components may be coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces.

[0204] The processor 502, the memory 504, the controller 506, or the transceiver 508, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., circuitry). The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure.

[0205] The processor 502 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general- purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or any combination thereof). In some implementations, the processor 502 may be configured to operate the memory 504. In some other implementations, the memory 504 may be integrated into the processor 502. The processor 502 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 504 to cause the UE 500 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

[0206] The memory 504 may include volatile or non-volatile memory. The memory 504 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions when executed by the processor 502 cause the UE 500 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such the memory 504 or another type of memory. Computer-readable media includes both non- transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

[0207] In some implementations, the processor 502 and the memory 504 coupled with the processor 502 may be configured to cause the UE 500 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 502, instructions stored in the memory 504). For example, the processor 502 may support wireless communication at the UE 500 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The UE 500 may be configured to support a means for transmitting, to a network entity, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network and receiving, from the network entity, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0208] The controller 506 may manage input and output signals for the UE 500. The controller 506 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the UE 500. In some implementations, the controller 506 may utilize an operating system such as iOS®, ANDROID®, WINDOWS®, or other operating systems. In some implementations, the controller 506 may be implemented as part of the processor 502.

[0209] In some implementations, the UE 500 may include at least one transceiver 508. In some other implementations, the UE 500 may have more than one transceiver 508. The transceiver 508 may represent a wireless transceiver. The transceiver 508 may include one or more receiver chains 510, one or more transmitter chains 512, or a combination thereof.

[0210] A receiver chain 510 may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receiver chain 510 may include one or more antennas for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receiver chain 510 may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low- noise amplifier (LNA)) configured to amplify the received signal. The receiver chain 510 may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receiver chain 510 may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

[0211] A transmitter chain 512 may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets). The transmitter chain 512 may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). The transmitter chain 512 may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmitter chain 512 may also include one or more antennas for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

[0212] Figure 6 illustrates an example of a processor 600 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The processor 600 may be an example of a processor configured toperform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 600 may include a controller 602 configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 600 may optionally include at least one memory 604, which may be, for example, an L1 / L2 / L3 cache. Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 600 may optionally include one or more arithmetic-logic units (ALUs) 606. One or more of these components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses).

[0213] The processor 600 may be a processor chipset and include a protocol stack (e.g., a software stack) executed by the processor chipset to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor chipset may include one or more cores, one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 600) or other memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), magnetic RAM (MRAM), resistive RAM (RRAM), flash memory, phase change memory (PCM), and others).

[0214] The controller 602 may be configured to manage and coordinate various operations (e.g., signaling, receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) of the processor 600 to cause the processor 600 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. For example, the controller 602 may operate as a control unit of the processor 600, generating control signals that manage the operation of various components of the processor 600. These control signals include enabling or disabling functional units, selecting data paths, initiating memory access, and coordinating timing of operations.

[0215] The controller 602 may be configured to fetch (e.g., obtain, retrieve, receive) instructions from the memory 604 and determine subsequent instruction(s) to be executed to cause the processor 600 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The controller 602 may be configured to track memory address ofinstructions associated with the memory 604. The controller 602 may be configured to decode instructions to determine the operation to be performed and the operands involved. For example, the controller 602 may be configured to interpret the instruction and determine control signals to be output to other components of the processor 600 to cause the processor 600 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 602 may be configured to manage flow of data within the processor 600. The controller 602 may be configured to control transfer of data between registers, arithmetic logic units (ALUs), and other functional units of the processor 600.

[0216] The memory 604 may include one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor 600 or other memory, such RAM, ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, SRAM, MRAM, flash memory, etc. In some implementations, the memory 604 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., local to the processor 600). In some other implementations, the memory 604 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., remote to the processor 600).

[0217] The memory 604 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 600, cause the processor 600 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. The controller 602 and / or the processor 600 may be configured to execute computer- readable instructions stored in the memory 604 to cause the processor 600 to perform various functions. For example, the processor 600 and / or the controller 602 may be coupled with or to the memory 604, the processor 600, the controller 602, and the memory 604 may be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the processor 600 may include multiple processors and the memory 604 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein.

[0218] The one or more ALUs 606 may be configured to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, the one or moreALUs 606 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., the processor 600). In some other implementations, the one or more ALUs 606 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 600). One or more ALUs 606 may perform one or more computations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on data. For example, one or more ALUs 606 may receive input operands and an operation code, which determines an operation to be executed. One or more ALUs 606 be configured with a variety of logical and arithmetic circuits, including adders, subtractors, shifters, and logic gates, to process and manipulate the data according to the operation. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more ALUs 606 may support logical operations such as AND, OR, exclusive-OR (XOR), not-OR (NOR), and not- AND (NAND), enabling the one or more ALUs 606 to handle conditional operations, comparisons, and bitwise operations.

[0219] The processor 600 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 600 may be configured to or operable to support a means for transmitting, to a network entity, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network and receiving, from the network entity, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0220] Figure 7 illustrates an example of a NE 700 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The NE 700 may include a processor 702, a memory 704, a controller 706, and a transceiver 708. The processor 702, the memory 704, the controller 706, or the transceiver 708, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. These components may be coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces.

[0221] The processor 702, the memory 704, the controller 706, or the transceiver 708, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., circuitry). The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure.

[0222] The processor 702 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general- purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or any combination thereof). In some implementations, the processor 702 may be configured to operate the memory 704. In some other implementations, the memory 704 may be integrated into the processor 702. The processor 702 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 704 to cause the NE 700 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

[0223] The memory 704 may include volatile or non-volatile memory. The memory 704 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions when executed by the processor 702 cause the NE 700 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such the memory 704 or another type of memory. Computer-readable media includes both non- transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

[0224] In some implementations, the processor 702 and the memory 704 coupled with the processor 702 may be configured to cause the NE 700 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 702, instructions stored in the memory 704). For example, the processor 702 may support wireless communication at the NE 700 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The NE 700 may be configured to support a means for receiving, from an analytics consumer, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; receiving, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; analysing the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; and transmitting, to the analytics consumer, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

[0225] The controller 706 may manage input and output signals for the NE 700. The controller 706 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the NE 700. In someimplementations, the controller 706 may utilize an operating system such as iOS®, ANDROID®, WINDOWS®, or other operating systems. In some implementations, the controller 706 may be implemented as part of the processor 702.

[0226] In some implementations, the NE 700 may include at least one transceiver 708. In some other implementations, the NE 700 may have more than one transceiver 708. The transceiver 708 may represent a wireless transceiver. The transceiver 708 may include one or more receiver chains 710, one or more transmitter chains 712, or a combination thereof.

[0227] A receiver chain 710 may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receiver chain 710 may include one or more antennas for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receiver chain 710 may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low- noise amplifier (LN A)) configured to amplify the received signal. The receiver chain 710 may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receiver chain 710 may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

[0228] A transmitter chain 712 may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets). The transmitter chain 712 may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). The transmitter chain 712 may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmitter chain 712 may also include one or more antennas for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

[0229] Figure 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method may be implemented by a NE as described herein. In some implementations, the NE may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of the NE to perform the described functions.

[0230] At 802, the method may include receiving, from an analytics consumer, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network. The operations of 802 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 802 may be performed by an NE as described with reference to Figure 7.

[0231] At 804, the method may include receiving, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. The operations of 804 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 804 may be performed by an NE as described with reference to Figure 7.

[0232] At 806, the method may include analysing the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. The operations of 806 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 806 may be performed an NE as described with reference to Figure 7.

[0233] At 808, the method may include transmitting, to the analytics consumer, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. The operations of 808 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 808 may be performed an NE as described with reference to Figure 7.

[0234] It should be noted that the method described herein describes A possible implementation, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.

[0235] Figure 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method may be implemented by a UE as described herein. In some implementations, the UE may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of the UE to perform the described functions.

[0236] At 902, the method may include transmitting, to a network entity, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network. The operations of 902 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 902 may be performed by a UE as described with reference to Figure 5.

[0237] At 904, the method may include receiving, from the network entity, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network. The operations of 904 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 904 may be performed by a UE as described with reference to Figure 5.

[0238] It should be noted that the method described herein describes A possible implementation, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.

[0239] The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0240] The following abbreviations are relevant in the field addressed by this document: 5G - 5th Generation of Mobile Communications; 5GC - 5G Core; 5QI - 5G QoS Identifier; AI / ML - Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning; AF - Application Function; AMF - Access and Mobility Function; AnLF - Analytics Logical Function; ASP- Application Service Provider; CM - Configuration Management; CPU - Central Processing Unit; DCCF - Data Collection Coordination Functionality; DN - Data Network; DNAI - Data Network Access identifier; DNN - Data Network Name; DRB - Data Radio Bearer; eMBB - enhanced Mobile Broadband; gNB - general Node B; GPRS - General Packet Radio Service; GPSI - Generic Public Subscription Identifier; GBR - Guaranteed Bit Rate; GTP - GPRS Tunnelling Protocol; IP - Internet Protocol; KPI - Key Performance Indicator; LMF- Location Management Function; MAC - Medium Access Control; MBR - MaximumBit Rate; MDA - Management Data Analytics; MDAF - MDA Function; MFAF - Messaging Framework. Adaptor Function; MTLF - Model Training Logical Function; MioT - Massive internet of Things; NEF - Network Exposure Function; NF - Network Function; NR - New Radio; NRF - Network Repository Function; NSI - Network Slice Instance; NWDAF - Network Data Analytics Function; OAM - Operations, Administration and Maintenance; PCF - Policy Control Function; PDU - Packet Data Unit; PM - Performance Measurement; PNF - Physical Network Function; QCI - QoS Class Identifier; QoS - Quality of Service; RAN - Radio Access Network; SLA - Service Level Agreement; SMF - Session Management Function; S-NSSAI - Single - Network Slice Selection Assistance Information; SUPI - Subscription Permanent Identifier; TA - Tracking Area; UDM - User Data manager; UDR - User Data Repository; UE - User Equipment; UL / DL - Uplink / Downlink; UPF - User Plane Function; URLLC - Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communications; VNF - Virtual Network Function.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A network entity for a wireless communication network, the network entity comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the network entity to: receive, from an analytics consumer, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; receive, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; analyse the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; and transmit, to the analytics consumer, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

2. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the wireless communication network comprises communications of one or more of: one or more user equipment; one or more packet data unit, PDU, session(s); one or more quality of service, QoS, flow(s); one or more network slice(s); or one or more network function(s).

3. The network entity of any preceding claim, wherein the first request message further comprises an indication for restricting the portion of the wireless communication network to one or more of: a geographical area; a network slice; or a time window of interest.

4. The network entity of any preceding claim, wherein the first request message further comprises a second request for reporting if the portion of the wirelesscommunication network surpasses an energy performance threshold and / or a load threshold.

5. The network entity of any preceding claim, wherein the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: determine one or more of: an energy consumption; an energy cost; an energy efficiency; or a supplementary energy consumption of the portion.

6. The network entity of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: determine, from the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network, the volume or a bit rate of the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

7. The network entity of claim 6, wherein the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: determine, from the volume or bit rate of the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network, the energy expenditure of one or more network nodes involved in handling communication in respect of the portion of the wireless communication network.

8. The network entity of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: calculate the energy consumption from the volume or bit rate of the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network and the energy expenditure of the one or more network nodes involved in handling communication in respect of the portion of the wireless communication network.

9. The network entity of any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to:determine, from the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network, the useful output of a user plane of the portion of the wireless communication network; and calculate the energy efficiency from the energy consumption of the portion of the wireless communication network and the useful output of the user plane of the portion of the wireless communication network.

10. The network entity of any one of claims 5 to 9, wherein the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: determine, from the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network, the traffic pattern of the portion of the wireless communication network.

11. The network entity of any one of claims 5 to 10, wherein the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: determine, from the traffic pattern of the portion of the wireless communication network, one or more network nodes required to leave an energy saving state to support the portion of the wireless communication network.

12. The network entity of any preceding claim, wherein the at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory is further configured to cause the network entity to: transmit, to the wireless communication network, a second request message for data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

13. A method by a network entity for a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving, from an analytics consumer, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; receiving, from the wireless communication network, data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network;analysing the data related to the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network to determine the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network; and transmitting, to the analytics consumer, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

14. An analytics consumer for a wireless communication network, the analytics consumer comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the analytics consumer to: transmit, to a network entity, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; and receive, from the network entity, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

15. A method by an analytics consumer for a wireless communication network, the method comprising: transmitting, to a network entity, a first request message comprising a first request for the energy performance of a portion of the wireless communication network; and receiving, from the network entity, a report message comprising the energy performance of the portion of the wireless communication network.

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