Methods for monitoring, managing a service, managing access to a network slice and access to a service, and devices configured to implement these methods

Abstract

Methods for supervising, managing a service, managing access to a network slice and access to a service, and devices configured to implement these methods The method for supervising a network (NW) by a network controller (2) comprises: a step of estimating at least one indicator representative of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to a service provided via said network; and if said at least one indicator does not comply with a given conformity criterion, a step of notifying an application server (4) associated with the service of the non-compliance by said indicator with said conformity criterion. Figure for the abstract: Fig. 1.

Description

Title of the invention: Methods for monitoring, managing a service, managing access to a network slice and access to a service, and devices configured to implement these methods Prior art

[0001] The invention belongs to the general field of telecommunications.

[0002] It relates more particularly to a mechanism for managing the environmental and energy commitments of a communications network.

[0003] Communication services in general, and those accessible via fixed or mobile network infrastructures in particular, have a significant carbon footprint that has been widely documented for years, particularly for communication networks based on cloud infrastructures. With global warming, most companies, particularly network operators and service providers, are now sensitive to corporate social responsibility (or CSR) issues, and some companies have already set themselves targets for carbon neutrality and / or reducing their energy consumption.

[0004] This sensitivity to the impact of the deployment of communication services on the carbon footprint and / or energy consumption has recently increased with the emergence of new network infrastructures such as 5G mobile networks, but also with the maturity reached by certain techniques such as techniques promoting the adoption of so-called "immersive" services such as virtual or augmented reality techniques. The deployment of cloud infrastructures in a context of transformation of networks towards the integration of virtualization software techniques or even automation also contributes to the increase in the carbon footprint and energy costs linked to the overall evolution of the telecommunications ecosystem and digital communication services.

[0005] Minimizing or even neutralizing the carbon footprint and / or its energy costs has therefore become a major issue in most sectors of industry, and more particularly for network operators and service providers.

[0006] The invention proposes a mechanism aimed at facilitating the achievement of this objective by network operators and service providers. Statement of the invention

[0007] The invention more particularly proposes a disruptive approach advocating collaboration between all or part of the actors involved in the provision of a service via a network, namely between the communication device(s) accessing the service, the service infrastructure and the network. In other words, instead of individual actions implemented independently by each of these actors, the invention introduces coordination between the network, service infrastructure and communication devices to jointly contribute to controlling or even reducing the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to a service.

[0008] To this end, according to a first aspect, the invention proposes a method of supervision by a network controller of a network comprising: - a step of estimating at least one indicator representative of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to a service provided via the network; - if said at least one estimated indicator does not meet a given compliance criterion, a step of notifying an application server associated with the service of this non-compliance with said compliance criterion by said at least one indicator.

[0009] Correlatively, the invention relates to a network controller of a network comprising: - an estimation module, configured to estimate at least one indicator representative of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to a service provided via the network; and - a notification module, activated if said at least one estimated indicator does not meet a given compliance criterion, and configured to notify an application server associated with the service of non-compliance with said compliance criterion by said at least one indicator.

[0010] The invention applies to any type of indicator as long as it is capable of providing information on the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to a service. This may be, for example, a carbon footprint, a flow indicator such as a measurement of a contribution to the greenhouse effect, energy consumption, an energy supply cost, etc.

[0011] According to a second aspect, the invention proposes a method for managing a service provided via at least one network by an application server associated with said service, this method comprising: - a step of receiving, from a network controller of said network, a notification of non-compliance with a given conformity criterion by at least one indicator, estimated by the network controller, representative of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to said service; and - a step of triggering at least one measure for managing said environmental and / or energy impact, said management measure relating to all or part of the traffic relating to said service.

[0012] Correlatively, the invention relates to an application server configured to manage a service provided via at least one network, said application server comprising: - a reception module, configured to receive from a network controller of said network, a notification of non-compliance with a given compliance criterion by at least one indicator, estimated by the network controller, representative of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to said service; and - a trigger module, configured to trigger at least one management measure for said environmental and / or energy impact, said management measure relating to all or part of the traffic relating to said service.

[0013] According to a third aspect, the invention relates to a method of access, by a communication device, to a service provided via a network, this method comprising: - a step of sending a request for access to the service to an application server associated with said service; and - a step of receiving a notification from the application server informing said communication device of an application of the traffic relating to said service coming from or going to said communication device of at least one measure for managing an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service, following a notification, received by said application server from a network controller of the network, of a non-compliance with a given conformity criterion by at least one indicator representative of said environmental and / or energy impact estimated by the network controller.

[0014] Correlatively, the invention relates to a communication device comprising: - a sending module, configured to send to an application server associated with a service provided via a network, a request for access to said service; and - a reception module, configured to receive a notification from the application server informing said communication device of an application of the traffic relating to said service coming from or going to said communication device of at least one measure for managing an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service, following a notification, received by said application server from a network controller of the network, of a non-compliance with a given conformity criterion by at least one indicator, estimated by the network controller, representative of said environmental and / or energy impact.

[0015] According to a fourth aspect, the invention relates to a method for managing, by an entity of a network, access to a network slice supported by the network, said method comprising: - a step of receiving, from a communication device, a request for access to a given network slice supported by the network, said network slice being shared between several communication devices nication accessing a service provided via the network, following a notification received by an application server associated with said service from a network controller of the network of a non-compliance with a given conformity criterion by at least one indicator, estimated by the network controller, representative of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service; - a verification step, with the application server associated with said service, that said communication device is authorized to access said shared data network slice; and - where applicable, a step of triggering a connection of said communication device to said shared given network slice.

[0016] Correlatively, the invention relates to an entity of a network, configured to manage access to a network slice supported by the network, said entity comprising: - a reception module, configured to receive from a communication device, a request for access to a given network slice supported by the network, this network slice being shared between several communication devices accessing a service provided via the network, following a notification, received by an application server associated with said service from a network controller of the network, of a non-compliance with a given conformity criterion by at least one indicator, estimated by the network controller, representative of said environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service; - a verification module, configured to verify with the application server associated with said service, that said communication device is authorized to access said shared data network slice; and - a trigger module activated where appropriate and configured to trigger a connection of said communication device to said shared given network slice.

[0017] The invention also relates to a system comprising at least one network controller and one entity of a network, an application server associated with a service provided via this network, and at least one communication device, in accordance with the invention.

[0018] In accordance with the collaboration mechanism proposed by the invention, a network controller of a network via which a service is provided monitors at least one indicator representative of the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service, for example the carbon footprint attributed to this service. If the indicator(s) in question do not meet a given conformity criterion (for example, they do not comply with reference values ​​defined for this service, typically expected, desired or authorized values ​​for this service), an application server associated with the service is informed so that one or more adjustment actions are taken. triggered. Such adjustment actions constitute measures for managing the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service; they aim, for example, to limit or even neutralize this environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service. The notification of the application server may result, for example, from a subscription of the application server to the network controller so that the application server is informed by the network controller of various events relating to the environmental / energy impact of the service (for example, the carbon footprint attributed to the service exceeds a given threshold). The management measure(s) may be triggered, for example, by the application server or by the network controller itself in a coordinated manner with the application server.

[0019] No assumption is made as to the frequency or the way in which the estimation of the indicator(s) is carried out. Such an estimation may be carried out punctually, continuously or quasi-continuously (for example, over a sliding window), at a regular frequency (for example, daily, weekly, monthly), etc. It may rely on the implementation of filters in the network and / or on feedback made by probes deployed at various locations in the network and which make it possible to collect information on the various communications associated with one or more services. The network may in particular use the NETCONF or IPFIX protocols, known per se, for this purpose.

[0020] Thus, for example, in a particular embodiment, the estimation step of the supervision method comprises a reception from at least one probe deployed in the network of at least one piece of information reflecting an environmental and / or energy impact of at least one communication relating to said service established from or to a server involved in a provision of said service.

[0021] Furthermore, the compliance criterion(s) to which the estimated indicators are compared may take different forms depending on the indicators considered and the desired goal (preventive or curative measure following a degradation of the service). For example, such a compliance criterion may be the crossing of a critical threshold (minimum or maximum depending on the indicator considered) not to be exceeded or an intermediate threshold (for example a percentage of the critical threshold) before reaching such a critical threshold in order to trigger one or more preventive actions making it possible to anticipate a degradation of the service. Another criterion may be the evolution of the indicator over time.

[0022] No limitation is attached to the nature of the management measures that can be triggered in response to the detected non-compliance. These management measures aim for example to set up a collaboration between the network, the service infrastructure and / or the communication devices in order to limit or neutralize the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service and thus ensure that the traffic in origin and / or destination of the communication devices can be routed in the best conditions of digital sobriety. We can also consider a management measure leading to an agglomeration of several service platforms (in particular to reduce their number) and resulting in a modification of the conformity criterion considered for the service (for example by an increase in the authorized quota for the carbon footprint of the service, or a postponement of this quota).

[0023] Thus, in a particular embodiment, said at least one management measure can be chosen from at least: - use of an encoding of data relating to said service having a lower contribution to the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to said service than a current encoding; - a restriction of access to said service via said network; - a (temporal) scheduling of access to said service by several devices positive communication; - shared use of at least one given network resource by several communication devices when accessing said service by said communication devices; and - marking of traffic relating to said service to store it in at least one queue.

[0024] Of course, other management measures can be considered as a variant.

[0025] Advantageously, these management measures can be chosen and / or configured in based on the estimated values ​​of the indicators considered, which allows for dynamic, targeted and adapted action. They can be applied to all or part of the traffic associated with the service.

[0026] Thus, in a particular embodiment, the management method implemented by the application server comprises: - a step of receiving a request for access to the service from a communication device; - if said communication device is concerned by said management measure, a step of applying this management measure to the traffic relating to the service coming from or going to said communication device.

[0027] One of the management measures that can be considered is programmable scheduling making it possible to organize access to the service over time by a plurality of communication devices.

[0028] Thus, in a particular embodiment, when said at least one management measure comprises scheduling access to said service by a plurality of communication devices, the management method implemented by the application server comprises following a request for access to the service by at least one communication device, a step of selecting for said at least one communication device, a time slot allocated to said plurality of communication devices for access to the service.

[0029] In other words, the application server determines when each communication device requesting access to the service will actually access the service, and thus be able to transmit or receive data relating to this service. Several communication devices having requested access to the service in a given time interval may be allocated the same time slot to access the service. Thus, a communication device may see its access to the service delayed depending on the scheduling that has been done of the use of a resource to provide the service, i.e. the time slots that have been allocated for this provision of service.We note that we are interested here in the organization of access to the service by users of communication devices (for example access to video content broadcast in streaming), and not strictly speaking in the ordering of data packets associated with a user on the network resources.

[0030] Such programmable scheduling of access to the service has a preferred application when the communication devices share the same resource to access a service, that is to say in a context where instead of providing the service to a communication device via a dedicated resource, this resource is shared to provide the service to several communication devices. The shared use of resources by several communication devices combined with programmable scheduling contributes not only to better managing the environmental and / or energy impact of the network, but also to improving the use of network resources as well as the efficiency of the traffic routing policy implemented in the network. Such an approach makes it possible to take into account energy and environmental budgets per service and per user.This promising approach can also be applied in different contexts: communications between data centers, dynamic management of a company's flows, adjustment of resources allowing access to services and event content with an adequate level of quality, etc.

[0031] Shared use of resources can be easily implemented by relying on the network controller of the network. Thus, in a particular embodiment, the supervision method further comprises: - a step of receiving, from the application server, a notification of shared use by several communication devices of at least one given resource of the network during access to said service by the communication devices; and - a configuration step of at least one network entity to enable this shared use.

[0032] Such a network entity is, for example, a network edge node that is configured with new classification rules to take into account the shared use of resources.

[0033] Different network resources can be shared in the context of the invention. For example, in the context of a streaming video service, it is possible to envisage using a multicast tree deployed in the network (or even in a slice supported by the network) to send the same video content to several communication devices via the network. According to another example, it is possible to envisage several communication devices using the same network slice supported by the network to access the service, typically a network slice dedicated to such shared use.

[0034] Thus, in a particular embodiment, said at least one shared resource comprises a given network slice supported by the network and said notification received from the application server comprises information representative of a scheduling of access to the service by communication devices via said network slice.

[0035] This embodiment therefore proposes, in order to limit the environmental and / or energy impact of the service, to use in a shared manner by a plurality of communication devices one (or more) network slice(s) supported by the network for access to the service, access to the network slice in question being organized according to a particular scheduling duly chosen by the application server.

[0036] The invention thus has a preferred but non-limiting application in the context of networks supporting network slices, such as a 5G network. In a manner known per se, a network slice can be defined as a virtual private network (VPN) deployed on a fixed or mobile network infrastructure or both, and aimed at ensuring a set of specific performances. It can be seen as a logical network offering connectivity to its users and having its own characteristics in terms of capacity (bandwidth), quality of service (latency, throughput, one-way transit time, jitter (or inter-packet delay variation, etc.) and security (for example, preserving the confidentiality of information transmitted within a virtual private network by using encryption techniques).

[0037] This embodiment can be easily implemented through collaboration with the network controller and / or the communication devices.

[0038] Thus, in a particular embodiment, the management method implemented by the application server may include at least one of the following steps: - a step of notifying said network controller of the shared use of said given network slice by said communication devices according to said determined scheduling; and - a step of notifying said communication devices of said given network slice to be used in a shared manner by said communication devices when accessing the service and said determined scheduling which must be applied.

[0039] Correlatively, for a communication device, in an embodiment in which said at least one management measure comprises a shared use according to a determined scheduling, during access to said service, of a given network slice supported by said network by several communication devices including said communication device in question, the method can comprise: - a step of sending to an entity of the network, a request for access to said shared given network slice; and - following the connection of said communication device to said shared data network slice, a step of accessing said service via said shared data network slice.

[0040] Furthermore, prior to the use of a shared network slice by a communication device, a control may be put in place with the application server by the network entity responsible for managing access to this network slice. Thus, in a particular embodiment, the management method implemented by the application server may comprise a step of receiving from a network entity a request to verify that a communication device is authorized to access said given network slice.

[0041] In a particular embodiment of the invention, if after having notified the application server, the network controller detects that no measure for managing the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service has been implemented by the application server, it can itself trigger such management measures.

[0042] For example, in one embodiment, the supervision method comprises, in the absence at the end of a determined period of triggering of at least one environmental and / or energy impact management measure by the application server following its notification, a step of activating in said network, for all or part of the traffic relating to said service, at least one processing in response to non-compliance with the conformity criterion by the indicator representative of the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to said service.

[0043] Such processing may include, for example, a switching of all or part of the traffic relating to said service passing via the network to a network slice providing a degraded level of service compared to an expected level of service for said service, for example a level of quality best adapted to the conditions of access to the service, also called “Best effort” in English.

[0044] In a particular embodiment, the supervision, management and access methods are implemented by a computer.

[0045] The invention also relates to a computer program on a recording medium, this program being capable of being implemented in a computer or more generally in a network controller of a network in accordance with the invention and comprising instructions adapted to the implementation of a supervision method as described above.

[0046] The invention also relates to a computer program on a recording medium, this program being capable of being implemented in a computer or more generally in an application server in accordance with the invention and comprising instructions adapted to the implementation of a method for managing a service as described above.

[0047] The invention also relates to a computer program on a recording medium, this program being capable of being implemented in a computer or more generally in an entity of a network in accordance with the invention and comprising instructions adapted to the implementation of a method for managing access to a network slice as described above.

[0048] The invention also relates to a computer program on a recording medium, this program being capable of being implemented in a computer or more generally in a communication device in accordance with the invention and comprising instructions adapted to the implementation of a method of accessing a service as described above.

[0049] Each of these programs may use any programming language, and be in the form of source code, object code, or intermediate code between source code and object code, such as in a partially compiled form, or in any other desirable form.

[0050] The invention also relates to an information medium or a recording medium readable by a computer, and comprising instructions of a computer program as mentioned above.

[0051] The information or recording medium may be any entity or device capable of storing the programs. For example, the medium may comprise a storage means, such as a ROM, for example a CD ROM or a microelectronic circuit ROM, or a magnetic recording means, for example a hard disk, or a flash memory.

[0052] On the other hand, the information or recording medium may be a trans medium miscible such as an electrical or optical signal, which may be carried via an electrical or optical cable, by radio link, by wireless optical link, or by other means.

[0053] The program according to the invention can in particular be downloaded from an Internet-type network.

[0054] Alternatively, the information or recording medium may be an integrated circuit in which a program is incorporated, the circuit being adapted to execute or to be used in the execution of the methods of managing access, managing a service, access and supervision according to the invention.

[0055] It is also possible to envisage, in other embodiments, that the methods of supervision, management of a service, management of access to a network slice and access to a service, the network controller, the application server, the network entity and the communication device and the system according to the invention present in combination all or part of the aforementioned characteristics. Brief description of the figures

[0056] Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the description given below, with reference to the appended figures which illustrate an exemplary embodiment thereof without any limiting character. In the figures:

[0057] [Fig-1] [Fig.l] represents, in its environment, a system conforming to the invention, in a particular embodiment;

[0058] [Fig.2] [Fig.2] schematically represents the material architecture of a gold diner capable of hosting a network controller, an application server, a management entity or a communication device according to the invention belonging to the system of [Fig.l];

[0059] [Fig.3] [Fig.3] represents in the form of a flowchart, the main stages of a supervision method according to the invention as implemented by the network controller of the system of [Fig.l], in a particular embodiment;

[0060] [Fig.4] [Fig.4] represents in the form of a flowchart, the main stages of a method for managing access to a service according to the invention as implemented by the application server of the system of [Fig.l], in a particular embodiment;

[0061] [Fig.5] [Fig.5] represents in the form of a flowchart, the main stages of a network slice management method according to the invention as implemented by the management entity of the system of [Fig.l], in a particular embodiment;

[0062] [Fig.6] [Fig.6] represents in the form of a flowchart, the main stages of a method of accessing a service according to the invention as implemented by a communication device of the system of [Fig.l] in a particular embodiment; and

[0063] [Fig.7] [Fig.7] represents an example of the format of a COSINUS_OP option that can be used within the framework of the invention. Description of the invention

[0064] [Fig.l] represents, in its environment, a system 1 in accordance with the invention, in a particular embodiment, the system 1 being configured to implement a collaborative mechanism aimed at controlling (managing), and possibly reducing (or even neutralizing), the environmental and / or energy impact of a service S provided via a communication network NW.

[0065] In the embodiment envisaged here, the communication network NW supports a plurality of network slices SL1, SL2,..., SLK, where K denotes an integer greater than 1, which can be used to aggregate traffic relating to one or more services (i.e. sent to or received from one or more services). Each network slice may involve one or more service functions (or "Service Functions" in English), also called network functions (or "Network Functions" in English). Such service / network functions are for example base station functions or gNB (for "gNodeB" in English), user plane functions or UPF (for "User Plane Function" in English), traffic marking, classification and scheduling functions, etc. The same service / network function may be provided by one or more service instances (or "Service Function Instances" in English) or network function instances.Service Function Chains (SFCs) can be set up to facilitate the routing of traffic of different types and with different profiles for the purposes of the implementation (i.e. engineering and deployment) of a network slice or within a network slice.

[0066] The NW network is, for example, a 5G mobile network as defined by the 3GPP standards. It can be segmented into several distinct (sub-)networks (also referred to as “network segments”) comprising as many distinct domains. For example, the NW network can be composed of a radio access network (or RAN for “Radio Access Network” in English), a core network (or CN for “Core Network” in English) and a transport network (or TN for “Transport Network” in English) providing connectivity within and between the core network and the radio access network. Each of the domains supports network slices whose engineering and operation are characteristic of the domain. For example, a slice deployed on a 5G mobile core network uses traffic processing and operating functions characteristic of a 5G mobile core network.

[0067] No assumption is made here as to the nature or number of network slices supported by the NW network. These network slices may span one or more domains (and thus be made up of several “local” network slices). deployed in the different domains; we then speak of “multi-domain” network slices or “stitched slices” or even “hierarchical slices” in English). The way to design and deploy network slices to offer services is known in itself and is not described in detail here.

[0068] It should be noted that these assumptions are not limiting in themselves and the invention applies in other contexts and in particular to other networks (supporting or not network slices), such as a network based on an SD-WAN (for "Software-Defined Wide Area Network" in English) or SDN (for "Software-Defined Network" in English) architecture or even on the use of NFV (for "Network Functions Virtualization" in English) techniques for virtualizing network functions, etc.

[0069] As mentioned previously, the system 1 is configured to control the environmental and / or energy impact of a service S provided via the network NW. To this end, it comprises, in the embodiment described here, at least: - a network controller 2 of the NW network and a network slice management entity 3 of the NW network, in accordance with the invention; - an application server 4 (or AS for “Application Server” in English), associated with the service S, in accordance with the invention; and - at least one communication device 5, in accordance with the invention, connected to the NW network and capable of accessing the service S via the NW network.

[0070] The invention applies to any type of service S (streaming video, virtual or augmented reality, videoconferencing, etc.). In the example of [Fig.l], the service S is a streaming video service provided by a service provider distinct from the operator of the network NW, and the application server 4 is a remote server located outside the network NW. However, this hypothesis is not limiting in itself, and the invention applies regardless of the location of the service. It should also be noted that the application server 4 associated with the service S is not necessarily the server that strictly speaking provides the service S; it can be any application server or service instance belonging to the service infrastructure providing the service S. In the example envisaged here, the provider of the service S is a service provider based on network slices or SSP (for "Slice Service Provider" in English).It is assumed that the communication device 5 negotiated, when subscribing to the service S with the SSP, the network slice(s) that it is likely to use to send or receive traffic associated with the service S via the network NW. The type of each network slice was also negotiated between the communication device 5 and the network NW, in a manner known per se.

[0071] In the example envisaged here, the communication device 5 is a user equipment (or UE for “User Equipment” in English) such as a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, or a smartphone. digital, etc. The invention is however easily applied to other communication devices 5, fixed or mobile, software or hardware, etc., such as for example to a service instance, a home gateway or CPE (for “Customer Premises Equipment” in English).

[0072] In the embodiment described here, the network controller 2, the management entity 3, the application server 4 and the communication device 5 each have the hardware architecture of a computer 6 as illustrated by [Fig.2]. This hardware architecture notably comprises a processor PROC, a random access memory MEM, a read only memory ROM, a non-volatile memory NVM, and communication means COM. The non-volatile memory NVM constitutes a recording medium in accordance with the invention, readable by the processor PROC and on which a program in accordance with the invention is recorded.

[0073] This program, denoted PROG-2 when the hardware architecture of the computer 6 is that of a network controller according to the invention such as the network controller 2, is recorded in the non-volatile memory NVM and comprises instructions defining the main steps of a supervision method according to the invention. It defines more specifically the functional modules of the network controller 2 (represented in [Fig.l]), which rely on and / or control all or part of the PROC, MEM, ROM, NVM, and COM elements of the computer 6 mentioned previously. These functional modules comprise in the example of the service S: - an estimation module 2A, configured to estimate at least one IND indicator representative of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S provided via the NW network; and - a notification module 2B, activated if said at least one estimated IND indicator does not comply with a given CRIT conformity criterion (different criteria can be considered depending on the indicators considered), and configured to notify the application server 4 associated with the service S of this non-compliance.

[0074] In the embodiment described here, the network controller 2 also comprises the following functional modules, defined by the computer program PROG-2: - a trigger module 2C, configured here to itself trigger a management measure for the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service (also called an “adjustment action”), and more precisely a default adjustment action ACT-DEF, in the absence of triggering by the application server 4 of such a management measure following the notification received from the notification module 2B indicating the non-compliance by the indicator IND with the criterion CRIT. This default adjustment action ACT-DEF is a processing triggered in response to the non-compliance with the criterion CRIT and which aims by example to reduce or neutralize the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service. An example of a default adjustment action ACT-DEF is given for illustrative purposes later; and - a 2D module for configuring NW network entities to enable the implementation of management measures (by default or triggered by the application server 4) of the environmental and / or energy impact of the S service in the network.

[0075] The functions of the modules 2A to 2D of the network controller 2 are described in more detail later with reference to [Fig.3] describing the main steps of a supervision method according to the invention.

[0076] When the hardware architecture of the computer 6 is that of an application server according to the invention such as the application server 4, the program according to the invention recorded in the non-volatile memory NVM of the computer 6 is the program PROG-4 which comprises instructions defining the main steps of a method for managing a service according to the invention. This program PROG-4 defines the functional modules of the application server 4 (represented in [Fig.l]), which rely on and / or control all or part of the PROC, MEM, ROM, NVM, and COM elements of the computer 6 mentioned previously. These functional modules comprise, in the example of the service S: - a reception module 4A, configured to receive, where appropriate, from the network controller 2, a notification of non-compliance with the CRIT conformity criterion by said at least one IND indicator; and - a trigger module 4B, configured to trigger at least one ACT management measure of the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S, this ACT management measure relating to all or part of the traffic relating to the service S. Examples of ACT management measures which can be triggered include in particular: • use of an encoding of data relating to service S having a lower contribution to the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to service S than an encoding commonly used by the communication devices accessing this service S and / or by the application server providing service S; • a restriction of access to the S service via the NW network; • scheduling of access to service S by several devices of communication; • shared use of at least one given resource of the NW network by several communication devices when accessing the S service by these communication devices; • marking of service-related traffic to store it in at least one queue; • etc.

[0077] By "shared use of a resource", reference is made here to a mode in which this resource is not exclusively dedicated to providing the service to a communication device but is used to provide this service simultaneously to several communication devices which wish to access the service in a given interval. This contrasts here with a mode in which the resource in question is used, following a request for access to the service by a communication device, exclusively for the flow of traffic of this service to this communication device (the resource is dedicated to this communication device), independently of the other communication devices wishing to access the same service. For example, a multicast transmission mode illustrates a shared use of a resource to transmit a data stream, as opposed to a unicast transmission mode dedicated to a given user.

[0078] Other management measures (or adjustment actions) can of course be envisaged as a variant, typically measures for limiting or neutralizing the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S. For example, a management measure can consist of modifying the CRIT compliance criterion considered (if this criterion is a quota to be respected, it is possible for example to increase this quota or to postpone it). Furthermore, the trigger module 4B can trigger a combination of the aforementioned management measures, as described in more detail later. Typically, in the embodiment described here, a shared use of a network slice supported by the network NW is considered combined with a scheduling mechanism (called programmable) organizing this shared use between the communication devices concerned.

[0079] In the embodiment described here, the application server 4 also comprises the following functional modules, defined by the computer program PROG-4: - a notification module 4C, configured to notify (i.e. inform) the network controller 2 and / or the communication devices accessing the service of the management measure(s) triggered by its trigger module 4B; - a verification module 4D, configured to perform various checks upon request from an entity of the NW network (for example from the management entity 3); and - a provision module 4E, configured to provide the service S via the NW network to the communication devices (including the communication device 5) connected to this NW network.

[0080] No assumption is made as to how the modules 4A to 4E which have just been described. These modules can be integrated into separate service instances or into a single service instance. Thus, for example, in the embodiment described here, it is assumed that the application server 4 exposes a PCP (for "Port Control Protocol") server to interact with the communication devices (including the communication device 5) wishing to access the service S, with the network controller 2 and with the entities of the network NW and in particular the management entity 3. In a manner known per se, the PCP protocol, which is described in particular in the document RFC 6887 of D.Wing et al, published by the IETF and entitled "Port Control Protocol (PCP)", April 2013, is particularly advantageous because it helps to save the energy consumption of the devices that use it by allowing them to avoid sending "keep-alive" messages (for example the consumption of the batteries of such devices if necessary), and avoids unnecessarily soliciting the resources of the network. Typically, the modules 4A, 4C and 4D of the application server 4 rely on or can be integrated into this PCP server.

[0081] The functions of the modules 4A to 4E of the application server 4 are described in more detail later with reference to [Fig.4] describing the main steps of a method for managing a service according to the invention.

[0082] In the embodiment described here, the implementation by the application server 4 of certain measures for managing the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S, such as in particular the use of a shared resource of the network NW such as a network slice by several communication devices and the scheduling of access to the service by these communication devices, relies on the management entity 3 of the network NW. When the hardware architecture of the computer 6 is that of a management entity according to the invention such as the management entity 3, the program according to the invention recorded in the non-volatile memory NVM of the computer 6 is the program PROG-3 which comprises instructions defining the main steps of a method for managing access to a network slice according to the invention. This program PROG-3 defines the functional modules of the management entity 3 (represented in [Fig.l]), which rely on and / or control all or part of the PROC, MEM, ROM, NVM, and COM elements of the computer 6 mentioned previously. These functional modules include, in the example of service S: . - a reception module 3A, configured to receive from a communication device such as the communication device 5, a request for access to a given network slice among the network slices SL1, ..., SLK supported by the NW network, this network slice noted SLopt being shared between several communication devices accessing the service S provided via the NW network in order to adjust the environmental impact and / or energy attributed to the service S following a notification, received by the application server 4 of the network controller 2, of a non-compliance with the CRIT conformity criterion by said at least one IND indicator representative of the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S; - a verification module 3B, configured to verify with the application server 4 associated with the service S, that said communication device in question is authorized to access the shared SLopt network slice; and - a 3C trigger module activated where appropriate and configured to trigger a connection of the communication device to the shared SLopt network slice.

[0083] The functions of the modules 3A to 3C of the management entity 3 are described in more detail later with reference to [Fig.5] describing the main steps of a method for managing access to a network slice according to the invention.

[0084] Finally, when the hardware architecture of the computer 6 is that of a communication device according to the invention such as the communication device 5, the program according to the invention recorded in the non-volatile memory NVM of the computer 6 is the program PROG-5 which comprises instructions defining the main steps of a method for accessing a service according to the invention. This program PROG-5 defines the functional modules of the communication device 5 (represented in [Fig.l]), which rely on and / or control all or part of the PROC, MEM, ROM, NVM, and COM elements of the computer 6 mentioned previously. These functional modules comprise, in the example of the service S: - a sending module 5A, configured to send to the application server 4 a request for access to the service S; and - a reception module 5B, configured to receive a notification from the application server 4 informing the communication device 5 of an application about the traffic relating to the service S coming from or going to the communication device 5 of at least one management measure of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S, this management measure following a notification received by the application server 4 from the network controller 2 indicating to it the non-compliance by said at least one indicator IND of the conformity criterion CRIT.

[0085] The functions of the modules 5A and 5B of the communication device 5 are described in more detail later with reference to [Fig.6] describing the main steps of a method of accessing a service according to the invention.

[0086] We will now describe, with reference to figures 3 to 6, the main steps implemented by the elements of the system 1 (network controller 2, application server 4, management entity 3 and communication device 5) during their part participation in the collaboration mechanism proposed by the invention to control / manage the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S. More particularly, [Fig. 3] represents the main steps of a supervision method according to the invention as implemented by the network controller 2, [Fig. 4] represents the main steps of a method for managing a service according to the invention as implemented by the application server 4, [Fig. 5] represents the main steps of a method for managing access to a network slice according to the invention as implemented by the management entity 3, and [Fig. 6] represents the main steps of a method for accessing a service according to the invention as implemented by the communication device 5, in a particular embodiment.

[0087] In the particular embodiment described here, the focus is more particularly on the environmental impact attributed to the service S and in particular its carbon footprint (indicator representative of the environmental impact attributed to the service S within the meaning of the invention), when this service S is provided via the network NW which supports a plurality of network slices. In this context, the collaboration mechanism proposed by the invention is hereinafter called the COSINUS procedure or service (for “Carbon Optimized Scheduling Networks with Scheduling Service Continuity” in English).

[0088] The invention can of course be considered in other contexts, as mentioned above, and can be applied to control the energy impact of the service S, or its environmental impact and its energy impact. No limitation is attached to the nature or number of indicators making it possible to measure this impact. Thus, in addition to the carbon footprint, one can consider as indicators, an energy consumption, an energy supply cost, a traffic volume indicator, an environmental indicator (for example the temperature of network equipment), a description of one or more energy sources used (for example, batteries, a nuclear power plant, an inverter), a deployment sustainability factor (or DSF for "Deployment Sustainability Factor" in English), etc.

[0089] In the embodiment described here, it is assumed that during a preliminary phase (corresponding to steps E10 of [Fig. 3] and F10 of [Fig. 4]), the network controller 2 and the application server 4 dynamically negotiate the implementation of the COSINUS procedure for the service S and the network NW, for example via a dedicated application programming interface or API (for "Application Programming Interface"), called here COSINUS API. To expose and use the COSINUS API, the network controller 2 and the application server 4 use for example the dynamic negotiation protocol CPNP (for "Connectivity Provisioning Negotiation Protocol"), described in the document RFC 8921 by M. Boucadair et al., published by IETF, and titled "Dynamic Service Negotiation: The Connectivity Provisioning Negotiation Protocol (CPNP)", October 2020. Alternatively, protocols other than CPNP can be used, such as the RESTCONF protocol described in IETF RFC 8040 by A. Bierman et al. titled "RESTCONF Protocol", January 2017.

[0090] During this negotiation phase, the application server 4 sends in particular to the network controller 2, via the COSINUS API, a subscription message to be able to benefit from the COSINUS procedure for the service S. This subscription message contains at least one IP address (and possibly a port number, a domain name, etc.) making it possible to contact (and thus notify) the application server 4. In the example of the PCP server exposed by the application server 4, this IP address (and where appropriate the port number) can be coded in a “Contact_Locator” field of a PCP subscription message.

[0091] The network controller 2 accepts the subscription of the application server 4 and sends it via the COSINUS API an identifier, for example noted AS4_id, allocated by the NW network (for example by the network controller 2) making it possible to identify the application server 4 unambiguously (i.e. unambiguously) at the level of the NW network during the COSINUS procedure. The network controller 2 also provides the application server 4 here with a range of IP addresses (IPv4 and / or IPv6) or prefixes of the NW network intended to be used by the communication devices when they access the service S.

[0092] In an alternative embodiment, the identifier AS4_id is generated by the application server 4 itself and provided to the network controller 2 in its subscription message. In this alternative, the application server 4 should implement a procedure to ensure that the identifier AS4_id is globally unique on the plurality of networks (including the network NW) via which the service S is likely to be provided.

[0093] In yet another variant, the AS4_id identifier may be generated by a third-party entity (for example, the IANA or “Internet Assigned Numbers Authority”) and provided by this third-party entity to the network controller 2 and / or to the AS application server 4.

[0094] The information exchanged between the network controller 2 and the application server 4 during the negotiation / subscription phase is recorded by the latter, for example for the network controller 2 in a table named AS_COSINUS_SUBSCRIBERS stored in the NW network (so as to be accessible by network entities participating in the COSINUS procedure such as in particular the management entity 3), and for the application server 4 in a table named NTW_COSINUS_SUBSCRIPTIONS, stored locally in its NVM memory.

[0095] Note that this negotiation / subscription phase between the network controller 2 and the application server 4 can be repeated between the network controller 2 and other application servers associated for example with services other than the service S, and / or between the application server 4 and other network controllers of networks other than the NW network via which the service S is likely to be provided. Thus the AS_COSINUS_SUBSCRIBERS table maintained by the network controller 2 groups together all the information exchanged with the application servers (including the application server 4) having subscribed to the COSINUS procedure with the network controller 2 for the services with which they are associated and which are provided via the NW network, and the NTW_COSINUS_SUBSCRIPTIONS table maintained by the application server 4 groups together all the information exchanged with the network controllers of the networks (including the network controller 2 of the NW network) with which the application server 4 has subscribed to the COSINUS procedure for the service S.

[0096] For each application server 4 referenced in the AS_COSINUS_SUBSCRIBERS table, the network operator NW (via the network controller 2 or another network entity) sets up or configures filters (making it possible to identify the traffic associated with the service S) and probes deployed in the network NW to collect information reflecting the environmental and / or energy impact of the service S. The filters relate, for example, to IP addresses of the different service instances of the application server 4 involved in providing the service S; these IP addresses are, for example, communicated by the application server 4 to the network controller 2 during the negotiation / subscription phase.

[0097] In the embodiment described here, the information collected by the probes deployed in the network NW reflects the carbon consumption of all communications established from or to the service instances of the application server(s) involved in providing the service S. It is noted that the application server 4, although being associated with the service S, is not necessarily directly involved in providing it. However, for the sake of simplification here, it is assumed that the application server 4 not only manages access to the service S but also provides it and is the only application service involved in this provision.

[0098] In an alternative embodiment, it is possible to envisage collecting information reflecting the environmental and / or energy impact of the service S associated only with certain communications, for example with certain types of traffic, with a particular group of users, etc.

[0099] The information reflecting the environmental and / or energy impact of the service S collected in particular by the probes and in application of the filters provided is communicated to the network controller 2 (step E20), which then aggregates them to estimate at least one indicator IND representative of the environmental and / or energy impact of the service S (step E30). The network controller 2 can use, for example, to obtain this information from the probes, a protocol known as NETCONF or IPFIX. The obtaining and aggregation by the network controller 2 (via its estimation module 2A) of the information collected by the probes reflecting the environmental and / or energy impact of the service S can take place continuously or quasi-continuously, or at regular frequency, etc.

[0100] In the example envisaged here, as mentioned previously, the network controller 2 estimates as indicator IND the carbon footprint attributed to the service S. The network controller 2 uses for this purpose, for example, the known method called LCA (for “Life-Cycle Assessment” in English) or a simplified LCA method as described for example in the article by M. Ficher et al. entitled “Assessing the carbon footprint of the data transmission on a backbone network”, 24th Conference on Innovation in Clouds, Internet and Networks (ICIN 2021), 2021.

[0101] Of course, other indicators and other methods for estimating these indicators can be envisaged to estimate the environmental and / or energy impact of the service S, such as for example energy consumption in the NW network attributed to the service S, a battery status, etc. Examples of such indicators (or metrics) are described in particular in the document by A. Clemm et al. published by the IETF and entitled "Green Networking Metrics", June 16, 2023. Various methods for estimating such indicators are described in particular in the IETF document RFC 7577 by J. Quittek et al, entitled "Definition of Managed objects for Battery Monitoring", July 2015, in the IETF document RFC 7460 by M. Chandramouli et al, entitled "Monitoring and Control MIB for Power and Energy", October 2015, or in the Opsa Working Group document, J. Lindblad et al., entitled "Power and Energy Efficiency", October 20, 2023.

[0102] Furthermore, in an alternative embodiment, the network controller 2 can estimate a plurality of IND indicators reflecting as a whole the environmental and / or energy impact of the service S (for example an indicator IND(l) representing the carbon footprint of the service S and an indicator IND(2) representing its energy consumption).

[0103] The network controller 2 (for example here via its estimation module 2A) then determines whether the estimated IND indicator meets a given conformity criterion (criterion CRIT here), i.e. predetermined or predefined (test step E40). For example, the network controller 2 compares the IND indicator with a threshold value defined for this IND indicator and for the service S and examines whether or not the IND indicator has crossed this threshold value. Typically, in the example of the carbon footprint, the network controller 2 examines whether this has exceeded a certain threshold corresponding to the maximum value that the network NW (i.e. the network operator) accepts (or wishes or authorizes) for this carbon footprint for service S. This maximum value may correspond in particular to a quota of the network's carbon footprint that it has allocated to service S and that service S must not exceed. Thus, in this illustrative example, the CRIT compliance criterion is the carbon footprint exceeding the threshold / quota in question. Of course, this is only an illustrative example and other compliance criteria may be considered depending on the indicators considered (for example, crossing a minimum threshold, a particular change in the indicator, etc.).

[0104] If the indicator IND meets the CRIT conformity criterion (yes response to the test step E40), the steps of obtaining E20, estimating E30 and comparing E40 to the CRIT conformity criterion are repeated by the network controller 2.

[0105] If the IND indicator (or one of the IND indicators) does not meet the CRIT conformity criterion (no response to test step E40), the network controller 2, via its notification module 2B, notifies the application server 4 (and more particularly its PCP server) of the non-compliance with the conformity criterion by the IND indicator, in other words in the example of the carbon footprint, of the carbon footprint exceeding the quota allocated by the network NW to the service S (step E50). The network controller 2 obtains the information to contact the application server 4 (and more particularly its PCP server) by consulting the AS_COSINUS_SUBSCRIBERS table. The notification sent by the network controller 2 to the application server 4 also indicates here to the application server 4 that a measure for managing the environmental and / or energy impact of the service S (i.e. its carbon footprint here) is required.

[0106] In an alternative embodiment, it can be envisaged that the network controller 2 also sends intermediate notifications to the application server 4 each time the indicator IND crosses various intermediate thresholds (for example 50% of the quota allocated to the service S, then 75% of this quota).

[0107] With reference to [Fig. 4], following receipt of the notification from the network controller 2 by the receiving module 4A of the application server 4 (step F20), the application server 4 triggers, via its trigger module 4B, at least one management measure ACT of the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S (i.e. here its carbon footprint) (step F30). The management measure(s) may relate to all or part of the traffic relating to the service S exchanged via the network NW. This may in particular be a limitation measure or a neutralization measure of the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S, or any other management measure aimed at controlling the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S.

[0108] In the embodiment described herein, the ACT management measure triggered by the application server 4 is a programmable scheduling mechanism. This mechanism is based on shared use of one (or more) given resource(s) of the network NW by several communication devices when accessing the service S by these communication devices and on a temporal scheduling of the communication devices in question to access the shared resource(s). Other examples of management measures that can be envisaged have been described previously.

[0109] More specifically, in the example of the streaming video service S considered here for illustrative purposes, the resource that is shared is a dedicated network slice SLopt supported by the network NW, within which the video streams are broadcast according to a multicast transmission mode by virtue of determined time slots (this is referred to as scheduled multicast broadcasting or "slot-based multicast" in English). Such a transmission mode advantageously makes it possible to send the same video content to several communication devices simultaneously during determined time slots, for example fixed slots of 1 min, 5 min, 15 min, etc. This scheduled multicast data broadcasting mode is more efficient in terms of environmental and / or energy impact than an immediate unicast data transmission mode within which the same content is duplicated for each communication device.

[0110] To set up this scheduled broadcast mode, the application server 4, by means of its trigger module 4B, thus selects for each video content to be broadcast offered by the service S, identified by an identifier called content_id here, one or more time slots or slots (each being identified by an identifier called slot_id here) that it allocates to the transmission of data relating to this video content on the shared network slice SLopt. This or these time slots slot_id associated with a video content content_id are then allocated to the (distributed between the) communication devices which wish to access the video content in question via the service S, several communication devices requesting access to the video content during a given time interval being able to be allocated the same time slot slot_id to access the content, and thus access the content simultaneously.The sharing of the SLopt network slice therefore results here in a simultaneous use of this network slice by several communication devices. This amounts to determining the temporal ordering according to which the communication devices in question will access the service S and more particularly the video content content_id using the SLopt network slice.

[0111] Then, the application server 4 notifies the network controller 2, via its notification module 4C (and possibly via an API provided for this purpose), of the ACT management measure(s) that it has triggered to control (to reduce by example) the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S (step F40). In the example envisaged here, the application server 4 thus informs the network controller 2 of the shared use of the network slice SLopt by a plurality of communication devices accessing the service S and of the scheduling decided for this shared use by sending it an ACTIVATE(SLopt, SCHEDULE) message, SCHEDULE designating information representative of said scheduling and more particularly of the associations between content_id and slot_id. A validity period may be associated with the management measure and transmitted in the ACTIVATE message, for example, the time for the IND indicator attributed to the service S to become compliant or to be reset for the application server 4 and / or the service S).

[0112] In the embodiment described here, following receipt of the ACTIVATE notification informing it of the triggering of a management measure (or measures) by the application server 4 (yes response to the test step E60), the network controller 2 configures at least one entity of the network in support of this management measure (step E70). More particularly, in the example envisaged here, during the step E70, the 2D configuration module of the network controller 2 configures the edge nodes (or BR for "Border Routers" in English) of the network NW with updated traffic classification rules so that the data packets relating to the service S and received from the application server 4 or intended for the application server 4 are associated with the network slice SLopt.The content_id identifier associated with each data stream (video content stream in the example considered here) carrying data packets relating to the service S received from the application server 4 transmitted according to a multicast transmission mode on the network slice SLopt is shared with the network controller 2 and the edge nodes BR configured by the latter so that they are able to identify the streams concerned.

[0113] The network controller 2 confirms the taking into account of the management measure notified by the application server 4, and the configuration of the edge nodes BR of the network NW to allow the implementation of this management measure (step E80). Therefore, following the reception of this confirmation (step F50), the application server 4 can proceed to the provision of the service S via its provision module 4E, and more particularly, in the example envisaged here, to the scheduled broadcasting of the stream(s) of a video content content_id in multicast mode to the network slice SLopt, according to the SCHEDULE scheduling decided by the application server 4 during step F30 (step F60).A multicast distribution tree deployed in the SLopt network slice for each association between a content_id identifier and one or more slot_id identifiers in the SCHEDULE schedule is then used in the NW network to route the data to the communication devices connected to the NW network having subscribed to the corresponding multicast group(s).

[0114] Alternatively, one can consider a diffusion tree for several different contents (i.e. several content_id identifiers).

[0115] In the embodiment described here, if at the end of a determined period of time, noted here Tmax, the network controller 2 is not notified (i.e. informed) by the application server 4 of the triggering of a measure for managing the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S (response no to the test step E60), it activates in the network NW a processing for all or part of the traffic relating to the service S in response to the non-compliance with the conformity criterion CRIT by the indicator IND (step E90). This processing aims for example to reduce or neutralize the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S. In the embodiment described here, the 2D trigger module embedded in the network controller 2 triggers for this purpose a default management measure ACT-DEF consisting of switching all or part of the traffic relating to the service S and transiting via the network NW to a network slice noted SL-LBE determined among the network slices SL1, ..., SLK supported by the NW network, the SL-LBE network slice providing a degraded level of service compared to an expected level of service for the S service. Such a degraded level of service is for example a level of quality of service best adapted to the conditions of access to the service also more commonly referred to as "Best effort" in English or a level of service lower than this level of service "Best Effort" also referred to as LBE for "Lower than Best Effort" in English. Of course, other alternatives can be considered. The activation step E90 is accompanied by a configuration by the network controller 2, via its 2D configuration module, of the edge nodes BR of the NW network (and more particularly of the access network) with updated traffic classification rules so that the traffic relating to the S service is associated with this SL-LBE network slice (step E100).This configuration of the BR edge nodes can be done directly or indirectly via a controller. The updated classification rules are also communicated to the communication devices accessing the S service.

[0116] The network controller 2 can also, via its notification module 2C, inform the application server 4 that the traffic relating to the service S will therefore be reclassified at the entrance to the network NW to be directed (routed) towards the network slice SL-LBE (step El 10).

[0117] Furthermore, in the embodiment described here, as soon as the network controller 2 detects that the indicator IND representative of the environmental and / or energy impact meets the conformity criterion CRIT (for example, following the triggering of the management measure ACT-DEF, the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S has decreased, or the indicator IND has been reset), the network controller 2 cancels the processing activated by default by its module 2D during step E90 (i.e., the default management measure ACT-DEF). In the example considered here, this results in the reinstallation of the network slices usually used to access the service S (and the configuration of the BR edge nodes accordingly).

[0118] Alternatively, other processing operations may be activated by the network controller 2 in the absence of a measure for managing the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S triggered by the application server 4. For example, the network controller may activate a re-marking of the traffic relating to the service S to store it in another queue, a clipping (“rate limit” in English) or a rejection of all or part of the data packets relating to the service S, a redirection of the data packets relating to the service S to a captive portal, etc.

[0119] We will now, with reference to figures 4, 5 and 6, illustrate how the triggering of one or more ACT management measures of the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S is reflected at the level of a communication device accessing the service S, and more particularly of the communication device 5.

[0120] In the embodiment described here, with reference to [Fig.6], it is assumed as a preliminary that the communication device 5 proceeds to the discovery (step G10) of at least one management entity 3 of network slices supported by the NW network likely to be involved in the COSINUS procedure and in particular in certain management measures taken to reduce (or even neutralize) the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S, typically here its carbon footprint. One or more management entities 3 may be present in the NW network for the implementation of the COSINUS procedure (also called here "COSINUS relays"). For the sake of simplification, however, a single management entity 3 of network slices in accordance with the invention in the NW network is considered here, i.e. a single COSINUS relay.

[0121] The discovery step G10 can be implemented in different ways.

[0122] Thus, in a first variant embodiment, the management entity 3 can be configured at the level of the communication device 5 by the NW network (i.e. by its operator). For example, the NW network provides the communication device 5 with at least one IP address and a port number associated with the network slice management entity 3 and allowing it to be reached. Alternatively, the network can also provide the communication device 5 with an authentication identifier (or ADN for “Authentication Domain Name” in English) associated with the management entity 3 to allow it to authenticate itself with the latter. This configuration by the NW network can be done using a dedicated protocol, such as for example the DHCP protocol (for “Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol” in English), or via a router advertisement message or RA (for “Router Advertisement” in English), etc.

[0123] In a second variant, the communication device 5 can use an anycast or multicast address to send a discovery message of the network slice management entities 3 operating in the network NW. The management entity 3 then responds to the discovery message by sending, for example, an IP address and a port number (and, where appropriate, an authentication identifier) ​​as described in the first variant.

[0124] In a third variant, the communication device 5 can use a domain name reserved for special use or SUDN (for “Special-Use Domain Names), as described in the document RFC 6761 by S. Cheshire et al. published by the IETF and entitled “Special-Use Domain Names”, February 2013, and request domain name resolutions associated with this reserved domain name in order to obtain resource records (or RR for “Resource Record” in English) of type SVBC of the management entities 3, as described in the document IETF RFC 9460 published by B. Schwartz et al. entitled “Service binding and parameter specification via the DNS (DNS SVCB and HTTPSSVC)”, November 2023. For example, it is assumed that the SVCB RR record of a management entity 3 in accordance with the invention includes a “SvcParam” parameter defined for the purposes of the invention and named here COSINUS, indicating the support of the COSINUS procedure by the management entity 3 in question.The SVCB RR may also include a list of types and / or identifiers of network slices managed by the management entity 3. .

[0125] Following the triggering of the management measure ACT by the application server 4 during the step F30 described previously, the application server 4 proceeds as described below for the communication devices connected to the network NW and accessing the service S via the network NW.

[0126] It is thus assumed that the communication device 5 sends, via its sending module 5A, an access request REQ-S to the service S to the application server 4 (step G20), and more particularly in the illustrative example of a streaming video service S envisaged here, a streaming access request to a video content CONT. The request REQ-S is sent by the communication device 5 via a network slice to which it is connected, for example here the network slice SL1. The access request REQ-S comprises a source IP address provided to the communication device 5 by the network NW and which is in the range of IP addresses provided by the network controller 2 when the application server 4 subscribes to the COSINUS procedure (step E10 / F10 described previously).

[0127] Following receipt of this access request REQ-S (step F61, [Fig.4]), the application server 4 extracts the source IP address of the access request REQ-S and checks whether this IP address corresponds to a range of IP addresses recorded in the NTW_COSINUS_SUBSCRIPTIONS table maintained by the application server 4. It also checks whether a notification of non-compliance of an indicator representative of the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to service S has been received from network controller 2 of the NW network (test step F62).

[0128] If the application server 4 does not find any entry in the NTW_COSINUS_SUBSCRIPTIONS table or if no notification has been received from the controller 2 of the NW network for the service S (response no to the test step F62), then the access request REQ-S to the service S, then the data packets exchanged as part of the access to the service S (to or from the communication device 5), are processed by the NW network and by the application server 4 in a conventional manner, that is to say by using a network slice among the network slices SL1, ..SLK supported by the NW network to which the communication device 5 is connected and which is adapted to the service S in a manner known per se, for example the network slice SL1 (step F63).

[0129] In the example envisaged here, a notification was received during step F20 from the network controller 2 of the network NW and a management measure ACT of the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S was triggered by the application server 4 in step F30, in response to this notification.

[0130] If the application server 4 finds an entry in the NTW_COSINUS_SUBSCRIPTIONS table and a notification of non-compliance of the environmental and / or energy impact has been received (yes response to the test step F62), which is the case in the example envisaged here, then the management measure ACT triggered by the application server 4 is applied to the traffic relating to the service S exchanged with this communication device 5 (i.e. to the traffic emitted by the communication device 5 and to the traffic intended for the communication device 5 as part of its access to the service S).More particularly, in the illustrative example envisaged here, the traffic relating to the service S associated with the communication device 5 and in particular the video content CONT is conveyed via the shared network slice SLopt and its provision to the communication devices using the network slice SLopt in a shared manner is organized according to the SCHEDULE schedule determined by the application server 4, that is to say during the time slot identified by slot_id associated with the identifier content_id corresponding to the video content CONT (step F64). The application server 4 therefore selects for the communication device 5 the time slot identified by slot_id to allow it to access the content CONT.

[0131] Then, in the embodiment described here, the application server 4 notifies (i.e. informs) via its notification module 4C the communication device 5 of the management measure ACT triggered and applied to the traffic relating to the service S concerning it, i.e. sent to the communication device 5 or originating therefrom. In the example envisaged here, the notification module 4C sends a notification message to the communication device 5 informing it of the use of the shared network slice SLopt during access by the communication device 5 to the service S and of the time slot slot_id allocated for the transmission of the content content_id on the network slice SLopt (step F65). This notification message here comprises, in addition to an identifier of the shared network slice SLopt, an indication that the video content CONT to which the communication device 5 wishes to access in streaming is for example not immediately broadcast on the shared network slice SLopt in response to the access request REQ-S to the service S, but at a given deadline corresponding to the identifier slot_id (for example, 30s, Imn, 3mn).

[0132] It is noted that in the embodiment described here, a static SCHEDULE scheduling determined by the application server 4 and notified to the controller 2 during step F40 upstream of the actual access to the service S has been envisaged. However, this does not exclude this scheduling from evolving over time (and therefore the application server 4 from sending several messages to the controller 2 reflecting this evolution), in particular as a function of the access requests received by the application server 4 from communication devices. Furthermore, as a variant, it may be envisaged that the application server 4 dynamically determines, as a function of the access requests to the service S received from communication devices during, for example, a determined time interval, the SCHEDULE scheduling that it plans to apply for access to the service S by the communication devices in question, via the SLopt network slice.

[0133] The communication device 5 confirms the reception (step G30) and the taking into account of the notification message (step G40).

[0134] Upon receipt of this confirmation, the application server 4 adds, in a local cache located for example in its non-volatile memory NVM, the communication device 5 to a list of communication devices receiving the CONT video content broadcast on the shared network slice SLopt, and obtains an identifier noted ID5 for the communication device 5. For example, this identifier ID5 is generated for the communication device 5 by the application server 4 randomly, for example by a module (or a service instance) responsible for managing the connections of all the communication devices to the application server 4. As a variant, it is possible to envisage an identifier generated per connection or per service session for the communication device 5; this variant can be adopted depending on the nature of the service, for example if it is a transactional type service.

[0135] The application server 4 sends to the communication device 5 its own identifier AS4_id, the identifier ID5 generated for the communication device 5 as well as the identifier slot_id indicating the time slot allocated to the communication device 5 for the transmission according to a multicast transmission mode of the traffic relating to the service S concerning it and the identifier content_id associated with the video content CONT (step F66). The application server 4 further creates a context associated with the communication device 5 in its local cache, in which it stores the identifiers ID5, slot_id and content_id.

[0136] The application server 4 proceeds in an identical manner with the other communication devices wishing to access the same CONT content as the communication device 5 and concerned by the ACT management measure.

[0137] Following the reception of these identifiers by the communication device 5 (step G50), the latter sends an access request REQ-SLopt to the shared network slice SLopt to the management entity 3 (COSINUS relay) of the network slices supported by the network NW (and in particular of the network slice SLopt), discovered during the discovery step G10 (step G60). Alternatively, the discovery step G10 can be implemented by the communication device 5 following the step G50 of receiving the identifiers provided by the application server 4 or at any time before this reception step.

[0138] In the embodiment described here, the REQ-SLopt access request to the shared network slice SLopt takes the form of a subscription request to the multicast group whose multicast distribution tree is associated with the identifiers slot_id and content_id and deployed within this network slice. It is assumed that the multicast group address corresponding to the deployment of the distribution tree has been previously broadcast by the management entity 3. In the embodiment described, the access request sent by the communication device 5 comprises the different identifiers provided by the application server 4 to the communication device 5 (ID5, AS4_id, slot_id and content_id).

[0139] In one embodiment, the subscription request sent is an “MLD Report” message of the MLD protocol (for “Multicast Listener Group” in English), modified for the purposes of the invention to include in particular the aforementioned identifiers, when the NW network uses the IPv6 protocol. When the NW network uses the IPv4 protocol, it may be an IGMP message (for “Internet Group Management Protocol” in English). In another embodiment, the request for access to the shared network slice SLopt takes the form of a classic “MLD Report” subscription request to the multicast distribution tree and is accompanied by a message conforming to the ICMPvô protocol (for “Internet Control Message Protocol version 6” in English), conveying the different identifiers provided by the application server 4 to the communication device 5 (ID5, AS4_id, slot_id and content_id). The ICMPvô message is intended to trigger the sending of an “MLD Query” message by the management entity 3. This MLD message is typically sent by the router to which the device under the control of the management entity 3 is connected.

[0140] With reference to [Fig.5], the management entity 3 receives the REQ-SLopt request from the communication device 5 via its reception module 3A (step H10). The management entity 3 extracts the identifiers ID5, AS4_id, slot_id and content_id contained in the REQ-SLopt request and carries out various checks on the basis of these identifiers (step H20).

[0141] More particularly, in the embodiment described here, the management entity 3 consults the AS_COSINUS_SUBSCRIBERS table stored in the NW network and determines whether an entry in the table is associated with the identifier AS4_id. If applicable, the management entity 3 retrieves from the AS_COSINUS_SUBSCRIBERS table the information making it possible to contact the application server 4 (IP address and, if applicable, port number, in particular, of the PCP server used by the application server 4, provided by the latter in the “Contact_Locator” field during the preliminary negotiation / subscription phase with the network controller 2).

[0142] Then the management entity 3 verifies, via its verification module 3B, with the PCP server of the application server 4 using the information obtained, that the communication device 5 is indeed authorized (entitled) to access the SLopt network slice. In the embodiment described here, the verification module 3B of the management entity 3 sends for this purpose a PCP request to the PCP server of the application server 4 including an option called here COSINUS_OP, defined for the needs of the invention, containing here the identifiers ID5, AS4_id, slot_id and content_id. [Fig.7] illustrates an example of format for such an option, the option code (TBA for “To Be Assigned” in English) being provided by the IANA in a standardization context.

[0143] With reference to [Fig.4], upon receipt of the PCP request from the management entity 3, the PCP server of the application server 4 (and more particularly the verification module 4D integrated in the PCP server) checks whether a context corresponding to the identifiers ID5, slot_id and content_id received in the PCP request is maintained in the local cache of the application server 4 (step F67). If no context corresponding to the identifiers ID5, slot_id and content_id is maintained by the application server 4, then an error message is sent by the verification module 4D of the application server 4 to the management entity 3 indicating to it that the communication device 5 is not authorized to use the shared network slice SLopt. The management entity 3, via its verification module 3B, rejects the REQ-SLopt request from the communication device 5. It may possibly also inform a dedicated platform.

[0144] On the contrary, if a context corresponding to the identifiers ID5, slot_id and content_id is maintained by the application server 4, then a positive response confirming that the communication device 5 is authorized to access the shared network slice SLopt is sent by the verification module 4D to the management entity 3.

[0145] Upon receipt of this positive response, the management entity 3 accepts the REQ-SLopt request (and thus the request to subscribe to the multicast distribution tree associated with the shared SLopt network slice) (step H30), and triggers, via its trigger module 3C, the connection of the communication device 5 to the shared SLopt network slice (step H40).

[0146] In this embodiment, the connection of the communication device 5 to the shared network slice SLopt is triggered by the management entity 3, i.e. at the initiative of the NW network. Alternatively, it may be envisaged that it is the communication device 5 which is at the initiative of its connection to the shared network slice SLopt, the connection request of the communication device 5 being able to be made to the appropriate entity of the NW network managing the SLopt network slice (for example the management entity 3 or another management entity of the SLopt network slice) before or simultaneously with the sending of its subscription request to the multicast distribution tree associated with the shared network slice SLopt.

[0147] Following the connection of the communication device 5 to the shared network slice SLopt (step G70), the communication device 5 accesses the service S via the shared network slice SLopt (step G90). More specifically in the example of a video streaming service envisaged here, the video content identified by the identifier content_id is transmitted to the communication device 5 by the provisioning module 4E of the application server 4 via the shared network slice SLopt during the time slot identified by the identifier slot_id (step F68 in [Fig. 5]). The time slot identified by slot_id is thus used to simultaneously deliver the video content CONT to several communication devices (including the communication device 5) via the network slice SLopt.

[0148] The ACT management measure can be implemented sustainably or be deactivated following detection by the controller 2 that the IND indicator representative of the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service S has become compliant with the CRIT criterion.

Claims

Claims

1. Method of supervision by a network controller (2) of a network, said method comprising: - a step (E30) of estimating at least one indicator (IND) representative of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to a service provided via said network; and - if said at least one indicator does not comply with a given conformity criterion (CRIT), a step (E50) of notifying an application server associated with the service of the non-compliance by said indicator with said conformity criterion.

2. Supervision method according to claim 1 further comprising, in the absence at the end of a determined period of triggering of at least one environmental and / or energy impact management measure by the application server following its notification, a step (E90) of activation in said network, for all or part of the traffic relating to said service, of at least one processing (ACT-DEF) in response to non-compliance with the conformity criterion.

3. Supervision method according to claim 2 wherein said at least one processing (ACT-DEF) comprises a switch of all or part of the traffic relating to said service passing via said network to a network slice (SL-LBE) providing a degraded level of service compared to an expected level of service for said service.

4. Supervision method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, in which the estimation step (E30) comprises a reception (E20) from at least one probe deployed in the network of at least one piece of information reflecting an environmental and / or energy impact of at least one communication relating to said service established from or to a server involved in a provision of said service.

5. Supervision method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 further comprising: - a step of receiving, from the application server, a notification of shared use by several communication devices of at least one given resource (SLopt) of the network during access to said service by said communication devices; and - a step (E70) of configuring at least one entity of the network to enable this shared use.

6. Supervision method according to claim 5 wherein said at least one given resource comprises a given network slice (SLopt) supported by said network and said notification received from the application server comprises information representative of a scheduling (SCHEDULE) of access to the service by communication devices via said network slice.

7. Method for managing by an application server (4) a service provided via at least one network, said method comprising: - a step (F20) of receiving, from a network controller (2) of said network, a notification of a non-compliance with a given conformity criterion by at least one indicator, estimated by the network controller, representative of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to said service; and - a step (F30) of triggering at least one measure (ACT) for managing said environmental and / or energy impact, said management measure relating to all or part of the traffic relating to said service.

8. Management method according to claim 7 wherein said at least one management measure is chosen from at least: - a use of an encoding of the data relating to said service having a lower contribution to the environmental and / or energy impact attributed to said service than a current encoding; - a restriction of access to said service via said network; - a scheduling of access to said service by a plurality of communication devices; - a shared use of at least one given resource of the network by several communication devices during access to said service by said communication devices; - a marking of traffic relating to said service to store it in at least one queue.

9. Management method according to claim 7 or 8 comprising, when said at least one management measure (ACT) comprises a scheduling (SCHEDULE) of access to said service by a plurality of communication devices, following a request for access to the service by at least one communication device, a step of selecting for said at least one communication device a time slot (slot_id) allocated to said plurality of communication devices for access to said service.

10. Management method according to any one of claims 7 to 9 wherein said at least one management measure comprises shared use by several communication devices when accessing said service, according to a determined schedule, of a given network slice (SLopt) supported by said network.

11. Management method according to claim 10 comprising at least one step among: - a step (F40) of notifying said network controller of the shared use of said given network slice by said communication devices according to said determined scheduling; and - a step (F65) of notifying said communication devices of said given network slice to be used in a shared manner by said communication devices during access to the service and said determined scheduling which must be applied.

12. Management method according to claim 10 or 11 further comprising a step (F67) of receiving from an entity (3) of the network a request to verify that a communication device (5) is authorized to access said given network slice (SLopt).

13. Management method according to any one of claims 7 to 12 comprising: - a step (F61) of receiving a request for access to the service from a communication device (5); - if said communication device is concerned by a said management measure, a step of applying (F64) this management measure to the traffic relating to the service from or to the said communication device.

14. Method of managing, by an entity (3) of a network, access to a network slice supported by the network, said method comprising: - a step (H10) of receiving, from a communication device (5), a request for access to a given network slice (SLopt) supported by the network, said network slice being shared between several communication devices accessing a service provided via the network, following a notification received by an application server associated with said service from a network controller of the network of a non-compliance with a given conformity criterion by at least one indicator, estimated by the network controller, representative of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to said service; - a step (H20) of verifying, with the application server associated with said service, that said communication device is authorized to access said shared data network slice; and - where applicable, a step (H40) of triggering a connection of said communication device to said shared given network slice.

15. Method of accessing, by a communication device (5), a service (S) provided via a network, said method comprising: - a step (G20) of sending a request for access to the service to an application server (4) associated with said service; - a step (G30) of receiving a notification from the application server informing said communication device of an application of the traffic relating to said service coming from or going to said communication device of at least one measure for managing an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service, following a notification, received by said application server from a network controller of the network, of a non-compliance with a given conformity criterion by at least one indicator, estimated by the network controller, representative of said environmental impact and / or

16.

17.

18. energy. Access method according to claim 15 wherein said at least a management measure comprises a shared use according to a determined schedule, during access to said service, of a given network slice supported by said network by several communication devices including said communication device, and said method comprises: a step (G60) of sending to a network entity a request for access to said shared data network slice (SLopt); and following the connection (G80) of said communication device to said shared given network slice, a step (G90) of accessing said service via said shared given network slice. Network controller (2) of a network comprising: an estimation module (2A), configured to estimate at least one indicator representative of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to a service provided via said network; and a notification module (2B), activated if said at least one estimated indicator does not meet a given compliance criterion, and configured to notify an application server associated with the service of this non-compliance with said compliance criterion by said at least one indicator. Application server (4) configured to manage a service provided via at least one network, said application server comprising: a receiving module (4A), configured to receive from a network controller of said network, a notification identification of a failure to comply with a given compliance criterion by at least one indicator, estimated by the network controller, representative of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to said service; and a trigger module (4B), configured to trigger at least one measure for managing said environmental impact and / or energy, said management measure relating to all or part of the traffic relating to said service.

19. Entity (3) of a network, configured to manage access to a network slice supported by the network, said entity comprising: - a receiving module (3A), configured to receive from a communication device, a request for access to a given network slice supported by the network, this network slice being shared between several communication devices accessing a service provided via the network, following a notification, received by an application server associated with said service from a network controller of the network, of a non-compliance with a given conformity criterion by at least one indicator, estimated by the network controller, representative of an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to said service - a verification module (3B), configured to verify with the application server associated with said service, that said communication device is authorized to access said shared given network slice;and - a trigger module (3C) activated where appropriate and configured to trigger a connection of said communication device to said shared given network slice.;

20. Communication device (5) comprising: - a sending module (5A), configured to send to an application server associated with a service provided via a network, a request for access to said service; and - a receiving module (5B), configured to receive a notification from the application server informing said communication device of an application to the traffic relating to said service coming from or going to said communication device of at least one measure for managing an environmental and / or energy impact attributed to the service, following a notification, received by said application server from a network controller of the network, of a non- compliance with a compliance criterion given by at least one indicator, estimated by the network controller, representative of said environmental and / or energy impact.

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