Method and network entity for estimating network capacity for serving wireless devices in a communication network

Abstract

Disclosed is a method for estimating network capacity for serving wireless devices in a service area (150) of a communication network (100) having a total amount of communication resources for providing wireless communication in the service area (150) via network nodes (130, 135). The method comprises obtaining, for a set of wireless devices (140, 145), requested values of service- related measures according to a Service Level Agreement, SLA and delivered values of the service-related measures. Then an SLA distance is determined for the set of wireless devices (140, 145) based on the requested and delivered values for the service-related measures. Thereafter, a communication resource margin is determined based on the SLA distance and amount of communication resources used for providing the delivered value for the service-related measurements, and eventually it is determined an SLA assurance state for the set of wireless devices (140, 145) based on the communication resource margin and on the total amount of communication resources, the SLA assurance state defining whether or to what extent the determined communication resource margin can be fulfilled.

Description

METHOD AND NETWORK ENTITY FOR ESTIMATING NETWORK CAPACITYFOR SERVING WIRELESS DEVICES IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to methods and network entitiesfor estimating network capacity for serving wireless devices in a service area of acommunication network, wherein the communication network comprises a at leastone network node for providing wireless communication in the service area. Thepresent disclosure further relates to computer programs and carrierscorresponding to the above methods and network entities. BACKGROUND

[0002] To meet the huge demand for higher bandwidth, higher data rates andhigher network capacity, due to e.g., data centric applications, existing 4thGeneration (4G) wireless communication network technology, aka Long-TermEvolution (LTE) is being extended or enhanced into a 5th Generation (5G)technology, also called New Radio (NR) access. The following are requirementsfor 5G wireless communication networks:- Data rates of several tens of megabits per second should be supported fortens of thousands of users; -1 gigabit per second is to be offered simultaneously to tens of workers onthe same office floor; -Several hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections are to besupported for massive sensor deployment; -Spectral efficiency should be significantly enhanced compared to 4G;- Coverage should be improved;- Signaling efficiency should be enhanced; and- Latency should be reduced significantly compared to 4G.

[0003] As wireless communication evolves, it has become clear that differentwireless applications have very different demands on the network. For some applications, reliability of the connection is most important, such as security applications. For other applications, such as video streaming, high transmissionP110768rate is most important, for yet other applications, such as machine-type communication, other demands apply. Also, different users of wireless devices may have different requirements on the network, e.g., depending on how a user uses their wireless device. For some users, latency is most important, for other users, throughput is more important. To cater for such different requirements, Service Level Agreements (SLA) may be set between users of wireless devices and communication network operators in which the operator promises to provide aset of wireless devices a service according to a service level defined in the SLA.Such a service level comprises one or more service-related measures, akaperformance parameters that are to be fulfilled by the network operator. Examplesof service-related measures / performance parameters are: throughput, i.e., howmuch data that is provided to the wireless device per time unit, latency, i.e., how long time it takes to deliver a service, and data delivery reliability i.e. percentage of sent data that is correctly received. Throughput may be measured in e.g. Mbps.Latency may be measured in ms. For example, a set of wireless devices may haveagreed in the SLA with the communication network operator of a service level of a latency of 5 ms or lower and throughput of at least 10Mbps.

[0004] One technology that has applied this service level concept and whichhas evolved with 5G is network slicing. The basic idea of network slicing is to slice the network architecture in multiple logical and independent networks that are configured to effectively meet the various demands of the different applications ordifferent set of wireless devices. For example, a first network slice has networkresources dedicated for providing machine-type communication, a second network slice has network resources dedicated for providing ultra-reliable low latency communication and a third network slice has network resources dedicated for providing enhanced mobile broadband content delivery. The service levelrequirements according to SLA are different for the different network slices.

[0005] When using such SLAs for wireless devices in a communication networkthere is a need to estimate how available network capacity matches with the service level requirements set in one or more different SLAs. For example, it is of interest to estimate whether amount of communication resources in a service areaP110768is enough for delivering communication to a set of wireless devices in the service area, according to the service level agreed to in the SLA for the set of wireless devices. Such estimations may be used for example to determine whether it is possible to include more wireless devices into the service area. SUMMARY

[0006] It is an object of embodiments of the invention to address at least someof the problems and issues outlined above. It is possible to achieve at least of oneof these objects by using a method and one or more network entities as defined inthe attached independent claims.

[0007] According to one aspect, a method is provided that is performed by oneor more network entities for estimating network capacity for serving wirelessdevices in a service area of a communication network. The communicationnetwork comprises at least one network node for providing wirelesscommunication in the service area. Further, the communication network has a totalamount of communication resources for providing wireless communication in theservice area via the at least one network node. The method comprises obtaining,for a set of wireless devices served by the at least one network node, a requested value of each of one or more service-related measures according to SLA and obtaining, for the set of wireless devices, a delivered value of each of the one or more service-related measures. The method further comprises determining, for the set of wireless devices, an SLA distance that defines a distance between the requested value and the delivered value for the one or more service-related measures, based on the requested value and the delivered value for the one or more service-related measures. The method further comprises determining a communication resource margin for the set of wireless devices based on the SLA distance and a value related to a subset of the total amount of communication resources that are used for providing the delivered value for the one or more service-related measurements, the communication resource margin being an estimated amount of communication resources needed to change the one or more service-related measures from the respective delivered value to the respectiverequested value. The method further comprises determining, for the set of wirelessP110768devices, an SLA assurance state based on the determined communication resource margin and on the total amount of communication resources, wherein the SLA assurance state defines whether or to what extent the determined communication resource margin can be fulfilled.

[0008] According to another aspect, one or more network entities is providedthat is configured to operate in or with a communication network and configuredfor estimating network capacity for serving wireless devices in a service area of the communication network. The communication network comprises at least one network node for providing wireless communication in the service area. The communication network has a total amount of communication resources for providing wireless communication in the service area via the at least one network node. The one or more network entities comprises processing circuitry and amemory. Said memory contains instructions executable by said processingcircuitry, whereby the one or more network entities is operative for obtaining, for aset of wireless devices served by the at least one network node, a requested valueof each of one or more service-related measures according to an SLA andobtaining, for the set of wireless devices, a delivered value of each of the one or more service-related measures. The one or more network entities is further operative for determining, for the set of wireless devices, an SLA distance that defines a distance between the requested value and the delivered value for the one or more service-related measures, based on the requested value and the delivered value for the one or more service-related measures and for determining a communication resource margin for the set of wireless devices based on the SLA distance and a value related to a subset of the total amount of communication resources that are used for providing the delivered value for the one or more service-related measurements, the communication resource margin being an estimated amount of communication resources needed to change the one or more service-related measures from the respective delivered value to the respective requested value. The one or more network entities is further operative fordetermining, for the set of wireless devices, an SLA assurance state based on thedetermined communication resource margin and on the total amount ofP110768communication resources, wherein the SLA assurance state defines whether or to what extent the determined communication resource margin can be fulfilled.

[0009] According to other aspects, computer programs and carriers are alsoprovided, the details of which will be described in the claims and the detailed description.

[0010] Further possible features and benefits of this solution will becomeapparent from the detailed description below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The solution will now be described in more detail by means of exemplaryembodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0012] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication network inwhich the present invention may be used.

[0013] Fig. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed by one or moreentities, according to possible embodiments.

[0014] Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the problem description of resourceallocation.

[0015] Fig. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment.

[0016] Fig. 5 is a block diagram of another embodiment.

[0017] Fig. 6 is a signaling diagram illustrating an embodiment.

[0018] Fig. 7 is a signaling diagram illustrating another embodiment.

[0019] Fig. 8 is a block diagram illustrating one or more entities in more detail,according to further possible embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Fig. 1 shows an example of a communication network 100 in which thepresent invention may be used. The communication network 100 comprises a firstP110768radio access network (RAN) node aka network node 130 and a second networknode 135 that is in, or is adapted for, wireless communication with wirelesscommunication devices aka wireless devices 140, 145. The first network node 130is arranged to provide radio access in a first cell 132 covering a geographical area.The second network node 135 is arranged to provide radio access in a second cell 137 covering a geographical area. The first and second network nodes 130, 135are arranged for providing wireless communication in a service area 150 whichcovers the geographical area of both the first cell 132 and the second cell 137.

[0021] The wireless communication network 100 may be any kind of wirelesscommunication network that can provide radio access to wireless devices. Example of such wireless communication networks are networks based on Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), Enhanced Data Rates for GSMEvolution (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), CodeDivision Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA 2000), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced, Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), WiMAX Advanced, as well as fifth generation (5G)wireless communication networks based on technology such as New Radio (NR), and any possible future sixth generation (6G) wireless communication network.

[0022] The first and second network nodes 130, 135 may be any kind ofnetwork node that can provide wireless access to the wireless devices 140, 145alone or in combination with another network node. Examples of network nodes130, 135 are a base station (BS), a radio BS, a base transceiver station, a BScontroller, a network controller, a Node B (NB), an evolved Node B (eNB), agNodeB (gNB), a Multi-cell / multicast Coordination Entity, a relay node, an accesspoint (AP), a radio AP, a remote radio unit (RRU), a remote radio head (RRH)and a multi-standard BS (MSR BS).

[0023] The wireless device 140 may be any type of device capable ofwirelessly communicating with a network node 130 using radio signals. Forexample, the wireless device 140 may be a User Equipment (UE), a machine typeUE or a UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, a sensor, aP110768tablet, a mobile terminal, a smart phone, a laptop embedded equipped (LEE), a laptop mounted equipment (LME), a USB dongle, a Customer PremisesEquipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.

[0024] Embodiments of the invention are applicable to any kind ofcommunication network in which there is a service level agreement (SLA) between the communication network 100 and a set of wireless devices 140, 145, which agreement defines one or more service-related measures that are to befulfilled by the communication network for delivering wireless communication to theset of wireless devices. An example of such a network is a network applyingnetwork slicing. For network slicing, each network slice has its associated requirement on service level according to the SLA, which depends on the specifics of the communication of the network slice. How embodiments of the invention are applicable to the network slicing concept will be described in more detail further down in this document.

[0025] Fig. 2, in conjunction with fig. 1, describes a method performed by oneor more network entities for estimating network capacity for serving wirelessdevices in a service area 150 of a communication network 100. Thecommunication network 100 comprises at least one network node 130, 135 forproviding wireless communication in the service area 150. Further, thecommunication network 100 has a total amount of communication resources for providing wireless communication in the service area 150 via the at least onenetwork node 130, 135. The method comprises obtaining 202, for a set of wirelessdevices 140, 145 served by the at least one network node 130, 135, a requestedvalue of each of one or more service-related measures according to SLA andobtaining 204, for the set of wireless devices 140, 145, a delivered value of each of the one or more service-related measures. The method further comprises determining 206, for the set of wireless devices 140, 145, an SLA distance that defines a distance between the requested value and the delivered value for the one or more service-related measures, based on the requested value and thedelivered value for the one or more service-related measures. The method furthercomprises determining 208 a communication resource margin for the set ofP110768wireless devices 140, 145 based on the SLA distance and a value related to a subset of the total amount of communication resources that are used for providing the delivered value for the one or more service-related measurements, the communication resource margin being an estimated amount of communication resources needed to change the one or more service-related measures from the respective delivered value to the respective requested value. The method furthercomprises determining 210, for the set of wireless devices 140, 145, an SLAassurance state based on the determined communication resource margin and on the total amount of communication resources, wherein the SLA assurance state defines whether or to what extent the determined communication resource margin can be fulfilled.

[0026] The term ”communication resources” comprises one or more of temporalresources such as time slots and frames, spectral resources such as frequenciesand physical resource blocks (PRBs), energy resources such as transmit power, and spatial resources such as beams produced by the network nodes and / or Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO). The ”set of wireless devices” may be between one wireless device to all active wireless devices in the service area. The set of wireless devices may also be the wireless devices which are within a partition of the service area. When each set of wireless devices comprises one or a few wireless devices, the method may be repeated for a plurality of such sets of wireless devices. The one or more service-related measures may also be called service-related Quality of Service (QoS) key performance indicators (KPIs). Requested values of one or more service-related measures according to SLA may be called ”a requested state according to SLA”. A service-related measure is e.g. throughput in e.g. bit rate, delay / latency, packet loss or energy consumption / power. If two such service-related measures are used, e.g.throughput and latency, the requested values are added into a vector, see furtherdown for more information. The one or more service-related measures may beone, two or more service-related measures. The delivered values of the one ormore service-related measures is / are values at a current or recent time point, this may correspond to the term “actual SLA vector” as used further down in thedescription. The SLA distance may be a subtraction between requested andP110768determined value. But in case there are more than one service-related measure they are not subtracted separately but together as vectors. See further in claim 3 below. Multiple options on how such a vector distance can be calculated havebeen suggested in the patent application. The value related to a subset of the totalamount of communication resources that are used for providing the deliveredvalue for the one or more service-related measurements is a value related to thesubset of communication resources that are currently allocated to the set of wireless devices. It may be the same as the subset of communication resources that are currently allocated to the set of wireless devices. For example, the value related to a subset of the total amount of communication resources may be 1000 resources when the total amount of communication resources in the service areaare 4000. The value related to a subset of the total amount of communicationresources can be set based on a scheduler's allocation principles that determinehow communication resources should be divided among wireless devices based on conditions related to one or more of: QoS demands as expressed in SLA, channel conditions of the set of wireless devices, channel quality characteristicsincluding interference, total traffic volume of the set of wireless devices, andscheduling approaches incl. proportional-fairness, round-robin, max C / I scheduler etc.

[0027] Further is an example of the method described: The set of wirelessdevices are all wireless devices within the service area. The service-related measures are latency and throughput, that is, two different measures. The requested value of latency according to SLA is 10 ms. The requested value of throughput is 100 Mbps. The delivered value for latency is 12 ms and the delivered value for throughput is 80 Mbps. The delivered values can be for example average value over the set of wireless devices in the service area, or the lowest percentile. The SLA distance is then determined based on the requested and delivered valueof latency, that is 12 and 10 ms, which means a lack of 2 ms, and based onrequested and delivered value of throughput, that is 100 and 80 Mbps, whichmeans a lack of 20 Mbps. The SLA distance can be determined as a vector, asfurther defined in embodiments below. The communication resource margin, akaSLA elasticity distance, is the amount of communication resources that isP110768estimated are needed to cover the SLA distance, that is, how many communication resources are estimated to be needed in order to decrease the latency from 12 ms to 10 ms and to increase the throughput from 80 Mbps to 100 Mbps, in addition to the subset of the total amount of communication resources that are used for providing the delivered value now. The SLA assurance state defines whether, or to what extent, this can be fulfilled, taken the total amount of communication resources in the service area into consideration.

[0028] The one or more network entities that performs the method may be, or besituated in, a node of the communication network 100, such as in any of the atleast one network node 130, 135. Alternatively, the one or more network entities issituated outside of the communication network 100, but connected to the communication network 100. Still alternatively, the functionality of the one or morenetwork entities is spread out over a group of network nodes. The group ofnetwork nodes may be different physical, or virtual, nodes inside or outside of the communication network 100. This alternative realization may be called a cloud- solution.

[0029] By such a method, a good estimate is achieved whether the amount ofcommunication resources in the service area currently allocated to the set ofwireless devices is enough for delivering communication to the set of wireless,according to the service level agreed to in the SLA. Put it in another way, a good estimate is achieved on how many communication resources are needed to allocate in addition to the already allocated resources to the set of wirelessdevices to be able to deliver according to the SLA. Also, in case the estimationshows there is a surplus on communication resources for the set of wireless devices for delivering according to SLA, some of the communication resources allocated to the set of wireless devices can be distributed to another set of wireless devices. Based on the estimation, such distribution or allocation of communication can be performed. As an end result, communication resources inthe communication network can be used in a more optimal way, taking theobligations of the SLAs into consideration. P110768

[0030] According to an embodiment, the method further comprises determining207, for the set of wireless devices, an SLA resource coefficient that is an estimation of amount of the communication resources required per delivered value for the one or more service-related measures, the SLA resource coefficient being based on the subset of the total amount of communication resources that are used for providing the delivered value for the one or more service-relatedmeasurements. Further, the determining 208 of the communication resourcemargin for the set of wireless devices 140, 145 is based on the SLA resourcecoefficient and the SLA distance. According to an embodiment, the SLA resourcecoefficient may be equivalent to the value related to a subset of the total amount of communication resources that are used for providing the delivered value for the one or more service-related measurements mentioned above. The SLA resource coefficient may be different from wireless device to wireless device.

[0031] As a simple example, if the requested value of latency according to SLAis 10 ms and the delivered value of latency is 12 ms, one can analyze the numberof additional PRBs needed for improving latency with 2 ms for the set of wireless devices and determine that 200 PRBs are needed. Consequently, the amount ofcommunication resources required per ms is then 200 / 2 = 100 PRBs. Thisexample is a simplified one-dimensional vector. If there are more than one SLAresource coefficient, for example latency (in ms) and throughput (in Mbps), it is abit more complicated to determine the SLA resource coefficient per ms and Mbpsas an increase in number of PRBs would also increase the throughput. Exampleson how this may be done is shown further down. The usage of such an SLAresource coefficient provides an improved method of estimating whether theamount of communication resources in the service area currently allocated to the set of wireless devices is enough for delivering communication to the set of wireless, according to the service level agreed to in the SLA.

[0032] According to another embodiment, the SLA distance for the set ofwireless devices is determined 206 as a distance between an x-dimensional vectorof the requested value of the one or more service-related measures and an x- dimensional vector of the delivered value of the one or more service-related P110768measures, wherein x is the number of different service-related measures and wherein x is at least one, or at least two.

[0033] When x = 1, the vectors will be a one-dimensional vector, that is along aline. When x = 2 or more, the vectors will be in corresponding two or more dimensions. Such a vector subtraction can be made by many different methods.For example, embodiments using an L1 and L2-based (Euclidean) method as itwould be manifested in a Cartesian coordinate system are described in moredetail below, as well as other embodiments to express vector distance or vectorsimilarity based on the cosine function with variances and normalizations. Such amethod of using vectors provides an improved method of estimating whether the amount of communication resources in the service area currently allocated to the set of wireless devices is enough for delivering communication to the set of wireless, according to the service level agreed to in the SLA.

[0034] According to another embodiment, the method further comprisestransmitting 212 information on the determined SLA assurance state for the set ofwireless devices to the at least one network node 130, 135. Hereby, the networknodes are made aware of the SLA assurance state, and can make decisions whether to increase or decrease amount of resources allocated to the set of wireless devices accordingly.

[0035] According to yet another embodiment, the communication resourcemargin is further determined 208 based on amount of vacant network resources oramount of utilized network resources of the total amount of network resources at a certain time point.

[0036] According to yet another embodiment, there is a plurality of sets ofwireless devices within the service area, the plurality of sets including the set ofwireless devices. Further, the method comprises performing the method of any ofthe preceding embodiments for each of the plurality of sets of wireless devices.

[0037] According to yet another embodiment, the communication resourcemargin determined 208 for each of the plurality of sets of wireless devices areP110768summed up into a total communication resource margin for the plurality of sets ofwireless devices. Further, the SLA assurance state is determined 210 for theplurality of sets of wireless devices 140, 145 based on the determined totalcommunication resource margin and on the total amount of communicationresources. Each of the plurality of sets of wireless devices is a subset of thewireless devices in the service area, the subsets being mutually exclusive, i.e. a wireless device is only part of one such subset. Each of the plurality of sets of wireless devices may comprise from only one wireless device up to all but one wireless device of the wireless devices in the service area. This embodimentdefines, for example, what to do when a set of wireless devices is smaller than allwireless devices in the service area, but it is to be determined whether the totalamount of communication resources are sufficient for all wireless devices in the service area.

[0038] According to still another embodiment, the method further comprisesdetermining 214, based on the SLA assurance state for the plurality of sets of wireless devices, whether an additional set of wireless devices can be added to the service area in addition to the plurality of sets of wireless devices.

[0039] According to still another embodiment, the communication network 100has a plurality of network slices configured, each network slice being allocated a share of the total amount of network resources within the service area. Themethod is performed per such network slice, and the determining 210 of the SLAassurance state is based on the share of the total amount of communicationresources that the certain network slice is allocated. The network slice conceptmay be performed for one set of wireless devices, wherein one such set may besome or all wireless devices in the service area. Alternatively, the network sliceconcept may be performed for a plurality of sets of wireless devices as defined insome embodiments above. For the network slice concept, the method may berepeated for many or all network slices as well as for a plurality of set of wireless devices. P110768

[0040] According to an embodiment of the above embodiment where thecommunication network 100 has a plurality of network slices configured, themethod further comprises determining 213, based on the determined SLAassurance state for the set of wireless devices, whether an additional network slicecan be configured in the communication network in addition to the plurality of network slices.

[0041] In the following different examples or embodiment of the presentinvention are described. A problem that is discussed is to determine or estimatethe SLA assurance state for ensuring that the SLA in relation to Quality of Service (QoS) within a service area such as a cell, a tracking area or any other kind ofservice area can be satisfied with a certain probability. The problem boils down toidentifying the communication network capacity. To do so, a communicationresource margin is computed to determine the current SLA assurance state. There are a couple of use cases tied to the size of the communication resource margin. In one example, the available communication resources can be redistributed according to the communication resource margin. In another example, it can bedetermined whether a new network slice can be supported. In yet anotherexample, it can be determined whether a new communication device or set of communication devices or communication device entity can be added. The examples can be combined so that it can be determined whether, based on the communication resource margin, new communication devices can be added within a network slice, etc.

[0042] Fig. 3 presents a problem definition for an example in which acommunication network has two network slices configured: Slice 1 and Slice 2,and there are two different sets of SLA entities in the service area. An SLA entity isan entity of the RAN domain governed by the SLA requirements. In someembodiments, the term “SLA entity” is equivalent to the term “a set of wirelessdevices”. Such an SLA entity can be an individual wireless device or a group ofwireless devices. Note that the SLA entity can as well represent all wirelessdevices in a network slice. The SLA requirements comprises a requested valueof each of a number of service-related measures, aka QoS Key PerformanceP110768Indexes (KPI). In fig. 3 there is a resource domain 310 which defines the totalamount of communication resources 312 in the service area and an assurancedomain 320 that defines the amount of communication resources needed todeliver service according to the SLA requirements. Slice 1 has a first sliceresource share 314 of the total amount of communication resources 312 and Slice 2 has a second share 316 of the total amount of communication resources312. The respective first and second slice resource share 314, 316 indicates theprioritized shares of resources of the respective first and second slice to the otherone of the first and second slice within the resource domain 310. For example, ifthe resource shares between Slice 1 and Slice 2 is 1:2 and there is resource contention for all slices, wireless devices of Slice 1 will have on average half of thecommunication resources than the wireless devices of Slice 2. Fig. 3 furtherindicates amount of utilized communication resources 324 of the first sliceresource share 314 for wireless devices 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4, which are thewireless devices of Slice 1.322 indicates amount of remaining or vacantcommunication resources for slice 1. Similarly, in fig. 3, 328 indicates amount ofutilized communication resources of the second slice resource share 316 forwireless devices 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3, which are the wireless devices of Slice 2. 326indicates amount of remaining or vacant communication resources for slice 2.

[0043] SLA entity resource share is specified per SLA entity in a RAN slice. Inthe case where the SLA entity is one wireless device, it is a share of resources inthe resource domain which has been assigned to the wireless device. As anexample, there are 3 wireless devices within slice A, and their wireless deviceresource shares have relations 1:2:4. When there is a resource contention withinthe slice A, the third wireless device will have four-times and two-times resourcemore than the first and second wireless device, respectively.

[0044] In the case where the SLA entity is a group of wireless devices, entityresource share is a share of resources from the resource domain for that grouprelative to other SLA entities within the same slice. For example, there are two groups of wireless devices within slice A, group 1 has 3 wireless devices and group 2 has two wireless devices, while the SLA entities resource share relation P110768for the two groups are 1:2. When there is a resource contention within the slice A, group 2 will have two times resource more than group 1. Regarding the allocation of resources within the group, it can be in many ways, but this is not in the scopeof this disclosure.

[0045] A problem formulation according to this embodiment is based on afunction h that maps the SLA domain 330 with the resource domain 310 where the SLA domain corresponds to the SLA requirements and the resource domain to theresource shares. Based on this mapping it is possible to determine whether theresource margins in the system can compensate for a certain SLA deficit, and,consequently, derive an indication of a state of RAN SLA assurance.

[0046] In the example of fig. 3, wireless device 1.2 in Slice 1 has SLArequirements 332, for example the service-related measures, aka Quality ofService (QoS) metric, throughput ≥ x1 Mbps and latency ≤ y1 ms. However, theservice-related measures of the SLA requirements are not fulfilled with thecommunication resources that device 1.1 has, as indicated by 334. The deficit inactual service-related measures and the required service-related measuresaccording to SLA for device 1.1 is indicated by the striped area 336 in the SLAdomain 330. The resources that device 1.1 has is indicated in sub-field 1.1 in theutilized resources-field 324 in the resource domain 310. In the same way, wirelessdevice 1.4 in Slice 1 has SLA requirements throughput ≥ x2 Mbps and latency ≤ y2ms. However, those service-related measures according to the SLA requirementsare not fulfilled with the communication resources that device 1.4 has. The currently utilized communication resources for device 1.4 are indicated in sub-field1.4 in the utilized resources-field 324 in the resource domain 310. The deficit inservice-related measures to achieve the SLA domain requirements for device 1.4is indicated by the striped area 338. A question is then whether the amount ofremaining or vacant communication resources for slice 1, indicated by field 322 are enough to improve throughput and latency for device 1.1 and 1.4 to reach their respective SLA requirements in throughput and latency when the remaining communication resources 322 are allocated to device 1.1 and 1.4. Devices 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 also have deficits between their service-related measures according to P110768the SLA requirements and their actual service-related measures, which deficits are indicated with striped fields 340, 342 and 344, respectively. So, a question is then whether the amount of remaining or vacant communication resources for slice 2, indicated by field 326 are enough to improve throughput and latency for devices 2.1, 2.3 and 2.3 to reach their respective SLA requirements in throughput and latency when the remaining communication resources 326 for slice 2 are allocated to device 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3. Another possible question is whether it would be possible to re-allocate resources between Slice 1 and Slice 2 if there is a deficit in one Slice but vacant resources in the other Slice.

[0047] In the case an SLA entity is a group of wireless devices, three differentembodiments for SLA conditions may apply. The first embodiment is that SLArequirements are violated when any wireless device within the group has a QoSmetric that does not fulfil the SLA requirement. The second embodiment is thatSLA requirements are violated when an average of QoS metrics from all wirelessdevices within the group has a QoS metric that does not fulfil the SLA requirement.The third embodiment is that SLA requirements are violated when a sum of QoSmetrics of all wireless devices within the group has a QoS metric that does notfulfil the SLA requirement.

[0048] According to an embodiment, solutions are disclosed to the problem ofestimating a system capacity of a network element, e.g., a base station, for serving RAN traffics, e.g., wireless devices or network slices, under a specific Service Level Agreement (SLA). The estimation is based on quantifying RAN elasticity distance, a single numerical quantity that summarizes available resource margins for complying with the SLA. Such derived information can beexchanged between, or sent to, network elements and / or RAN entities, i.e.network nodes, as an indicator of the capacity that the system can provide.Specifically, a high elasticity distance indicates high resource margins to address large deficits, while a low elasticity distance implies low resource margins to address any deficits. P110768

[0049] One or more of the disclosed solutions enables a solution for SLAassurance, which is quality of experience for telecommunication services. This would enable premium connectivity service, which can be additional revenue streams for communication service provider. The disclosed solutions are automated and does not require manual operations by service design. Thus, thedisclosed solutions enable reduced operation expenses for communication serviceprovider for providing, e.g., RAN slicing. One or more of the disclosed solutionsallows for querying network elements about the indications of resource margins itis obliged to serve RAN slices, through the RAN elasticity coefficient. By requesting such a margin indication, the SLA target assurance can be estimated at any time or any time interval.

[0050] One or more of the disclosed solutions introduces an estimation of themapping of the targeted slice’s SLAs and the deficit or excess of resources to accommodate the targeted slice’s SLA. The advantage of this is that at any time,the network, or the one or more entities, may indicate the ability to assure existingor newly added SLAs. As such it can be used to support slice SLA assurance, slice SLA admission, and slice SLA planning in a service area.

[0051] In the following, basic concepts and notations are introduced that areused in some of the embodiments, which embodiments comprises the use of network slices.

[0052] SLA entity – SLA entity is a communicating entity, the communication ofwhich is specified by a set of n QoS or KPI requirements ^ = {^^,^^, … , ^^}defining an SLA vector, ^ = {^^, ^^, … , ^^}, of length ^. The n QoS KPIrequirements may also be called required values for each of n service-relatedmeasures. The SLA vector may be associated with an individual wireless device,aka UE, or a group of UEs. As another embodiment, the SLA vector may also beassociated with individual flows for individual UEs.

[0053] RAN slice resource share (for a resource) and SLA entity resource share(for a resource). RAN slice resource share is specified per RAN slice; it is a non- negative integer number indicating the prioritized shares of communication P110768resources of this network slice in relation to other network slices. SLA entityresource share is specified per SLA entity in a RAN slice. In case the SLA entity isone UE, SLA entity resource share is a share of communication resources whichthe UE has been assigned. In case the SLA entity is a group of UE, the SLA entityresource share is a share of resources for that group of UEs relative to other SLA entities within the same slice.

[0054] RAN slice configuration for SLA assurance of QoS in the RAN. SLAassurance of QoS refers to guaranteeing network slice SLA delivery according tothe SLA quality demands of the slice. The problem may be transferred todetermining a coefficient that indicates the elasticity margin for the assurance ofQoS in accordance with the SLA, here referred to as RAN SLA Assurance (RSA) elasticity coefficient.

[0055] SLA distance. Let SLA target qt=(qt1, qt2, …, qtn) denote the SLA targetvector in the n-dimensional requirements space of KPIs and QoS of an SLA entity,also called requested values of each of the n service-related measures. In oneexample embodiment, the SLA target vector is a 2-dimensional vector q=(q1, q2)where q1 corresponds to requested throughput given as X kbs and q2 to arequested latency given as Y ms. Let also qa=(qa1, qa2, …, qan) denote the SLAactual vector where we currently operate, also called delivered values of each ofthe n, in this example two, service-related measures. The SLA current or actualvector refers to the KPIs and QoS values of an SLA entity that are measured at acurrent or recent time instance.

[0056] Determining the SLA distance, i.e. the distance between the SLA targetvector and the SLA actual vector can be done in many different embodiments byutilizing the mathematical concept of the norm that applies to a vector. The normof a vector maps vector values to values in [0, ] and is useful because it canexpress distances between vectors. The p-th norm Lp of a vector is denoted‖^‖p and is defined by:(1) The most used norms areare given by: P110768(2)( is defined as the norm of the differencevector between the SLA target vector and SLA actual vector and is given by the length of the SLA distance vector d = qt − qa = (qt1 − qa1 , qt2 − qa2 , . . . , qtn − qan).For The L2-norm, the SLA distance of the d vector is calculated as follows:(4)will be abandoned.

[00057] SLA norm distance. In another embodiment, the SLA distance δ can bedefined as the difference between the norms of the SLA target vector and the SLA actual vector, i.e., d = ∥qt∥ − ∥qa∥. In terms of the L2-norm, the SLA norm distanceis calculated as follows: (5) This the SLAactual vector fulfills the SLA target vector, however, this is the case if and only if∀^, ^^^^^ ≤ ^^^^^.In a further embodiment, the SLA distance δ is represented by means of the innerproduct of the SLA target vector and the SLA actual vector as follows: (6) .gives no relativeindication of the distance, in another embodiment the SLA distance can be normalized. Based on (6) and the Gauchy-Schwarz inequality (see https: / / en.wikipedia.org / wiki / Cauchy%E2%80%93Schwarz_inequality), the inner- product defined SLA distance can be normalized as followsP110768(7)When δn = 0, the SLAand when δn = 1 theSLA target and the SLA actual are at the longest distance. An adjusted version of the SLA normalized distance δncan be also defined as follows: (8)

[0059] as thenumber of resource units required to achieve a unit of the SLA norm distance∥qunit∥ and may differ between SLA entities. Examples of resource unit includebandwidth (if we assume the transmission power is fixed). The norm unit (rtar) isthen the amount of resources needed to achieve one bandwidth unit and isindirectly defined by the SLA. (9)In one embodiment, the SLAh can be a function of themodulation-and-coding scheme (MCS), μ of the SLA entity, e.g., h = f (MCS), inabsolute values or h = f (μ / μmax), in normalized values. Since the radio resourcecoefficient h differs across SLA entities, it has to be estimated. An estimation ℎ^ ofh may in one embodiment correspond to an average norm value that has beenestablished either based on long-term or short-term statistics. The former may correspond to the average of MCS, ^̂^of SLA entities over a longer period, which is a more robust estimation, while the latter may correspond to the average of MCS, ^^̂ of the current set of SLA entities over a shorter window of the current is a more accurate instant value.

[0060] In further embodiments, h can be defined as a function of channel stateestimations or measurements, such as, MCS, Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR), Reference Signal Received Power(RSRP), UE Specific Reference Signal (URS), and / or UE mobility estimations ormeasurements, such as UE speed, UE position, UE velocity, incl. estimatedspeed, and direction. In another embodiment, h can be defined as a combinationof any of the above, e.g., h = f (CQI, …, UE_Velocity), etc. P110768

[0061] RAN SLA Assurance (RSA) elasticity coefficient. Let ravail denote theamount of available communication resources for an SLA entity at any time, rutildenote the nominal amount of utilized communication resources, and rtotthe totalnumber of communication resources in the service area. Then at any time, theavailable number of communication resources is given by ravail = rtot − rutil andconsequently rutil = rtot − ravail holds. The resource deficit can be calculated as amapping of communication resources to SLA entities, given that ∥qa∥ is achievedwith rutilamount of communication resources, and that all communicationresources contribute equally. Given these resource quantities, the RSA elasticitycoefficient η is used to determine the communication resource margin, i.e. the number of resource units required up to a maximum to achieve the SLA distanceδn. The RSA elasticity coefficient is a form of SLA distance δn transform reflectingthe effective contribution of resources to the SLA target. Opposite to radioresource coefficient h, the RSA elasticity coefficient η indicates the margins forserving an SLA entity, and it is typically used to determine an estimation of the number of resources that can be made available at maximum to an SLA entity’s SLA distance. The number of resources can be calculated according to different embodiments based on the available resources, the residual ones and / or any combinations thereof.

[0062] In one embodiment the RSA elasticity coefficient η can be nominallyexpressed in terms of utilized or available resource fractions by (10) where ravailare the amountand rtotis the total amount of resources.In another embodiment the RSA elasticity coefficient η can be nominallyexpressed in terms of required resource fraction by (11) where rresis the amount of required resources.In yet another embodiment the RSA elasticity coefficient η can be nominallyexpressed in terms of utilized, available and / or required resources by P110768(12) Assuming allis an indication that resources are not enough to fill the distance gap δn.

[0063] SLA elasticity distance (ω). Meeting the SLA target given the SLAdistance δ, the RSA elasticity coefficient η indicates the margins that are availableto compensate for the SLA distance δ. Firstly, the RSA elasticity coefficient refersto the availability of resources by a scheduler to compensate for the SLA distance.Secondly, assuming that the SLA distance indicates the proportion of resourcesrequired to fulfill the SLA target then the compensating RSA elasticity coefficientshould not exceed and be limited by η → 1 – ρutil, where ρutil = rutil / rtot is theutilization ratio / factor. Given the RSA elasticity coefficient η as corresponding to anadjustment of SLA distance δ and, reflecting the effective contribution of resources to the SLA target, the SLA elasticity distance ω can be defined as (13)As illustrated in fig. 4, equationto a transformation 404 of theSLA distance δ 402 in the KPI or QoS domain to an SLA elasticity distance ω 406in the resource domain.

[0064] RSA elasticity coefficient within / across levels. The RSA elasticitycoefficient η and elasticity distance ω can be defined within and across differentlevels: UE level - At a UE level across UEs and within a slice; Slice level - At aslice level across slices and within a partition; Partition level - At a partition levelacross partitions and within a deployment area. A partition may be a set of RAN slices. A partition can be used to semantically group a set of slices, for instance, aRAN partition for Mobile Broadband (MBB) slices, while another RAN partition isfor Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) slices. To ease theestimations, the remaining sections assume calculations according to the first RSA elasticity embodiment, i.e. at UE level. Without loss of generality, the estimations can be used for the second and third embodiments, i.e. slice level and partitionlevel under the following definition assumption:P110768(14)

[0065] assume the s-th slice with N number of UEs, of which M UEs have non-zero SLA distances. All idle UEs, without traffic demands are by definition UEs with zero-SLA distanceswith rutil = rtar = 0. Based on these assumptions, the aggregate slice utilization ratioρs of the s-th slice is given by (15) , where ρs ≤ 1 and ρs,k is thethe k-th UE within the s-th slice. The aggregate SLA user distance δs within the s-th slice is given by: (16) , where δs,k is the SLAthe s-th slice. Assuming that the elasticity coefficient of the s-th slice (according to the first embodiment) is (17) , then the elasticity distance ωs(18) , and the minimum elasticityth UE with SLA distance δs,k given the s-th slice can be estimated by (19).

[0066] RSA elasticitypartition is a resourceallocation level that is higher than a slice. Given the previous definitions, we candefine the elasticity coefficient ηp and elasticity distance ωp of the p-th partition consisting of Sp slices and UEs of which UEs with non-zero elasticityP110768The aggregate distance δp of the p-th partition is given by (20), where δs is the SLALet the elasticity coefficient ηp of the p-th partition be defined as (21). Then the elasticityηp×δp and theminimum elasticity distance ωp,s,k of the k-th UE with SLA distance δp,s,k giventhe s-th slice of the p-th partition can be estimated by (22).

[0067] RSAlevel. A deployment areaor a deployment is a resource allocation level that is higher than a partition corresponding to a subset of the deployed infrastructure serving UEs in a certain (geographical) service area. A concrete embodiment of a deployment is a dual connectivity use case that will be elaborated on further down. Given the previousdefinitions, we can define the elasticity coefficient ηd and the elasticity distance ωdof the d-th deployment consisting of Pd partitions each with Sp slices and UEs of which UEs with non-zerois given by:(23), where δp is theLet the elasticity coefficient ωd of the d-th deployment be defined as (24), where the s-th slice of the p-th partition. P110768Then the elasticity distance ωd of the d-th deployment is ωd = ηd × δd and the minimum elasticity distance ωd,p,s,k of the k-th UE with SLA distance δd,p,s,k given the s-th slice of the p-th partition of the d-th deployment can be estimated by (25).

[0068] previous embodiments, theRSA elasticity coefficient and elasticity distance have been defined and calculated in a deterministic manner based on calculations. The RSA elasticity coefficient of a slice indicates how much the system can compensate given traffic, channel quality, UE mobility, and / or any combination thereof. At any decision time, traffic, channel quality, and UE mobility-related parameters can be used as features to derive the RSA elasticity coefficient required to compensate for discrepancies between the SLA target and the SLA actual.

[0069] In one embodiment of this invention, the disclosed method determines ifthe elasticity distance is sufficient to serve the SLA distance (deficit) between theSLA actual and the SLA target. In a deterministic scenario, the objective is toestimate whether an SLA target can be assured or whether it is violated.

[0070] In embodiments of this invention, the SLA assurance state correspondsto an estimated and / or confirmed parameter that indicates whether an SLA target is assured or violated. The SLA assurance state may take binary values for the estimation where a value of 1 indicates SLA assurance success and a value of 0 indicates SLA assurance failure. Alternatively, the SLA assurance state may takecontinuous values in the interval of [0,1] indicating the estimated probability ofsuccessful assurance.

[0071] In one embodiment, a binary elasticity margins indicator can bedetermined by comparing the total rresand total ravail. If the estimated amount of required resources is larger than the amount of available resources that can be shared among the UEs in the slice or even among slices, then the elasticity margins are not sufficient, and the SLA assurance state is violated. This would imply a situation when the SLA elasticity distance has its highest value. P110768

[0072] In another embodiment of the invention, the margin may be a continuousvalue in the interval [0,1], instead of binary, allowing for various degrees of SLA distances and for expressing the success or violation SLA assurance state withprobabilities. To this end, if the amount of required resources is much smaller thanthe amount of available resources, then the distance will be small, and hence, the probability of violating the SLA target will be also small. On the other hand, if the amount of required resources gets as high as the amount of the available resources, then the SLA elasticity distance will get its highest value and the probability of violating the SLA target will be also very high.

[0073] In a further embodiment, by assuming the existence of historicalbreakthrough data, the estimation of the SLA assurance state can be derived.

[0074] Fig. 5 illustrates a method according to an embodiment. The methodexecutes in three major steps and uses three broad input categories.

[0075] The first input category 502 refers to UE context information and itcomprises UE traffic information, such as expected amount of traffic within a timeperiod, amount of utilized communication resources (rutil) and rtar, UE channel information, such as MCS, CQI, SINR, RSRP, URS etc, from which the radioresource coefficient (h) can be determined, and UE mobility information such asUE position and estimated speed and direction, which also may be input todetermining h. Apart from the UE context information, there are two SLA-relatedinput categories. A second input category 504, which is referred to as the SLAtarget state or SLA profile, contains the SLA target values of the KPIs defining the requested values of the service-related measures according to SLA. The second input category may also comprise current communication resource allocation suchas RAN entity / slice resource share in %, rutil, rtar and ravail. A third category 506,which is referred to as SLA actual state, contains the actual SLA values, i.e., delivered values of the service-related measures.

[0076] Based on the input of one or more of UE context information, SLA targetstate information and SLA actual state information, the method first determines at508.1 SLA distance ^^ at each level ^ according to the embodiments that areP110768expressed in equations (1)–(8) above, wherein ^ defines whether it is at UE level,slice level, or partition level. The aggregated distances for all UEs or group of UEs,all slices or all partitions are calculated according to equations (16), (20) or (23)respectively. Then the method determines in 508.2 the SLA elasticity coefficient ^^and elasticity distance ^^ at level ^ based on the calculations of one or more ofrutil, rres, rtar, ravail, rtotand ρs, and according to the embodiments that are expressedin equations (9)-(15). Whether ^ is at UE level, slice level, or partition level, theSLA elasticity coefficients for each UE, slice or partition are calculated accordingto equations (17), (21) or (24), respectively, while the SLA elasticity distances arecalculated according to equations (18)-(19), (22) or (25), respectively. Thereafter,the method determines 508.3 the SLA assurance state, e.g. whether the SLA requirements can be assured (success) or whether the SLA requirements cannotbe assured (violation). The determination may be performed by comparing theRSA elasticity distance with a value related to a subset of the total amount ofcommunication resources, wherein the value may be a value related to the totalamount of vacant resources, to derive elasticity margins and whether the SLAassurance state is acceptable or violated. The SLA assurance state determinationcan be applied at (i) UE level to determine if the SLA target for a UE will be violated, (ii) slice level to determine if the SLA target for an entire slice is violated,and (iii) partition level to determine if SLA targets of the slices within a partition willbe violated.

[0077] The derived information, i.e. the RSA elasticity distance or coefficient,can be exchanged between network partitions and RAN entities as an indicator ofthe SLA capacity the network can provide. The information allows the one or moreentities to query a RAN entity, such as a gNB, about the margins it has to servenetwork slices. By requesting an indication about the elasticity distance, the SLA assurance state can be estimated at any time or any time interval, for instance, when attempting to introduce a new SLA within a partition or serve a new UE within a network slice. A high elasticity distance indicates high resource margins to address large deficits, while a low elasticity distance implies low resource margins to address any deficits. P110768

[0078] In the following, sequence diagrams are discussed illustrating signalingbetween network entities. In doing so, two embodiments are shown. In fig.6, a distributed RAN resource recommendation embodiment is described and in fig.7 acentralized RAN resource recommendation embodiment is shown. In figs. 6 and 7,processing steps are denoted as A1-A4 while signaling steps are denoted S0-S5. For the steps in the sequence diagrams, the following assumptions and notations are used: “A” represents a geographical service area, e.g., 1.) a specific geographical area, e.g., a certain city, 2.) a tracking area, or 3.) a set of geographical coordinates; “S” represents a set of SLA entities. As mentioned earlier in this document, an SLA entity may be a set of UEs, i.e., one or more UEs; “G” represents a set of base stations, e.g., gNB1, gNB2, …, gNB |G|.

[0079] In fig. 6 and 7, an apparatus 600, aka “one or more entities”, obtains arequest S0 for estimating network capacity for SLA entities 630 within a servicearea A, the service area S comprising a plurality of network nodes gNB1610 andgNB2620. The request S0 comprises among others the SLA profile-relatedinformation, such as, SLA target QoS / KPI values, qt=(qt1, qt2, …, qtn). Such arequest S0 triggers step A1, wherein the apparatus 600 is to obtain input data for determining the SLA assurance state of the SLA entities S for the set of base stations G within service area A. The input data include but is not limited to channel estimation, mobility prediction, etc. To obtain the required input, two signals S1 and S2 are sent. The first signal S1 is a request for configuration and measurement related to SLA entities S within A, which is sent to each of the gNBs 610, 620. The second signal S2 is a request for SLA entity-specific measurements, e.g., channel state information, position of the SLA entity. The second signal S2 is sent by the respective gNB 610, 620 to their respective SLAentities 630. S2 may be sent on request of the apparatus 600 or the respectivegNB 610, 620 may perform this anyhow with their respective SLA entities for otherpurposes.

[0080] The signal received from the respective gNB 610, 620 in response to theS1 signal, called “S1 response”, comprises among others SLA state relatedinformation, including for example the actual SLA values, qa=(qa1, qa2, …, qan), andP110768resource related estimations, such as rutil, rres, rtar, ravail, rtot and ρs. The signalreceived from the respective SLA entity 630 via the respective gNB 610, 620 inresponse to the S2 signal, called “S2 response” comprises among others UEcontext-related information, such as one or more of UE uplink traffic information,incl. bitrate / latency / loss / buffer size, etc., UE channel state estimations or measurements, such as, MCS, CQI, SINR, RSRP, URS, and / or UE mobility estimations or measurements, such as user speed, user position, user velocity, incl. estimated speed, and direction.

[0081] Thereafter follows step A2 in which the apparatus 600 computes RANSLA Assurance (RSA) elasticity coefficient indicating the communication resourcemargin for each SLA entity S 630 for each gNB G 610, 620. For the distributedembodiment, which is the embodiment of fig.6, this step involves sending a signalS3 comprising the RSA elasticity coefficient to each gNB 610, 620. For thecentralized embodiment of fig.7, signal S3 is omitted. For the distributedembodiment of fig. 6, step A2 may correspond to the three-step elasticityembodiment described above for determining the SLA distance ^^, the RSAelasticity coefficient ^^, and the RSA elasticity distance ^^at each level ^, where ^can correspond toslice or partition levels The S3 signal may comprise one ormore of the determined SLA distance ^^, the RSA elasticity coefficient ^^, and theRSA elasticity distance ^^at any level ^.

[0082] Then step A3 is performed in which a recommended RAN slice resourceconfiguration, e.g., RAN entity share, is determined for each SLA entity 630 foreach of the gNBs G 610, 620. Using the computed RSA elasticity coefficient, thisstep is for recommending RAN slice resource configuration for SLA entities S 630for each gNB in G = {g1, g2}). As an embodiment to perform this, it can be a simplerecommendation like allocating entity share proportionally to the RSA elasticity coefficient. Alternatively, it can be a complex recommendation like using supportfrom a machine learning model. For the distributed embodiment of fig. 6, thedetermination A3 of recommended resource configuration is performed by one thegNBs, in the example of fig. 6, gNB1610. The determined recommended resourceconfiguration is then sent in signal S4 from gNB1 to the other gNBs in the service P110768area A, in the example of fig. 6, gNB2620. The S4 signal of fig. 6 may compriseamong others the SLA assurance state and whether resources can be freely used or whether resources should be used with care, for instance, when SLA assurance is violated. For the centralized embodiment of fig.7, the determination A3 of recommended resource configuration is performed by the apparatus 600, which is also why the S3 signal can be omitted. The S4 signal of fig.7 comprises among others the SLA assurance state and whether resources can be freely used or whether resources should be used with care, for instance, when SLA assurance is violated.

[0083] Then step A4 is performed in which the recommendation of RANresource configuration is applied and executed by each gNB 610, 620. Thereafter,an S5 signal is sent, which comprises an adjusted resource allocation in RAN foreach SLA entity 630 in S according to the applied resource configuration.

[0084] In the following, the impact on standardized technical specifications by atleast some of the described embodiments is further described. The below explanation is based on a dual connectivity (DC) use case, wherein dual connectivity is a standardized function of radio access networks. For the following description, the following assumptions are used: A represents a geographical service area, e.g., 1.) a specific geographical area, e.g., a certain city, 2.) a tracking area, or 3.) a set of geographical coordinate, wherein A is assumed to comprise a deployment; G is a set of base stations, e.g., gNB1, gNB2, …, gNB |G| covering subareas in deployment A that are partly overlapping, wherein each base station constitutes its partition, and each partition accommodates the same slice; S represents a set of SLA entities in service area of deployment A. As mentioned earlier in this document, an SLA entity is a set of UEs, i.e., one or more UEs, andmay be positioned in the overlapping area part. The use case scenario resemblesthat of dual connectivity (DC), where UEs in S in the overlapping area are servedby two base stations, e.g., gNB1 and gNB2. DC in 5G radio access networks is afeature that allows a UE of a slice to be simultaneously connected to two base stations: a Primary Serving Cell (PSC), e.g., gNB1, and a Secondary Serving Cell(SSC), e.g., gNB2. Being connected to both the PMC and the SSC implies that theP110768UE is situated in their overlapping coverage area. This setup enhances data throughput and reliability by leveraging the capacities of both cells. DC coordination typically involves the following 6 steps: 1. Initial Connection Setup where the UE establishes a connection with thePMC. 2. Secondary Cell Selection is determined by PMC which identifies the needfor dual connectivity based on factors like signal quality, load balancing, or throughput requirements. In this case, the PMC selects an appropriate SSCfor the UE, often based on proximity, capacity, or frequency band compatibility. 3. The setup of SSC follows the selection process. The PMC communicateswith the SSC configuration details and security parameters for the UE. This communication is conveyed via the 3GPP X2 / Xn or S1 interfaces. 4. After the SSC setup, the two base stations can coordinate the data flow ofthe UE. For example, in the case of downlink data, both the PMC and SSCcan simultaneously transmit downlink data to the UE. The split of data can be dynamic, based on real-time conditions. Coordination about the split of data utilizes the 3GPP X2 / Xn or S1 interfaces. 5. Handover and control messages between the UE and PMC continuethrough the primary connection. The PMC remains in control of the primaryconnection and can make decisions about handovers or adjusting the dual connectivity setup. 6. If the secondary cell is no longer needed or optimal, the PMC can releasethe SSC connection. The UE then returns to being served solely by the PMC or another SSC can be selected.In the above description, embodiments of this invention can be used forcoordination of the data flow of the UE between PMC and SSC. To this end,assuming distributed RAN resource recommendation and that the one or moreentities coincides with PMC, the processes A2 and A3 can be performed by PMC,i.e., gNB1, and signals S3 and S4 can be sent to SSC, i.e., gNB2. P110768

[0085] O-RAN implementation. In one embodiment, the start node (apparatus600) can be implemented in a Near-Real Time RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC)receiving the S0 signal request from the Non-Real Time RIC, via the O-RAN A1 interface, and sending the S1 and S3 signals, via the O-RAN E2 interface toCentralized Unit – Control Plane (CU-CP) nodes, i.e., gNBs.

[0086] Technical specification impact. DC in 5G networks involves complexcoordination between the PMC and SSC, facilitated by 3GPP-defined interfaceslike X2 / Xn and S1. This setup allows for more efficient use of network resourcesand provides a better user experience in terms of data rates and connectivityreliability. The X2 / Xn Interface connects two base stations and is used forcoordination and data transfer between the PMC and SSC. The S1 Interfaceconnects the base station to the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) in LTE or to the 5GCore network. It is used for control and mobility management, as well as user dataforwarding. The above interfaces will be used to convey the signals S1, S3, andS4 described above.

[0087] Fig. 8, in conjunction with fig. 1, describes one or more network entities600 configured to operate in or with a communication network 100, and configuredfor estimating network capacity for serving wireless devices in a service area 150of the communication network 100. The communication network 100 comprises atleast one network node 130, 135 for providing wireless communication in theservice area 150. The communication network 100 has a total amount ofcommunication resources for providing wireless communication in the service area150 via the at least one network node 130, 135. The one or more network entities600 comprises processing circuitry 603 and a memory 604. Said memory containsinstructions executable by said processing circuitry, whereby the one or morenetwork entities 600 is operative for obtaining, for a set of wireless devices 140,145 served by the at least one network node 130, 135, a requested value of eachof one or more service-related measures according to an SLA and obtaining, forthe set of wireless devices 140, 145, a delivered value of each of the one or more service-related measures. The one or more network entities is further operative for determining, for the set of wireless devices 140, 145, an SLA distance that defines P110768a distance between the requested value and the delivered value for the one or more service-related measures, based on the requested value and the delivered value for the one or more service-related measures and for determining a communication resource margin for the set of wireless devices 140, 145 based on the SLA distance and a value related to a subset of the total amount of communication resources that are used for providing the delivered value for the one or more service-related measurements, the communication resource margin being an estimated amount of communication resources needed to change the one or more service-related measures from the respective delivered value to the respective requested value. The one or more network entities is further operativefor determining, for the set of wireless devices 140, 145, an SLA assurance statebased on the determined communication resource margin and on the total amount of communication resources, wherein the SLA assurance state defines whether or to what extent the determined communication resource margin can be fulfilled.

[0088] The one or more network entities may be, or be situated in, a node of thecommunication network 100, such as in any of the at least one network node 130,135. Alternatively, the one or more network entities is situated outside of thecommunication network 100, but connected to the communication network 100.Still alternatively, the functionality of the one or more network entities is spread outover a group of network nodes. The group of network nodes may be different physical, or virtual, nodes inside or outside of the communication network 100. This alternative realization may be called a cloud-solution.

[0089] According to an embodiment, the one or more network entities 600 isfurther operative for determining, for the set of wireless devices, an SLA resource coefficient that is an estimation of amount of the communication resources required per delivered value for the one or more service-related measures, the SLA resource coefficient being based on the subset of the total amount of communication resources that are used for providing the delivered value for the one or more service-related measurements. Further, the determining of the communication resource margin for the set of wireless devices 140, 145 is based on the SLA resource coefficient and the SLA distance. P110768

[0090] According to another embodiment, the SLA distance for the set ofwireless devices is determined as a distance between an x-dimensional vector of the requested value of the one or more service-related measures and an x- dimensional vector of the delivered value of the one or more service-related measures, wherein x is the number of different service-related measures and wherein x is at least one.

[0091] According to another embodiment, the one or more network entities isfurther operative for transmitting information on the determined SLA assurancestate for the set of wireless devices to the at least one network node 130, 135.

[0092] According to another embodiment, the one or more network entities isoperative for the determining of the communication resource margin 208 by further determining the communication resource margin based on amount of vacant network resources or amount of utilized network resources of the total amount ofnetwork resources at a certain time point.

[0093] According to another embodiment, there is a plurality of sets of wirelessdevices within the service area, the plurality of sets including the set of wireless devices, and the one or more network entities 600 is further operative as defined in any of the above embodiments for each of the plurality of sets of wireless devices.

[0094] According to another embodiment, the one or more network entities isoperative for summing up the communication resource margin determined foreach of the plurality of sets of wireless devices into a total communication resource margin for the plurality of sets of wireless devices, and for thedetermining of the SLA assurance state for the plurality of sets of wireless devices140, 145 based on the determined total communication resource margin and on the total amount of communication resources.

[0095] According to yet another embodiment, the one or more network entities isfurther operative for determining, based on the SLA assurance state for the plurality of sets of wireless devices, whether an additional set of wireless devices P110768can be added to the service area in addition to the plurality of sets of wireless devices.

[0096] According to yet another embodiment, the communication network 100has a plurality of network slices configured, each network slice being allocated ashare of the total amount of network resources within the service area. Further, theone or more network entities is operative as defined in any of the aboveembodiments for each such network slice, and the one or more network entities isoperative for the determining of the SLA assurance state based on the share of the total amount of communication resources that the certain network slice is allocated.

[0097] According to yet another embodiment, the one or more network entities600 is further operative for determining, based on the SLA assurance state for the set of wireless devices, whether an additional network slice can be configured in the network in addition to the plurality of network slices.

[0098] According to other embodiments, the one or more network entities 600may further comprise a communication unit 602, which may be considered to comprise conventional means for communication with network nodes of the communication network 100. The instructions executable by said processingcircuitry 603 may be arranged as a computer program 605 stored e.g. in saidmemory 604. The processing circuitry 603 and the memory 604 may be arrangedin a sub-arrangement 601. The sub-arrangement 601 may be a micro-processor and adequate software and storage therefore, a Programmable Logic Device, PLD, or other electronic component(s) / processing circuit(s) configured to performthe methods mentioned above. The processing circuitry 603 may comprise one ormore programmable processor, application-specific integrated circuits, fieldprogrammable gate arrays or combinations of these adapted to executeinstructions.

[0099] The computer program 605 may be arranged such that when itsinstructions are run in the processing circuitry 603, the instructions cause the oneor more network entities 600 to perform the steps described in any of theP110768described embodiments of the network node 130 and its method. The computerprogram 605 may be carried by a computer program product connectable to the processing circuitry 603. The computer program product may be the memory 604, or at least arranged in the memory. The computer program product may be called a computer-readable storage medium. The memory 604 may be realized as forexample a Random-access memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM) or anElectrical Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM). In some embodiments, acarrier may contain the computer program 605. The carrier may be one of anelectronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal,an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or computer readablestorage medium. The computer-readable storage medium may be e.g., a CD, DVDor flash memory, from which the program could be downloaded into the memory604. Alternatively, the computer program 605 may be stored on a server or any other entity to which the one or more network entities 600 has access via the communication unit 602. The computer program 605 may then be downloaded from the server into the memory 604.[000100] Although the description above contains a plurality of specificities, theseshould not be construed as limiting the scope of the concept described herein but as merely providing illustrations of some exemplifying embodiments of the described concept. It will be appreciated that the scope of the presently described concept fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art, and that the scope of the presently described concept is accordingly not to be limited. Reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" unless explicitly so stated, but rather "one or more." All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the above- described embodiments that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassedhereby. Moreover, it is not necessary for an apparatus or method to address eachand every problem sought to be solved by the presently described concept, for it tobe encompassed hereby. In the exemplary figures, a broken line generallysignifies that the feature within the broken line is optional. P110768

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A method performed by one or more network entities for estimatingnetwork capacity for serving wireless devices in a service area (150) of acommunication network (100), the communication network (100) comprising atleast one network node (130, 135) for providing wireless communication in theservice area (150), wherein the communication network (100) has a total amountof communication resources for providing wireless communication in the servicearea (150) via the at least one network node (130, 135), the method comprising:Obtaining (202), for a set of wireless devices (140, 145) served by the atleast one network node (130, 135), a requested value of each of one or moreservice-related measures according to a Service Level Agreement, SLA;Obtaining (204), for the set of wireless devices (140, 145), a deliveredvalue of each of the one or more service-related measures,Determining (206), for the set of wireless devices (140, 145), an SLAdistance that defines a distance between the requested value and the deliveredvalue for the one or more service-related measures, based on the requested valueand the delivered value for the one or more service-related measures;Determining (208) a communication resource margin for the set ofwireless devices (140, 145) based on the SLA distance and a value related to asubset of the total amount of communication resources that are used for providingthe delivered value for the one or more service-related measurements, thecommunication resource margin being an estimated amount of communicationresources needed to change the one or more service-related measures from therespective delivered value to the respective requested value, andDetermining (210), for the set of wireless devices (140, 145), an SLAassurance state based on the determined communication resource margin and onthe total amount of communication resources, wherein the SLA assurance statedefines whether or to what extent the determined communication resource margincan be fulfilled.

2. Method according to claim 1, further comprising: P110768Determining (207), for the set of wireless devices, an SLA resourcecoefficient that is an estimation of amount of the communication resourcesrequired per delivered value for the one or more service-related measures, theSLA resource coefficient being based on the subset of the total amount ofcommunication resources that are used for providing the delivered value for the one or more service-related measurements, and wherein the determining (208) of the communication resource margin for the set of wireless devices (140, 145) is based on the SLA resource coefficient and the SLA distance.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the SLA distance for the setof wireless devices is determined (206) as a distance between an x-dimensional vector of the requested value of the one or more service-related measures and an x-dimensional vector of the delivered value of the one or more service-related measures, wherein x is the number of different service-related measures and wherein x is at least one.

4. Method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising: transmitting (212) information on the determined SLA assurance statefor the set of wireless devices to the at least one network node (130, 135).

5. Method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein thecommunication resource margin is further determined (208) based on amount ofvacant network resources or amount of utilized network resources of the total amount of network resources at a certain time point.

6. Method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein there is a plurality of sets of wireless devices within the service area, the plurality of sets including the set of wireless devices, and the method comprises performing the method of any of the preceding claims for each of the plurality of sets of wireless devices.

7. Method according to claim 6, wherein the communication resourcemargin determined (208) for each of the plurality of sets of wireless devices are P110768summed up into a total communication resource margin for the plurality of sets of wireless devices, and wherein the SLA assurance state is determined (210) for theplurality of sets of wireless devices (140, 145) based on the determined totalcommunication resource margin and on the total amount of communication resources.

8. Method according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising:determining (214), based on the SLA assurance state for the plurality of sets of wireless devices, whether an additional set of wireless devices can be added to the service area in addition to the plurality of sets of wireless devices.

9. Method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the communication network (100) has a plurality of network slices configured, each network slice being allocated a share of the total amount of network resourceswithin the service area, and wherein the method is performed per such networkslice, and the determining (210) of the SLA assurance state is based on the share of the total amount of communication resources that the certain network slice is allocated.

10. Method according to claim 9, further comprising: determining (213), based on the SLA assurance state for the set ofwireless devices, whether an additional network slice can be configured in the network in addition to the plurality of network slices.

11. One or more network entities (600) configured to operate in or with acommunication network (100), and configured for estimating network capacity forserving wireless devices in a service area (150) of the communication network (100), the communication network (100) comprising a at least one network node (130, 135) for providing wireless communication in the service area (150), wherein the communication network (100) has a total amount of communication resources for providing wireless communication in the service area (150) via the at least onenetwork node (130, 135), the one or more network entities (600) comprisingprocessing circuitry (603) and a memory (604), said memory containingP110768instructions executable by said processing circuitry, whereby the one or morenetwork entities (600) is operative for:Obtaining, for a set of wireless devices (140, 145) served by the at least one network node (130, 135), a requested value of each of one or more service- related measures according to a Service Level Agreement, SLA; Obtaining, for the set of wireless devices (140, 145), a delivered value of each of the one or more service-related measures, Determining, for the set of wireless devices (140, 145), an SLA distance that defines a distance between the requested value and the delivered value for the one or more service-related measures, based on the requested value and thedelivered value for the one or more service-related measures;Determining a communication resource margin for the set of wireless devices (140, 145) based on the SLA distance and a value related to a subset of the total amount of communication resources that are used for providing the delivered value for the one or more service-related measurements, the communication resource margin being an estimated amount of communication resources needed to change the one or more service-related measures from therespective delivered value to the respective requested value, andDetermining, for the set of wireless devices (140, 145), an SLAassurance state based on the determined communication resource margin and on the total amount of communication resources, wherein the SLA assurance state defines whether or to what extent the determined communication resource margin can be fulfilled.

12. One or more network entities (600) according to claim 11, further being operative for: Determining, for the set of wireless devices, an SLA resource coefficient that is an estimation of amount of the communication resources required per delivered value for the one or more service-related measures, the SLA resource coefficient being based on the subset of the total amount of communication resources that are used for providing the delivered value for the one or more service-related measurements, P110768and wherein the determining of the communication resource margin for the set of wireless devices (140, 145) is based on the SLA resource coefficient and the SLA distance.

13. One or more network entities (600) according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the SLA distance for the set of wireless devices is determined as a distance between an x-dimensional vector of the requested value of the one or more service-related measures and an x-dimensional vector of the delivered value of theone or more service-related measures, wherein x is the number of differentservice-related measures and wherein x is at least one.

14. One or more network entities (600) according to any of claims 11-13,further being operative for: transmitting information on the determined SLA assurance state forthe set of wireless devices to the at least one network node (130, 135).

15. One or more network entities (600) according to any of claims 11-14,operative for the determining of the communication resource margin (208) byfurther determining the communication resource margin based on amount of vacant network resources or amount of utilized network resources of the total amount of network resources at a certain time point.

16. One or more network entities (600) according to any of claims 11-15, wherein there is a plurality of sets of wireless devices within the service area, the plurality of sets including the set of wireless devices, and the one or more networkentities (600) is further operative as defined in any of claims 11-15 for each of theplurality of sets of wireless devices.

17. One or more network entities (600) according to claim 16, operative for summing up the communication resource margin determined for each of the plurality of sets of wireless devices into a total communication resource margin for the plurality of sets of wireless devices, and for the determining of the SLAassurance state for the plurality of sets of wireless devices (140, 145) based onP110768the determined total communication resource margin and on the total amount of communication resources.

18. One or more network entities (600) according to claim 16 or 17, furtherbeing operative for: determining, based on the SLA assurance state for the plurality of sets of wireless devices, whether an additional set of wireless devices can be added to the service area in addition to the plurality of sets of wireless devices.

19. One or more network entities (600) according to any of claims 11-18,wherein the communication network (100) has a plurality of network slices configured, each network slice being allocated a share of the total amount ofnetwork resources within the service area, and wherein the one or more networkentities is further operative as defined in any of claims 11-18 for each such network slice, and the one or more network entities is operative for the determining of the SLA assurance state based on the share of the total amount of communication resources that the certain network slice is allocated.

20. One or more network entities (600) according to claim 19, further being operative for: determining, based on the SLA assurance state for the set of wireless devices, whether an additional network slice can be configured in the network in addition to the plurality of network slices.

21. A computer program (605) comprising instructions, which, whenexecuted by at least one processing circuitry of one or more network entities (600)configure to operate in or with a communication network (100), the communicationnetwork (100) comprising a at least one network node (130, 135) for providingwireless communication in the service area (150), wherein the communication network (100) has a total amount of communication resources for providing wireless communication in the service area (150) via the at least one networknode (130, 135), causes the one or more network entities (600) to perform thefollowing steps: P110768Obtaining, for a set of wireless devices (140, 145) served by the at least one network node (130, 135), a requested value of each of one or more service- related measures according to a Service Level Agreement, SLA; Obtaining, for the set of wireless devices (140, 145), a delivered value of each of the one or more service-related measures, Determining, for the set of wireless devices (140, 145), an SLA distance that defines a distance between the requested value and the delivered value for the one or more service-related measures, based on the requested value and thedelivered value for the one or more service-related measures;Determining a communication resource margin for the set of wireless devices (140, 145) based on the SLA distance and a value related to a subset of the total amount of communication resources that are used for providing the delivered value for the one or more service-related measurements, the communication resource margin being an estimated amount of communication resources needed to change the one or more service-related measures from the respective delivered value to the respective requested value, and Determining, for the set of wireless devices (140, 145), an SLAassurance state based on the determined communication resource margin and on the total amount of communication resources, wherein the SLA assurance state defines whether or to what extent the determined communication resource margin can be fulfilled.

22. A carrier containing the computer program (605) according to claim 21,wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal,an electric signal or a computer readable storage medium (606).P110768

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