System and method for managing the allocation of communication resources to consumers in a communication system

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a communications system is described that includes a broker component representing the resource consumer for each of a plurality of resource consumers, each broker component configured to: offer one or more communications system resources allocated to the resource consumer represented by the broker component to one or more other broker components for reallocation to one or more of the resource consumers represented by the one or more other broker components; request one or more communications system resources allocated to at least one of the resource consumers represented by the one or more other broker components for reallocation to the resource consumers represented by the broker component; accept and / or reject offers and requests received from the one or more other broker components; and initiate reallocation of the communications system resources in accordance with the accepted offers and requests.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a system and method for managing the allocation of communication resources to consumers in a communication system.

Background Art

[0002] Modern communication systems include a large amount of communication system resources, and these communication system resources are computational resources (processing power), storage resources (memory), and data transmission resources (wired transmission bandwidth and wireless transmission bandwidth) that can be used by multiple resource consumers (such as "tenants") to provide communication services. Since the provision of communication system resources requires effort and cost, it is necessary to use communication system resources efficiently. To enable efficient use, an approach for flexible and efficient allocation of communication system resources among multiple resource consumers is particularly desirable.

Summary of the Invention

[0003] According to one embodiment, a communication system is provided that includes a broker component representing a resource consumer for each of a plurality of resource consumers. Each broker component · Offer one or more communication system resources to one or more of the resource consumers represented by one or more other broker components for re-allocation to one or more of the resource consumers represented by those one or more other broker components. · Request one or more communication system resources from the one or more other broker components that are allocated to at least one of the one or more resource consumers represented by the one or more other broker components for re-allocation to the resource consumer represented by that broker component. · Accept and / or reject offers and requests received from the one or more other broker components, and · Initiate re-allocation of communication system resources according to the accepted offers and requests. It is configured as follows.

[0004] According to other embodiments, a method for managing the allocation of communication system resources in a communication system to resource consumers is provided.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0005] In the several drawings, like reference numerals generally refer to the same parts throughout the several different viewpoints. The several drawings are not necessarily drawn to the same scale, but rather are generally focused on explaining the principles of the invention. In the following description, various aspects are described with reference to the following drawings.

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[0007] The following detailed description refers to a plurality of accompanying drawings, which, by way of example, show a plurality of specific details and aspects of the present disclosure in which the present invention can be practiced. Other aspects may be utilized and structural, logical, and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Since one or more other aspects of the present disclosure may be combined with some of the aspects of the present disclosure to form new aspects, the various aspects of the present disclosure are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

[0008] Examples corresponding to various aspects of the present disclosure are described below.

[0009] Example 1 is an example of providing a communication system that includes a broker component representing a resource consumer for each of a plurality of resource consumers. Each broker component · Offer one or more communication system resources to one or more of the resource consumers represented by one or more other broker components for re-allocation to one or more of the resource consumers, · Request one or more communication system resources from the one or more other of the broker components that are allocated to at least one of the one or more resource consumers represented by the one or more other broker components for re-allocation to the resource consumer represented by the broker component, · Accept and / or reject offers and requests received from the one or more other broker components, and · Initiate re-allocation of communication system resources according to the accepted offers and requests. It is configured as follows.

[0010] Example 2 is the communication system of Example 1, and each broker component is configured to initiate re-allocation of communication system resources according to each offer accepted by each broker component and / or each request accepted by each broker component.

[0011] Example 3 is the communication system of Example 1 or Example 2. When another one of the broker components accepts a presentation for one or more communication resources, the reallocation of communication system resources includes reallocating one or more communication resources presented by that one of the broker components from the resource consumer represented by that one of the broker components to the resource consumer represented by the other one of the broker components.

[0012] Example 4 is any one of the communication systems of Examples 1 to 2. When another one of the broker components accepts a request for one or more communication resources, the reallocation of communication system resources includes reallocating one or more communication resources requested by that one of the broker components from the resource consumer represented by the other one of the broker components to the resource consumer represented by the broker component.

[0013] Example 5 is any one of the communication systems of Examples 1 to 4, and the communication system includes an infrastructure management component configured to perform reallocation.

[0014] Example 6 is any one of the communication systems of Examples 1 to 5. The broker component is configured to present one or more communication system resources allocated to the resource consumer represented by the broker component when the one or more communication system resources allocated to the resource consumer represented by the broker component meet the expendability criterion of the resource consumer represented by the broker component.

[0015] Example 7 is the communication system of Example 6. The communication system includes at least one agent component for each of a plurality of resource consumers. The at least one agent component is configured to determine whether one or more communication resources assigned to the resource consumer represented by the broker component meet the consumption criteria.

[0016] Example 8 is the communication system of any one of Examples 1 to 7. The broker component is configured to request one or more communication system resources assigned to at least one of one or more resource consumers represented by one or more other broker components among the broker components when the one or more communication system resources meet the requirement criteria of the resource consumer represented by the broker component.

[0017] Example 9 is the communication system of Example 8. The communication system includes at least one agent component for each of a plurality of resource consumers. The at least one agent component is configured to determine whether one or more communication resources assigned to at least one of one or more resource consumers represented by one or more other broker components among the broker components meet the requirement criteria.

[0018] Example 10 is the communication system of any one of Examples 1 to 9. The communication system resources include computing resources, storage resources, and data transmission resources.

[0019] Example 11 is the communication system of any one of Examples 1 to 10. Each resource consumer provides a communication service using the communication system resources assigned to the resource consumer.

[0020] Example 12 is one of the communication systems of Examples 1 to 11, and each resource consumer includes a resource orchestration system configured to provide network functions for providing communication services.

[0021] Example 13 is one of the communication systems of Examples 1 to 12, and the presentation of one or more communication system resources allocated to a resource consumer prompted includes the compensation required for one or more communication system resources specification thereof.

[0022] Example 14 is one of the communication systems of Examples 1 to 13, and the presentation and / or request includes a specification of a geographical location of one or more communication system resources.

[0023] Example 15 is a method for managing the allocation of communication system resources in a communication system to a resource consumer, including steps of representing each of a plurality of resource consumers by a broker component, each broker component · offer one or more communication system resources allocated to the resource consumer represented by that broker component to one or more of the other broker components for re-allocation to one or more of the resource consumers represented by those one or more other broker components, and / or · To reassign to the resource consumers represented by the broker component, request one or more communication system resources that are assigned to at least one of one or more of the resource consumers represented by the one or more other broker components from the one or more other of the broker components, · Accept and / or reject offers and requests received from the one or more other broker components, and · Initiate re-allocation of communication system resources according to the accepted offers and requests. It is configured as follows.

[0024] It should be noted that one or more of the features of any of the above examples may be combined with any one of the other examples. In particular, the examples described from the perspective of the device are equally applicable to the method.

[0025] According to a further embodiment, there is provided a computer program and a computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to execute any of the methods of the above examples.

[0026] In the following, various examples will be described in more detail.

[0027] FIG. 1 shows a communication system 100, in particular, a management framework for the communication resources of the communication system.

[0028] Communication system 100 includes communication system resources 101, 102, and 103 managed by infrastructure manager 104. These communication system resources include, for example, computing resources, storage resources, and / or network resources in the form of special hardware such as server computers, dedicated accelerators (e.g., provided in the cloud) for specific tasks, programmable metasurfaces, etc.

[0029] Resources 101, 102, and 103 are used (or "consumed") by resource consumers. In the example of FIG. 1, tenants (i.e., communication providers) 105 and 106 may be understood as resource consumers. Each tenant is provided with (communication system) functions (especially network functions, etc.) by its respective resource orchestrators 107 and 108, and each resource orchestrator 107 and 108 provides those functions using the communication system resources allocated to the resource consumers. It should be noted that tenants 105 and 106 may also be understood as resource consumers together with their respective resource orchestrators 107 and 108 (i.e., the resource orchestrators 107 and 108 that provide functions to that tenant). Furthermore, alternatively, resource orchestrators 107 and 108 may also be understood as resource consumers (in the sense that resource orchestrators 107 and 108 use resources to provide functions, or in other words, allocate resources for the provision of functions).

[0030] Thus, for example, multiple resource orchestrators 107 and 108 manage resources 101, 102, and 103 located, for example, within the same region or zone, and the resource orchestrators 107 and 108 play a role for the management of a specific scope such as a domain, a certain type of application, a tenant, etc., and each of the resources 101, 102, and 103 is, at a certain point in time, associated with one of the resource orchestrators 107 and 108 and the tenants 105 and 106 (or, each of the resources 101, 102, and 103 may also be unallocated).

[0031] Communication system resources 101, 102, and 103 are usually limited in number, so not only should resource consumption be efficient, but also, for example, for the flexibility of providing resources or functions for domains, applications, and network slices, it is desirable that the allocation of communication system resources to resource consumers be flexible. For example, it may be desirable to change the allocation of communication resources from a first resource orchestrator 107 to a second resource orchestrator 108 (as illustrated for resource B in FIG. 1). To address this, a decentralized architecture is provided that enables a flexible association between multiple resources (i.e., resources 101, 102, and 103) and a certain resource consumer (i.e., tenants 105, 106, and / or resource orchestrators 107, 108) according to various embodiments.

[0032] Thus, according to various embodiments, an approach is described that enables a flexible association between a resource orchestrator (and thus a resource consumer) and a resource, and thus, similarly, enables the utilization of available resources by multiple orchestrators (and consumers).

[0033] It should be noted that for this purpose, a single entity may be provided to the resource orchestrator. On the other hand, this leads to a centralized architecture for the distribution (and association) of resources with resource consumers. Thus, according to various embodiments, · Avoiding a single point of failure (which would exist in the form of a single entity in a centralized approach), · Targeting high scalability covering, for example, various providers and sources for nation-wide cloudified platforms and Infrastructure-as-a-Service, · Modularized parts that take into account various software updates to implement multiple orchestration and management systems, A de-centralized approach is provided that enables the above.

[0034] FIG. 2 shows a communication system 200 including a de-centralized approach for the distribution and association of resources with resource consumers.

[0035] Similar to communication system 100, communication system 200 includes communication system resources 201, 202, and 203 managed by infrastructure manager 204, tenants 205 and 206, and resource orchestrators 207 and 208 that provide functions to the tenants using the communication system resources assigned to the respective resource consumers (as mentioned above, may be understood as a tenant, may be understood as a resource orchestrator, or may be understood as a combination of both).

[0036] Each of resource orchestrators 207 and 208 includes respective agents 209 and 210, and each resource consumer (including respective tenants 205 and 206 in this specification) includes respective brokers 211 and 212 that represent the interests of the resource consumers (thus, for each resource consumer, there is a pair of a broker and an agent). Agents 209 and 210 and brokers 211 and 212 are components (functions of the components) implemented by software executed on one or more server computers (for example, also implementing a resource orchestrator, etc.).

[0037] Each of brokers 211, 212 represents the respective resource consumer and is configured to negotiate with other brokers regarding resource exchange.

[0038] Each of agents 209, 210 processes resource information and triggers changes in the association of resources to the resource consumers. As shown, each of agents 209, 210 may exist in respective resource orchestrators 207, 208 (i.e., may be part of the functions of resource orchestrators 207, 208).

[0039] An interface is provided between brokers 211 and 212, from each broker 211, 212 to its respective agent 209, 210, from each agent 209, 210 to infrastructure manager 204, and, from each broker 211, 212 to an optional observation (or monitoring) entity 213 that may have a function to approve the exchange of resources among a plurality of resource consumers as necessary.

[0040] Figure 3 illustrates the operation phases (i.e., operational states) of the broker.

[0041] Phase 0: Preparation (Pre-condition) 301 · (For each pair of agent and broker) Establish a (communication) connection between the agent and the broker and a connection between the plurality of brokers. · The broker configures its associated agent (i.e., the agent of the pair to which the broker belongs), whereby the agent may determine a position that the agent may take, which may be "Sell", "Buy", or "Watch". Phase 1-1: Waiting 302 · The broker waits for proposals from other brokers. When the broker receives a proposal from another broker, the broker moves to Phase 1-3: Reacting. · When the broker receives a changed position from its associated agent, the broker moves to Phase 1-2: Proposing. Phase 1-2: Proposing 303 · Based on the configuration, the agent determines its posture at each group level. Here, the group level means a geographical district class. The group level may be, for example, "Country", "Prefecture", "City", "Street", "Building", "Room", or "Server rack". For example, when a resource consumer needs resources within a specific city, the resource consumer does not expect its broker to request resources from other cities. On the other hand, other resource consumers who need resources within a country may not care from which city within that country the resources are provided. · The broker proposes its posture to one or more other brokers. If the broker receives one or more proposals as a response (desirable in the sense that those one or more proposals correspond to its own proposal), the broker moves to Stage 2: Matching, while if not, it moves to Stage 1-1: Waiting. Stage 1-3: Reacting 304 · The broker reacts to the received proposal and proposes its current posture as a response. · If its proposal is accepted by another broker (i.e., there is a match with another broker), the broker moves to Stage 3: Execution, while if not accepted, it moves to Stage 1-1: Waiting. Stage 2: Matching 305 · Based on the received proposals, the broker determines which proposal is to be accepted (i.e., the broker determines the matching brokers) and moves to Stage 3: Execution. Stage 3: Execution 306 · The matching brokers exchange relevant information, and the agent issues a command for the infrastructure manager to change the association (i.e., for reallocation of communication resources). Thus, for example, those matching brokers initiate the reallocation by notifying the agent, and those agents execute the reallocation through communication with the infrastructure manager as a response. · After that, the broker moves to Stage 1-1: Waiting.

[0042] It should be noted that the approach described above does not rely on centralized exchange systems. Instead, it relies on peer-to-peer communication among multiple brokers, so those brokers should act according to their proposals in response to proposals from other brokers (while in the case of a centralized exchange system, the exchange system would play the role of response).

[0043] The connections between the plurality of brokers are probably pre-designed in the preparation stage (stage 0), considering geographical proximity (therefore, only if two brokers are associated with resource consumers that are geographically close enough to each other will those two brokers have a connection, i.e., communicate (i.e., exchange proposals, i.e., present and request)), which means that it is possible to limit the number of responses that a broker has to process. Thus, for each proposal received by each broker from another broker, even if each broker responds according to that proposal, peer-to-peer communication between those brokers is achievable.

[0044] The proposal represents a position of an agent (and thus also the position of the associated broker of that agent). The position is "Sell" (i.e., a resource is presented), "Buy" (i.e., a resource is requested), or "Watch" (i.e., the agent determines that the associated broker of that agent should passively wait for other brokers’ proposals). When the associated broker of the agent is in the "waiting" state, the agent may change its position. For example, the agent may be configured to determine to present one or more resources when one or more resources meet the expendability criterion of each resource consumer, such as when one or more resources are not required for the services presented by the resource consumers (e.g., to satisfy a pre-determined quality of service). Similarly, the (same) agent may be configured to determine to request one or more resources when one or more resources meet the requirement criterion of each resource consumer, such as when one or more resources are required for the services presented by the resource consumers (e.g., to satisfy a pre-determined quality of service or to provide a desired service).

[0045] When the agent’s position is either "Sell" or "Buy", the associated broker includes in the proposals that the associated broker sends to other brokers in response to this position of the associated agent of that broker · Feature(s): Indicates features of the resource (presented or requested), such as the type of resource, the capacity of the resource, etc. · Placement: Indicates the location where the resource is placed or is expected to be placed. · Token: The reward required for one or more presented resources. This reward may be associated with something economic (such as a cryptocurrency token, etc.). When the proposal matches, it is transferred from the broker in the "buy" stance to the broker in the "sell" stance. It is necessary to confirm that the transaction between those two brokers can use the appropriate token. The type of token varies for each connection between the brokers. Include such information (the agent may provide this information to the broker).

[0046] The broker or agent may also set a timeout, which enables rejection of the proposal after a specific period. After that, the stance is changed to "monitor", and if a token amount has been reserved for the proposal, the reservation is cancelled.

[0047] Figure 4 shows a flowchart 400 illustrating the negotiation of the exchange of communication system resources among a first broker 401, a second broker 402 (corresponding to, for example, brokers 211 and 212 in Figure 2), and a third broker 403. The associated agent 405 of the first broker and the associated agent 404 of the second broker are also included in the flow.

[0048] Assume that the second broker 402 starts in a "Waiting" state at 406 and the third broker 403 starts in a "Waiting" state at 407.

[0049] At 408, the agent 405 notifies the first broker 401 (i.e., the relevant broker) of its position which is assumed to be in the "Proposing" state. Thus, at 409, the first broker 401 transitions to the "Proposing" state, and at 410, proposes its position to the second broker 402 and at 411, proposes its position to the third broker 403 (i.e., sends a corresponding message indicating what the first broker 401 is presenting or requesting).

[0050] In response to the receipt of this proposal, the second broker 402 transitions to the "Reacting" state at 412, and the third broker 403 transitions to the "Reacting" state at 413, and each responds to the first broker 402 with their own proposals at 414 and 415 respectively.

[0051] If none of the responses contain a desirable proposal (matching its own proposal), the first broker 401 switches to the "Waiting" state at 416.

[0052] On the other hand, if at least one of the responses contains a desirable proposal, the first broker 401 switches to the "Matching" state and determines which (if only one exists, which is obvious) desirable proposal is to be accepted.

[0053] Assume that the first broker 401 accepts the proposal of the second broker 402. Thus, at 418, the first broker 401 notifies the second broker 402 that the first broker 401 accepts the proposal of the second broker 402, and at 419, notifies the third broker 403 that the first broker 401 rejects the proposal of the third broker 403.

[0054] At 420, optionally, the observation entity 213 authorizes a resource exchange between the first broker 401 and the second broker 402.

[0055] At 421, the first broker 401 and the second broker 402 transition to "Execution", and at 422, the third broker 403 transitions (returns) to "Waiting".

[0056] At 423, the first broker 401 and the second broker 402 confirm to themselves that the first broker 401 and the second broker 402 have completed the transition to "Execution". The first broker 401 requests the re-association of one or more communication resources to the associated agent 405 of the first broker 401 according to the proposal of the second broker, and the second broker 402 requests the re-association of one or more communication resources to the associated agent 404 of the second broker according to the proposal of the second broker.

[0057] At 426, agents 404 and 405 execute a plurality of operations to achieve the re-association.

[0058] At 427, the agent 405 of the first broker notifies the first broker 401 of the completion of the re-association. At 427, the agent 404 of the second broker notifies the second broker 402 of the completion of the re-association at 428.

[0059] The first broker 401 and the second broker 402 then transition to the "Waiting" state at 429.

[0060] Figure 5 shows a flowchart 500 illustrating one example of the execution of operations for realizing the re-association at 426 when the first broker offers (sells) resources to the second broker.

[0061] This flow may be executed in a VM-based infrastructure such as a VM-based infrastructure managed by OpenStack as an infrastructure manager, etc. (i.e., computing resources are used to deploy virtual machines (VMs)).

[0062] The first broker 501 and its agent 502 of the first broker 501, the second broker 503 and its agent 504 of the second broker 503, and the infrastructure manager 505 (e.g., corresponding to the infrastructure manager 204) are included in this flow.

[0063] At 506, the agent 502 of the first broker identifies the (to be re-allocated) target resource and performs forced eviction of the application on the target resource.

[0064] At 507, the agent 502 of the first broker requests the infrastructure manager 505 to disassociate the target resource.

[0065] At 508, the infrastructure manager 505 disassociates the target resource from the first broker 501, and at 509, notifies the agent 502 of the first broker of the disassociation.

[0066] At 510, the agent 502 of the first broker transfers information related to the target resource to the agent 504 of the second broker via the first broker 501 and the second broker 503.

[0067] At 511, the agent 504 of the second broker requests the infrastructure manager 505 to associate the target resource.

[0068] At 512, the infrastructure manager 505 associates the second broker 503 with the target resource, and at 513, notifies the agent 504 of the second broker about the association.

[0069] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart 600 illustrating a further example of the execution of operations for realizing the re-association of 426 when the first broker offers ( "sells") a resource to the second broker.

[0070] This flow may be executed by, for example, an OS container-based infrastructure such as an OS container-based infrastructure managed by Kubernetes as a container infrastructure service (CIS) system (i.e., the computing resources are used to deploy OS containers).

[0071] The first broker 601 and its agent 602 of the first broker, the second broker 603 and its agent 604 of the second broker, the first CISM (CIS Management) 605, the second CISM 606, and the infrastructure manager 607, herein, the CCM (CIS cluster manager) is included in the flow.

[0072] At 608, the agent 602 of the first broker identifies the target resource (to be re-allocated) and performs an eviction of the application with respect to the target resource.

[0073] At 609, the agent 602 of the first broker requests the infrastructure manager 605 to disassociate the target resource.

[0074] At 610, the first CISM 605 and the infrastructure manager 607 delete the corresponding label for the corresponding node and, at 611, make the node leave the CIS cluster for the first CISM 605.

[0075] At 612, the infrastructure manager 607 notifies the agent 602 of the first broker about the disassociation.

[0076] At 613, the agent 602 of the first broker transfers the information related to the target resource to the agent 604 of the second broker via the first broker 601 and the second broker 603.

[0077] At 614, the agent 604 of the second broker requests the infrastructure manager 607 to associate the target resource.

[0078] At 615, the second CISM 606 and the infrastructure manager 607 create the corresponding label for the corresponding node and, at 616, make the node join the CIS cluster for the second CISM 606.

[0079] At 617, the infrastructure manager 607 notifies the agent 604 of the second broker about the association.

[0080] The information transmitted from one agent to another at 510 and 613 is, for example, · Identifier: Indicates the identifier of the target resource, · Feature: Indicates one or more features of the target resource, · Placement: Indicates the location where the target resource is placed or expected to be, · Infrastructure manager: Indicates which infrastructure manager manages the target resource, · Provider name: Indicates which infrastructure provider hosts the target resource, and includes.

[0081] Note that in the example of Figure 2, there is a one-to-one relationship between the resource orchestrator and the tenant.

[0082] Figure 7 shows one example having an N-to-one relationship between the resource orchestrator and the tenant. Specifically, in this example, the agent 701 of the resource orchestrator 702 is connected to the brokers 703 and 704 of each of the two tenants 705 and 706, that is, the agents of both brokers are the same. Its operation may further be similar to the operation described above, in which some of the multiple steps may be simplified because communication with some of the multiple agents is not required.

[0083] Figure 8 shows one example having a one-to-N relationship between the resource orchestrator and the tenant.

[0084] Specifically, in this example, agents 801 and 802 of two resource orchestrators 803 and 804 are connected to a broker 805 of the same tenant 806. This broker may communicate with other brokers 807 representing other tenants as described above (in this case, those other tenants may also have a one-to-N relationship with the resource orchestrator, but may also have an N-to-1 relationship or a one-to-one relationship with the resource orchestrator). Again, the operation may be similar to the operation described above, but on the other hand, the broker 805 may need to determine which of the agents 801 and 802 it needs to communicate with depending on which agent is responsible for the target resource.

[0085] Furthermore, there is no need for a direct connection between multiple brokers, but as shown in FIG. 9, the communication may be via other brokers.

[0086] FIG. 9 shows an architecture 900 where there is no connection between a broker 901 of a first tenant 903 and a broker 902 of a second tenant 904. A third tenant 905 is used to pool available resources (this means that it may be understood that the third tenant 905 operates as a dummy tenant). The first tenant 903 and the second tenant 904 exchange resources via the third tenant 905. Also, centralized management may be achieved by forming a star topology for the connections between multiple brokers.

[0087] In summary, according to various embodiments, a communication system as shown in FIG. 10 is provided.

[0088] FIG. 10 shows a communication system 1000 according to one embodiment.

[0089] For each of the plurality of resource consumers 101 and 102, the communication system includes broker components 103 and 104 that represent the resource consumers 101 and 102, respectively.

[0090] Each broker component is configured to: · offer one or more communication system resources to one or more of the other broker components for re-allocation to one or more of the resource consumers represented by those one or more other broker components; · request one or more communication system resources from the one or more other broker components for re-allocation to one or more of the resource consumers represented by the one or more other broker components; · accept and / or reject offers and requests received from the one or more other broker components; and · initiate re-allocation of communication system resources in accordance with the accepted offers and requests.

[0091] ​According to various embodiments, in other words, the allocation of communication system resources is negotiated among a plurality of brokers representing a plurality of users (consumers) of the communication system resources in a decentralized manner, particularly in a peer-to-peer manner.

[0092] To present and request communication resources, each broker transmits a corresponding offer message or request message.

[0093] The approach of FIG. 10 may be used to achieve efficient resource utilization and is also capable of avoiding a single point of failure. Further, the approach of FIG. 10 provides high scalability, for example, for nation-wide cloudified platforms, and enables easy updates of the communication system.

[0094] The above approach may be implemented using a centralized architecture pattern such as that shown in FIG. 9, but the distribution is rather understood to be de - centralized as it is based on communication among multiple brokers (rather than being done by a central entity making decisions regarding that distribution). The approach of FIG. 10 enables enhancing the communication carrier's orchestration mechanism using a method, mechanism, and interface that allow for changing the association between a resource orchestrator and / or tenant and a resource. This provides an efficient and flexible allocation of resources, which makes it possible to significantly reduce the amount of unintentionally surplus resources. The approach is applicable and provides interoperability to resource orchestrators of various standardization groups (such as, for example, O - RAN, ETSI NFV, etc.).

[0095] The communication system executes in a manner illustrated, for example, in FIG. 11.

[0096] FIG. 11 shows a flowchart 1100 illustrating a method for managing the distribution of communication system resources in a communication system to resource consumers, according to one embodiment.

[0097] In 1101, each of a plurality of resource consumers is represented by a broker component.

[0098] In 1102, each broker component presents to one or more other broker components one or more communication system resources assigned to the resource consumer represented by that broker component for reassignment to one or more of the resource consumers represented by one or more of the other broker components, and / or requests from one or more of the other broker components one or more communication system resources assigned to at least one of one or more of the resource consumers represented by one or more of the other broker components for reassignment to the resource consumer represented by that broker component.

[0099] In 1103, each broker component accepts and / or rejects the presentations and / or requests received from one or more of the other broker components.

[0100] In 1104, each broker component initiates the reassignment of communication system resources according to the accepted presentations and requests.

[0101] It should be noted that 1102 through 1104 may be executed (at least partially) interchangeably with each other in parallel and iteratively.

[0102] Components of a communication system (such as, for example, a broker, an agent, an infrastructure manager, etc., and (at least in part) communication system resources) may be implemented, for example, by one or more circuits. A "circuit" may be understood as any kind of logical implementation entity, and a "circuit" may be a special-purpose circuit or processor that executes software stored in memory, firmware, or any combination thereof. In this way, a "circuit" may be, for example, a programmable logic circuit such as a programmable processor such as a microprocessor or a logic circuit wired-connected by hardware. A "circuit" may also be, for example, a processor that executes software such as any kind of computer program. Other types of implementations of each of the functions described above may also be understood as "circuits".

[0103] Although a number of specific embodiments have been described, those skilled in the art should understand that they may make various changes in form and detail among those embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of those embodiments of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The scope is thus indicated by the appended claims, and accordingly, all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced.

Claims

1. A communication system, including a broker component representing the resource consumer for each of a plurality of resource consumers, each broker component, presents one or more communication system resources assigned to the resource consumer represented by the broker component to one or more other broker components for re - assignment to one or more of the resource consumers represented by the one or more other broker components, requests one or more communication system resources assigned to at least one of the one or more of the resource consumers represented by the one or more other broker components from the one or more other broker components for re - assignment to the resource consumer represented by the broker component, accepts and / or rejects the presented and requested received from the one or more other broker components, and initiates re - assignment of communication system resources according to the accepted presented and requested, is configured as such, communication system.

2. Each broker component is configured to initiate re - assignment of communication system resources according to each presented and / or each requested accepted by each broker component, the communication system according to Claim 1.

3. When another broker component among the broker components accepts a presentation for one or more communication resources, reallocation of communication system resources includes reallocating one or more communication resources presented by one of the broker components from the resource consumer represented by the one broker component to the resource consumer represented by the other broker component among the broker components. The communication system according to claim 1.

4. When another broker component among the broker components accepts the request for one or more communication resources, reallocation of communication system resources includes reallocating one or more communication resources requested by one of the broker components from the resource consumer represented by the other broker component among the broker components to the resource consumer represented by the broker component. The communication system according to claim 1.

5. The communication system according to claim 1, comprising an infrastructure management component configured to execute the reallocation.

6. The broker component is configured to present one or more communication system resources allocated to the resource consumer represented by the broker component when the one or more communication system resources allocated to the resource consumer represented by the broker component meet the consumption criteria of the resource consumer represented by the broker component. The communication system according to claim 1.

7. Including at least one agent component for each of the plurality of resource consumers, the at least one agent component being configured to determine whether the one or more communication resources allocated to the resource consumer represented by the broker component meet the consumption criteria. The communication system according to claim 6.

8. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the broker component is configured to request the one or more communication system resources allocated to at least one of the one or more resource consumers represented by the one or more other broker components when the one or more communication system resources allocated to at least one of the one or more resource consumers represented by the one or more other broker components meet the requirement criteria of the resource consumer represented by the broker component.

9. The communication system according to claim 8, including at least one agent component for each of the plurality of resource consumers, wherein the at least one agent component is configured to determine whether the one or more communication resources allocated to at least one of the one or more resource consumers represented by the one or more other broker components meet the requirement criteria.

10. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication system resources include computing resources, storage resources, and data transmission resources.

11. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein each resource consumer provides a communication service using the communication system resources allocated to the resource consumer.

12. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein each resource consumer includes a resource orchestration system configured to provide network functions for providing a communication service.

13. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the presentation of the one or more communication system resources allocated to the resource consumer includes the specification of the compensation required for the presented one or more communication system resources.

14. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the indication and / or the request includes a specification of a geographical location of the one or more communication system resources.

15. A method for managing the allocation of communication system resources in a communication system to resource consumers, including steps of representing each of a plurality of resource consumers by a broker component, each broker component presenting one or more communication system resources allocated to the resource consumer represented by the broker component to one or more other broker components for reallocation to one or more of the resource consumers represented by the one or more other broker components, and / or requesting one or more communication system resources allocated to at least one of the one or more of the resource consumers represented by the one or more other broker components from the one or more other broker components for reallocation to the resource consumer represented by the broker component, accepting and / or rejecting indications and / or requests received from the one or more other broker components, and starting reallocation of communication system resources in accordance with accepted indications and / or requests. Method.

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