End-to-end slicing in wireless communication systems - Patents.com

Abstract

A method, an apparatus, and a computer program for providing end-to-end slicing in a wireless communication system are disclosed. A profile of a plurality of network slices of the wireless communication system is determined. Each network slice of the plurality of network slices has one or more communication components logically separated from one or more communication components of other network slices of the plurality of network slices. A network slice of the plurality of network slices is selected for transmission of data associated with the user device based on the determined profile and a request received from a user device. The data associated with the user device is transmitted using the selected network slice.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] In some implementations, the present subject matter relates to communication systems, and more particularly, to end-to-end slicing in wireless communication systems such as 5G New Radio ("NR"), which may include an underlying split architecture. [Background technology]

[0002] In today's world, cellular networks provide on-demand communication capabilities to individuals and business entities. Generally, cellular networks are wireless networks that may be distributed over a geographic area called cells. Each such cell is served by at least one fixed location transceiver, called a cell site or base station. Each cell may use a different set of frequencies than adjacent cells to avoid interference and provide improved service within each cell. When connected between cells, they provide radio coverage over a wide geographic area, allowing a large number of mobile phones and / or other wireless devices or portable transceivers to communicate with each other and with fixed transceivers and phones regardless of their location within the network. Such communication is performed through base stations, even when the mobile transceiver is moving through multiple cells during transmission. Major wireless communication providers have deployed such cell sites around the world, allowing communication mobile phones and mobile computing devices connected to the public switched telephone network and the public Internet to communicate.

[0003] A mobile phone is a mobile telephone that can receive and / or conduct telephone calls and / or data communications through a cell site or transmission tower by using radio waves to send and receive signals to and from the mobile phone. Given the large number of mobile phone users, current mobile phone networks provide limited shared resources. Therefore, cell sites and handsets can change frequencies and use low-power transmitters to allow simultaneous use of the network by many callers with less interference. The coverage by a cell site can depend on a particular geographic location and / or the number of users that can potentially use the network. For example, in urban areas, a cell site can have a range of up to approximately 1 / 2 mile, while in rural areas the range can be as much as 5 miles, and in some areas users can receive signals from cell sites as far away as 25 miles.

[0004] The following are some examples of digital cellular technologies used by communication providers, such as Global System for Mobile Communications ("GSM"), General Packet Radio Service ("GPRS"), cdmaOne, CDMA2000, Evolution-Data Optimized ("EV-DO"), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution ("EDGE"), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System ("UMTS"), Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications ("DECT"), Digital AMPS ("IS-136 / TDMA"), and Integrated Digital Enhanced Network ("iDEN"). Long Term Evolution or 4G LTE, developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project ("3GPP®") standards organization, is a wireless communication standard for high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. 5G LTE standards are currently being developed. LTE is based on GSM / EDGE and UMTS / HSPA digital cellular technologies and allows for increased capacity and speeds by using a different air interface together with improvements to the core network. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Mobile devices are used to send and receive various types of data, such as voice data (e.g., phone calls), emails, text messages, Internet browsing, video data (e.g., videos, video telephony, augmented / virtual reality, etc.), and voice data (e.g., streaming songs). Different types of data may require different transmission bandwidths. For example, playing high-definition video on a high-quality mobile device may require a larger bandwidth compared to sending an email or text message to a mobile device. 5G NR networks will implement network slicing capabilities to accommodate different types of data traffic, usage, etc. However, end-to-end network slicing and selection are not clearly defined. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In some implementations, the subject matter relates to a computer-implemented method for providing end-to-end slicing in a wireless communication system. The method may include determining a profile of a plurality of network slices of the wireless communication system. Each network slice of the plurality of network slices may have one or more communication components that are logically separated from one or more communication components of other network slices of the plurality of network slices. The method may further include selecting a network slice of the plurality of network slices for transmission of data associated with the user device based on the determined profile and a request received from a user device, and transmitting the data associated with the user device using the selected network slice.

[0007] In some implementations, the subject matter can include one or more of any of the following features: The method may further include determining at least one communication component of the network slice for isolation based on at least one parameter of a profile of the network slice. In some implementations, the parameter may include one or more of a latency requirement, a number of user devices using the network slice, a number of tracking areas associated with the network slice, a mobility level of user devices using the network slice, an activity of the network slice, a required isolation level, and combinations thereof.

[0008] In some implementations, the method may further include monitoring transmission of data using the selected network slice, selecting another configuration of the network slice from the plurality of network slice configurations for transmission of the data based on the monitoring, and transmitting data associated with the user device using the other selected configuration of the network slice.

[0009] In some implementations, the method may further include virtualizing one or more logically separated components and optionally instantiating the virtualized one or more logically separated components based on at least one parameter.

[0010] The above operations of determining, selecting, and transmitting may be performed by a base station (e.g., a gNB in ​​a 5G NR network).

[0011] In some implementations, a base station may comprise at least one of the following communication components: one or more remote radio units (RU), one or more aggregation units (CU), one or more distributed units (DU), one or more control plane parts (CU-CP) of the one or more aggregation units, one or more user plane parts (CU-UP) of the one or more aggregation units, one or more access and mobility management functions (AMF), one or more user plane functions (UPF), and one or more session management functions (SMF).

[0012] In some implementations, at least one of one or more CU-UPs, one or more AMFs, one or more UPFs, and one or more SMFs of one network slice of the plurality of network slices may be logically separated from at least one of one or more CU-UPs, one or more AMFs, one or more UPFs, and one or more SMFs of other network slices of the plurality of network slices, although one or more RUs, one or more DUs, and one or more CU-CPs may be common to all network slices of the plurality of slices.

[0013] In some implementations, the CU-UP, UPF, and SMF of one network slice of the plurality of network slices may be logically separated from the CU-UP, UPF, and SMF of other network slices of the plurality of network slices, although the RU, DU, CU-CP, and AMF may be common to all network slices of the plurality of slices. In this implementation, the transmitting may include transmitting data associated with the user device using the plurality of network slices.

[0014] In some implementations, the DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, AMF, UPF, and SMF of one network slice of the plurality of network slices may be logically separated from the DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, AMF, UPF, and SMF of other network slices of the plurality of network slices, although the RU may be common to all network slices of the plurality of slices.

[0015] In some implementations, the DU, CU-UP, UPF, and SMF of one network slice of the plurality of network slices may be logically separated from the DU, CU-UP, UPF, and SMF of other network slices of the plurality of network slices, although the RU, CU-CP, and AMF may be common to all slices. In this case, transmitting may include transmitting data associated with the user device using the plurality of network slices.

[0016] In some implementations, the RU, DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, AMF, UPF, and SMF of one network slice of the plurality of network slices may be logically separated from the RU, DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, AMF, UPF, and SMF of other network slices of the plurality of network slices.

[0017] Further described is a non-transitory computer program product (i.e., a physically embodied computer program product) that stores instructions that, when executed by one or more data processors of one or more computing systems, cause at least one data processor to perform the operations described herein. Similarly, further described is a computer system that may further include one or more data processors and a memory coupled to the one or more data processors. The memory may store, either temporarily or permanently, instructions that cause at least one processor to perform one or more of the operations described herein. In addition, the method may be implemented by any one or more data processors in a single computing system or any one or more data processors distributed across two or more computing systems. Such computing systems may be connected to each other and may transmit and receive data and / or commands or other instructions, etc., by one or more connections, including, but not limited to, connections over a network (e.g., the Internet, a wireless wide area network, a local area network, a wide area network, a wired network, etc.), via a direct connection between one or more of the computing systems, etc.

[0018] The details of one or more variations of the subject matter described herein are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the specification and drawings, and from the claims.

[0019] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate certain aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein and, together with the description, help to explain some of the principles associated with the disclosed implementations. The drawings are described below. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1a] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary conventional Long Term Evolution ("LTE") communication system. [Figure 1b] FIG. 1b illustrates further details of the exemplary LTE system shown in FIG. [Figure 1c] FIG. 1b illustrates additional details of the evolved packet core of the exemplary LTE system shown in FIG. [Figure 1d] FIG. 1b illustrates an exemplary evolved Node B for the exemplary LTE system shown in FIG. 1a. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 shows further details of the evolved Node B shown in FIGS. 1a to 1d. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 illustrates an example virtual radio access network in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 illustrates an example 3GPP split architecture that allows users to take advantage of higher frequency bands. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network slice architecture. [Figure 6] A diagram showing an exemplary S-NSSAI identifier. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary 5G wireless communication system. [Figure 8a] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communications system for performing network slice separation in a user plane portion of an aggregation unit in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter. [Figure 8b] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication system having a user equipment capable of using one or more network slices in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter. [Figure 9a] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communication system for performing network slice separation at a distributed unit (DU) portion in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter. [Figure 9b] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication system having a user equipment capable of using one or more network slices in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter. [Figure 10]FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication system for performing network slice isolation at a remote radio unit (RU) in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter. [Figure 11] A diagram illustrating an example method for mapping one or more network slices to particular deployment options described with respect to Figures 8a to 10 in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter. [Figure 12] A diagram illustrating an example process for updating a mapping of a slice profile to an implementation in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter. [Figure 13] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter. [Figure 14] FIG. 1 illustrates an example method according to some implementations of the present subject matter. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] The present subject matter provides systems and methods that may be implemented in an underlying split architecture for wireless communication systems. Such systems may include various wireless communication systems, including 5G New Radio communication systems, long term evolution communication systems, and the like.

[0022] One or more aspects of the present subject matter may be incorporated into a transmitter component and / or a receiver component of a base station (e.g., gNodeB, eNodeB, etc.) in such a communication system. The following is a general description of a Long Term Evolution communication system and a 5G New Radio communication system.

[0023] I. Long Term Evolution Communication System 1a-1c and 2 illustrate an exemplary conventional Long Term Evolution ("LTE") communication system 100 along with its various components. The LTE system, commercially known, or 4G LTE, is defined by a standard for high-speed data wireless communication for mobile phones and data terminals. The standard is based on GSM / EDGE ("Global System for Mobile Communications" / "Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution") as well as UMTS / HSPA ("Universal Mobile Telecommunications System" / "High Speed ​​Packet Access") network technologies. The standard is developed by 3GPP ("3rd Generation Partnership Project").

[0024] As shown in FIG. 1a, the system 100 may comprise an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network ("EUTRAN") 102, an Evolved Packet Core ("EPC") 108, and a Packet Data Network ("PDN") 101, where the EUTRAN 102 and the EPC 108 provide communication between user equipment 104 and the PDN 101. The EUTRAN 102 may comprise a number of Evolved Node Bs ("eNodeB" or "ENODEB" or "enodeb" or "eNB") or base stations 106(a,b,c) (as shown in FIG. 1b) that provide communication capabilities for a number of user equipment 104(a,b,c). The user equipment 104 may be a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a personal computer, a personal digital assistant ("PDA"), a server, a data terminal, and / or any other type of user equipment, and / or any combination thereof. The user equipment 104 may connect to the EPC 108 and ultimately to the PDN 101 via the eNodeB 106. Generally, the user equipment 104 can connect to the closest eNodeB 106 in terms of distance. In the LTE system 100, the EUTRAN 102 and the EPC 108 cooperate to provide connectivity, mobility, and services for the user equipment 104.

[0025] Figure 1b shows further details of the network 100 shown in Figure 1a. As mentioned above, the EUTRAN 102 comprises multiple eNodeBs 106, also known as cell sites. The eNodeBs 106 provide radio functionality and perform key control functions including air link or radio resource management, active mode mobility or handover, and scheduling of service admission control. The eNodeBs 106 are responsible for selecting which mobility management entity (such as the MME, shown in Figure 1c) serves the user equipment 104, and protocol functions such as header compression and encryption. The multiple eNodeBs 106 that make up the EUTRAN 102 cooperate with each other for radio resource management and handover.

[0026] Communication between the user equipment 104 and the eNodeB 106 occurs over an air interface 122 (also known as an "LTE-Uu" interface). As shown in FIG. 1b, the air interface 122 provides communication between the user equipment 104b and the eNodeB 106a. The air interface 122 uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access ("OFDMA") and a variant of OFDMA, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access ("SC-FDMA"), for the downlink and uplink, respectively. OFDMA allows the use of multiple known antenna technologies, such as Multiple Input Multiple Output ("MIMO").

[0027] The air interface 122 uses various protocols including radio resource control ("RRC") for signaling between the user equipment 104 and the eNodeB 106, and non-access stratum ("NAS") for signaling between the user equipment 104 and the MME (such as shown in FIG. 1c). In addition to signaling, user traffic is transferred between the user equipment 104 and the eNodeB 106. Both signaling and traffic in the system 100 are carried by physical layer ("PHY") channels.

[0028] The multiple eNodeBs 106 may be interconnected with each other using X2 interfaces 130(a, b, c). As shown in FIG. 1b, the X2 interface 130a provides an interconnection between the eNodeBs 106a and 106b, the X2 interface 130b provides an interconnection between the eNodeBs 106a and 106c, and the X2 interface 130c provides an interconnection between the eNodeBs 106b and 106c. The X2 interfaces may be established between two eNodeBs to realize transmission and reception of signals that may include handover-related information as well as load or interference-related information. The eNodeBs 106 communicate with the evolved packet core 108 via the S1 interfaces 124(a, b, c). The S1 interface 124 may be divided into two interfaces. One is for the control plane (shown in FIG. 1c as control plane interface (S1-MME interface) 128) and the other is for the user plane (shown in FIG. 1c as user plane interface (S1-U interface) 125).

[0029] The EPC 108 establishes and enforces quality of service ("QoS") for user services and enables the user equipment 104 to maintain a consistent Internet Protocol ("IP") address while moving. Note that each node of the system 100 has its own IP address. The EPC 108 is designed to interwork with legacy wireless networks. The EPC 108 is also designed to separate the control plane (i.e., signaling) and the user plane (i.e., traffic) in the core network architecture, allowing for greater flexibility in implementation and independent scalability of control and user data functions.

[0030] The architecture of the EPC 108 is dedicated to packet data and is shown in more detail in Figure 1c. The EPC 108 includes a Serving Gateway (S-GW) 110, a PDN Gateway (P-GW) 112, a Mobility Management Entity ("MME") 114, a Home Subscriber Server ("HSS") 116 (the subscriber database for the EPC 108), and a Policy Control and Charging Rules Function ("PCRF") 118. Some of these (such as the S-GW, P-GW, MME, and HSS) are often combined into a node according to the manufacturer's implementation.

[0031] The S-GW 110 acts as an IP packet data router and is the bearer path anchor for the user equipment in the EPC 108. Thus, when the user equipment moves from one eNodeB 106 to another eNodeB 106 during mobility operation, the S-GW 110 remains the same and the bearer path towards the EUTRAN 102 is switched to talk to the new eNodeB 106 serving the user equipment 104. If the user equipment 104 moves to the domain of another S-GW 110, the MME 114 transfers all of the user equipment's bearer paths to the new S-GW. The S-GW 110 establishes the bearer path for the user equipment to one or more P-GWs 112. When downstream data is received for an idle user equipment, the S-GW 110 buffers the downstream packets and requests the MME 114 to locate and re-establish the bearer path to and through the EUTRAN 102.

[0032] The P-GW 112 is a gateway between the EPC 108 (and the user equipment 104 and EUTRAN 102) and the PDN 101 (as illustrated in FIG. 1a). The P-GW 112 acts as a router for user traffic and performs functions on behalf of the user equipment. These include IP address allocation for the user equipment, packet filtering of downstream user traffic to ensure that it is placed on the appropriate bearer path, and enforcement of downstream QoS including data rate. Depending on the services the subscriber is using, there may be multiple user data bearer paths between the user equipment 104 and the P-GW 112. A subscriber can use services on PDNs served by different P-GWs if the user equipment has at least one bearer path established to each P-GW 112. During handover of the user equipment from one eNodeB to another, if the S-GW 110 has also changed, the bearer path from the P-GW 112 is switched to the new S-GW.

[0033] The MME 114 manages the user equipment 104 in the EPC 108, including managing subscriber authentication, maintaining context for the authenticated user equipment 104, establishing a data bearer path in the network for user traffic, and tracking the location of idle mobile equipment that is not disconnected from the network. For an idle user equipment 104 that needs to be reconnected to the access network to receive downstream data, the MME 114 locates the user equipment and initiates paging to re-establish a bearer path to and through the EUTRAN 102. The MME 114 for a particular user equipment 104 is selected by the eNodeB 106 where the user equipment 104 initiates system access. The MME is typically part of a group of MMEs in the EPC 108 for load sharing and redundancy. In establishing a data bearer path for a user, the MME 114 is responsible for selecting the P-GW 112 and the S-GW 110, thereby configuring the termination of the data path that passes through the EPC 108.

[0034] The PCRF 118 is responsible for policy control decision making and control of flow-based charging functionality in the Policy Control Enforcement Function ("PCEF") residing in the P-GW 110. The PCRF 118 determines how a particular data flow is treated in the PCEF and provides QoS authorization (QoS Class Identifier ("QCI") and bit rate) to ensure that this conforms to the user's subscription profile.

[0035] As mentioned above, IP services 119 are provided by PDN 101 (such as shown in FIG. 1a).

[0036] 1d illustrates an exemplary structure of an eNodeB 106. The eNodeB 106 may include at least one remote radio head ("RRH") 132 (typically, there may be three RRHs 132) and a baseband unit ("BBU") 134. The RRH 132 may be connected to an antenna 136. The RRH 132 and the BBU 134 may be connected using an optical interface that conforms to the Common Public Radio Interface ("CPRI") 142 standard specification. The operation of the eNodeB 106 is characterized using standard parameters (and specifications) of radio frequency band (Band 4, Band 9, Band 17), bandwidth (5, 10, 15, 20 MHz), access method (downlink: OFDMA, uplink: SC-OFDMA), antenna technology (downlink: 2×2 MIMO, uplink: 1×2 Single Input Multiple Output ("SIMO")), number of sectors (up to 6), maximum transmit power (60W), maximum transmit rate (downlink: 150 Mb / s, uplink: 50 Mb / s), S1 / X2 interface (1000Base-SX, 1000Base-T), and mobile environment (up to 350 km / h). The BBU 134 can be responsible for digital baseband signal processing, termination of the S1 line, termination of the X2 line, call processing, and monitoring control processing. IP packets (not shown in FIG. 1d) received from the EPC 108 can be modulated into digital baseband signals and transmitted to the RRH 132. Conversely, digital baseband signals received from the RRH 132 can be demodulated into IP packets for transmission to the EPC 108.

[0037] The RRH 132 can transmit and receive wireless signals using an antenna 136. The RRH 132 can convert digital baseband signals from the BBU 134 (using a converter ("CONV") 140) to radio frequency ("RF") signals and power amplify them (using an amplifier ("AMP") 138) for transmission to the user equipment 104 (not shown in FIG. 1d). Conversely, RF signals received from the user equipment 104 are amplified (using AMP 138) and converted (using CONV 140) to digital baseband signals for transmission to the BBU 134.

[0038] FIG. 2 illustrates additional details of an exemplary eNodeB 106. The eNodeB 106 includes multiple layers: LTE Layer 1 202, LTE Layer 2 204, and LTE Layer 3 206. LTE Layer 1 includes the physical layer ("PHY"). LTE Layer 2 includes Medium Access Control ("MAC"), Radio Link Control ("RLC"), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol ("PDCP"). LTE Layer 3 includes various functions and protocols including Radio Resource Control ("RRC"), dynamic resource allocation, eNodeB measurement configuration and provisioning, radio admission control, connection mobility control, and radio resource management ("RRM"). The RLC protocol is an automatic repeat request ("ARQ") fragmentation protocol used for the cellular air interface. The RRC protocol handles the LTE Layer 3 control plane signaling between the user equipment and the EUTRAN. The RRC provides functions for connection establishment and release, broadcasting system information, radio bearer establishment / reconfiguration and release, RRC connection mobility procedures, paging notification / release, and outer loop power control. The PDCP performs IP header compression and decompression, forwarding of user data, and maintaining sequence numbers for radio bearers. The BBU 134 shown in FIG. 1d may include LTE layers L1-L3.

[0039] One of the main functions of the eNodeB 106 is radio resource management, which includes scheduling of both uplink and downlink air interface resources for user equipment 104, control of bearer resources, and admission control. As an agent for the EPC 108, the eNodeB 106 is responsible for forwarding paging messages used to locate mobile devices when they are idle. The eNodeB 106 also transmits common control channel information over the air, performs header compression, encryption and decryption of user data transmitted over the air, and establishes handover reporting and trigger criteria. As mentioned above, for handover and interference management, the eNodeB 106 can cooperate with other eNodeBs 106 over the X2 interface. The eNodeB 106 communicates with the MME of the EPC over the S1-MME interface and with the S-GW using the S1-U interface. Furthermore, the eNodeB 106 exchanges user data with the S-GW over the S1-U interface. The eNodeBs 106 and the EPC 108 have a many-to-many relationship to support load sharing and redundancy between MMEs and S-GWs. The eNodeB 106 selects an MME from a group of MMEs so that the load is shared by multiple MMEs to avoid congestion.

[0040] III.5G NR wireless communication network In some implementations, the subject matter relates to 5G New Radio ("NR") communication systems. 5G NR is the next communication standard beyond 4G / IMT-Advanced standards. 5G networks provide higher capacity than current 4G, allow more mobile broadband users per area, and allow higher and unlimited data consumption per user in gigabytes per month. This allows users to stream high definition media using their mobile devices for long periods of time each day, even when not on a Wi-Fi network. 5G networks provide improved support for device-to-device communication, lower cost and latency compared to 4G equipment, lower battery consumption, etc. Such networks provide data transmission speeds of tens of megabits per second for many users, 100 Mb / s in metropolitan areas, 1 Gb / s simultaneously for users in enclosed areas (e.g., an office floor), multiple simultaneous connections for wireless sensor networks, improved spectral efficiency, improved coverage, improved signal transmission efficiency, latency of 1-10 ms, and reduced latency compared to existing systems.

[0041] 3 is a diagram illustrating an example virtual radio access network 300. The network 300 may provide communication between various components including a base station (e.g., eNodeB, gNodeB) 301, radio equipment 307, aggregation unit 302, digital unit 304, and wireless device 306. The components in the system 300 may be communicatively coupled to a core using a backhaul link 305. The aggregation unit ("CU") 302 may be communicatively coupled to a distributed unit ("DU") 304 using a midhaul connection 308. The radio frequency ("RU") component 306 may be communicatively coupled to the DU 304 using a fronthaul connection 310.

[0042] In some implementations, the CU 302 may provide intelligent communication functions to one or more DU units 304. The units 302, 304 may include one or more base stations, macro base stations, micro base stations, remote radio heads, etc., and / or combinations thereof.

[0043] In a lower layer split architecture environment, the CPRI bandwidth requirement for NR may be 100 Gb / s. CPRI compression may be implemented at the DU and RU (as shown in Figure 3). In 5G communication systems, compressed CPRI over Ethernet frames is called eCPRI and is the recommended fronthaul interface. This architecture allows for standardization of fronthaul / midhaul and may include higher layer splitting (e.g., option 2 or option 3-1 (upper / lower layer RLC split architecture)) and fronthaul with L1 split architecture (option 7).

[0044] In some implementations, the lower layer split architecture (e.g., option 7) may include uplink receiver, joint processing across multiple transmission points (TPs) for both DL / UL, transport bandwidth and latency requirements for ease of deployment. Additionally, the subject lower layer split architecture may include splitting between cell-level processing and user-level processing, which may include cell-level processing at the remote unit ("RU") and user-level processing at the DU. Additionally, using the subject lower layer split architecture, frequency domain samples can be transported over the Ethernet fronthaul, where they may be compressed for fronthaul bandwidth reduction.

[0045] 4 illustrates an example communication system 400 that can implement 5G technology and enable users to use higher frequency bands (e.g., above 10 GHz). The system 400 can include a macro cell 402 and small cells 404 and 406.

[0046] The mobile device 408 may be configured to communicate with one or more of the small cells 404, 406. The system 400 may enable splitting of the control plane (C-plane) and user plane (U-plane) between the macro cell 402 and the small cells 404, 406, where the C-plane and U-plane utilize different frequency bands. In particular, the small cells 404, 406 may be configured to utilize higher frequency bands when communicating with the mobile device 408. The macro cell 402 may utilize existing cellular bands for C-plane communications. The mobile device 408 may be communicatively coupled via the U-plane 412, where the small cells (e.g., the small cell 406) may achieve higher data transmission rates and more flexible / cost / energy-efficient operation. The macro cell 402 may maintain good connectivity and mobility via the C-plane 410. Additionally, in some cases, the LTE PUCCH and the NR PUCCH may be transmitted on the same frequency.

[0047] IV. Network Slicing 5G network slicing refers to a network architecture that allows multiplexing of virtualized independent logical networks on the same physical network infrastructure, where each network slice is a separate end-to-end network that is configured to meet different requirements that may be required by a specific application. Some network functions that may be common to multiple network slices may reside in the control plane. Network slicing technology implements various concepts of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) that allow the implementation of flexible and scalable network slices on top of a common network infrastructure. Each network slice can be managed by the same or different Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), allowing MVNOs to autonomously deploy multiple network slices that can be customized for different applications.

[0048] FIG. 5 illustrates an example network slice architecture 500. The architecture 500 may include a network slice controller 502, a service layer 504, a network function layer 506, and an infrastructure layer 508. The network slice controller 502 interfaces with various functions performed by layers 504-508 to manage requests by each slice. The controller 502 coordinates communication between layers 504-508 to provide end-to-end service management (i.e., mapping various service instances (SLA requirements) to network functions that meet service constraints), virtual resource definition (i.e., virtualizing physical network resources to manage resources for allocation of network functions), and slice lifecycle management (i.e., monitoring slice performance across all three layers 504-508 for dynamic configuration of each slice to adapt to changes in SLA requirements).

[0049] The service layer 504 interfaces with one or more Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) 505 and one or more service providers 507. The MVNOs and providers 507 can share a physical network, where each service is represented as a service instance that includes the entire network characteristics as service level (SLA) requirements. The network function layer 506 creates each network slice according to the service instance request received from layer 504. The network slices include various network functions that are located on the virtual network infrastructure and coupled to each other, and may create an end-to-end network slice instance according to the network characteristics required by the service. The infrastructure layer 508 is the actual physical network topology where each network slice provides multiplexed physical network resources to its host network function.

[0050] While network slicing is a core feature of 5G communication networks, and the selection of network functions and the routing of data through isolated networks are based on slice IDs, end-to-end slicing aspects and per-slice resource isolation for radio access networks are yet to be defined and adapted to specific implementations. Furthermore, while current standards define the selection of and routing to core networks based on network slices, resource isolation and management of radio-level resources are similarly not defined in existing systems. The present subject matter provides solutions to these problems by providing multiple deployment methods and system aspects to achieve resource isolation in the RAN.

[0051] Network slice instances can be allocated / de-allocated by network operators according to various 3GPP standards that specify the slice profile (i.e., SliceProfile) as well as the properties of each slice. Some of the properties may include performance requirements for slices (perfReq) attributes that may be classified based on whether the slice / service type (SST) is enhanced Multi-mode Broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), massive multi-mode communications (mMTC), etc. The following data model as specified in the 3GPP standard may be used to define the requirements for a slice: grouping perfReq { choice SST { case eMBB { leaf expDataRateDL { type uint16;} leaf expDataRateU {type uint16;} leaf areaTrafficCapDL { type uint16;} leaf areaTrafficCapUL { type uint16;} leaf userDensity { type uint16;} leaf activityFactor { type uint16;} leaf uESpeed { type uint16;} leaf coverage { type string;} } case uRLLC { leaf e2eLatency { type uint16;} leaf jitter {type uint16;} leaf survivalTime { type uint16;} leaf cSAvailability { type decimal64 { fraction-digits 4; range 1..99.9999; } } leaf reliability { type decimal64 { fraction-digits 4; range 1..99.9999; } } leaf expDataRate { type uint16;} leaf payloadSize { type string;} leaf trafficDensity { type uint16;} leaf connDensity { type uint16;} leaf serviceAreaDimension { type string;} } } }

[0052] Additional properties may include the maximum number of user equipment that may be expected to use a particular slice, the coverage region (or tracking area) in which the slice is available, the latency characteristics of the slice, the user equipment mobility level (e.g., whether user equipment using the slice is expected to be stationary, nomadic, limited mobility, fast moving, etc.), the resource sharing level (such as defined by the 3GPP standard as shared / non-shared), the resource isolation level (which may indicate at what level in the RAN resources may need to be isolated), and the reliability expected for the particular slice. If the operator provides a slice template (such as defined by the code shown above), the template must be mapped to the specific characteristics in the RAN and core network.

[0053] The above network slicing architecture 500 may be based on an identifier S-NSSAI (Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information). FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary S-NSSAI identifier 600. The identifier 600 includes an 8-bit Standardized Slice / Service Type (SST) value 602 (referring to expected network slice behavior in terms of features and services) and a 24-bit Slice Differentiator (SD) value 604 (referring to any information that complements the slice / service type to distinguish between different network slices of the same slice / service type). The S-NSSAI 600 is used by a user equipment (UE) when accessing a network in a public land mobile network (PLMN) with which the S-NSSAI is associated. In particular, a UE registering to a network provides a "requested NSSAI" in RRC signaling to the RAN, where the NSSAI is a set of S-NSSAI 600. The RAN uses the requested NSSAI to select an access and mobility management function (AMF) in the 5G core network. The AMF is a common element for all slices that a UE can access. After the registration procedure is completed, the UE activates one or more slices by initiating a packet data unit (PDU) session activation procedure. Each PDU session belongs to one slice. The following activation procedure scenarios are possible: one UE accesses multiple network slices (i.e., one UE accesses multiple PDU sessions, each PDU session using a different S-NSSAI) and one UE accesses only one network slice. However, a network may deploy multiple network slices and different UEs may use different network slices.

[0054] FIG. 7 illustrates an example 5G wireless communication system 700 according to some implementations of the present subject matter. The system 700 may be configured to have an underlying split architecture according to option 7-2. The system 700 may include a core network 702 (e.g., 5G Core) and one or more gNodeBs (or gNBs), where the gNBs may have an aggregation unit gNB-CU. The gNB-CU may be logically split into a control plane portion gNB-CU-CP 704 and one or more user plane portions gNB-CU-UP 706. The control plane portion 704 and the user plane portion 706 may be configured to be communicatively coupled using an E1 communication interface 714 (as defined in the 3GPP standard). The control plane portion 704 may be configured to be responsible for executing the RRC and PDCP protocols of the wireless stack.

[0055] The control plane portion 704 and the user plane portion 706 of the aggregation unit of the gNB can be configured to be communicatively coupled to one or more distributed units (DUs) 708, 710 according to an underlying split architecture. The distributed units 708, 710 can be configured to execute the upper part of the RLC, MAC and PHY layer protocols of the radio stack. The control plane portion 704 can be configured to be communicatively coupled to the distributed units 708, 710 using an F1-C communication interface 716, and the user plane portion 706 can be configured to be communicatively coupled to the distributed units 708, 710 using an F1-U communication interface 718. The distributed units 708, 710 can be coupled to one or more remote radio units (RUs) 712 via a fronthaul interface 720 and can thus communicate with one or more user equipments (not shown in FIG. 7 ). The remote radio unit 712 may be configured to implement the lower part of the PHY layer protocol and provide antenna functionality to the remote unit for communication with user equipment (similar to that described above in connection with Figures 1a-2).

[0056] V. End-to-End Network Slicing In some implementations, to provide an end-to-end slicing function, a base station may be configured to have one or more executable processes (e.g., end-to-end solutions) to perform slice separation at various points of a communication system 700, as shown in FIG. 7. The determination of where slice separation should occur may depend on various network parameters, communication session requirements, and / or any other factors. The solutions may include slice separation occurring at (a) a user plane portion of an aggregation unit, (b) a distributed unit, and (c) a remote unit. One or more of these solutions may be implemented in the system 700 and are described below.

[0057] A. Slice Separation in the User Plane Part of an Aggregation Unit 8a illustrates an example communications system 800 for performing network slice separation in a user plane portion of an aggregation unit, in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter. System 800 is similar to system 700 of FIG. 7, and only relevant portions are shown in FIG. 8a for ease of illustration and description.

[0058] The system 800 may comprise one or more user equipments 802(a, b, c), a remote unit 803, a distributed unit 805, and a control plane part of an aggregation unit 807. In this implementation, the units 803-807 may be common to all network slices (three slices are shown in FIG. 8a). This means that all user equipments 802 may have access to the same units 803-807 before network slice separation occurs in the user plane part of the aggregation unit.

[0059] As shown in FIG. 8a, separation between network slices may be realized after gNB-CU-UP. In particular, a separate gNB-CU-UP instance 808(a, b, c) may be created by a per-slice radio access network that may be configured to serve or enable access by a respective user equipment 802(a, b, c). Furthermore, for slice separation, separate instances of each of the access and mobility management function (AMF) 810(a, b, c), user plane function (UPF1-3) 812(a, b, c), and session management function (SMF1-3) 814(a, b, c) may also be created. Each network slice may be identified by the reference sign a, b, or c (in addition to any common parts).

[0060] In 5G networks, the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) (replacing the MME entity of 4G networks) receives connection and session related information from user equipment and is responsible for handling connection and mobility management tasks. Messages related to session management may be forwarded to the Session Management Function (SMF). The SMF is responsible for interaction with the decoupled data plane, creating, updating and deleting Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions and managing session contexts with the User Plane Function (UPF). The UPF provides interconnection between the mobile infrastructure and the data network (DN) (GPRS Tunneling Protocol Encapsulation and Decapsulation for User Plane (GTP-U)). It also performs packet routing and forwarding, including sending flows to specific data networks based on traffic matching filters, and plays the role of intermediate UPF (I-UPF) for multiple PDU sessions. The UPF further performs application discovery using the Service Data Flow (SDF) traffic filter template or 3-tuple packet flow description (i.e. protocol, server side IP address and port number) received from the SMF. It also performs per-flow QoS processing, including transport-level packet marking on the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL), rate limiting, and reflective QoS marking on the DL. Additionally, the UPF reports on traffic usage for purposes of functions such as billing, lawful interception, etc.

[0061] Referring back to FIG. 8a, in some implementations, the selection of a particular set of slices may be based on the NSSAI parameters requested by the user equipment 802 during the registration procedure, and the selection of a particular slice may be based on the S-NSSAI parameters requested by each user equipment 802 during the PDU session establishment procedure. In particular, using the NSSAI parameters (which may include one or more S-NSSAI parameters), an appropriate AMF 810 may be selected during the registration procedure. Using the S-NSSAI parameters, the AMF 810 may select an appropriate SMF 814 during the PDU session establishment procedure. Since the NSSAI parameters requested from each user equipment 802 are different, different respective AMFs 810 may be assigned to different user equipments 802. Similarly, respective UPFs 812 and SMFs 814 may be selected based on the S-NSSAI requested by the user equipment 802 during the PDU session establishment procedure. Again, since the S-NSSAI requested from each user equipment is different, different UPFs 812 and SMFs 814 may be assigned to different user equipments 802. For example, user equipment 802a may be assigned a CU-UP 808a, a UPF1 812a, an AMF1 810a, and an SMF1 814a, each of which functions configured to be dedicated to a particular network slice.

[0062] In some implementations, one user equipment may be configured to use multiple network slices. FIG. 8b illustrates an example communication system 820 having one user equipment 822 capable of using one or multiple network slices, according to some implementations of the present subject matter. The system 820 may be similar to the system 800 illustrated in FIG. 8a. However, instead of multiple AMF components as illustrated in FIG. 8a, the RU 803, DU 805, CU-CP 807, and single AMF 819 may be common to all network slices. The remainder of the system 820 is similar to the system 800 illustrated in FIG. 8a. In operation, depending on the S-NSSAI requested by one user equipment 822 per PDU session, different user plane parts (i.e., CU-UP) 808 may be assigned to the user equipment 822.

[0063] B. Slice separation in the dispersion unit 9a illustrates an example communication system 900 for performing network slice separation at a distributed unit (DU) in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter. The system 900 is similar to the system 700 shown in FIG. 7, and similarly, only the relevant portions are shown in FIG. 9a for ease of illustration and explanation.

[0064] The system 900 may include one or more user equipments 902(a, b, c), a common remote unit 903, one or more distributed units DU1-3 905(a, b, c), and one or more corresponding control plane parts CU-CP1-3 907(a, b, c) of aggregation units. In this implementation, only the unit 903 is common to all network slices (three slices are shown in FIG. 9a, similar to FIG. 8a, 8b). This means that all user equipments 902 may access the same remote unit 903 before network slice separation occurs at the distributed unit 905.

[0065] As illustrated in Fig. 9a and described above, the separation between network slices may be realized after the DU. In particular, in addition to separate DU1-3 905, control parts CU-CP1-3 907, separate CU-UP instances 908(a,b,c) may be created by the radio access network for each slice that may be configured to serve or enable access by a respective user equipment 902(a,b,c). Similarly, separate respective instances of access and mobility management functions (AMF) 910(a,b,c), user plane functions (UPF1-3) 912(a,b,c), and session management functions (SMF1-3) 914(a,b,c) may also be created.

[0066] Selection of a particular slice in the system 900 may be similar to the selection procedure described with respect to Figures 8a, 8b. In particular, different respective AMFs 910, UPFs 912 and SMFs 914 may be assigned to different user equipments 902. For example, user equipment 902a may be assigned DU 905a, CU-CP 907a, CU-UP 908a, UPF1 912a, AMF1 910a and SMF1 914a, each of which functions configured to be dedicated to a particular network slice. Each network slice may be identified by a reference character a, b or c (in addition to any common parts).

[0067] In some implementations, since the DU905 controls the radio bandwidth, each network slice may be assigned a specific bandwidth portion (BWP) within the carrier's bandwidth. 5G NR communication networks may allow the division of the carrier bandwidth into multiple bandwidth portions (as defined in 3GPP standards). Each DU905 may be configured to control one such bandwidth portion. Within the carrier bandwidth, different BWPs may be assigned different physical resource blocks (PRBs). For example, if the carrier bandwidth (CBW) is 100 MHz and the subcarrier spacing is 30 KHz, there will be a total of 273 PRBs. If this CBW is divided into four BWPs, and one BWP may be 40 MHz, the other three BWPs may each be 20 MHz. Each BWP may be assigned its own share of PRBs from the total of 273 PRBs. Furthermore, different user equipment 902 using different slices may be configured with respective slice-dedicated BWPs during the PDU session establishment procedure (i.e., during RRC reconfiguration for dedicated radio bearer (DRB) setup).

[0068] The RU 903 may be configured to support multiple BWPs within the carrier bandwidth. Depending on the BWP for which the uplink message is received, the RU 903 may route the message to the correct DU 905 via the fronthaul interface, where each DU 905 may connect to a slice-dedicated CU-UP 908 and a slice-dedicated CU-CP 907 connected to the AMF 910, as described above. In this way, except for the RU 903, the rest of the radio processing and core network processing may be completely separated per network slice.

[0069] In some implementations, a user equipment may be configured to use multiple network slices, similar to the description in connection with Figure 8b. Figure 9b illustrates an example communication system 920 having a user equipment 922 capable of using one or more network slices in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter.

[0070] The system 920 may be similar to the system 900 shown in FIG. 9a. However, instead of multiple AMF components as shown in FIG. 9a, the RU 903, CU-CP 917, and AMF 919 may be common to all network slices. The remainder of the system 920 may be similar to the system 900 shown in FIG. 9a. In operation, instead of controlling the RU 903 to split traffic based on BWP, the splitting may be based on different component carriers. The user equipment 922 may be configured via RRC to use two component carriers of two different cell groups (e.g., dual connectivity scenario). For example, when the user equipment 922 is using one slice (e.g., represented by components 905a, 908a, 912a, 914a), it may use one component carrier (CC1), and when it is using another slice (e.g., represented by components 905b, 908b, 912b, 914b), it may use another component carrier (CC2), and so on.

[0071] In an alternative implementation, traffic may be split from the RU to different DUs based on PRB ranges that may be assigned to different slices within the same BWP and / or the same component carrier. For example, assuming a scenario of 100 MHz carrier bandwidth that is not split into BWPs, where PRB ranges 1-100 of 273 PRBs are available for slice 1 and PRB ranges 101-200 are available for other slices, the RU may split the uplink traffic to the respective DUs using the above PRB split (e.g., based on the PRB on which the uplink traffic is received).

[0072] C. Slice separation in the remote radio unit 10 illustrates an example communication system 1000 for performing network slice separation at a remote radio unit (RU) in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter. System 1000 is similar to system 700 shown in FIG. 7, and similarly, only relevant portions are shown in FIG. 10 for ease of illustration and description.

[0073] The system 1000 may include one or more user equipments 1002(a,b,c), one or more remote radio units RU1-3 1003(a,b,c), one or more distributed units DU1-3 1005(a,b,c), one or more control plane parts CU-CP1-3 1007(a,b,c) of aggregation units, one or more user plane parts CU-UP1-3 1008(a,b,c), one or more UPF1-3 1012(a,b,c), one or more SMF1-3 1014(a,b,c), and one or more AMF1-3 1010(a,b,c). Each network slice may be identified by a reference sign a, b, or c. In this implementation, there are no units common to any of the three network slices. This means that every user equipment 1002 can access its own designated network slice a, b, or c, since each network slice can be mapped to a different component carrier. Furthermore, a different RU can be located at each cell site, one RU radiating one component carrier. Depending on the S-NSSAI that a particular user equipment 1002 is using, it can be configured to use the respective component carrier.

[0074] As shown in Fig. 8a-10, one or more remote radio units may be connected to one or more distributed units (where the connections may be defined by various standards). In particular, the remote units may be controlled by one or more distributed units using one or more I / Q data samples (indicating magnitude (or amplitude) and phase changes) transmitted and / or received to indicate which distributed unit is processing which component carrier or which PRB set within the carrier bandwidth. The DU Port ID parameter of the distributed unit may be used to distinguish the processing units in the distributed unit. The DU Port ID parameter may be included in the eCPRI header, which is a section type control message, together with the carrier component ID (CCID) and the remote unit port ID (RU Port ID). Each distributed unit may configure at least one of different component carriers, band sectors, subframes, slots in the remote unit, etc. Furthermore, each distributed unit may configure the remote unit for different user equipment identifiers. Finally, depending on which slot / subframe an I / Q sample is received in, the remote unit may transmit the sample to the correct distributed unit.

[0075] Referring back to Figures 8a-10, the systems shown therein provide various ways to flexibly configure base stations (e.g., gNBs) to accommodate various desired separations of network slices. One level of separation (e.g., a first level of separation) can occur from the user plane portion of the aggregation unit (CU-UP) onwards in the processing pipeline, where remote and distributed units (RU and DU) can be shared. In the DU, all of the physical (PHY) layer, MAC and RLC configurations and resources can be shared with other slices. This is illustrated by the system 800 shown in Figures 8a-b.

[0076] Other levels of separation (e.g., a second level of separation) can occur after the CU-UP in the processing pipeline where the RU and DU are shared, but in the DU, each network slice (as specified by the S-NSSAI parameters described above) may have a specific physical layer, MAC, RLC, and PDCP configuration. For example, each required S-NSSAI parameter may be mapped to a specific component carrier and / or a specific cell that defines a synchronization signal block (SSB) within the same component carrier or a specific BWP within the DU. This level of separation may be similar to the system shown in Figures 8a, 8b, but with multiple component carriers / cells defining SSB / BWP configurations within the same DU.

[0077] In some implementations, other isolation levels (e.g., a third isolation level) can occur after the distributed units, with each slice being mapped to a different distributed unit (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9a). When a particular user equipment uses multiple slices (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9b), the user equipment can be connected to two or more DUs simultaneously and can be configured with separate MAC entities for the master cell group (MCG) distributed unit and the secondary cell group (SCG) distributed unit. In some implementations, depending on the latency and / or other SLA requirements of each slice (i.e., slices a, b, c as shown in FIG. 9a), it may be possible to host the distributed units of each slice in different locations.

[0078] In some implementations, further separation levels (e.g., a fourth separation level) may include separation after the RU in the processing pipeline. In this case, there may be complete end-to-end separation of user plane traffic. Each remote unit may support a separate component carrier. As shown in FIG. 10, the user equipment may be configured to use separate MAC entities as MCG and SCG towards each distributed unit.

[0079] 11 illustrates an example method 1100 for mapping one or more network slices to a particular deployment option described in relation to FIGS. 8a-10, in accordance with some implementations of the present subject matter. At 1102, a network slice profile may be determined (as described above). Once the network slice profile is established, an isolation level is determined at 1104. At 1106, a combination of the network slice profile and the isolation level can be used to determine which solution (i.e., a deployment option described in relation to FIGS. 8a-10) is selectable.

[0080] In some implementations, various combinations of slice profile information and isolation levels can determine which solutions are available in a particular setting. As a non-limiting example, in light of the above description, there may be nine combinations of slice profile-isolation level scenarios. As can be appreciated, the present subject matter is not limited to those combinations, and other factors may be used to select the particular solutions described above or other solutions.

[0081] In some implementations, parameters that may characterize a slice profile may include at least one of latency, number of UEs in the slice, number of tracking areas, UE mobility level, isolation level, activity factor, and / or other parameters. In a first exemplary combination (i.e., operations 1102 and 1104 shown in FIG. 11), the slice profile may be characterized by medium to high latency, the number of UEs in the slice (e.g., millions), the load on each cell or sector of the RAN with the largest number of UEs, the number of tracking areas in which the slice is supported (e.g., 1500 or more (implying that the number of UEs per TA or cell may be approximately 700), whether the UE mobility is nomadic or limited, a first isolation level (described above), and a high activity factor (implying that the network slice is always active). Based on this combination, the implementation shown in FIG. 8a may be selected for processing data transmitted to and received from user equipment. In this combination, since the latency requirement is medium to high, the CU-CP and CU-UP may be located in a regional data center and thus far away from the DU.

[0082] In the second exemplary combination, the latency parameters can be lower, and the remaining parameters are similar to the first exemplary combination. Again, the implementation shown in FIG. 8a can be selected for processing data to and from the user equipment. Due to the low latency requirement, the CU-CP and / or CU-UP can be placed close to the DU. The placement of the CU-CP close to the DU can be determined based on whether low control plane latency is required for the slice. The placement of the CU-UP close to the DU can also be determined based on whether low user plane latency is required for the slice.

[0083] In the third exemplary combination, the slice profile parameters may be similar to the first exemplary combination, except that the isolation level is changed to the second isolation level. In this case, the implementation shown in Figure 8a may be selected, and separate component carriers / cells defining the SSB / BWP may be used for each slice.

[0084] In the fourth exemplary combination, the slice profile parameters may be similar to the second exemplary combination (i.e., low latency), except that the isolation level is changed to the second isolation level. Again, the implementation shown in Figure 8a is optional, and separate component carriers / cells defining the SSB / BWP may be used per slice.

[0085] In the fifth exemplary combination, the slice profile parameters may be similar to the first exemplary combination, except that the isolation level is changed to the third isolation level. In this case, the implementation shown in FIG. 9a may be selected. Here, similar to the first exemplary combination, the CU-CP and CU-UP may be located in a regional data center, and thus far away from the DU.

[0086] In the sixth exemplary combination, the slice profile parameters may be similar to the second exemplary combination (i.e., low latency), except that the isolation level is changed to the third isolation level. In this case, the implementation shown in FIG. 9a may also be selected. As in the description of the second exemplary combination, the CU-CP and / or CU-UP may be located near the DU, and the location of the CU-CP near the DU may be determined based on whether low control plane latency is required for the slice, and the location of the CU-UP near the DU may further be determined based on whether low user plane latency is required for the slice.

[0087] In the seventh exemplary combination, the slice profile parameters may be similar to the first exemplary combination, except that the separation level is changed to the fourth separation level. Here, the implementation shown in FIG. 10 may be selected, and the CU-CP and CU-UP may be located far away from the DU.

[0088] In the eighth exemplary combination, the slice profile parameters may be similar to the second exemplary combination (i.e., low latency), except that the isolation level is changed to the fourth isolation level. In this case, the implementation shown in Figure 10 can be selected, and the placement of the CU-CP and / or CU-UP close to the DU may be determined based on whether low control plane latency and / or low user plane latency, respectively, is required for the slice.

[0089] In the ninth exemplary combination, the slice parameters can be similar to the fifth and / or seventh exemplary combinations, with a low activity factor and a low number of UEs. In this case, the implementation shown in FIG. 8a can be selected, since there is no need to provide isolated RAN resources for network slices with sporadic activity and a low number of UEs (which would waste spectrum unnecessarily). Therefore, the implementation shown in FIG. 8a can be used, where the DU is shared with other slices and the isolation is after CU-UP.

[0090] In some implementations, tracking areas, mobility levels, etc. may not affect the selection of slice partitioning options. These parameters may be used to determine the number of locations where DUs, CU-CPs and / or CU-UP instances may need to be instantiated and / or what functionality in the DUs and / or CUs needs to be activated (e.g., for slices that may be used for fixed user equipment, mobility profiles, Xn interfaces may not need to be configured in the CU-CP instances).

[0091] In some implementations, the process 1100 shown in FIG. 11 may be provided by the OAM at the gNB (e.g., as a static table). The mapping of each slice profile to a particular solution and the corresponding placement logic of the CU-CP and CU-UP may be configured accordingly.

[0092] In some implementations, the subject matter can further perform monitoring of slice SLAs by referencing one or more key performance indicators (KPIs), which can be reported per slice. For example, for a particular slice (e.g., the implementation shown in FIG. 10) that is indicated as having an isolation level of 4 with a high activity factor, a report is received indicating a decrease in data traffic volume (e.g., indicating a low activity factor), and the OAM can change the mapping of the slice profile, for example, from the implementation shown in FIG. 10 to the implementation shown in FIG. 8a.

[0093] FIG. 12 illustrates an example process 1200 for updating a mapping of slice profiles to implementations according to some implementations of the present subject matter. The process 1200 can be performed by one or more components of the system 700 illustrated in FIG. 7 and / or any of the components of the 5G architecture. At 1202, a control portion of one or more distributed and / or aggregated units can provide status indicators or key performance indicators (KPIs) related to various aspects (e.g., latency, number of UEs, activity factors, etc., as discussed above) of a particular current implementation (e.g., an implementation as illustrated in FIGS. 8a-10). The KPIs can be provided to an Operations and Maintenance Management (OAM) of the 5G network. The KPIs can then be provided to an Operations Support System / Business Support System (OSS / BSS) of the 5G network. At 1204, the OSS / BSS can determine whether a change to the current implementation is needed. If so, at 1206, a new mapping of slice profiles to a particular implementation (e.g., as illustrated in FIGS. 8a-10) can be determined. Based on this determination, new virtual network function instantiation / de-instantiation rules for management of virtualization instances of DU, CU-UP, etc. (according to suitable implementations shown in Figures 8a-10) may be determined using the new mapping at 1208. If no changes are required, KPI monitoring and reporting may continue.

[0094] In some implementations, the subject matter may be configured to be implemented in a system 1300, as shown in FIG. 13. The system 1300 may include one or more of a processor 1310, a memory 1320, a storage device 1330, and an input / output device 1340. Each of the components 1310, 1320, 1330, and 1340 may be interconnected using a system bus 1350. The processor 1310 may be configured to process instructions executed within the system 1300. In some implementations, the processor 1310 may be a single-threaded processor. In alternative implementations, the processor 1310 may be a multi-threaded processor. The processor 1310 may further be configured to process instructions stored in the memory 1320 or the storage device 1330, including receiving or transmitting information via the input / output device 1340. The memory 1320 may store information within the system 1300. In some implementations, the memory 1320 may be a computer storage medium. In alternative implementations, the memory 1320 may be a volatile memory unit. Additionally, in some implementations, the memory 1320 may be a non-volatile memory unit. The storage device 1330 may provide mass storage for the system 1300. In some implementations, the storage device 1330 may be a computer-readable medium. In alternative implementations, the storage device 1330 may be a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, a tape device, a non-volatile solid-state memory, or other types of storage devices. The input / output device 1340 may be configured to provide input / output operations for the system 1300. In some implementations, the input / output device 1340 may include a keyboard and / or a pointing device. In alternative implementations, the input / output device 1340 may include a display unit for displaying a graphical user interface.

[0095] FIG. 14 illustrates an example method 1400 according to some implementations of the present subject matter. At 1402, a profile of a plurality of network slices of a wireless communication system may be determined. Each network slice of the plurality of network slices may have one or more communication components (e.g., RU, DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, AMF, UPF, SMF, etc.) that are logically separated from one or more communication components of other network slices of the plurality of network slices (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 8a-10). At 1404, based on the determined profile and a request (e.g., NSSAI) received from a user device, a network slice of the plurality of network slices may be selected for transmission of data associated with the user device. At 1406, the data associated with the user device may be transmitted using the selected network slice.

[0096] In some implementations, the subject matter may include one or more of any of the following features: The method may further include determining at least one communication component of the network slice for isolation based on at least one parameter of a profile of the network slice. In some implementations, the parameter may include one or more of a latency requirement, a number of user devices using the network slice, a number of tracking areas associated with the network slice, a mobility level of user devices using the network slice, an activity of the network slice, a required isolation level, and combinations thereof.

[0097] In some implementations, the method may further include monitoring transmission of data using the selected network slice, selecting another configuration of the network slice from the plurality of network slice configurations for transmission of the data based on the monitoring, and transmitting data associated with the user device using the other selected configuration of the network slice.

[0098] In some implementations, the method may include selecting one or more distributed units for transmission of data based on at least one of one or more component carriers, one or more bandwidth portions, one or more physical resource block ranges, and combinations thereof.

[0099] In some implementations, the method may further include virtualizing one or more logically separated components and optionally instantiating the virtualized one or more logically separated components based on at least one parameter.

[0100] The above operations of determining, selecting, and transmitting may be performed by a base station (e.g., a gNB in ​​a 5G NR network).

[0101] In some implementations, a base station may comprise at least one of the following communication components: one or more remote radio units (RU), one or more aggregation units (CU), one or more distributed units (DU), one or more control plane parts (CU-CP) of the one or more aggregation units, one or more user plane parts (CU-UP) of the one or more aggregation units, one or more access and mobility management functions (AMF), one or more user plane functions (UPF), and one or more session management functions (SMF).

[0102] In some implementations, at least one of one or more CU-UPs, one or more AMFs, one or more UPFs, and one or more SMFs of one network slice of the plurality of network slices may be logically separated from at least one of one or more CU-UPs, one or more AMFs, one or more UPFs, and one or more SMFs of other network slices of the plurality of network slices, although one or more RUs, one or more DUs, and one or more CU-CPs may be common to all network slices of the plurality of slices. This is shown in Figure 8a.

[0103] In some implementations, the CU-UP, UPF, and SMF of one network slice of the plurality of network slices may be logically separated from the CU-UP, UPF, and SMF of other network slices of the plurality of network slices, although the RU, DU, CU-CP, and AMF may be common to all network slices of the plurality of slices. This is shown in Figure 8b. In this implementation, the transmitting may include transmitting data associated with the user device using the plurality of network slices.

[0104] In some implementations, the DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, AMF, UPF, and SMF of one network slice of the plurality of network slices may be logically separated from the DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, AMF, UPF, and SMF of other network slices of the plurality of network slices, although the RU may be common to all network slices of the plurality of slices. This is illustrated in Figure 9a.

[0105] In some implementations, the DU, CU-UP, UPF, and SMF of one network slice of the plurality of network slices may be logically separated from the DU, CU-UP, UPF, and SMF of other network slices of the plurality of network slices, although the RU, CU-CP, and AMF may be common to all slices. This is illustrated in Figure 9b. In this case, transmitting may include transmitting data associated with the user device using the plurality of network slices.

[0106] In some implementations, the RU, DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, AMF, UPF, and SMF of one network slice of the plurality of network slices may be logically separated from the RU, DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, AMF, UPF, and SMF of other network slices of the plurality of network slices.

[0107] The systems and methods disclosed herein may be embodied in a variety of forms, including, for example, a data processor, such as a computer, further including a database, digital electronic circuitry, firmware, software, or combinations thereof. Moreover, the above-described features and other aspects and principles of the implementations of the present disclosure may be implemented in a variety of environments. Such environments and associated applications may be specially constructed to perform the various processes and operations in accordance with the implementations of the present disclosure, or they may include general-purpose computers or computing platforms that are selectively activated or reconfigured by code to provide the required functionality. The processes disclosed herein are not inherently related to any particular computer, network, architecture, environment, or other apparatus, but may be implemented by any suitable combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware. For example, various general-purpose machines may be used with programs written in accordance with the teachings of the disclosed implementations, or may be more convenient in constructing specialized apparatus or systems to perform the required methods and techniques.

[0108] The systems and methods disclosed herein may be implemented as a computer program product, i.e., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier, e.g., a machine-readable storage device or a propagated signal, for execution by or to control the operation of a data processing device, e.g., a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple computers. The computer program may be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and may be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. The computer program may be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

[0109] As used herein, the term "user" may refer to any entity, including a human or a computer.

[0110] Although ordinal numbers, e.g., first, second, etc., may relate to order in some contexts, ordinal numbers, when used in this document, do not necessarily imply order. For example, ordinal numbers may only be used to distinguish one item from another, e.g., to distinguish a first event from a second event, but need not imply any chronological ordering or fixed frame of reference (just as a first event in one paragraph of a description may be different from a first event in another paragraph of the description).

[0111] The above description is intended to illustrate, but not to limit, the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims. Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

[0112] The computer program, which may also be referred to as a program, software, software application, application, component, or code, includes machine instructions for a programmable processor and may be implemented in a high-level procedural language and / or object-oriented programming language and / or in assembly language / machine language. As used herein, the term "machine-readable medium" refers to computer program products, apparatus, and / or devices used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor, including machine-readable media that receive machine instructions as machine-readable signals, such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, memories, and programmable logic devices (PLDs). The term "machine-readable signal" refers to a signal used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor. The machine-readable medium may store such machine instructions non-transiently, such as, for example, a non-transient solid-state memory or a magnetic hard drive, or an equivalent storage medium. Alternatively or in addition, the machine-readable medium may store such machine instructions temporarily, such as, for example, a processor cache or other random access memory associated with one or more physical processor cores.

[0113] To achieve interaction with a user, the subject matter described herein may be implemented on a computer having a display device, such as, for example, a cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor, for displaying information to a user, and a keyboard and a pointing device, such as, for example, a mouse or trackball, by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other types of devices may be used to achieve interaction with a user as well. For example, feedback provided to the user may have the form of sensory feedback, such as, for example, visual feedback, auditory feedback, or haptic feedback, and input from the user may be received in forms including, but not limited to, acoustic input, speech input, or tactile input.

[0114] The subject matter described herein may be implemented within a computing system that includes back-end components, such as, for example, one or more data servers, or that includes middleware components, such as, for example, one or more application servers, or that includes front-end components, such as, for example, one or more client computers having a graphical user interface or web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described herein, or that includes a combination of such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, such as, for example, a communications network. Examples of communications networks include, but are not limited to, a local area network ("LAN"), a wide area network ("WAN"), and the Internet.

[0115] A computing system may include clients and servers. Clients and servers are typically, but not limited to, remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

[0116] The implementations described in the above description do not represent all implementations consistent with the subject matter described herein. Rather, they are merely some examples consistent with aspects related to the described subject matter. Although some variations have been described in detail above, other modifications or additions are possible. In particular, further features and / or variations may be provided in addition to the features and / or variations described herein. For example, the implementations described above may lead to various combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed features and / or combinations and subcombinations of some further features disclosed above. In addition, the logic flow illustrated in the accompanying drawings and / or described herein does not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve the desired results. Other implementations may exist within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A slicing providing system for providing end-to-end slicing in a wireless communication system comprises: determining profiles of a plurality of network slices of the wireless communication system, each of the plurality of network slices having one or more communication components logically separated from one or more communication components of other network slices included in the plurality of network slices; The slicing providing system selects a network slice from the plurality of network slices for transmission of data associated with the user device based on the determined profile and a request received from the user device; the slicing providing system transmitting data associated with the user device using the selected network slice; determining, by the slicing providing system, for separation, at least one communication component of the network slice based on at least one parameter of a profile of the network slice of the plurality of network slices; A method for controlling a slicing providing system having the above structure.

2. A slicing providing system for providing end-to-end slicing in a wireless communication system comprises: determining profiles of a plurality of network slices of the wireless communication system, each of the plurality of network slices having one or more communication components logically separated from one or more communication components of other network slices included in the plurality of network slices; and The slicing providing system selects a network slice from the plurality of network slices for transmission of data associated with the user device based on the determined profile and a request received from the user device; the slicing providing system transmitting data associated with the user device using the selected network slice; The slicing providing system monitors the transmission of data using the selected network slice; The slicing providing system selects another configuration of the network slice among the configurations of the plurality of network slices for transmission of data based on the monitoring; the slicing providing system transmitting data associated with the user device using the other selected network slice configuration; A method for controlling a slicing providing system having the above structure.

3. The slicing providing system further comprises selecting one or more distributed units for transmission of data based on at least one of one or more component carriers, one or more bandwidth portions, one or more physical resource block ranges, and combinations thereof. A method for controlling the slicing providing system according to claim 2.

4. The at least one parameter includes at least one of a latency requirement, a number of user devices using the network slice, a number of tracking areas associated with the network slice, a mobility level of user devices using the network slice, an activity of the network slice, a required isolation level, and combinations thereof. A method for controlling the slicing system according to claim 1.

5. The slicing providing system virtualizes the one or more logically isolated components; and and instantiating the one or more virtualized logically isolated components based on the at least one parameter. A method for controlling a slicing providing system according to claim 4.

6. At least one of the determining, the selecting, and the transmitting is performed by a base station. A method for controlling a slicing providing system according to claim 5.

7. the base station comprises at least one of the following communication components: one or more remote radio units, one or more aggregation units, one or more distributed units, one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, one or more access and mobility management functions, one or more user plane functions, and one or more session management functions; A method for controlling a slicing providing system according to claim 6.

8. At least one of the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of one network slice of the plurality of network slices are logically separated from at least one of the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of another network slice of the plurality of network slices; one or more remote radio units, one or more distributed units, and one or more control plane portions of the one or more aggregation units are common to all network slices of the plurality of slices; A method for controlling a slicing providing system according to claim 7.

9. At least one of the one or more user plane parts, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of the one or more aggregation units of one network slice of the plurality of network slices is logically separated from at least one of the one or more user plane parts, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of the one or more aggregation units of other network slices of the plurality of network slices; one or more remote radio units, one or more distributed units, one or more control plane portions of the one or more aggregation units, and one or more access and mobility management functions are common to all network slices of the plurality of slices; A method for controlling a slicing providing system according to claim 7.

10. The transmitting further includes the slicing providing system transmitting data associated with the user device using the plurality of network slices. A method for controlling a slicing providing system according to claim 9.

11. At least one of the one or more distribution units, the one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of one network slice of the plurality of network slices are logically separated from at least one of the one or more distribution units, the one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of another network slice of the plurality of network slices; one or more remote radio units are common to all network slices of the plurality of slices; A method for controlling a slicing providing system according to claim 7.

12. At least one of the one or more distributed units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of one network slice of the plurality of network slices are logically separated from at least one of the one or more distributed units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of another network slice of the plurality of network slices; one or more remote radio units, one or more control plane portions of the one or more aggregation units, and one or more access and mobility management functions are common to all network slices of the plurality of slices; A method for controlling a slicing providing system according to claim 7.

13. The transmitting further includes the slicing providing system transmitting data associated with the user device using the plurality of network slices. A method for controlling a slicing providing system according to claim 12.

14. at least one of the one or more remote radio units, the one or more distributed units, the one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of one network slice of the plurality of network slices are logically separated from at least one of the one or more remote radio units, the one or more distributed units, the one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of another network slice of the plurality of network slices; A method for controlling a slicing providing system according to claim 7.

15. A wireless communication system including a plurality of network slices, each of which has one or more communication components logically separated from one or more communication components of other network slices included in the plurality of network slices. means for selecting a network slice from the plurality of network slices for transmission of data associated with the user device based on the determined profile and a request received from the user device; means for transmitting data associated with the user device using the selected network slice; means for determining at least one communication component of the network slice for separation based on at least one parameter of a profile of the network slice of the plurality of network slices; A slicing providing system comprising:

16. A wireless communication system including a plurality of network slices, each of which has one or more communication components logically separated from one or more communication components of other network slices included in the plurality of network slices. means for selecting a network slice from the plurality of network slices for transmission of data associated with the user device based on the determined profile and a request received from the user device; means for transmitting data associated with the user device using the selected network slice; means for monitoring transmission of data using the selected network slice; means for selecting another configuration of the network slice among the plurality of configurations of the network slices for transmission of data based on the monitoring; means for transmitting data associated with the user device using the other selected network slice configuration; A slicing providing system comprising:

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising: selecting one or more distributed units for transmission of data based on at least one of: one or more component carriers, one or more bandwidth portions, one or more physical resource block ranges, and combinations thereof.

17. A slicing system according to claim 16.

18. The at least one parameter includes at least one of a latency requirement, a number of user devices using the network slice, a number of tracking areas associated with the network slice, a mobility level of user devices using the network slice, an activity of the network slice, a required isolation level, and combinations thereof.

16. A slicing system according to claim 15.

19. Means for virtualizing the one or more logically isolated components; and means for instantiating the one or more virtualized logically isolated components based on the at least one parameter.

20. The slicing system of claim 18.

20. At least one of the determining, the selecting, and the transmitting is performed by a base station.

20. The slicing system of claim 19.

21. the base station comprises at least one of the following communication components: one or more remote radio units, one or more aggregation units, one or more distributed units, one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, one or more access and mobility management functions, one or more user plane functions, and one or more session management functions; 21. The slicing system of claim 20.

22. At least one of the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of one network slice of the plurality of network slices are logically separated from at least one of the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of another network slice of the plurality of network slices; one or more remote radio units, one or more distributed units, and one or more control plane portions of the one or more aggregation units are common to all network slices of the plurality of slices; 22. The slicing system of claim 21.

23. At least one of the one or more user plane parts, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of the one or more aggregation units of one network slice of the plurality of network slices is logically separated from at least one of the one or more user plane parts, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of the one or more aggregation units of other network slices of the plurality of network slices; one or more remote radio units, one or more distributed units, one or more control plane portions of the one or more aggregation units, and one or more access and mobility management functions are common to all network slices of the plurality of slices; 22. The slicing system of claim 21.

24. and wherein the means for transmitting transmits data associated with the user device using the plurality of network slices.

24. A slicing system according to claim 23.

25. At least one of the one or more distribution units, the one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of one network slice of the plurality of network slices are logically separated from at least one of the one or more distribution units, the one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of another network slice of the plurality of network slices; one or more remote radio units are common to all network slices of the plurality of slices; 22. The slicing system of claim 21.

26. At least one of the one or more distributed units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of one network slice of the plurality of network slices are logically separated from at least one of the one or more distributed units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of another network slice of the plurality of network slices; one or more remote radio units, one or more control plane portions of the one or more aggregation units, and one or more access and mobility management functions are common to all network slices of the plurality of slices; 22. The slicing system of claim 21.

27. and wherein the means for transmitting transmits data associated with the user device using the plurality of network slices.

27. A slicing system according to claim 26.

28. at least one of the one or more remote radio units, the one or more distributed units, the one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of one network slice of the plurality of network slices are logically separated from at least one of the one or more remote radio units, the one or more distributed units, the one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of another network slice of the plurality of network slices; 22. The slicing system of claim 21.

29. Determining profiles of a plurality of network slices of a wireless communication system, each of the plurality of network slices having one or more communication components logically separated from one or more communication components of other network slices of the plurality of network slices. selecting a network slice from the plurality of network slices for transmission of data associated with the user device based on the determined profile and a request received from the user device; Transmitting data associated with the user device using the selected network slice; and determining at least one communication component of the network slice for separation based on at least one parameter of a profile of the network slice of the plurality of network slices; A computer program for causing one or more computers included in a slicing providing system to execute the above.

30. Determining profiles of a plurality of network slices of a wireless communication system, each of the plurality of network slices having one or more communication components logically separated from one or more communication components of other network slices of the plurality of network slices. selecting a network slice from the plurality of network slices for transmission of data associated with the user device based on the determined profile and a request received from the user device; Transmitting data associated with the user device using the selected network slice; and monitoring transmission of data using the selected network slice; selecting another configuration of the network slice among the plurality of configurations of the network slices for transmission of data based on the monitoring; and Transmitting data associated with the user device using the other selected network slice configuration. A computer program for causing one or more computers included in a slicing providing system to execute the above.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising: causing the one or more computers to select one or more distributed units for transmission of data based on at least one of one or more component carriers, one or more bandwidth portions, one or more physical resource block ranges, and combinations thereof.

31. A computer program according to claim 30.

32. The at least one parameter includes at least one of a latency requirement, a number of user devices using the network slice, a number of tracking areas associated with the network slice, a mobility level of user devices using the network slice, an activity of the network slice, a required isolation level, and combinations thereof.

30. A computer program according to claim 29.

33. Virtualizing the one or more logically isolated components; and and instantiating the one or more logically isolated components that have been virtualized based on the at least one parameter.

33. A computer program according to claim 32.

34. At least one of the determining, the selecting, and the transmitting is performed by a base station.

34. A computer program according to claim 33.

35. the base station comprises at least one of the following communication components: one or more remote radio units, one or more aggregation units, one or more distributed units, one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, one or more access and mobility management functions, one or more user plane functions, and one or more session management functions; 35. A computer program according to claim 34.

36. At least one of the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of one network slice of the plurality of network slices are logically separated from at least one of the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of another network slice of the plurality of network slices; one or more remote radio units, one or more distributed units, and one or more control plane portions of the one or more aggregation units are common to all network slices of the plurality of slices; 36. A computer program according to claim 35.

37. At least one of the one or more user plane parts, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of the one or more aggregation units of one network slice of the plurality of network slices is logically separated from at least one of the one or more user plane parts, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of the one or more aggregation units of other network slices of the plurality of network slices; one or more remote radio units, one or more distributed units, one or more control plane portions of the one or more aggregation units, and one or more access and mobility management functions are common to all network slices of the plurality of slices; 36. A computer program according to claim 35.

38. and wherein the transmitting further causes the one or more computers to transmit data associated with the user device using the plurality of network slices.

38. A computer program according to claim 37.

39. At least one of the one or more distribution units, the one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of one network slice of the plurality of network slices are logically separated from at least one of the one or more distribution units, the one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of another network slice of the plurality of network slices; one or more remote radio units are common to all network slices of the plurality of slices; 36. A computer program according to claim 35.

40. At least one of the one or more distributed units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of one network slice of the plurality of network slices are logically separated from at least one of the one or more distributed units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of another network slice of the plurality of network slices; one or more remote radio units, one or more control plane portions of the one or more aggregation units, and one or more access and mobility management functions are common to all network slices of the plurality of slices; 36. A computer program according to claim 35.

41. and wherein the transmitting further causes the one or more computers to transmit data associated with the user device using the plurality of network slices.

41. A computer program according to claim 40.

42. at least one of the one or more remote radio units, the one or more distributed units, the one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of one network slice of the plurality of network slices are logically separated from at least one of the one or more remote radio units, the one or more distributed units, the one or more control plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more user plane parts of the one or more aggregation units, the one or more access and mobility management functions, the one or more user plane functions, and the one or more session management functions of another network slice of the plurality of network slices; 36. A computer program according to claim 35.

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