Transport Slice Identifier for End-to-End 5G Network Slicing Mapping

Abstract

An apparatus and method are provided for identifying a network slice in a transport network. In one embodiment, the apparatus is configured to receive a slice creation request to create a network slice. The slice creation request includes a global identifier corresponding to the network slice. The apparatus is further configured to search a transport slice mapping database for the global identifier. The apparatus is further configured to generate a transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice. The apparatus is further configured to add a mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database that maps the global identifier to the transport slice identifier. The apparatus is further configured to add another mapping entry to the transport slice path mapping database that maps the transport slice identifier to a network path assigned to the network slice. The apparatus is further configured to publish the mapping entry to a performance monitoring system.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for using a transport slice identifier for end-to-end network slicing mapping. [Background technology]

[0002] Related communication systems such as wireless communication systems (e.g., 4G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G) can be deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephone, video, data, messaging, and broadcast. To meet the ever-increasing demand for wireless data traffic, network technologies may seek to implement an end-to-end (E2E) system in which all targets are integrated through a network that provides access in a wired, wireless, or other various manners. To that end, standardization organizations (e.g., International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance, Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)) may define and / or design systems and / or network architectures to implement network technologies that may be characterized by high performance, low latency, and high availability.

[0003] One such network technology may include the adoption of network slicing for radio access networks (RANs) and core networks (CNs) interconnected with each other via a transport network (TN). Under network slicing, network resources and network functions may be bundled into network slices according to individual services, service level agreements (SLAs), and / or network path routing provided by each network slice. That is, a network slice on a communication network may provide customized network services by combining control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) network functions for network services required for specific services on the CN and RAN.

[0004] Related mechanisms for deploying and implementing network slicing functions across network domains may rely on the use of different network slice subnet management function (NSSMF) devices for each domain. For example, each of the RAN, CN, and TN domains may each independently implement a separate NSSMF device (e.g., RN-NSSMF, CN-NSSMF, and TN-NSSMF, respectively). Thus, each domain (e.g., RAN, CN, and TN) may operate independently without awareness of the other domains. As a result, related network slicing mechanisms may not be able to correlate network usage information (e.g., paths, resources, performance) from each of the domains to present an end-to-end view of the network slice.

[0005] Thus, there is a need for further improvements in 5G network slicing technology. Improvements are presented herein that may be applicable to other multiple access technologies and telecommunications standards that employ these technologies. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of such embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments, and is not intended to identify key or critical elements of all embodiments or to delineate the scope of any or all embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[0007] Disclosed herein are a method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium for identifying a network slice in a transport network.

[0008] According to one aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus for identifying a network slice in a transport network includes a memory storage storing computer-executable instructions and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory storage. The processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the apparatus to receive, from a controller, a first slice creation request to create a network slice. The first slice creation request includes a global identifier corresponding to the network slice. The computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to search a transport slice mapping database for at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier. The computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to generate a first transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice based on a determination that the at least one mapping entry was not found. The computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to add a first mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database indicating a first relationship between the global identifier and the first transport slice identifier. The computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to add a second mapping entry to the transport slice path mapping database indicating a second relationship between the first transport slice identifier and a first network path identifier of a first network path assigned to the network slice. The computer-executable instructions further cause the device to publish the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to a performance monitoring system (PMS).

[0009] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the computer-executable instructions for generating a first transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice include further computer-executable instructions for generating the first transport slice identifier based at least on a source address indicated by the first slice creation request, a destination address indicated by the first slice creation request, and a network path constraint indicated by the first slice creation request.

[0010] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the computer-executable instructions further cause the device to regenerate the first transport slice identifier based on a determination that at least one of the source address, the destination address, and the network path constraints has changed to obtain a regenerated first transport slice identifier. The computer-executable instructions further cause the device to update the first mapping entry with the regenerated first transport slice identifier to obtain an updated first mapping entry. The computer-executable instructions further cause the device to update the second mapping entry with the regenerated first transport slice identifier to obtain an updated second mapping entry. The computer-executable instructions further cause the device to issue the updated first mapping entry and the updated second mapping entry to the PMS.

[0011] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to select a first network path assigned to the network slice based at least on a source address indicated by the first slice creation request, a destination address indicated by the first slice creation request, and a network path constraint indicated by the first slice creation request. The computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to assign a first network path identifier to the first network path assigned to the network slice. The computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to issue the first network path identifier of the first network path assigned to the network slice to a PMS.

[0012] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to receive a second slice creation request from the controller. The second slice creation request includes a global identifier corresponding to the network slice. The computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to search the transport slice mapping database for at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier. The computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to generate a second transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice based on a determination that the at least one mapping entry is found. The computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to add a third mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database indicating a third relationship between the global identifier and the second transport slice identifier. The computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to add a fourth mapping entry to the transport slice path mapping database indicating a fourth relationship between the second transport slice identifier and a second network path identifier of a second network path assigned to the network slice. The computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to issue the third mapping entry and the fourth mapping entry to the PMS.

[0013] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the computer-executable instructions for generating a second transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice include further computer-executable instructions for generating the second transport slice identifier based at least on a source address indicated by the second slice creation request and a destination address indicated by the second slice creation request.

[0014] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the computer-executable instructions further cause the device to regenerate the second transport slice identifier based on a determination that at least one of the source address and the destination address has changed to obtain a regenerated second transport slice identifier. The computer-executable instructions further cause the device to update the third mapping entry with the regenerated second transport slice identifier to obtain an updated third mapping entry. The computer-executable instructions further cause the device to update the fourth mapping entry with the regenerated second transport slice identifier to obtain an updated fourth mapping entry. The computer-executable instructions further cause the device to issue the updated third mapping entry and the updated fourth mapping entry to the PMS.

[0015] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the computer-executable instructions for receiving the first slice creation request from the controller include further computer-executable instructions for receiving the first slice creation request from the controller via a first representational state transfer application programming interface (REST-API). The computer-executable instructions for publishing the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to the PMS include further computer-executable instructions for publishing the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to the PMS via the second REST-API.

[0016] According to another aspect of the disclosure, a method for identifying a network slice in a transport network by a transport network device includes receiving, from a controller, a first slice creation request for creating a network slice. The first slice creation request includes a global identifier corresponding to the network slice. The method further includes searching a transport slice mapping database for at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier. The method further includes generating a first transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice based on determining that the at least one mapping entry is not found. The method further includes adding a first mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database indicating a first relationship between the global identifier and the first transport slice identifier. The method further includes adding a second mapping entry to the transport slice path mapping database indicating a second relationship between the first transport slice identifier and a first network path identifier of a first network path assigned to the network slice. The method further includes publishing the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to a PMS.

[0017] According to another aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium has recorded thereon a program for identifying a network slice in a transport network by an apparatus. The program includes an operation of receiving, from a controller, a first slice creation request for creating a network slice. The first slice creation request includes a global identifier corresponding to the network slice. The program includes a further operation of searching a transport slice mapping database for at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier. The program includes a further operation of generating a first transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice based on a determination that the at least one mapping entry was not found. The program includes a further operation of adding a first mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database indicating a first relationship between the global identifier and the first transport slice identifier. The program includes a further operation of adding a second mapping entry to the transport slice path mapping database indicating a second relationship between the first transport slice identifier and a first network path identifier of a first network path assigned to the network slice. The program includes a further operation of publishing the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to a PMS.

[0018] Additional embodiments will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, and / or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments of the present disclosure. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0019] The above and other aspects, features, and aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0020] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example device for identifying a network slice in a transport network, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] 1 is an example of a high-level network slice architecture for network slice management and configuration in a communication system, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 1 illustrates an example process for identifying a network slice in a transport network, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] 1 is a flowchart of an example process for identifying a network slice in a transport network, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example apparatus for identifying a network slice in a transport network, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart of an example method for identifying a network slice in a transport network, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] The following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments refers to the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

[0022] The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the implementation to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the implementations. Moreover, one or more features or components of one embodiment may be incorporated or combined with another embodiment (or one or more features of another embodiment). In addition, in the flowcharts and descriptions of operations provided below, it should be understood that one or more operations may be omitted, one or more operations may be added, one or more operations may be performed (at least partially) simultaneously, and one or more operations may be reordered.

[0023] It will be apparent that the systems and / or methods described herein may be implemented in different forms of hardware, firmware, or a combination of hardware and software. The actual dedicated control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and / or methods is not intended to limit the implementation. Thus, the operation and behavior of the systems and / or methods are described herein without reference to specific software code, and it will be understood that software and hardware can be designed to implement the systems and / or methods based on the description herein.

[0024] Although particular combinations of features are recited in the claims and / or disclosed herein, these combinations do not limit the disclosure of possible implementations. Indeed, many of these features can be combined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and / or disclosed herein. Although each dependent claim listed below may depend directly on only one claim, the disclosure of possible implementations includes each dependent claim in combination with all other claims in the claim set.

[0025] No element, act, or instruction used herein should be construed as critical or required unless expressly described as such. Also, as used herein, the articles "a" and "an" are intended to include one or more items and may be used synonymously with "one or more." When only one item is intended, the term "one" or similar language is used. Also, as used herein, the terms "has," "have," "having," "include," "including," and the like are intended to be open-ended terms. Furthermore, the phrase "based on" is intended to mean "based at least in part on," unless otherwise specified. Furthermore, phrases such as "at least one of [A] and [B]" or "at least one of [A] or [B]" should be understood as including only A, only B, or both A and B.

[0026] Throughout this specification, references to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," or similar language mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the illustrated embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the solution. Thus, throughout this specification, the phrases "in one embodiment," "in an embodiment," and similar language may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

[0027] Moreover, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the present disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize in light of the description herein that the present disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other cases, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] Network slicing may enable network resources and network functions to be bundled into network slices according to individual services, service level agreements (SLAs), and / or network path routing provided by each network slice. That is, a network slice on a communication network may provide customized network services by combining control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) network functions for network services required for a particular service on a core network (CN) and a radio access network (RAN), which may be interconnected with each other via a transport network (TN).

[0029] However, the associated mechanisms for deploying and implementing network slicing functions across network domains may rely on the use of different Network Slice Subnet Management Function (NSSMF) devices for each domain (e.g., RN-NSSMF, CN-NSSMF, and TN-NSSMF). Thus, each domain (e.g., RAN, CN, and TN) can operate independently without awareness of the other domains. As a result, the associated network slicing mechanisms may not be able to correlate network usage information (e.g., paths, resources, performance) from each of the domains to present an end-to-end view of the network slice.

[0030] Aspects presented herein provide methods and apparatus for identifying network slices in a TN such that an end-to-end mapping of network slices can be generated. Network slices can be identified within the TN without interdependencies from and / or functionality changes to other domains (e.g., RAN, CN). Additionally, aspects presented herein can improve the efficiency and performance of network slicing implementations by enabling end-to-end monitoring of network slice management and transport network path visualization.

[0031] 1 is a diagram of an example device for identifying a transport network slice in a transport network. The device 100 can correspond to any type of known computer, server, or data processing device. For example, the device 100 can include a processor, a personal computer (PC), a printed circuit board (PCB) including a computing device, a minicomputer, a mainframe computer, a microcomputer, a telephone computing device, a wired / wireless computing device (e.g., a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA)), a laptop, a tablet, a smart device, a wearable device, or any other similarly functional device.

[0032] 1, device 100 may include a set of components, such as a processor 120, a memory 130, a storage component 140, an input component 150, an output component 160, a communication interface 170, and a transport slice identification (ID) component 180. The set of components of device 100 may be communicatively coupled via a bus 110.

[0033] Bus 110 may comprise one or more components that enable communication between a set of components of device 100. For example, bus 110 may be a communications bus, a crossover bar, a network, etc. Although bus 110 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as a single line, bus 110 may be implemented using multiple (two or more) connections between a set of components of device 100. This disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0034] Device 100 may include one or more processors, such as processor 120. Processor 120 may be implemented in hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software. For example, processor 120 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), an accelerated processing unit (APU), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a general-purpose single-chip or multi-chip processor, or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. Processor 120 may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. In some embodiments, particular processes and methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.

[0035] The processor 120 may control the overall operation of the device 100 and / or a set of components of the device 100 (e.g., memory 130, storage component 140, input component 150, output component 160, communication interface 170, transport slice identification component 180).

[0036] Device 100 may further include memory 130. In some embodiments, memory 130 may include random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, magnetic memory, optical memory, and / or another type of dynamic or static storage device. Memory 130 may store information and / or instructions for use (e.g., execution) by processor 120.

[0037] Storage component 140 of device 100 can store information and / or computer-readable instructions and / or code related to the operation and use of device 100. For example, storage component 140 may include a hard disk (e.g., a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and / or a solid-state disk), a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) card, a floppy disk, a cartridge, a magnetic tape, and / or another type of non-transitory computer-readable medium along with a corresponding drive.

[0038] Device 100 may further comprise input component 150. Input component 150 may include one or more components that enable device 100 to receive information, such as via user input (e.g., a touch screen, a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a stylus, a button, a switch, a microphone, a camera, etc.). Alternatively or additionally, input component 150 may include sensors for sensing information (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) component, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an actuator, etc.).

[0039] Output components 160 of device 100 may include one or more components that may provide output information from device 100 (e.g., a display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a haptic feedback device, a speaker, etc.).

[0040] Device 100 may further comprise a communication interface 170. Communication interface 170 may include a receiver component, a transmitter component, and / or a transceiver component. Communication interface 170 may enable device 100 to establish a connection and / or transfer a communication with another device (e.g., a server, another device). The communication may occur via a wired connection, a wireless connection, or a combination of wired and wireless connections. Communication interface 170 may enable device 100 to receive information from another device and / or provide information to another device. In some embodiments, communication interface 170 may provide for communication with another device over a network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a private network, an ad-hoc network, an intranet, the Internet, an optical fiber based network, a cellular network (e.g., a fifth generation (5G) network, a long term evolution (LTE) network, a third generation (3G) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, etc.), a public land mobile network (PLMN), a telephone network (e.g., a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)), etc., and / or a combination of these or other types of networks. Alternatively or additionally, the communication interface 170 may enable communication with another device via a device-to-device (D2D) communication link, such as FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, LTE, 5G, etc.In other embodiments, communication interface 170 may include an Ethernet interface, an optical interface, a coaxial interface, an infrared interface, a radio frequency (RF) interface, or the like.

[0041] In some embodiments, device 100 may include a transport slice identification component 180 configured to identify a network slice in a transport network. For example, transport slice identification component 180 may be configured to receive a slice creation request including a global identifier corresponding to the network slice, search a transport slice mapping database for at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier, generate a transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice, add the mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database, add another mapping entry to the transport slice path mapping database, and publish the mapping entry and the another mapping entry to a performance monitoring system (PMS).

[0042] Device 100 may perform one or more processes described herein. Device 100 may perform operations based on processor 120 executing computer-readable instructions and / or code, which may be stored by a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as memory 130 and / or storage component 140. A computer-readable medium may refer to a non-transitory memory device. A memory device may include memory space within a single physical storage device and / or memory space distributed across multiple physical storage devices.

[0043] Computer readable instructions and / or code may be read into memory 130 and / or storage component 140 from another computer readable medium or from another device via communications interface 170. The computer readable instructions and / or code stored in memory 130 and / or storage component 140, when executed by processor 120, may cause device 100 to perform one or more processes described herein.

[0044] Alternatively, or in addition, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of, or in combination with, software instructions to implement one or more of the processes described herein. Thus, the embodiments described herein are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

[0045] The number and arrangement of components shown in Figure 1 are provided as an example. In practice, there may be additional, fewer, different, or differently arranged components than those shown in Figure 1. Further, two or more of the components shown in Figure 1 may be implemented within a single component, or a single component shown in Figure 1 may be implemented as multiple distributed components. Additionally or alternatively, a set of components shown in Figure 1 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of components shown in Figure 1.

[0046] 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 200 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) that may include one or more user equipment (UE) 210, one or more base stations 220, at least one transport network 230, and at least one core network 240, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0047] One or more UEs 210 can access at least one core network 240 and / or IP services 250 via a connection to one or more base stations 220 over the RAN domain 224 and through at least one transport network 230. Examples of UEs 210 may be a cellular phone, a smartphone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system (GPS), a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a tablet, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, an electric meter, a gas pump, a large or small kitchen appliance, a healthcare device, an implant, a sensor / actuator, a display, or any other similarly functioning device. Some of the one or more UEs 210 may be referred to as Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices (e.g., a parking meter, a gas pump, a toaster, a vehicle, a heart monitor, etc.). One or more UEs 210 may also be referred to as a station, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile agent, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0048] One or more base stations 220 can wirelessly communicate with one or more UEs 210 via the RAN domain 224. Each base station of the one or more base stations 220 can provide communication coverage to one or more UEs 210 located within the geographic coverage area of ​​that base station 220. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2, a base station 220 can transmit one or more beamformed signals to one or more UEs 210 in one or more transmit directions. The one or more UEs 210 can receive the beamformed signals from the base station 220 in one or more receive directions. Alternatively or additionally, the one or more UEs 210 can transmit beamformed signals to the base station 220 in one or more transmit directions. The base station 220 can receive the beamformed signals from the one or more UEs 210 in one or more receive directions.

[0049] The one or more base stations 220 may include macrocells (e.g., high power cellular base stations) and / or small cells (e.g., low power cellular base stations). Small cells may include femtocells, picocells, and microcells. The base stations 220, whether macrocells or large cells, may include and / or be referred to as an access point (AP), an evolved (or evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN)) Node B (eNB), a next generation Node B (gNB), or another type of base station.

[0050] The one or more base stations 220 may be configured to interface (e.g., establish connections, forward data, etc.) with at least one core network 240 through at least one transport network 230. In addition to other functions, the one or more base stations 220 may perform one or more of the following functions: forwarding data (e.g., uplink data) received from one or more UEs 210 to the at least one core network 240 via the at least one transport network 230; and forwarding data (e.g., downlink data) received from the at least one core network 240 to the one or more UEs 210 via the at least one transport network 230.

[0051] The transport network 230 may transport data (e.g., uplink data, downlink data) and / or signaling between the RAN domain 224 and the CN domain 244. For example, the transport network 230 may provide one or more backhaul links between one or more base stations 220 and at least one core network 240. The backhaul links may be wired or wireless. Alternatively or additionally, the transport network 230 may include the transport slice identification component 180 of FIG. 1.

[0052] The core network 240 may be configured to provide one or more services (e.g., enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), massive machine type communications (mMTC), etc.) to one or more UEs 210 connected to the RAN domain 224 via the TN domain 234. Alternatively or additionally, the core network 240 may serve as an entry point for IP services 250. The IP services 250 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), streaming services (e.g., video, audio, gaming, etc.), and / or other IP services.

[0053] 2, the end-to-end network slice 260 can provide a specified performance commitment for the required connectivity between the UE 210 and the core network 240. The end-to-end network slice 260 can refer to a logical network topology that connects some endpoints (e.g., the UE 210, the core network 240) using a set of shared or dedicated network resources (e.g., the base station 220, the transport network 230) that are used to meet the specific performance commitment. The performance commitment to be met by the end-to-end network slice 260 can be referred to as a service level agreement (SLA), a service level objective (SLO), a service level expectation (SLE), and / or a service level indicator (SLI). Examples of these performance commitments may include, but are not limited to, a guaranteed minimum bandwidth (e.g., bandwidth between two endpoints in a particular direction), a guaranteed maximum latency (e.g., network latency when transmitting between two endpoints), a maximum permissible delay variation (PDV) (e.g., the maximum difference in one-way delay between sequentially transmitted packets in a flow), a maximum tolerable packet loss rate (e.g., the ratio of dropped packets to transmitted packets), and a minimum availability ratio (e.g., the ratio of uptime to the sum of uptime and downtime).

[0054] A UE 210 can access multiple network slices 260 via one or more base stations 220 (not shown). In some embodiments, each network slice 260 can provide a particular service type with a specified performance commitment.

[0055] In some embodiments, each network slice 260 may be identified by a global identifier, such as a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), that is, the S-NSSAI may be used by the RAN domain 224, the TN domain 234, and the CN domain 244 to identify the network slice 260.

[0056] The S-NSSAI may include information regarding slice and / or service type (SST), which may indicate expected behavior of a particular network slice with respect to features and / or services. The S-NSSAI may further include a slice differentiator (SD), which may enable further differentiation for selecting a network slice instance from one or more network slice instances that may conform to the indicated SST. Alternatively or additionally, the SST and / or SD included by the S-NSSAI may use standard values ​​and / or may use values ​​specific to a particular network provider (e.g., Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN)).

[0057] 3 is an example of a high-level network slice architecture for network slice management and configuration in a communication system, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The high-level network slice architecture 300 described in FIG. 3 may be implemented by and / or included with the wireless communication system 200 described above with reference to FIG. 2, and may include additional features not mentioned above. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the high-level network slice architecture 300 shown in FIG. 3 may be executed by the device 100 of FIG. 1, including the transport slice identification component 180.

[0058] As shown in FIG. 3, the network slice management function (NSMF) 310 may request each domain (e.g., RAN, TN, CN) of the network architecture to create a portion (e.g., a subnet) of the network slice 260 in each network domain. That is, the network slice 260 may be implemented by a combination of subnets created in each domain of the network to establish a communication path across the communication system. The NSMF 310 may be configured to generate an S-NSSAI that uniquely identifies the network slice 260. Alternatively or additionally, the NSMF 310 may create one or more service profiles that request dedicated resources for the network slice 260 in each network domain. The service profile may be determined according to one or more services provided via the network slice 260 and / or a specified performance commitment of the network slice 260.

[0059] In some embodiments, the NSMF 310 may use a Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface (REST-API) to request each of the domains to create a respective portion of the network slice 260. Alternatively or additionally, the NSMF 310 may transmit and / or send a message including a slice creation request to a network element corresponding to each of the network domains. The disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0060] In some embodiments, the NSMF 310 may send a slice creation request to an access network-network slice subnet management function (AN-NSSMF) 320, such as a RAN path computation element and / or a RAN orchestrator, to create the RAN domain portion of the network slice 260. For example, the slice creation request sent by the NSMF 310 to the AN-NSSMF 320 may include an S-NSSAI that identifies the network slice 260 and / or a service profile determined for the RAN domain 224.

[0061] In response to receiving a slice creation request from the NSMF 310, the AN-NSSMF 320 can allocate one or more resources (e.g., a time period, a frequency range, a bandwidth) of the RAN domain 224 for the network slice 260. That is, the AN-NSSMF 320 can configure one or more base stations 220 of the RAN domain 224 and / or other network elements of the RAN domain 224 to provide a network path between the UE 210 and the transport network 230 in accordance with the performance commitments specified for the network slice 260. Alternatively or additionally, the AN-NSSMF 320 can further allocate RAN resources according to other performance factors, such as, but not limited to, available processing throughput of the allocated device, latency considerations, the geographic location of the allocated device, priority of the service associated with the network slice 260, etc.

[0062] In some embodiments, the NSMF 310 may send a slice creation request to a transport network-network slice subnet management function (TN-NSSMF) 330, such as a network slice controller (NSC) and / or a TN orchestrator, to create the TN domain portion of the network slice 260. For example, the slice creation request sent by the NSMF 310 to the NSC 330 may include an S-NSSAI that identifies the network slice 260 and / or a service profile determined for the TN domain 234.

[0063] In other embodiments, the NSC 330 may include a transport slice identification component 180. In such embodiments, the NSC 330 may be further configured to generate a transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice 260 based at least on the S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request received from the NSMF 310, as described in further detail with reference to Figures 4 and 5.

[0064] In response to receiving a slice creation request from the NSMF 310, the NSC 330 can compute and / or allocate one or more transport network paths for the network slice 260. For example, the NSC 330 can select a transport network path based at least on a source address indicated by the slice creation request, a destination address indicated by the slice creation request, and / or a network path constraint (e.g., service profile, performance commitments) indicated by the slice creation request. Alternatively or additionally, the NSC 330 can configure one or more network elements of the TN network 230 to provide one or more transport network paths between the RAN domain 224 and the core network 240 in accordance with the performance commitments specified for the network slice 260.

[0065] In some embodiments, the NSMF 310 may send a slice creation request to a core network-network slice subnet management function (CN-NSSMF) 340, such as a CN path computation element and / or a CN orchestrator, to create the CN domain portion of the network slice 260. For example, the slice creation request sent by the NSMF 310 to the CN-NSSMF 340 may include an S-NSSAI that identifies the network slice 260 and / or a service profile determined for the CN domain 244.

[0066] In response to receiving the slice creation request from the NSMF 310, the CN-NSSMF 340 may calculate and / or allocate one or more core network paths for the network slice 260 to provide a network path between the UE 210 and the one or more services indicated by the slice creation request. For example, the CN-NSSMF 340 may select a core network path based at least on a source address indicated by the slice creation request, a destination address indicated by the slice creation request, and / or a network path constraint (e.g., service profile, performance commitment) indicated by the slice creation request. Alternatively or additionally, the CN-NSSMF 340 may configure one or more network elements of the CN network 240 to provide the one or more services indicated by the slice creation request to the UE 210 in accordance with the performance commitments defined for the network slice 260.

[0067] As discussed above with reference to FIG. 3, each domain (e.g., RAN, TN, CN) of the network architecture may have an independent network slicing management function (e.g., AN-NSSMF 320, NSC 330, CN-NSSMF 340). These management functions may manage their respective portions of the network slice 260 without coordination and / or collaboration between them. As a result, the performance monitoring process may not be able to correlate network usage information (e.g., paths, resources, performance) from each of the domains. Thus, end-to-end network slice performance monitoring and transport path visualization may not be achieved.

[0068] Advantageously, aspects described herein may provide a transport slice identification component 180 that may be configured to generate a transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice 260 based on at least the S-NSSAI. The transport slice identification component 180 may be further configured to issue a mapping of the transport slice identifier to the network slice 260 and the transport network path allocated to the network slice 260. As a result, the performance monitoring system may perform end-to-end monitoring of network slice performance as well as visualization of the transport network path. Thus, fault detection and isolation at the individual network slice and / or transport flow level may be enabled.

[0069] FIG 4 illustrates an example process for identifying a network slice in a transport network, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The process 400 illustrated in FIG 4 may be implemented and / or performed by the NSC 330 described in FIG 3 including the transport slice identification component 180, which may be hosted by the device 100 described in FIG 1 and may be an element of the wireless communication system 200 described in FIG 2. The NSC 330 described in FIG 4 may include and / or be similar in many respects to the NSC 330 described above with reference to FIG 3, and may include additional features not described above.

[0070] In operation 411, the NSC 330 may receive a slice creation request. In some embodiments, the slice creation request may be obtained from the NSMF 310 via a REST-API. Alternatively or additionally, the NSMF 310 may send a message including the slice creation request to the NSC 330. The slice creation request may include a global identifier (e.g., S-NSSAI) corresponding to the network slice 260 to be created. The slice creation request may further indicate a source address, a destination address, and network path constraints such as performance commitments (e.g., SLA, SLO, SLE, SLI) specified for the network slice 260. The source address may correspond to an ingress transport border router (e.g., ingress provider edge (PE) 442) connected to the RAN domain 224. The destination address may correspond to an egress transport border router (e.g., egress PE 446) connected to the CN domain 244.

[0071] At operation 412, in response to receiving the slice creation request at operation 411, the NSC 330 may begin generating a unique transport slice identifier (e.g., TN-SliceID 415) corresponding to the network slice 260. For example, the NSC 330 may determine whether the global identifier S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request is a unique S-NSSAI (e.g., transport resources are not currently allocated to the S-NSSAI) or whether the S-NSSAI is a common S-NSSAI (e.g., transport resources are currently allocated to the S-NSSAI). For example, a common S-NSSAI may be utilized in a scenario where multiple transport network paths may be required for dedicated services (e.g., user plane functions) under the same network slice.

[0072] In some embodiments, the NSC 330 may search the transport slice mapping database 420 for at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier S-NSSAI. If the search results indicate that the global identifier S-NSSAI was not found in the transport slice mapping database 420, the NSC 330 may determine that the global identifier S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request is a unique S-NSSAI. Alternatively or additionally, if or when the search results indicate that the global identifier S-NSSAI was found in the transport slice mapping database 420, the NSC 330 may determine that the global identifier S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request is a common S-NSSAI.

[0073] In operation 413, based on determining that the global identifier S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request is a unique S-NSSAI, NSC330 may generate a TN-slice ID 415 based at least on the source address indicated by the slice creation request, the destination address indicated by the slice creation request, and the network path constraints indicated by the slice creation request.

[0074] In some embodiments, the NSC 330 may be configured to monitor the tuple values ​​(e.g., source address, destination address, network path constraints) for any changes. The NSC may be further configured to regenerate the TN-Slice ID 415 based on a determination that at least one of the source address, destination address, and network path constraints has changed.

[0075] In operation 414, based on determining that the global identifier S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request is a common S-NSSAI, NSC330 may generate a TN-slice ID 415 based at least on the source address indicated by the slice creation request and the destination address indicated by the slice creation request.

[0076] In some embodiments, the NSC 330 may be configured to monitor a pair of values ​​(e.g., source address, destination address) for any changes. The NSC may be further configured to regenerate the TN-Slice ID 415 based on a determination that at least one of the source address and destination address has changed.

[0077] In operation 416, the NSC 330 may add a mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database 420 indicating a relationship (e.g., correspondence) between the global identifier S-NSSAI and the TN-slice ID 415 indicated by the slice creation request. Alternatively or additionally, the NSC 330 may update the mapping entry in the transport slice mapping database 420 with the regenerated TN-slice ID 415 if or when a change to the tuple values ​​used to generate the TN-slice ID 415 is determined. That is, the NSC 330 may be configured to maintain the transport slice mapping database 420 including the mapping between the global identifiers S-NSSAI and their respective TN-slice IDs 415. For example, the NSC 330 may delete a mapping entry from the transport slice mapping database 420 based on a determination that the respective TN-slice ID 415 is no longer needed or in use and / or based on a determination that the global identifier S-NSSAI is no longer needed or in use.

[0078] The transport slice mapping database 420 may include a single database or may include different logical, virtual, or physical databases, depending on the design of the NSC 330 and / or the wireless communication system 200. Alternatively or additionally, the transport slice mapping database 420 may be implemented by one or more data processing devices, such as any type of known computer, server, or data processing device. For example, the transport slice mapping database 420 may include a processor, a PC, a PCB including computing device, a minicomputer, a mainframe computer, a microcomputer, a telephone computing device, a wired / wireless computing device (e.g., a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA)), a laptop, a tablet, a smart device, a wearable device, or any other similarly functional device. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the functionality of the transport slice mapping database 420 as described herein may be distributed across multiple data processing devices, for example, to distribute processing load across multiple computers, to segregate transactions based on geographic location, user access level, quality of service (QoS), etc. The present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0079] In operation 417, the NSC 330 may add a mapping entry to the transport slice path mapping database 430 indicating a relationship (e.g., correspondence) between the TN-slice ID 415 and the network path identifier of the transport network path assigned to the network slice 260. For example, the network path identifier may correspond to an entry in a segment routing IPv6 (SRv6) transport element database (SRv6TE-DB) that defines the configuration of the transport network path assigned to the network slice 260. Alternatively or additionally, the NSC 330 may update the mapping entry in the transport slice path mapping database 430 with the regenerated TN-slice ID 415 if or when a change to the tuple value used to generate the TN-slice ID 415 is determined. That is, the NSC 330 may be configured to maintain the transport slice path mapping database 430 including a mapping between the TN-slice ID 415 and their respective network path identifiers. For example, the NSC 330 may delete a mapping entry from the transport slice path mapping database 430 based on a determination that the respective network path identifier is no longer needed or in use and / or based on a determination that the corresponding network slice 260 is no longer needed or in use.

[0080] The transport slice path mapping database 430 may comprise a single database or may comprise different logical, virtual, or physical databases, depending on the design of the NSC 330 and / or the wireless communication system 200. Alternatively or additionally, the transport slice path mapping database 430 may be implemented by one or more data processing devices, such as any type of known computer, server, or data processing device. For example, the transport slice path mapping database 430 may include a processor, a PC, a PCB including computing device, a minicomputer, a mainframe computer, a microcomputer, a telephone computing device, a wired / wireless computing device (e.g., a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA)), a laptop, a tablet, a smart device, a wearable device, or any other similarly functional device. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the functionality of the transport slice path mapping database 430 as described herein may be distributed across multiple data processing devices, for example, to distribute processing load across multiple computers, to separate transactions based on geographic location, user access level, quality of service (QoS), etc. The present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0081] At operation 418, NSC 330 may configure one or more transport network paths for network slice 260 according to the source address, destination address, and network path constraints indicated by the slice creation request. For example, NSC 330 may select a transport network path to be assigned to network slice 260 based at least on the source address, destination address, and network path constraints indicated by the slice creation request. Alternatively or additionally, NSC 330 may assign a network path identifier of the transport network path to network slice 260, as described above with reference to operation 417.

[0082] In some embodiments, the NSC 330 can identify an ingress PE 442 based on a source address indicated by the slice creation request, and / or can identify an egress PE 446 based on a destination address indicated by the slice creation request. Alternatively or additionally, the NSC 330 can calculate a transport network path between the identified ingress PE 442 and the identified egress PE 446 according to the network path constraints (e.g., low latency, high bandwidth, high reliability) indicated by the slice creation request. That is, the NSC 330 can configure one or more transport network elements (e.g., nodes (not shown)) of the TN domain 234 to provide connectivity between the ingress PE 442 and the egress PE 446. For example, the TN domain 234 can include an SRv6 underlay 440 to provide configurable connectivity and implement one or more transport network paths.

[0083] It may be appreciated that other techniques and / or network configurations may be utilized to implement one or more transport network paths without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the NSC 330 may utilize at least one of a path computation element protocol (PCEP) and a network configuration protocol (NETCONF) to distribute, modify, and / or delete network configurations.

[0084] In operation 419, the NSC 330 may publish to the performance monitoring system (PMS) 450 a mapping indicating the correspondence between the global identifier S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request and the TN-slice ID 415, and a mapping indicating the correspondence between the TN-slice ID 415 and the network path identifier of the transport network path assigned to the network slice 260. Alternatively or additionally, the NSC 330 may advertise the transport slice mapping database 420 and the transport slice path mapping database 430 to provide the mapping between the S-NSSAI, the TN-slice ID 415, and the SRv6TE-DB to the PMS 450. In some embodiments, the mapping information may be published and / or provided to the PMS 450 via a REST-API.

[0085] The PMS 450 may receive further mapping information from the AN-NSSMF 320 and the CN-NSSMF 340. That is, the remaining domains of the network slice architecture 300 may export their respective mappings between the global identifiers S-NSSAI and their corresponding network slice identities.

[0086] The PMS 450 may be configured to correlate network usage information (e.g., path, resources, performance) from each of the network slice architecture domains (e.g., RAN, TN, CN) to present an end-to-end view of the network slice 260. Alternatively or additionally, the PMS 450 may further use mapping information provided by each of the network slice architecture domains to provide end-to-end network slice path visualization. In some embodiments, the PMS 450 may utilize the Border Gateway Protocol Link State (BGP-LS) protocol to obtain information (e.g., configuration, status, performance) of the transport domain 234 to create the path visualization.

[0087] For example, based on example mapping information as shown in Figure 4, the PMS 450 may indicate that virtual central units (v-CUs) 454A-454J in the RAN domain 224 are communicatively connected (e.g., coupled) to user plane functions (UPFs) 458A-458J via a shared transport path 456A. ​​The PMS 450 may also indicate that a v-CU 454K is communicatively connected to a UPF 458K via a transport path 456B.

[0088] It may be understood that the exemplary network slice configuration presented by PMS 450 as shown in FIG. 4 is merely one example of a nearly infinite number of possible network slice configurations, and that PMS 450 may present any other possible network slice configuration without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0089] The number and arrangement of components shown in Figure 4 are provided as an example. In practice, there may be additional, fewer, different, or differently arranged components than those shown in Figure 4. Furthermore, two or more of the components shown in Figure 4 may be implemented within a single component, or a single component shown in Figure 4 may be implemented as multiple distributed components. Additionally or alternatively, the set of components shown in Figure 4 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of components shown in Figures 1-4.

[0090] It will be appreciated that the particular order, amount, and arrangement of operations in process 400 described in Figure 4 is one example of one illustrative approach. Based on design preferences, it will be appreciated that the particular order, amount, and / or arrangement of operations in process 400 may be rearranged. Additionally, some operations may be added, combined, or omitted.

[0091] FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an example process for identifying a network slice in a transport network, according to various embodiments of the disclosure. The process 500 illustrated in FIG. 5 may be hosted by the device 100 of FIG. 1, may include the transport slice identification component 180, and may be an element of the wireless communication system 200 described in FIG. 2, and may be performed by the NSC 330 of FIG. 3 in conjunction with the AN-NSSMF 320 of FIG. 3, the CN-NSSMF of FIG. 3, and the PMS 450 of FIG. 4. The NSC 330 described in FIG. 5 may include and / or be similar in many respects to the NSC 330 described above with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, and may include additional features not described above.

[0092] At operation 510, the NSC 330 may receive a slice creation request requesting to create a portion of the network slice 260 within the TN domain 234. In some embodiments, the slice creation request may be obtained from the NSMF 310 via a REST-API. Alternatively or additionally, the NSMF 310 may send a message including the slice creation request to the NSC 330. The slice creation request may include a global identifier (e.g., S-NSSAI) corresponding to the network slice 260 to be created. The slice creation request may further indicate network path constraints, such as a source address, a destination address, and performance commitments (e.g., SLA, SLO, SLE, SLI) specified for the network slice 260.

[0093] In operation 520, NSC 330 may check whether the S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request exists in transport slice mapping DB 420. That is, NSC 330 may determine whether the S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request is a unique S-NSSAI or a common S-NSSAI, as described above with reference to operations 412 to 414 of Figure 4. If the S-NSSAI does not exist in transport slice mapping DB 420 (520: No), NSC 330 may proceed to operation 530; otherwise, NSC 330 may proceed to operation 540 (520: Yes).

[0094] At operation 530, the NSC 330 may generate a TN-slice ID 415 based at least on a tuple value formed from the source address indicated by the slice creation request, the destination address indicated by the slice creation request, and the network path constraints indicated by the slice creation request, as described above with reference to operation 413 of FIG. 4.

[0095] At operation 540, the NSC 330 may generate a TN-slice ID 415 based at least on a value pair formed from the source address indicated by the slice creation request and the destination address indicated by the slice creation request, as described above with reference to operation 414 of FIG. 4.

[0096] At operation 550, the NSC 330 may create a mapping between the S-NSSAI and the TN-slice ID 415 and store the mapping in a database, such as the transport slice mapping database 420. Alternatively or additionally, the NSC 330 may update the mapping entry in the transport slice mapping database 420 with the regenerated TN-slice ID 415 if or when a change to the tuple values ​​used to generate the TN-slice ID 415 is determined, as described above with reference to operation 416 of FIG.

[0097] Continuing to refer to operation 550, the NSC 330 may create a mapping between the TN-slice ID 415 and a network path identifier of a transport network path assigned to the network slice 260 and store the mapping in a database, such as the transport slice path mapping database 430. For example, the network path identifier may correspond to an entry in a label switched path (LSP) DB. In another example, the network path identifier may correspond to an entry in an SRv6 transport element database, as described above with reference to operation 417 of FIG. 4.

[0098] At operation 560, NSC 330 may advertise to PMS 450 a mapping indicating the correspondence between the global identifier S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request and the TN-slice ID 415, and a mapping indicating the correspondence between the TN-slice ID 415 and a network path identifier of the transport network path assigned to network slice 260. Alternatively or additionally, NSC 330 may publish the mapping as described above with reference to operation 419 of FIG. 4 to performance monitoring system (PMS) 450. In some embodiments, the mapping information may be published and / or provided to PMS 450 via a REST-API.

[0099] At operation 570, the PMS 450 may receive mapping information from the NSC 330, and further, the PMS 450 may receive further mapping information from the AN-NSSMF 320 and the CN-NSSMF 340. That is, the remaining domains of the network slice architecture 300 may advertise their respective mappings between the global identifier S-NSSAI and their corresponding network slice identities.

[0100] The PMS 450 may be configured to correlate (associate) mapping information from each of the network slice architecture domains (e.g., RAN, TN, CN) to present an end-to-end view of the network slice 260. Alternatively or additionally, the PMS 450 may further provide end-to-end network slice path visualization using the mapping information provided by each of the network slice architecture domains, as described above with reference to operation 419 of FIG.

[0101] The number and arrangement of components shown in Figure 5 are provided as an example. In practice, there may be additional, fewer, different, or differently arranged components than those shown in Figure 5. Furthermore, two or more of the components shown in Figure 5 may be implemented within a single component, or a single component shown in Figure 5 may be implemented as multiple distributed components. Additionally or alternatively, the set of components shown in Figure 5 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of components shown in Figures 1-5.

[0102] It will be appreciated that the particular order, amount, and arrangement of operations in process 500 described in Figure 5 is one example of one illustrative approach. Based on design preferences, it will be appreciated that the particular order, amount, and / or arrangement of operations in process 500 may be rearranged. Additionally, some operations may be added, combined, or omitted.

[0103] Advantageously, as described with reference to Figures 1-5, aspects described herein may provide a transport slice identification component 180 that may be configured to generate a transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice 260 based on at least the S-NSSAI. The transport slice identification component 180 may be further configured to issue a mapping of the transport slice identifier to the network slice 260 and the transport network path allocated to the network slice 260. As a result, the performance monitoring system may perform end-to-end monitoring of network slice performance as well as visualization of the transport network path. Thus, fault detection and isolation at the individual network slice and / or transport flow level may be enabled.

[0104] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example apparatus 600 for identifying a network slice in a transport network. The apparatus 600 may be a computing device (e.g., the device 100 of FIG. 1, the NSC 330 of FIGS. 3-5) or may include the apparatus 600. In some embodiments, the apparatus 600 may include a receiving component 602 configured to receive a communication (e.g., wired, wireless) from another device (e.g., the device 608), a transport slice identification component 180 configured to identify a network slice in the transport network, and a transmitting component 606 configured to transmit a communication (e.g., wired, wireless) to another device (e.g., the device 608). The components of the apparatus 600 may be in communication with each other (e.g., via one or more buses or electrical connections). As shown in FIG. 6, the apparatus 600 may communicate with another device 608 (e.g., the PMS 450 of FIG. 4, a database, a server, or another computing device) using the receiving component 602 and / or the transmitting component 606.

[0105] In some embodiments, apparatus 600 may be configured to perform one or more of the operations described herein with respect to Figures 1-5. Alternatively or additionally, apparatus 600 may be configured to perform one or more processes described herein, such as method 700 of Figure 7. In some embodiments, apparatus 600 may include one or more components of device 100 described above with respect to Figures 1-5.

[0106] The receiving component 602 may receive communications, such as control information, data communications, or a combination thereof, from an apparatus 608 (e.g., PMS 450 of FIG. 4). The receiving component 602 may provide the received communications to one or more other components of the apparatus 600, such as the transport slice identification component 180. In some aspects, the receiving component 602 may perform signal processing on the received communications and provide the processed signals to one or more other components. In some embodiments, the receiving component 602 may include one or more antennas, a receive processor, a controller / processor, a memory, or a combination thereof, of the device 100 described above with reference to FIG. 1.

[0107] The transmitting component 606 may transmit a communication, such as control information, a data communication, or a combination thereof, to the device 608 (e.g., the PMS 450 of FIG. 4). In some embodiments, the transport slice identification component 180 may generate a communication and transmit the generated communication to the transmitting component 606 for transmission to the device 608. In some embodiments, the transmitting component 606 may perform signal processing on the generated communication and transmit the processed signal to the device 608. In other embodiments, the transmitting component 606 may include one or more antennas, a transmit processor, a controller / processor, a memory, or a combination thereof of the device 100 described above with reference to FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the transmitting component 606 may be co-located with the receiving component 602, such as in a transceiver and / or transceiver component.

[0108] The transport slice identification component 180 may be configured to identify a network slice in a transport network by a transport network device. In some embodiments, the transport slice identification component 180 may include a set of components such as a receiving component 610 configured to receive a slice creation request to create a network slice, a searching component 620 configured to search a transport slice mapping database for a global identifier, a generating component 630 configured to generate a transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice, an adding component 640 configured to add a mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database and the transport slice path mapping database, and a publishing component 650 configured to publish the mapping entry.

[0109] Alternatively or additionally, the transport slice identification component 180 may further include a regeneration component 660 configured to regenerate a transport slice identifier, an update component 670 configured to update mapping entries in the transport slice mapping database and the transport slice path mapping database, a selection component 680 configured to select a network path assigned to the network slice, and an assignment component 690 configured to assign a network path identifier to the network path assigned to the network slice.

[0110] In some embodiments, the set of components may be separate and distinct from the transport slice identification component 180. In other embodiments, one or more of the set of components may include or be implemented within a controller / processor (e.g., processor 120), memory (e.g., memory 130), or combinations thereof, of device 100 described above with reference to FIG. 1. Alternatively or additionally, one or more of the set of components may be implemented at least in part as software stored in a memory, such as memory 130. For example, a component (or a portion of a component) may be implemented as computer-executable instructions or code stored in a computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium) and executable by a controller or processor to perform the functions or operations of the component.

[0111] The number and arrangement of components shown in Figure 6 are provided as an example. In practice, there may be additional, fewer, different, or differently arranged components than those shown in Figure 6. Furthermore, two or more of the components shown in Figure 6 may be implemented within a single component, or a single component shown in Figure 6 may be implemented as multiple distributed components. Additionally or alternatively, the set of components shown in Figure 6 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of components shown in Figure 1.

[0112] 7, during operation, the device 100 may perform a method 700 for identifying a network slice in a transport network. The method 700 may be performed by the device 100 (which may include the memory 130, and may be the device 100 as a whole and / or one or more components of the device 100, such as the processor 120, the input component 150, the output component 160, the communication interface 170, and / or the transport slice identification component 180). The method 700 may be performed by the transport slice identification component 180 in communication with the apparatus 608 (e.g., the PMS 450 of FIG. 4).

[0113] 7, method 700 may include receiving, from a controller, a first slice creation request for creating a network slice, where the first slice creation request includes a global identifier corresponding to the network slice. For example, in an embodiment, device 100, transport slice identification component 180, and / or receiving component 610 may be configured to or comprise a means for receiving, from controller 330, a first slice creation request for creating network slice 260, where the first slice creation request includes a global identifier corresponding to network slice 260.

[0114] For example, receiving at block 702 may include receiving a first slice creation request from the controller via a first REST-API, as described above with reference to Figures 3-4. Alternatively or additionally, the NSMF 310 may send a message to the NSC 330 including the slice creation request.

[0115] In some embodiments, the first slice creation request may include a global identifier (e.g., S-NSSAI) corresponding to the network slice 260 to be created. The slice creation request may further indicate a source address, a destination address, and network path constraints such as performance commitments (e.g., SLA, SLO, SLE, SLI) specified for the network slice 260. The source address may correspond to an ingress transport border router (e.g., ingress provider edge (PE) 442) connected to the RAN domain 224. The destination address may correspond to an egress transport border router (e.g., egress PE 446) connected to the CN domain 244.

[0116] Further, for example, the receiving at block 902 may be performed to initiate creation of a network slice associated with a slice identifier that may be used to monitor performance and / or status of a transport domain portion of the network slice.

[0117] 7, the method 700 may include searching a transport slice mapping database for at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier. For example, in an embodiment, the device 100, the transport slice identification component 180, and / or the search component 620 may be configured with or may include means for searching the transport slice mapping database 420 for at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier.

[0118] For example, the search in block 704 may include determining whether the global identifier S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request is a unique S-NSSAI or whether the S-NSSAI is a common S-NSSAI, as described above with reference to Figures 4 and 5.

[0119] In some embodiments, if or when the search results indicate that the global identifier S-NSSAI was not found in the transport slice mapping database 420, the search in block 704 may determine that the global identifier S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request is a unique S-NSSAI.

[0120] In other optional or additional embodiments, if or when the search results indicate that the global identifier S-NSSAI is found in the transport slice mapping database 420, the search in block 704 may determine that the global identifier S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request is a common S-NSSAI.

[0121] Further, for example, the search in block 704 may be performed to determine whether the network slice 260 corresponding to the global identifier S-NSSAI indicated by the first slice creation request has already allocated transport network resources. Such a determination is required to determine how the unique transport slice identifier is generated.

[0122] 7, the method 700 may include generating a first transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice based on determining that the at least one mapping entry was not found. For example, in an embodiment, the device 100, the transport slice identification component 180, and / or the generation component 630 may be configured to or may comprise means for generating the first transport slice identifier 415 corresponding to the network slice 260 based on determining that the at least one mapping entry was not found.

[0123] For example, generating in block 706 may include generating a first transport slice identifier based on at least a source address indicated by the first slice creation request, a destination address indicated by the first slice creation request, and a network path constraint indicated by the first slice creation request, as described above with reference to Figures 4 and 5.

[0124] Further, for example, the generation in block 706 may be performed to generate a unique transport slice identifier based on at least the global identifier S-NSSAI, which may be used to monitor the status and / or performance of the network slice 260 in the transport network domain 234. As a result, the performance monitoring system may perform end-to-end monitoring of network slice performance as well as visualization of the transport network path, thus enabling fault detection and isolation at the individual network slice and / or transport flow level.

[0125] In an optional or additional embodiment, generating at block 706 may include generating a second transport slice identifier based at least on a source address indicated by the second slice creation request and a destination address indicated by the second slice creation request.

[0126] 7, the method 700 may include adding a first mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database, the first mapping entry indicating a first relationship between the global identifier and the first transport slice identifier. For example, in an embodiment, the device 100, the transport slice identification component 180, and / or the adding component 640 may be configured or comprise means for adding a first mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database 420, the first mapping entry indicating a first relationship between the global identifier and the first transport slice identifier 415.

[0127] For example, the addition at block 708 may include adding a mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database 420 indicating the relationship between the global identifier S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request and the TN-slice ID 415, as described above with reference to Figures 4 and 5.

[0128] Further, for example, the addition in block 708 may be performed to store and maintain mapping information between the global identifier S-NSSAI of the network slice 260 and the transport slice identifier 415.

[0129] 7, method 700 may include adding a second mapping entry to the transport slice path mapping database, the second mapping entry indicating a second relationship between the first transport slice identifier and a first network path identifier of the first network path assigned to the network slice. For example, in an embodiment, device 100, transport slice identification component 180, and / or adding component 640 may be configured to, or may comprise means for, adding a second mapping entry to transport slice path mapping database 430, the second mapping entry indicating a second relationship between the first transport slice identifier 415 and a first network path identifier of the first network path assigned to network slice 260.

[0130] For example, adding at block 710 may include adding a mapping entry to the transport slice path mapping database 430 indicating a relationship between the TN-slice ID 415 and a network path identifier of the transport network path assigned to the network slice 260, as described above with reference to Figures 4 and 5. For example, the network path identifier may correspond to an entry in a segment routing IPv6 (SRv6) transport element database (SRv6TE-DB) that defines the configuration of the transport network path assigned to the network slice 260.

[0131] Further, for example, the addition in block 710 may be performed to store and maintain mapping information between the TN-slice ID 415 and the network path identifier of the transport network path assigned to the network slice 260.

[0132] 7, method 700 may include publishing the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to a performance monitoring system (PMS). For example, in an embodiment, device 100, transport slice identification component 180, and / or publishing component 650 may be configured to or may comprise means for publishing the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to PMS 450.

[0133] For example, the issuing in block 712 may include issuing to the PMS 450 a mapping indicating the correspondence between the global identifier S-NSSAI indicated by the slice creation request and the TN-slice ID 415, and a mapping indicating the correspondence between the TN-slice ID 415 and the network path identifier of the transport network path assigned to the network slice 260, as described above with reference to Figures 4 and 5.

[0134] In some embodiments, the publishing in block 712 may include advertising the transport slice mapping database 420 and the transport slice path mapping database 430 to provide the mapping between the S-NSSAI, the TN-slice ID 415, and the SRv6TE-DB to the PMS 450. In other optional or additional embodiments, the mapping information may be published and / or provided to the PMS 450 via a REST-API.

[0135] Further, for example, the publishing in block 712 may be performed to provide information to the PMS 450 that may be used to monitor the status and / or performance of the network slices 260 in the transport network domain 234. As a result, the performance monitoring system may perform end-to-end monitoring of network slice performance as well as visualization of the transport network paths, thus enabling fault detection and isolation at the individual network slice and / or transport flow level.

[0136] In an optional or additional embodiment that may be combined with any other embodiment, the method 700 may include regenerating the first transport slice identifier based on determining that at least one of the source address, the destination address, and the network path constraints have changed to obtain a regenerated first transport slice identifier. The method 700 may further include updating the first mapping entry with the regenerated first transport slice identifier to obtain an updated first mapping entry. The method 700 may further include updating the second mapping entry with the regenerated first transport slice identifier to obtain an updated second mapping entry. The method 700 may further publish the updated first mapping entry and the updated second mapping entry to the PMS 450.

[0137] In an optional or additional embodiment that may be combined with any other embodiment, method 700 may include selecting a first network path assigned to the network slice based at least on a source address indicated by the first slice creation request, a destination address indicated by the first slice creation request, and a network path constraint indicated by the first slice creation request. Method 700 may further include assigning a first network path identifier to the first network path assigned to the network slice. Method 700 may further include issuing the first network path identifier of the first network path assigned to the network slice to PMS 450.

[0138] In an optional or additional embodiment that may be combined with any other embodiment, the method 700 may include receiving a second slice creation request from the controller 330. The second slice creation request may include a global identifier corresponding to the network slice 260. The method 700 may further include searching the transport slice mapping database 420 for at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier. The method 700 may further include generating a second transport slice identifier 415 corresponding to the network slice 260 based on determining that the at least one mapping entry is found. The method 700 may further include adding a third mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database 420 indicating a third relationship between the global identifier and the second transport slice identifier 415. The method 700 may further include adding a fourth mapping entry to the transport slice path mapping database 430 indicating a fourth relationship between the second transport slice identifier 415 and a second network path identifier of the second network path assigned to the network slice. The method 700 may further include publishing the third mapping entry and the fourth mapping entry to the PMS 450 .

[0139] In an optional or additional embodiment that may be combined with any other embodiment, the method 700 may include regenerating the second transport slice identifier based on determining that at least one of the source address and the destination address has changed to obtain a regenerated second transport slice identifier. The method 700 may further include updating the third mapping entry with the regenerated second transport slice identifier to obtain an updated third mapping entry. The method 700 may further include updating the fourth mapping entry with the regenerated second transport slice identifier to obtain an updated fourth mapping entry. The method 700 may further include issuing the updated third mapping entry and the updated fourth mapping entry to the PMS 450.

[0140] The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the implementations to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the implementations.

[0141] It should be understood that the particular order or hierarchy of blocks in the processes / flowcharts disclosed herein is an example of an example approach. Based on design preferences, it should be understood that the particular order or hierarchy of blocks in the processes / flowcharts may be rearranged. Further, some blocks may be combined or omitted. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various blocks in an example order, and are not limited to the particular order or hierarchy presented.

[0142] Some embodiments may relate to systems, methods, and / or computer-readable media at any possible level of technical detail integration. Furthermore, one or more of the above components described above may be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable medium and executable by at least one processor (and / or may include at least one processor). The computer-readable medium may include a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium (or media) having computer-readable program instructions for causing a processor to perform operations.

[0143] A computer-readable storage medium may be a tangible device that can hold and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. A computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of computer-readable storage media includes the following: portable computer diskettes, hard disks, random access memories (RAMs), read-only memories (ROMs), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs or flash memories), static random access memories (SRAMs), portable compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs), digital versatile disks (DVDs), memory sticks, floppy disks, mechanically encoded devices such as punch cards or grooved ridge structures with instructions recorded on them, and any suitable combinations thereof. Computer-readable storage media as used herein should not be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as electric waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission medium (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through wires.

[0144] The computer-readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded from a computer-readable storage medium to the respective computing / processing device or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, such as the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, and / or a wireless network. The network can include copper transmission cables, optical transmission fiber, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers, and / or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing / processing device receives the computer-readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer-readable program instructions for storage in a computer-readable storage medium in the respective computing / processing device.

[0145] The computer readable program code / instructions for performing the operations can be either source code or object-oriented programming languages ​​written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including assembler instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data, configuration data for integrated circuits, or object code such as Smalltalk, C++, and procedural programming languages ​​such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partially on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the user's computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer via any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, a programmable logic circuit, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or a programmable logic array (PLA) may execute computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry to perform an aspect or operation.

[0146] These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the instructions, executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in one or more blocks of the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to produce a machine. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored on a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, programmable data processing apparatus, and / or other device to function in a particular manner, such that a computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein includes an article of manufacture including instructions that implement aspects of the functions / acts specified in one or more blocks of the flowcharts and / or block diagrams.

[0147] The computer-readable program instructions may also be loaded into a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device and cause the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device to perform a series of operational steps to create a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions, which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device, implement the functions / acts specified in one or more blocks of the flowcharts and / or block diagrams.

[0148] The flowcharts and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer-readable media according to various embodiments. In this regard, each block in the flowcharts or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, including one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). The methods, computer systems, and computer-readable media may include additional, fewer, different, or differently arranged blocks than those shown in the figures. In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur in a different order than that noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed simultaneously or substantially simultaneously, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending on the functionality involved. It should also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and / or flowchart diagrams, as well as combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and / or flowchart diagrams, may be implemented by a dedicated hardware-based system that performs the specified functions or acts, or executes a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0149] It will be apparent that the systems and / or methods described herein may be implemented in different forms of hardware, firmware, or a combination of hardware and software. The actual dedicated control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and / or methods is not intended to limit the implementation. Thus, the operation and behavior of the systems and / or methods are described herein without reference to specific software code, and it will be understood that software and hardware can be designed to implement the systems and / or methods based on the description herein.

Claims

1. An apparatus for identifying a network slice in a transport network, comprising: a memory storage device storing computer executable instructions; a processor communicatively coupled to the memory storage, the processor executing the computer-executable instructions to cause the device to: receiving, from a controller, a first slice creation request for creating a network slice, the first slice creation request including a global identifier corresponding to the network slice; searching a transport slice mapping database for at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier; generating a first transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice based on a determination that the at least one mapping entry was not found; adding a first mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database, the first mapping entry indicating a first relationship between the global identifier and the first transport slice identifier; adding a second mapping entry to a transport slice path mapping database indicating a second relationship between the first transport slice identifier and a first network path identifier of a first network path assigned to the network slice; publishing the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to a performance monitoring system (PMS); An apparatus configured to cause

2. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein generating the first transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice comprises generating the first transport slice identifier based on at least a source address indicated by the first slice creation request, a destination address indicated by the first slice creation request, and a network path constraint indicated by the first slice creation request.

3. The computer executable instructions cause the device to: regenerating the first transport slice identifier based on a determination that at least one of the source address, the destination address, and the network path constraints has changed to obtain a regenerated first transport slice identifier; updating the first mapping entry with the regenerated first transport slice identifier to obtain an updated first mapping entry; updating the second mapping entry with the regenerated first transport slice identifier to obtain an updated second mapping entry; publishing the updated first mapping entry and the updated second mapping entry to the PMS; The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising:

4. The computer executable instructions cause the device to: selecting the first network path assigned to the network slice based at least on a source address indicated by the first slice creation request, a destination address indicated by the first slice creation request, and a network path constraint indicated by the first slice creation request; assigning the first network path identifier to the first network path assigned to the network slice; issuing to the PMS the first network path identifier of the first network path assigned to the network slice; The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

5. The computer executable instructions cause the device to: receiving a second slice creation request from the controller, the second slice creation request including the global identifier corresponding to the network slice; and searching the transport slice mapping database for the at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier; generating a second transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice based on a determination that the at least one mapping entry is found; and adding a third mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database, the third mapping entry indicating a third relationship between the global identifier and the second transport slice identifier; adding a fourth mapping entry to the transport slice path mapping database, the fourth mapping entry indicating a fourth relationship between the second transport slice identifier and a second network path identifier of a second network path assigned to the network slice; publishing the third mapping entry and the fourth mapping entry to the PMS; The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

6. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein generating the second transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice comprises generating the second transport slice identifier based on at least a source address indicated by the second slice creation request and a destination address indicated by the second slice creation request.

7. The computer executable instructions cause the device to: regenerating the second transport slice identifier based on a determination that at least one of the source address and the destination address has changed to obtain a regenerated second transport slice identifier; updating the third mapping entry with the regenerated second transport slice identifier to obtain an updated third mapping entry; updating the fourth mapping entry with the regenerated second transport slice identifier to obtain an updated fourth mapping entry; issuing the updated third mapping entry and the updated fourth mapping entry to the PMS; The apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising:

8. Receiving the first slice creation request from the controller includes receiving the first slice creation request from the controller via a first Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface (REST-API); Publishing the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to the PMS includes publishing the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to the PMS via a second REST-API.

2. The apparatus of claim 1.

9. A method for identifying a network slice in a transport network by a transport network device, comprising: receiving, from a controller, a first slice creation request for creating a network slice, the first slice creation request including a global identifier corresponding to the network slice; searching a transport slice mapping database for at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier; generating a first transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice based on a determination that the at least one mapping entry was not found; adding a first mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database, the first mapping entry indicating a first relationship between the global identifier and the first transport slice identifier; adding a second mapping entry to a transport slice path mapping database indicating a second relationship between the first transport slice identifier and a first network path identifier of a first network path assigned to the network slice; publishing the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to a performance monitoring system (PMS); A method comprising:

10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein generating the first transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice comprises generating the first transport slice identifier based on at least a source address indicated by the first slice creation request, a destination address indicated by the first slice creation request, and a network path constraint indicated by the first slice creation request.

11. regenerating the first transport slice identifier based on determining that at least one of the source address, the destination address, and the network path constraint has changed to obtain a regenerated first transport slice identifier; updating the first mapping entry with the regenerated first transport slice identifier to obtain an updated first mapping entry; updating the second mapping entry with the regenerated first transport slice identifier to obtain an updated second mapping entry; publishing the updated first mapping entry and the updated second mapping entry to the PMS; The method of claim 10 further comprising:

12. selecting the first network path assigned to the network slice based at least on a source address indicated by the first slice creation request, a destination address indicated by the first slice creation request, and a network path constraint indicated by the first slice creation request; assigning the first network path identifier to the first network path assigned to the network slice; issuing to the PMS the first network path identifier of the first network path assigned to the network slice; The method of claim 9 further comprising:

13. receiving a second slice creation request from the controller, the second slice creation request including the global identifier corresponding to the network slice; and searching the transport slice mapping database for the at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier; generating a second transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice based on a determination that the at least one mapping entry is found; and adding a third mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database, the third mapping entry indicating a third relationship between the global identifier and the second transport slice identifier; adding a fourth mapping entry to the transport slice path mapping database, the fourth mapping entry indicating a fourth relationship between the second transport slice identifier and a second network path identifier of a second network path assigned to the network slice; publishing the third mapping entry and the fourth mapping entry to the PMS; The method of claim 9 further comprising:

14. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the generating the second transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice comprises generating the second transport slice identifier based on at least a source address indicated by the second slice creation request and a destination address indicated by the second slice creation request.

15. regenerating the second transport slice identifier based on determining that at least one of the source address and the destination address has changed to obtain a regenerated second transport slice identifier; updating the third mapping entry with the regenerated second transport slice identifier to obtain an updated third mapping entry; updating the fourth mapping entry with the regenerated second transport slice identifier to obtain an updated fourth mapping entry; issuing the updated third mapping entry and the updated fourth mapping entry to the PMS; The method of claim 14 further comprising:

16. receiving the first slice creation request from the controller includes receiving the first slice creation request from the controller via a first Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface (REST-API); Publishing the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to the PMS includes publishing the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to the PMS via a second REST-API.

10. The method of claim 9.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having recorded thereon a program for identifying a network slice in a transport network by an apparatus, the program comprising: receiving, from a controller, a first slice creation request for creating a network slice, the first slice creation request including a global identifier corresponding to the network slice; searching a transport slice mapping database for at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier; generating a first transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice based on a determination that the at least one mapping entry was not found; adding a first mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database, the first mapping entry indicating a first relationship between the global identifier and the first transport slice identifier; adding a second mapping entry to a transport slice path mapping database indicating a second relationship between the first transport slice identifier and a first network path identifier of a first network path assigned to the network slice; publishing the first mapping entry and the second mapping entry to a performance monitoring system (PMS); A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising operations for performing the steps of:

18. 20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operation for generating the first transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice includes generating the first transport slice identifier based on at least a source address indicated by the first slice creation request, a destination address indicated by the first slice creation request, and a network path constraint indicated by the first slice creation request.

19. The program is receiving a second slice creation request from the controller, the second slice creation request including the global identifier corresponding to the network slice; and searching the transport slice mapping database for the at least one mapping entry corresponding to the global identifier; generating a second transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice based on a determination that the at least one mapping entry is found; and adding a third mapping entry to the transport slice mapping database, the third mapping entry indicating a third relationship between the global identifier and the second transport slice identifier; adding a fourth mapping entry to the transport slice path mapping database, the fourth mapping entry indicating a fourth relationship between the second transport slice identifier and a second network path identifier of a second network path assigned to the network slice; publishing the third mapping entry and the fourth mapping entry to the PMS; 20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising the operation of:

20. 20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the operation for generating the second transport slice identifier corresponding to the network slice includes generating the second transport slice identifier based on at least a source address indicated by the second slice creation request and a destination address indicated by the second slice creation request.

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