Systems and methods for application-specific scheduling in open radio access networks

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a system (134) and method for application-specific scheduling in an open radio access network (ORAN). The system (134) receives data timing information associated with one or more user equipments (UEs) (108) coupled to the ORAN via a lightweight application function (LAF) (102). The LAF (102) is configured to receive the data timing information from an AF (110) configured in a core network (114). The system (134) determines whether uplink synchronization is established between the ORAN (104) and the one or more UEs (108), and in response to a positive determination, transmits scheduling information from the ORAN (104) to the one or more UEs (108). The system (134) allocates one or more resource blocks (RBs) to the one or more UEs (108) to enable data transfer between the ORAN (104) and the one or more UEs (108).

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Reservation of Rights Portions of the disclosure of this patent document contain material that is subject to intellectual property rights, including, but not limited to, copyright, design, trademark, integrated circuit (IC) layout design, and / or trade dress protection, belonging to Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) or its affiliates (hereinafter referred to as the Owner). The Owner has no objection to any reproduction by any person of this patent document or this patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever. All rights to such intellectual property are fully reserved by the Owner.

[0002] FIELD Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to systems and methods for scheduling in wireless networks. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for application-specific scheduling in open radio access networks (ORANs). [Background technology]

[0003] The following description of related art is intended to provide background information regarding the field of the present disclosure. This section may include some aspects of the art that may be related to various features of the present disclosure. However, it should be understood that this section is not intended as an admission of prior art, but rather is intended solely to enhance the reader's understanding of the present disclosure.

[0004] Fifth-generation (5G) wireless technology, developed as part of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®), is intended to deliver higher multi-gigabit per second (Gbps) peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, greater reliability, massive network capacity, improved availability, and a more uniform user experience to a larger number of users. Sixth-generation (6G) networks offer novel radio and access architectures for both communications and sensing, the co-design of artificial intelligence (AI)-optimized wide-area networks and data centers, and the dynamic orchestration of personalized services to revolutionize the long tail of niche consumer interests. While demand for mobile broadband will continue to grow for consumers and businesses alike, the widespread adoption of ultra-reliable, low-latency services will be largely driven by specialized, localized use cases associated with non-public networks and, in many cases, augmented intelligence. One of the key requirements for 6G cellular network radio base stations, which are expected to support mobility access nodes such as access nodes on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), is the concept of a coreless network, i.e., radio access network (RAN) nodes must operate independently from the core network. To support such an independent RAN that can operate independently from the core network, various architectures for authenticating and authorizing user equipment (UE) have been proposed.

[0005] However, resource allocation in 5G and 6G networks can increase overhead between uplink and downlink control channels. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a system and method that can mitigate problems associated with resource allocation in 5G and 6G Open Radio Access Networks (ORANs). Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Some of the objectives of the present disclosure that are met by at least one embodiment herein are listed herein below.

[0007] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a system and method for application-specific scheduling in an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) that improves spectral efficiency by reducing overhead on radio resources used by control channel information in the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) directions.

[0008] An objective of the present disclosure is to introduce a new optimized mechanism for sharing control information in either the UL or DL ​​direction, thereby reducing the overhead on the control channel.

[0009] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a system and method for application-specific scheduling in an ORAN, in which a lightweight application server (LAS) is coupled with a radio access network (RAN) node to receive data timing information associated with a user equipment (UE) from another AS in the core network.

[0010] One objective of the present disclosure is for the ORAN to receive data timing information from the LAS and provide scheduling information to the UE with a specific periodicity. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] This section is provided to introduce in a simplified form certain objects and aspects of the disclosure that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0012] In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a system for application-specific scheduling in an open radio access network (ORAN). The system includes a processor communicatively coupled to the ORAN and a memory operatively coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive data timing information associated with one or more user equipments (UEs) coupled to the ORAN via a lightweight application function (LAF). The LAF is communicatively coupled to the ORAN and configured to receive the data timing information from an AF configured in a core network. The processor determines, based on the data timing information, whether uplink synchronization has been established between the ORAN and the one or more UEs. In response to a positive determination, the processor transmits scheduling information from the ORAN to the one or more UEs, the scheduling information including a periodicity associated with allocation of one or more resource blocks (RBs). The processor allocates the one or more RBs to the one or more UEs based on the scheduling information. The processor enables data transfer between the ORAN and the one or more UEs based on the allocated one or more RBs.

[0013] In one embodiment, in response to a negative determination, the processor may restrict transmission of scheduling information to one or more UEs.

[0014] In one embodiment, in response to a positive determination, the processor may determine, via a machine learning model, a data transmission pattern from the data timing information for a predetermined period of time and transmit scheduling information to one or more UEs based on the data transmission pattern.

[0015] In one embodiment, one or more UEs may be configured to transmit data timing information to the AF via Internet Protocol (IP).

[0016] In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method for application-specific scheduling in an ORAN. The method includes receiving, by a processor associated with the system, data timing information associated with one or more UEs coupled to the ORAN via a Line Activated Function (LAF). The LAF is configured to receive the data timing information from an AF configured in a core network. The method includes determining, by the processor, whether uplink synchronization has been established between the ORAN and the one or more UEs based on the data timing information. In response to a positive determination, the method includes transmitting, by the processor, scheduling information from the ORAN to the one or more UEs, the scheduling information including a periodicity associated with allocation of one or more RBs. The method includes allocating, by the processor, one or more RBs to the one or more UEs based on the scheduling information. The method includes enabling, by the processor, data transfer between the ORAN and the one or more UEs based on the allocated one or more RBs.

[0017] In one embodiment, in response to a negative determination, the method may include restricting, by the processor, transmission of scheduling information to one or more UEs.

[0018] In one embodiment, the method may include, in response to a positive determination, determining, by the processor, via a machine learning model, a data transmission pattern from the data timing information for a predetermined period of time, and transmitting, by the processor, scheduling information to one or more UEs based on the data transmission pattern.

[0019] In one embodiment, the method may include transmitting, by one or more UEs, data timing information to the AF over IP.

[0020] In one aspect, a UE for sending a request includes one or more processors associated with the system and communicatively coupled to a processor configured with an ORAN. The one or more processors are coupled to a memory, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to transmit data timing information to an AF in a core network. The UE is configured to receive the data timing information from an AF configured in the core network. The processor is configured to receive the data timing information from the UE via a LAF, the LAF being communicatively coupled to the ORAN. The processor determines, based on the data timing information, whether uplink synchronization is established between the ORAN and the UE. In response to a positive determination, the processor transmits scheduling information from the ORAN to the UE, the scheduling information including a periodicity associated with allocation of one or more RBs. The processor allocates one or more RBs to the UE based on the scheduling information. The processor enables data transfer between the ORAN and the UE based on the allocated one or more RBs.

[0021] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprises a processor having executable instructions that cause the processor to receive data timing information associated with one or more UEs coupled to an ORAN via a LAF. The LAF is communicatively coupled to the ORAN and configured to receive the data timing information from an AF configured in a core network. The processor determines whether uplink synchronization is established between the ORAN and the one or more UEs based on the data timing information. In response to a positive determination, the processor transmits scheduling information from the ORAN to the one or more UEs, the scheduling information including a periodicity associated with allocation of one or more RBs. The processor allocates one or more RBs to the one or more UEs based on the scheduling information. The processor enables data transfer between the ORAN and the one or more UEs based on the allocated one or more RBs.

[0022] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed methods and systems, with like reference numerals referring to the same parts throughout the different drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Some of the drawings may use block diagrams to illustrate components and may not depict the internal circuitry of each component. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the disclosure of such drawings includes disclosure of electrical or electronic components or circuitry commonly used to implement such components. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0023] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture (100) for implementing the proposed system (134), according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] 1 is an exemplary block diagram (200) of a proposed system (134), according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] 3 is an exemplary representation of a scheduling process (300) in an open radio access network (ORAN), according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 4 is an exemplary flow diagram of a scheduling process (400) according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 5A] 5 is an exemplary flow diagram (500A) of a scheduling process according to the proposed system (134), according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 5B] 5 is an exemplary flow diagram (500B) of a scheduling process according to the proposed system (134), according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 5C] 5 is an exemplary flow diagram (500C) of a scheduling process according to the proposed system (134), according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 5D] 5 is an exemplary flow diagram (500D) of a scheduling process according to the proposed system (134), according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary computer system (600) in or with which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024] The foregoing will become more apparent from the following more detailed description of the present disclosure.

[0025] In the following description, for purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. Some features described below may each be used independently of each other or in any combination with other features. Individual features may not address all of the problems discussed above, or may address only some of the problems discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above may not be fully addressed by any of the features described herein.

[0026] The following description provides exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the present disclosure. Rather, the following description of exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing the exemplary embodiments. It will be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as described.

[0027] Specific details are provided in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form so as not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail so as to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

[0028] Also, it should be noted that particular embodiments may be described as a process that is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. While a flowchart may describe operations as a sequential process, many of the operations may be performed in parallel or simultaneously. Additionally, the order of operations may be rearranged. A process terminates when its operations are completed, but may have additional steps not included in the diagram. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination may correspond to the function returning to the calling function or to the main function.

[0029] The words "exemplary" and / or "demonstrative" are used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. Additionally, any aspect or design described herein as "exemplary" and / or "demonstrative" should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs, and is not intended to exclude equivalent exemplary structures and techniques known to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms "includes," "has," "contains," and other similar terms are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive, similar to the open transitional term "comprising," without excluding any additional or other elements.

[0030] Throughout this specification, references to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" or "an instance" or "one instance" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, the appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0031] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising," as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0032] Internet of Things (IoT) application data is most often time-bounded and predictable, especially when the data comes from sensors, cameras, etc., which leads to several optimizations in terms of scheduling resources to such IoT devices. To avoid overhead on the end-to-end system and especially in the Open Radio Access Network (ORAN), there are many optimizations possible, and one such optimization is to extend the concept of semi-persistent scheduling to data generated by IoT devices. Furthermore, in fifth-generation (5G) networks / sixth-generation (6G) networks, one of the main entities in the end-to-end network architecture is the application function (AF) / application server (AS), and the IoT device (or user equipment (UE)).

[0033] Most IoT applications are expected to send data for a specific time period, therefore, the present disclosure introduces a mechanism to reduce control channel overhead, especially on the downlink control channel, thereby increasing the spectral efficiency of ORAN. Such a new mechanism is proposed for both periodic and aperiodic traffic, bursty traffic, and also for ORAN or networks with a core. Furthermore, the present disclosure introduces a mechanism for sharing timing-related information with UEs to receive downlink (DL) data so that the UEs wake up at the appropriate time.

[0034] Various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

[0035] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture (100) for implementing the proposed system (134) according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 1, the network architecture 100 may include a lightweight application function 102 that may be connected to an ORAN / coreless network 104. The LAF 102 may be connected to a sixth-generation gNodeB (6gNB) radio unit (RU) 106 of the ORAN 104. The LAF 102 may be a proxy server residing with the ORAN 104 and may contain periodicity-related information. This proxy server may be synchronized with an AF 110 in the core network 114 via a predefined gateway and may instruct the RU 106 regarding scheduling information by sharing data timing information associated with one or more UEs 108 connected to the ORAN 104. The core network 114 may include a unified data management (UDM) module 112, an access and mobility management function / authentication server function (AMF / AUSF) 116, and the AF 110. Additionally, a 6gNB distribution unit 118 may be included in the ORAN 104. The 6gNB distribution unit 118 may be connected to 6gNB control units 120, 122, which may each be connected to a lightweight AMF / AUSF 124 and a lightweight user plane function (UPF) 126. The UPF 126 may be connected to a local data network 128, and the lightweight AMF / AUSF 124 may be connected to a lightweight data module (LDM) module 132 within the coreless network 104.

[0037] In one embodiment, a system (134) configured with a 6gNB radio unit (RU) (106) of an ORAN (104) may receive data timing information associated with one or more UEs (108) coupled to the ORAN (104) via a LAF (102), which may be configured to receive the data timing information from an AF (110) configured in a core network (114). The system (134) may determine whether uplink synchronization has been established between the ORAN (104) and the one or more UEs (108) based on the data timing information. In response to a positive determination, the system (134) may transmit scheduling information from the ORAN (104) to the one or more UEs (108), which may include a periodicity associated with the allocation of one or more resource blocks (RBs). In response to a negative determination, the system (134) may restrict transmission of the scheduling information to the one or more UEs (108).

[0038] In one embodiment, the system (134) may allocate one or more RBs to one or more UEs (108) based on the scheduling information. The system (134) may enable data transfer between the ORAN (104) and the one or more UEs (108) based on the allocation of the one or more RBs.

[0039] In another embodiment, in response to a positive determination, the system (134) may determine, via a machine learning model, a data transmission pattern from the data timing information for a predetermined period of time and transmit scheduling information to one or more UEs (108) based on the data transmission pattern.

[0040] In another embodiment, one or more UEs (108) may be configured to transmit data timing information to the AF (110) via Internet Protocol (IP).

[0041] Although Figure 1 illustrates exemplary components of network architecture (100), in other embodiments, network architecture (100) may include fewer components, different components, differently arranged components, or additional functional components than those illustrated in Figure 1. Additionally or alternatively, one or more components of network architecture (100) may perform functions described as being performed by one or more other components of network architecture (100).

[0042] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary block diagram (200) of the proposed system (134) according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] Referring to FIG. 2 , the system (134) may include one or more processors (202), which may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, logic circuitry, and / or any device that processes data based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the one or more processors (202) may be configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory (204) of the system (134). The memory (204) may be configured to store one or more computer-readable instructions or routines on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which may be fetched and executed to create or share data packets via a network service. The memory (204) may include any non-transitory storage device, including, for example, volatile memory such as random access memory (RAM) or non-volatile memory such as erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, etc.

[0044] In one embodiment, the system (134) may include an interface (206). The interface (206) may comprise various interfaces, such as interfaces for data input and output (I / O) devices, storage devices, etc. The interface (206) may also provide a communication path for one or more components of the system (134). Examples of such components include, but are not limited to, a processing engine (208) and a database (210), where the processing engine (208) may include, but is not limited to, a data ingestion engine (212), other engines (214), and a machine learning engine (216). In one embodiment, the other engines (214) may include, but are not limited to, a data management engine, an input / output engine, and a notification engine.

[0045] In one embodiment, the processing engine (208) may be implemented as a combination of hardware and programming (e.g., programmable instructions) for implementing one or more functions of the processing engine (208). In the examples described herein, such a combination of hardware and programming may be implemented in several different ways. For example, the programming for the processing engine (208) may be processor-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, and the hardware for the processing engine (208) may comprise processing resources (e.g., one or more processors) for executing such instructions. In this example, the machine-readable storage medium may store instructions that, when executed by the processing resources, implement the processing engine (208). In such an example, the system (134) may comprise a machine-readable storage medium that stores the instructions and the processing resources for executing the instructions, or the machine-readable storage medium may be separate but accessible to the system (134) and the processing resources. In other examples, the processing engine (208) may be implemented by electronic circuitry.

[0046] In one embodiment, the processor (202) may receive data timing information via a data ingestion engine (212). The data timing information may be associated with one or more UEs (108) coupled to the ORAN (104) via a LAF (102), which may be communicatively coupled to the ORAN (104) and configured to receive the data timing information from an AF (110) configured in a core network (114). The processor (202) may store the information in a database (210).

[0047] In one embodiment, the processor (202) may determine, based on the data timing information, whether uplink synchronization has been established between the ORAN (104) and one or more UEs (108). In response to a positive determination, the processor (202) may transmit scheduling information from the ORAN (104) to the one or more UEs (108), the scheduling information including a periodicity associated with the allocation of one or more RBs. In response to a negative determination, the processor (202) may restrict transmission of the scheduling information to the one or more UEs (108).

[0048] In one embodiment, the processor (202) may allocate one or more RBs to one or more UEs (108) based on the scheduling information. The processor (202) may enable data transfer between the ORAN (104) and the one or more UEs (108) based on the allocation of the one or more RBs.

[0049] In another embodiment, in response to a positive determination, the processor (202) may determine, via a machine learning model, a data transmission pattern from the data timing information for a predetermined period of time and transmit scheduling information based on the data transmission pattern to one or more UEs (108). The machine learning model may be implemented by a machine learning engine (216).

[0050] In another embodiment, one or more UEs (108) may be configured to transmit data timing information to the AF (110) over IP.

[0051] FIG. 3 illustrates an example representation (300) of a scheduling process in an ORAN, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0052] In one embodiment, scheduling may include the process of allocating resources for transmitting data. Similar to Long Term Evolution (LTE) (in all cellular communications), New Radio (NR) scheduling may be directed by the network, and the UE may follow the communication from the network. Scheduling depends on many factors (including Quality of Service (QoS)) and may not be based on application type. There may be two types of scheduling in the DL direction: one is called dynamic scheduling and the other is called semi-persistent scheduling (SPS). Dynamic scheduling may refer to a mechanism in which any and all physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) are scheduled by downlink control information (DCI) (DCI 1_0 or DCI 1_1). SPS may refer to a mechanism in which PDSCH transmissions may be scheduled by radio resource control (RRC) messages.

[0053] In one embodiment, for scheduler operation, the UE buffer status (304), the QoS (306) requirements of each UE (108), and the associated radio bearers (308) may be taken into consideration to allocate resources among one or more UEs (108). The scheduler (302) may also allocate resources based on radio conditions at the UEs (108), known via measurements taken at a base station (gNB) or communicated by the UEs (108). Radio resources may be allocated in units of slots, and the radio resources may consist of one or more RBs. The scheduler (302) may receive measurements (314) based on the associated radio bearers (308), the buffer status (304), the QoS (306) requirements of each UE (108), scheduling requests (310) sent by the UEs (108), and data timing information (316). The scheduler (302) may perform resource allocation (312) for each transmission time interval (TTI).

[0054] FIG. 4 illustrates an example flow diagram (400) of a scheduling process according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0055] In one embodiment, 5G wireless technology is intended to provide more users with higher multi-gigabit per second (Gbps) peak data rates, ultra-low latency, higher reliability, massive network capacity, improved availability, and a more uniform user experience. Higher performance and improved efficiency will power new user experiences and connect new industries. 6G networks may be designed to realize an expansion of human experience across the physical, biological, and digital worlds while simultaneously enabling next-generation industrial operating environments that exceed Industry 4.0 in performance dimensions such as positioning, sensing, ultra-reliability, energy efficiency, and extreme real-time capabilities. 6G networks are expected to provide novel radio and access architectures for both communications and sensing. 6G may also include the co-design of artificial intelligence (AI)-optimized wide area networks and data centers, as well as the dynamic orchestration of personalized services that revolutionize the long tail of niche consumer interests. Demand for mobile broadband may continue to grow among consumers and businesses alike, but the proliferation of ultra-reliable, low-latency may be driven largely by specialized, localized use cases associated with non-public networks and, often, augmented intelligence.

[0056] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, scheduling may include dynamic scheduling (402) and SPS (404). Dynamic scheduling (402) may be a mechanism by which any and all PDSCHs may be scheduled by DCI (DCI 1_0 or DCI 1_1). SPS (404) may be a mechanism by which PDSCH transmissions are scheduled by RRC messages. SPS (404) may also be referred to as configured scheduling in 5G. Configured scheduling may be a mechanism by which the gNB (406) may schedule PDSCHs / Physical Uplink Shared Channels (PUSCHs) without using DCI for every transmission. Furthermore, the gNB (406) may configure all detailed scheduling parameters in RRC, and the gNB / UE (408) may transmit PDSCHs and PUSCHs according to parameters specified in the RRC message container. This may help the gNB (406) reduce the load of physical / medium access control (PHY / MAC) scheduling. Also, IoT as a use case category may emerge with many use cases involving machine-to-machine (M2M) and machine-to-human communications. The scale of such devices may also be expected to be enormous, as the connection density of such deployments is expected to reach millions of devices per square kilometer (Sq. Km). IoT data may also be time-bound and predictable in most cases, especially when the data is from sensors, cameras, etc., which may result in some optimizations in terms of scheduling resources for such IoT devices. To avoid overhead on the end-to-end system and especially in the RAN, SPS (404) may be used for data generated by IoT devices.

[0057] Furthermore, the SPS (404) can help reduce control channel overhead in wireless networks by scheduling radio resources in advance of transmission for some applications, such as voice or video calls. Such persistent scheduling can help the UE (408) use radio resources, especially when data packets need to be continuously transferred without waiting for scheduling information for each instance. In scenarios such as voice / video calls, there may be data packets that need to be sent according to a desired QoS. If dynamic scheduling (402) is used, the control channel used in the DL may encounter significant overhead and reduce overall spectral efficiency. Furthermore, in IoT / IIoT scenarios, there may be cases where the UE (408) needs to send data packets in short bursts, periodically, or aperiodically. In current scenarios, networks may opt for dynamic scheduling (402). However, in IoT, dynamic scheduling (402) can result in large signaling overhead for large-scale deployments, which can significantly reduce network / spectral efficiency. One way to improve spectral efficiency is by reducing the overhead on the radio resources used by control channel information in either direction. Since most of the resources are also used in sharing scheduling information in the DL control channel, the UE (408) knows exactly which radio resources (in both the time and frequency domains) to use for data transmission. Therefore, sharing control information in either the UL or DL ​​direction can reduce the overhead on the control channel using radio resources.

[0058] 5A-5D show exemplary flow diagrams (500A, 500B, 500C, 500D) of a scheduling process by the proposed system (134) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0059] As shown in FIG. 5A, the flow chart (500A) may include the following steps:

[0060] In step 502: The UE (108) may register with the ORAN (104).

[0061] In step 504: The 6gNB LAF (102) may receive data timing information from an AF (110) configured in the core network (114).

[0062] In step 506: The 6gNB LAF (102) may transmit data timing information to the ORAN (104).

[0063] In step 508: The system (134) may determine whether a random access channel (RACH) / radio resource control (RRC) associated with uplink synchronization of the UE (108) has been established.

[0064] In step 510: Based on the positive determination, the ORAN (104) may process the data timing information and send scheduling information to the UE (108).

[0065] In step 512: The system (134) may enable data transfer between the UE (108) and the ORAN (104).

[0066] As shown in FIG. 5B, the flow chart (500B) may include the following steps:

[0067] In step 514: The UE (108) may register with the ORAN (104).

[0068] In step 516: The system (134) may determine whether the RACH / RRC associated with uplink synchronization of the UE (108) has been established.

[0069] In step 518: Based on the positive determination, the ORAN (104) may receive data timing information and send scheduling information to the UE (108).

[0070] In step 520: The system (134) may enable data transfer between the UE (108) and the ORAN (104).

[0071] In step 522: The ORAN (104) may identify a data transmission pattern from the data timing pattern of the UE (108) via a machine learning model and transmit scheduling information to the UE (108).

[0072] In step 524: The ORAN (104) transmits scheduling information to the UE (108).

[0073] As shown in FIG. 5C, the flow chart (500C) may include the following steps:

[0074] In step 526: The UE (108) may be registered with the ORAN (104).

[0075] In step 528: The UE (108) may transmit the data timing information to the AF (110) configured in the core network (114) using an IP-based communication method.

[0076] In step 530: The AF (110) may also transmit data timing information to the ORAN (104).

[0077] In step 532: The system (134) may determine whether the RACH / RRC associated with uplink synchronization of the UE (108) has been established.

[0078] In step 534: Based on the positive determination, the ORAN (104) may process the data timing information and send scheduling information to the UE (108).

[0079] In step 536: The system (134) may enable data transfer between the UE (108) and the ORAN (104).

[0080] As shown in FIG. 5D, the flow chart (500D) may include the following steps:

[0081] In step 538: The UE (108) may be registered with the ORAN (104).

[0082] In step 540: The UE (108) may share data timing information with the ORAN (104).

[0083] In step 542: The AF (110) configured in the core network (114) may share additional data timing information with the ORAN (104).

[0084] In step 544: The system (134) may determine whether the RACH / RRC associated with uplink synchronization of the UE (108) has been established.

[0085] In step 546: Based on the positive determination, the ORAN (104) may process the data timing information and send scheduling information to the UE (108).

[0086] In step 548: The system (134) may enable data transfer between the UE (108) and the ORAN (104).

[0087] In one embodiment, the RRC or MAC in the UE (108) may share data timing information, such as data periodicity, data type, with the ORAN (104) directly via UL control channel information. ULCCCH_Message:: { RRC_Connection_Request:: { UE_Identity; Establishment_Cause; Data_Timing_Infomration; } } The MAC may also provide the same message via Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ). The message may include: tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon { referenceSubcarrierSpacing kHz30, pattern1 { dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity ms5, nrofDownlinkSlots 7, nrofDownlinkSymbols 2, nrofUplinkSlots 2, nrofUplinkSymbols 0 } Pattern2 {{ Application_class== {Periodic, Busty, Continuous, …}, Periodicity == 1234353 ms, Data_Priority == {High, Medium, Low}}

[0088] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary computer system (600) in or with which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0089] As shown in FIG. 6 , the computer system (600) may include an external storage device (610), a bus (620), a main memory (630), a read-only memory (640), a mass storage device (650), a communication port (660), and a processor (670). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the computer system (600) may include more than one processor and communication port. The processor (670) may include various modules associated with embodiments of the present disclosure. The communication port (660) may be an RS-232 port for use with a modem-based dial-up connection, a 10 / 100 Ethernet port, a Gigabit or 10 Gigabit port using copper or fiber, a serial port, a parallel port, or any other existing or future port. The communication port (660) may be chosen depending on the network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or any network to which the computer system (600) connects.

[0090] In one embodiment, the main memory (630) may be random access memory (RAM) or any other dynamic storage device commonly known in the art. The read-only memory (640) may be any static storage device, such as, but not limited to, a programmable read-only memory (PROM) chip for storing static information, such as boot-up or basic input / output system (BIOS) instructions for the processor (670). The mass storage device (650) may be any current or future mass storage solution that may be used to store information and / or instructions. Exemplary mass storage solutions include, but are not limited to, Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disk drives or solid-state drives (internal or external, e.g., with Universal Serial Bus (USB) and / or Firewire interfaces).

[0091] In one embodiment, the bus (620) may communicatively couple the processor (670) to other memory, storage, and communication blocks. The bus (620) may be, for example, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) / PCI Expansion (PCI-X) bus, a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), USB, etc. for connecting expansion cards, drives, and other subsystems, as well as other buses such as a Front Side Bus (FSB) that connects the processor (670) to the computer system (600).

[0092] In another embodiment, operator and administrative interfaces, such as a display, keyboard, and cursor control devices, may also be coupled to bus 620 to support direct operator interaction with computer system 600. Other operator and administrative interfaces may be provided through a network connection connected through communications port 660. The components described above are intended to be illustrative of various possibilities. In no way should the exemplary computer system 600 described above limit the scope of this disclosure.

[0093] Although considerable emphasis has been placed herein on preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments may be made and that many changes may be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the present disclosure. These and other changes in the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, and it is therefore to be clearly understood that the foregoing description is intended to be illustrative of the present disclosure and not limiting.

[0094] Advantages of the Invention The present disclosure provides systems and methods for application-specific scheduling in an open radio access network (ORAN) that improves spectral efficiency by reducing overhead between radio resources used by control channel information in the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) directions.

[0095] The present disclosure increases spectral efficiency and connection density through an optimized method of scheduling resources regardless of the operating mode. [Explanation of symbols]

[0096] 100 Network Architecture 102 Lightweight Application Function, LAF, 6gNB LAF 104 ORAN / Coreless Network, ORAN, Coreless Network 106 6th generation gNode B (6gNB) radio unit (RU), RU, 6gNB radio unit (RU) 108UE 110AF 112 Unified Data Management (UDM) Module 114 Core Network 116 Access and Mobility Management Function / Authentication Server Function (AMF / AUSF) 118 6gNB distributed units 120 6gNB control unit 122 6gNB control unit 124 Lightweight AMF / AUSF 126 Lightweight User Plane Function (UPF), UPF 128 Local Data Network 132 Lightweight Data Module (LDM) Module 134 System 200 Block Diagram 202 processors 204 memory 206 Interface 208 Processing Engine 210 databases 212 Data Ingestion Engine 214 other engines 216 Machine Learning Engine 300 expressions 302 Scheduler 304 UE Buffer Status, Buffer Status 306 QoS 308 Associated Radio Bearers 310 Scheduling Request 312 Resource Allocation 314 measurements 316 Data Timing Information 400 Flowchart 402 Dynamic Scheduling 404 SPS 406 gNB 408 gNB / UE, UE 500A Flow Chart 500B Flowchart 500C Flow Chart 500D Flowchart 600 Computer Systems 610 External Storage Device 620 Bus 630 main memory 640 read-only memory 650 Mass Storage Device 660 communication port 670 processor

Claims

1. A system (134) for application specific scheduling in an open radio access network (ORAN) (104), the system (134) comprising: a processor (202) communicatively coupled to the ORAN (104); a memory (204) operatively coupled to the processor (202), the memory (204) storing instructions that, when executed by the processor (202), cause the processor (202) to: receiving data timing information associated with one or more user equipments (UEs) (108) coupled to the ORAN (104) via a lightweight application function (LAF) (102), the LAF (102) being communicatively coupled to the ORAN (104) and configured to receive the data timing information from an AF (110) configured in a core network (114); determining whether uplink synchronization has been established between the ORAN (104) and the one or more UEs (108) based on the data timing information; In response to a positive determination, transmitting scheduling information to the one or more UEs (108), the scheduling information including a periodicity associated with allocation of one or more resource blocks (RBs); and allocating the one or more RBs to the one or more UEs (108) based on the scheduling information; enabling data transfer between the ORAN (104) and the one or more UEs (108) based on the allocated one or more RBs; A system (134) that performs the above.

2. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein in response to a negative determination, the processor is to restrict the transmission of the scheduling information to the one or more UEs.

3. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein in response to the affirmative determination, the processor determines, via a machine learning model, a data transmission pattern from the data timing information for a predetermined period of time, and transmits the scheduling information to the one or more UEs based on the data transmission pattern.

4. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more UEs are configured to transmit the data timing information to the AF via Internet Protocol (IP).

5. A method for application specific scheduling in an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) (104), comprising: receiving, by a processor (202) associated with the system (134), data timing information associated with one or more user equipments (UEs) (108) coupled to the ORAN (104) via a lightweight application function (LAF) (102), the LAF (102) configured to receive the data timing information from an AF (110) configured in a core network (114); determining, by the processor (202), whether uplink synchronization has been established between the ORAN (104) and the one or more UEs (108) based on the data timing information; In response to a positive determination, transmitting, by the processor (202), scheduling information to the one or more UEs (108), the scheduling information including a periodicity associated with allocation of one or more resource blocks (RBs); allocating, by the processor (202), the one or more RBs to the one or more UEs (108) based on the scheduling information; enabling, by the processor (202), data transfer between the ORAN (104) and the one or more UEs (108) based on the allocated one or more RBs; A method comprising:

6. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein in response to a negative determination, the method includes restricting, by the processor, the transmission of the scheduling information to the one or more UEs.

7. 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: in response to the affirmative determination, determining, by the processor (202) via a machine learning model, a data transmission pattern from the data timing information for a predetermined period of time; and transmitting, by the processor (202), the scheduling information to the one or more UEs (108) based on the data transmission pattern.

8. 6. The method of claim 5, comprising transmitting, by the one or more UEs (108), the data timing information to the AF (110) via Internet Protocol (IP).

9. A user equipment (UE) (108) for sending a request, the UE (108) comprising: a processor (202) associated with the system (134) and configured with an open radio access network (ORAN) (104), the processor or processors being communicatively coupled to a memory, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: transmitting data timing information to an application function (AF) (110) in a core network (114); receiving the data timing information from the UE (108) via a lightweight application function (LAF) (102); determining whether uplink synchronization has been established between the ORAN (104) and the UE (108) based on the data timing information; In response to a positive determination, transmitting scheduling information to the UE (108), the scheduling information including a periodicity associated with allocation of one or more resource blocks (RBs); and allocating the one or more RBs to the UE (108) based on the scheduling information; enabling data transfer between the ORAN (104) and the UE (108) based on the allocated one or more RBs; A UE (108) configured to perform the above.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a processor having executable instructions, the executable instructions causing the processor to: receiving data timing information associated with one or more user equipments (UEs) (108) coupled to an open radio access network (ORAN) (104) via a lightweight application function (LAF) (102), the LAF (102) communicatively coupled to the ORAN (104) and configured to receive the data timing information from an AF (110) configured in a core network (114); determining whether uplink synchronization has been established between the ORAN (104) and the one or more UEs (108) based on the data timing information; In response to a positive determination, transmitting scheduling information to the one or more UEs (108), the scheduling information including a periodicity associated with allocation of one or more resource blocks (RBs); and allocating the one or more RBs to the one or more UEs (108) based on the scheduling information; enabling data transfer between the ORAN (104) and the one or more UEs (108) based on the allocated one or more RBs; A non-transitory computer-readable medium for causing

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