Method and apparatus for a generating a network service operability level in a wireless communication network

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for obtaining a predicted amount of power available to be delivered by a power system to power a radio access network (RAN) node during a first time period; obtaining information associated with traffic that is predicted to be communicated by the RAN node between a user equipment and a core network of the communication network during the first time period, determining, based on the predicted amount of power during the first time period and the information associated with traffic to be communicated by the RAN node during the first time period, a service operability level for the RAN node for the first time period, and providing the service operability level for the RAN node for the first time period for use in determining a subset of services of the communication network that the RAN node is to provide during the first time period, wherein the RAN node is capable of providing a set of services of the communication network, the set of services comprising the subset of services.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A GENERATING A NETWORK SERVICE OPERABILITY LEVEL IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKRELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority of United Kingdom Patent Application No., 2411775.6 filed on August 9, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if reproduced in its entirety.

[0002] FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

[0003] The present disclosure relates to generating network service operability level in a wireless communication system.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] A wireless communication network includes one or more access networks, such as a radio access networks comprising one or more radio access network nodes, and a core network and the wireless communication network (e.g., the RAN nodes and / or the core network) are generally powered by (e.g., receive electricity from) three different types of energy sources. For example, a wireless communication network (e.g., one or more RAN nodes of the RAN and / or a core network) may be powered by (e.g., may be connected to a local power grid and receive electricity therefrom), may be powered by (e.g., connected to and receive electricity from) one or more backup generators, such as diesel generators or another types of gas- powered generator, or the wireless communication network (e.g., one or more RAN node of the RAN and / or a core network) may be powered by (e.g., connected to an receive electricity from) “offgrid” power sources which generate and provide electricity that is used to power to the wireless communication network (e.g., one or more RAN node(s) of a RAN and / or core network). Examples of "offgrid” power sources include, for example, solar arrays, wind generators, or hydroelectric power generators.

[0006] Due to environmental concerns regarding the generation of energy used to power wireless communication networks, there is a push for wireless communication networks (e.g., RAN nodes of a RAN and / or the core network) to be powered by offgrid power systems that include renewable power sources, such as wind, solar, and / or hydroelectric power sources. However, a challenge with powering wireless communication networks (e.g., RAN nodes and / or a core network) with electricity provided by offgrid power systems that include renewable power sources is that the amount of electricity generated by renewable sources can fluctuate, which may impact the operations of the wireless communication network powered by such systems. Further, even grid power sources are subject to fluctuations in the amount of energy available which may impact the operation of a wireless communication network powered by the grid energy source.

[0007] Developments in powering RAN nodes and / or a core network of a wireless communication network are desirable.

[0008] SUMMARY

[0009] According to one aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method of an entity of a communication network, the method including obtaining a predicted amount of power available to be delivered by a power system to power a radio access network (RAN) node during a first time period, obtaining information associated with traffic that is predicted to be communicated by the RAN node between a user equipment and a core network of the communication network during the first time period, determining, based on the predicted amount of power during the first time period and the information associated with traffic to be communicated by the RAN node during the first time period, a service operability level for the RAN node for the first time period, and providing the service operability level for the RAN node for the first time period for use in determining a subset of services of the communication network that the RAN node is to provide during the first time period, wherein the RAN node is capable of providing a set of services of the communication network, the set of services comprising the subset of services.

[0010] In an example, the entity is disposed in the RAN node or in an operations and maintenance system of the communication network.

[0011] In an example, obtaining the predicted amount power comprises receiving information associated with the power system that is delivering power to the RAN node, wherein information associated with the power system comprises information indicative of a type of power system, wherein the information indicative of the type of power system comprises an ongrid power system, an offgrid power system, or a battery power system, and determining the predicted amount of power based on the information associated with the power system that is delivering power to the RAN node.

[0012] In an example, the information associated with traffic communicated by the RAN node between a user equipment and a core network of the communication network comprises information indicative of an amount of traffic to be communicated by the RAN node and information indicative of a characteristic of the traffic.

[0013] In an example, the power delivery related information indicates the power source is offgrid, the power delivery related information includes one or more of information indicative of a type of power source of the power system, information indicative of one or more times of scheduled maintenance or disruptions of the offgrid power system, information indicative of an amount of power generated by the offgrid power system, a performance ratio of the offgrid power system, or alarms associated with the offgrid power system.

[0014] In an example, the method further including receiving weather prediction data, and wherein obtaining the amount of power available to the RAN node during the first time period comprises determining the amount of power level available to the RAN node during the first time period based on the weather prediction data and the power delivery related information for the offgrid power source.

[0015] In an example, when the information associated with the power system indicates the power system includes battery, the power delivery related information includes an indication of a state of charge of the battery, and obtaining the amount of power available to the RAN node during the first time period comprises determining an amount of power stored in the battery based on the information indicating the state of chargeof the battery.

[0016] In an example, the information associated with the power system indicates the amount of power the power system is able to deliver to the RAN node during the first time period.

[0017] In an example, obtaining the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period comprises obtaining one or more of total amount of traffic sent and received by the RAN node, characteristics of the traffic sent and received by the RAN node, amount of traffic sent and received by the RAN node per quality of service (QoS) flow, power consumption by the RAN node based on amount of traffic and characteristics of traffic sent and received by the RAN node, or alarms associated with the communication network.

[0018] In an example, obtaining information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period comprises predicting an amount of traffic and characteristics of the traffic to be sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period.

[0019] In an example, obtaining the information comprises receiving the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node from the RAN node.

[0020] In an example, the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node is received in response to transmitting a request to the RAN node for the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node, wherein the request includes one or more of a type of network information to report, a target network entity that is requested to provide the network information, a time window for network information requested to be provided, or control parameters to be used by the network entity when providing the requested network information.

[0021] In an example, the method is performed by a management data analytics service (MDAS) function or a distributed self-organizing network (SON) power saving function included in an operation, administration, and maintenance (QAM) of the communication network, or in a SON power saving function included in the RAN node.

[0022] In an example, providing the service operability level comprises outputting the service operability level to the RAN node.

[0023] In an example, the service operability level includes an indication of one or more services of the RAN node that are suggested to be provided and an indication of the first time period for which the one or more services are suggested to be provided.

[0024] According to another aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides apparatus including at least one processor, at least one memory storing instructions of an entity of a communication network, wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain a predicted amount of power available to be delivered by a power system to power a radio access network (RAN) node during a first time period, obtain information associated with traffic that is predicted to be communicated by the RAN node between a user equipment and a core network of the communication network during the first time period, determine, based on the predicted amount of power during the first timeperiod and the information associated with traffic to be communicated by the RAN node during the first time period, a service operability level for the RAN node for the first time period, and provide the service operability level for the RAN node for the first time period for use in determining a subset of services of the communication network that the RAN node is to provide during the first time period, wherein the RAN node is capable of providing a set of services of the communication network, the set of services comprising the subset of services.

[0025] In an example, the entity is disposed in the RAN node or in an operations and maintenance system of the communication network.

[0026] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain the predicted amount power comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive information associated with the power system that is delivering power to the RAN node, wherein information associated with the power system comprises information indicative of a type of power system, wherein the information indicative of the type of power system comprises an ongrid power system, an offgrid power system, or a battery power system, and determining the predicted amount of power based on the information associated with the power system that is delivering power to the RAN node.

[0027] In an example, the information associated with traffic communicated by the RAN node between a user equipment and a core network of the communication network comprises information indicative of an amount of traffic to be communicated by the RAN node and information indicative of a characteristic of the traffic.

[0028] In an example, the power delivery related information indicates the power source is offgrid, the power delivery related information includes one or more of information indicative of a type of power source of the power system, information indicative of one or more times of scheduled maintenance or disruptions of the offgrid power system, information indicative of an amount of power generated by the offgrid power system, a performance ratio of the offgrid power system, or alarms associated with the offgrid power system.

[0029] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to receive weather prediction data, and wherein the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain the amount of power available to the RAN node during the first time period comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine the amount of power level available to the RAN node during the first time period based on the weather prediction data and the power delivery related information for the offgrid power source.

[0030] In an example, when the information associated with the power system indicates the power system includes battery, the power delivery related information includes an indication of a state of charge of the battery, and the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain the amount of power available to the RAN node during the first time period comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine an amount of power stored in the battery based on the information indicating the state of charge of the battery.

[0031] In an example, the information associated with the power system indicates the amount of power the power system is able to deliver to the RAN node during the first time period.

[0032] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain one or more of total amount of traffic sent and received by the RAN node, characteristics of the traffic sent and received by the RAN node, amount of traffic sent and received by the RAN node per quality of service (QoS) flow, power consumption by the RAN node based on amount of traffic and characteristics of traffic sent and received by the RAN node, or alarms associated with the communication network.

[0033] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to predict an amount of traffic and characteristics of the traffic to be sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period.

[0034] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain the information comprises instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node from the RAN node.

[0035] In an example, the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node is received in response to instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to transmit a request to the RAN node for the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node, wherein the request includes one or more of a type of network information to report, a target network entity that is requested to provide the network information, a time window for network information requested to be provided, or control parameters to be used by the network entity when providing the requested network information.

[0036] In an example, entity is a management data analytics service (MDAS) function or a distributed selforganizing network (SON) power saving function included in an operation, administration, and maintenance (QAM) of the communication network, or in a SON power saving function included in the RAN node.

[0037] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to provide the service operability level comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to output the service operability level to the RAN node.

[0038] In an example, the service operability level includes an indication of one or more services of the RAN node that are suggested to be provided and an indication of the first time period for which the one or more services are suggested to be provided.

[0039] According to another aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a computer-readable medium storing instructions of an entity of a communication network, wherein when the instructions areexecuted by at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to obtain a predicted amount of power available to be delivered by a power system to power a radio access network (RAN) node during a first time period, obtain information associated with traffic that is predicted to be communicated by the RAN node between a user equipment and a core network of the communication network during the first time period, determine, based on the predicted amount of power during the first time period and the information associated with traffic to be communicated by the RAN node during the first time period, a service operability level for the RAN node for the first time period, and provide the service operability level for the RAN node for the first time period for use in determining a subset of services of the communication network that the RAN node is to provide during the first time period, wherein the RAN node is capable of providing a set of services of the communication network, the set of services comprising the subset of services.

[0040] In an example, the entity is disposed in the RAN node or in an operations and maintenance system of the communication network.

[0041] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain the predicted amount power comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive information associated with the power system that is delivering power to the RAN node, wherein information associated with the power system comprises information indicative of a type of power system, wherein the information indicative of the type of power system comprises an ongrid power system, an offgrid power system, or a battery power system, and determining the predicted amount of power based on the information associated with the power system that is delivering power to the RAN node.

[0042] In an example, the information associated with traffic communicated by the RAN node between a user equipment and a core network of the communication network comprises information indicative of an amount of traffic to be communicated by the RAN node and information indicative of a characteristic of the traffic.

[0043] In an example, the power delivery related information indicates the power source is offgrid, the power delivery related information includes one or more of information indicative of a type of power source of the power system, information indicative of one or more times of scheduled maintenance or disruptions of the offgrid power system, information indicative of an amount of power generated by the offgrid power system, a performance ratio of the offgrid power system, or alarms associated with the offgrid power system.

[0044] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to receive weather prediction data, and wherein the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain the amount of power available to the RAN node during the first time period comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine the amount of power level available to the RAN node during the first time period based on the weather prediction data and the power delivery related information for the offgrid power source.

[0045] In an example, when the information associated with the power system indicates the power system includes battery, the power delivery related information includes an indication of a state of charge of thebattery, and the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain the amount of power available to the RAN node during the first time period comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine an amount of power stored in the battery based on the information indicating the state of charge of the battery.

[0046] In an example, the information associated with the power system indicates the amount of power the power system is able to deliver to the RAN node during the first time period.

[0047] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain one or more of total amount of traffic sent and received by the RAN node, characteristics of the traffic sent and received by the RAN node, amount of traffic sent and received by the RAN node per quality of service (QoS) flow, power consumption by the RAN node based on amount of traffic and characteristics of traffic sent and received by the RAN node, or alarms associated with the communication network.

[0048] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to predict an amount of traffic and characteristics of the traffic to be sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period.

[0049] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain the information comprises instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node from the RAN node.

[0050] In an example, the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node is received in response to instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to transmit a request to the RAN node for the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node, wherein the request includes one or more of a type of network information to report, a target network entity that is requested to provide the network information, a time window for network information requested to be provided, or control parameters to be used by the network entity when providing the requested network information.

[0051] In an example, entity is a management data analytics service (MDAS) function or a distributed selforganizing network (SON) power saving function included in an operation, administration, and maintenance (QAM) of the communication network, or in a SON power saving function included in the RAN node.

[0052] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to provide the service operability level comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to output the service operability level to the RAN node.

[0053] In an example, the service operability level includes an indication of one or more services of the RANnode that are suggested to be provided and an indication of the first time period for which the one or more services are suggested to be provided.

[0054] According to another aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method for a radio access network (RAN) node of a communication network, the method including receiving a service operability level for the RAN node that includes an indication of one or more suggested services of the communication network that are to be provided by RAN node and an indication of a first time period for which the suggested services are suggested to be provided by the RAN node, determining, based on the service operability level for the RAN node, one or more services of the communication to be provided by the RAN node during the first time period, and providing the determined one or more services of the communication network during the first time period.

[0055] In an example, the service operability level is received from a management data analytics service (MDAS) function or a distributed self-organizing network (SON) power saving function included in a operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) function of the communication network.

[0056] In an example, the method further includes transmitting an indication of the determined one or more services and an indication of the first time period to one or more of an access and mobility management function (AMF), or a user plane function (UPF) of the communication network, one or more other RAN nodes of the communication network for use in making handover decisions between the RAN node and the one or more other RAN nodes during the first time period, or one or more UEs connected to the RAN node.

[0057] In an example, transmitting the indication of the determined one or more services to the AMF or the UPF comprises transmitting preferring actions to be taken during the first time period based on the determined one or more services.

[0058] In an example, transmitting the indication of the determined one or more services to the one or more UEs comprises transmitting preferred actions to be taken by the one or more UEs during the first time period based on the determined one or more services.

[0059] In an example, transmitting the determined one or more services to the one or more UEs comprises receiving a service operability level of a core network function of the communication network, determining a composite service operability level based on the received service operability level of the core network function and the determined one or more services, and transmitting the composite network service operability level to the one or more UEs.

[0060] According to another aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides apparatus including at least one processor, at least one memory storing instructions of a radio access network (RAN) node, wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive a service operability level for the RAN node that includes an indication of one or more suggested services of the communication network that are to be provided by RAN node and an indication of a first time period for which the suggested services are suggested to be provided by the RAN node, determine, based on the service operability level for the RAN node, one or more services of the communication to be provided by the RANnode during the first time period, and provide the determined one or more services of the communication network during the first time period.

[0061] In an example, the service operability level is received from a management data analytics service (MDAS) function or a distributed self-organizing network (SON) power saving function included in an operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) function of the communication network.

[0062] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to transmit an indication of the determined one or more services and an indication of the first time period to one or more of an access and mobility management function (AMF), or a user plane function (UPF) of the communication network, one or more other RAN nodes of the communication network for use in making handover decisions between the RAN node and the one or more other RAN nodes during the first time period, or one or more UEs connected to the RAN node.

[0063] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to transmit the indication of the determined one or more services to the AMF or the UPF comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to transmit preferring actions to be taken during the first time period based on the determined one or more services.

[0064] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to transmit the indication of the determined one or more services to the one or more UEs comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to transmit preferred actions to be taken by the one or more UEs during the first time period based on the determined one or more services.

[0065] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to transmit the determined one or more services to the one or more UEs comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive a service operability level of a core network function of the communication network, determine a composite service operability level based on the received service operability level of the core network function and the determined one or more services, and transmit the composite network service operability level to the one or more UEs.

[0066] According to another aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a computer-readable medium storing instructions of radio access network (RAN) node, wherein when the instructions are executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to receive a service operability level for the RAN node that includes an indication of one or more suggested services of the communication network that are to be provided by RAN node and an indication of a first time period for which the suggested services are suggested to be provided by the RAN node, determine, based on the service operability level for the RAN node, one or more services of the communication to be provided by the RAN node during the first time period, and provide the determined one or more services of the communication network during the first time period.

[0067] In an example, the service operability level is received from a management data analytics service (MDAS) function or a distributed self-organizing network (SON) power saving function included in anoperation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) function of the communication network.

[0068] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to transmit an indication of the determined one or more services to one or more of an access and mobility management function (AMF), or a user plane function (UPF) of the communication network, one or more other RAN nodes of the communication network for use in making handover decisions between the RAN node and the one or more other RAN nodes during the first time period, or one or more UEs connected to the RAN node. In some examples, the UPF, upon receipt of the indication of the determined one or more services, modified protocol data unit (PDU) session related parameters of one or more user equipment (UE) connected to the RAN node and notifies a session management function of the modified protocol data unit (PDU) session related parameters of one or more user equipment (UE) connected.

[0069] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to transmit the indication of the determined one or more services to the AMF or the UPF comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to transmit preferring actions to be taken during the first time period based on the determined one or more services.

[0070] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to transmit the indication of the determined one or more services to the one or more UEs comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to transmit preferred actions to be taken by the one or more UEs during the first time period based on the determined one or more services.

[0071] In an example, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to transmit the determined one or more services to the one or more UEs comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive a service operability level of a core network function of the communication network, determine a composite service operability level based on the received service operability level of the core network function and the determined one or more services, and transmit the composite network service operability level to the one or more UEs.

[0072] According to another aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method of a user equipment of a communication network, the method including receiving from a radio access network (RAN) node of the communication network a network service operability level, and performing an action in response to the received network service operability level.

[0073] In an example, the method further includes receiving a set of actions that are required or are not allowed for each of a plurality of network service operability levels, wherein performing an action in response to the received network service operability level comprises determining, based on the received set of actions, actions that are not allowed for the received network service operability level and configuring the UE not to perform those determined actions that are not allowed.

[0074] In an example, the actions include in the set of actions include prefetching data and deferring requests for data.

[0075] According to another aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides apparatus including at least one processor, at least one memory storing instructions of a user equipment (U E), wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive from a radio access network (RAN) node of the communication network a network service operability level, and perform an action in response to the received network service operability level.

[0076] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to receive a set of actions that are required or are not allowed for each of a plurality of network service operability levels, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform an action in response to the received network service operability level comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine, based on the received set of actions, actions that are not allowed for the received network service operability level and configuring the UE not to perform those determined actions that are not allowed.

[0077] In an example, the actions include in the set of actions include prefetching data and deferring requests for data.

[0078] According to another aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a computer-readable medium storing instructions of a user equipment (UE), wherein when the instructions are executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to to receive from a radio access network (RAN) node of the communication network a network service operability level, and perform an action in response to the received network service operability level.

[0079] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to receive a set of actions that are required or are not allowed for each of a plurality of network service operability levels, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform an action in response to the received network service operability level comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine, based on the received set of actions, actions that are not allowed for the received network service operability level and configuring the UE not to perform those determined actions that are not allowed.

[0080] In an example, the actions include in the set of actions include prefetching data and deferring requests for data.

[0081] The term "non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0082] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0083] Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached figures.

[0084] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a communication network in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment.

[0085] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a wireless communication network connected to a power delivery system and a management system for managing the wireless communication network in accordance with aspects of an embodiment.

[0086] FIG.. 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams showing management systems for a communication network in accordance with aspects of an embodiment.

[0087] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a method in accordance with an example embodiment.

[0088] FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are diagrams showing operations in a procedure in accordance with embodiments.

[0089] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a method in accordance with an example embodiment.

[0090] FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are diagrams showing operations in a procedure in accordance with embodiments.

[0091] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing components of one or more of the example embodiments.

[0092] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0093] For simplicity and clarity of illustration, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the examples described herein. The examples may be practiced without these details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and components are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the examples described. The description is not to be considered as limited to the scope of the examples described herein.

[0094] The present disclosure relates to generating a predicted network service operability level for a component of a wireless communication system, such as a radio access network (RAN) node or network functions (NFs) based on a predicted power level available to that component during a current or future time period. For example, when a reduction in the power levels available to components of the wireless communication network is predicted or expected at a future time due to, for example, adverse weather conditions affecting renewable power sources that deliver power to the component or planned outages of a local grid that delivers power to the component, it may be desirable to reduce some functionality of the components of the wireless communication network during that future time to reduce the overall power consumed by the component during that future time period.

[0095] Reference is first made to FIG. 1, which shows a schematic representation of a communication network 100 that a user equipment (UE) 102 has access to in order to communicate with application servers (AS) 103 hosting third party application functions (AF) 103a via data network 104. The communication network 100 comprises radio access network entities 106 (e.g. , a NG-RAN) and a core network 108 (e.g., a 5G core network (5GC)) that operate based on the 5th generation radio access technology described in the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) standard for new radio.

[0096] The radio access network (RAN) entities 106 comprise one or more radio access network (RAN) nodes (otherwise referred to as base stations), such as a gNodeB (gNB). A radio access network node comprises a central unit (e.g., gNB-CU) and one or more distributed units (e.g., one or more gNB-DUs) linkedto the central unit (e.g., gNB-CU) by a F1 interface.

[0097] The core network 108 has a service-based architecture and comprises a plurality of network functions (NFs), including, inter alia, an access and mobility function (AMF) 112, a trusted application function (AF) 114, an authentication server function (AUSF) 116, a network exposure function (NEF) 118, a network repository function (NRF) 120, a network slicing selection function (NSSF) 122, a policy control function (PCF) 124, a session management function (SMF) 126, a user plane function (UPF) 128, and a united data repository (UDM) 130. Other network functions of the core network 108 are not illustrated but would be understood by a person skilled in the art. The functionalities of the network functions of the core network are known to a person skilled in the art and hence are not described in detail.

[0098] Each network function (NF) of the core network 108 provides one or more services to other network functions of the core network via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Each NF can also register itself and the services it supports (e.g., the services it offers other network functions) to the NRF 120 of the core network 108. The NRF 120 is used by any network function to discover other network functions (or instances of NFs) and the services the other NFs support (e.g., services the other NFs provide). Any NF is operable to consume (e.g., use) the services provided and exposed by another NF. A NF that consumes a service of another network function is generally referred to as a network function service consumer. A network function that provides and exposes one or more of its services is referred to as a network function service producer.

[0099] As describe previously, the RAN 106 and the core network 108 may be powered by power delivered by one or more of three power sources: an "ongrid system”, which refers to a local grid that delivers power and is referred to as a local grid power source; a backup power system; and an "offgrid system” that may include renewable infrastructure (Rl) that includes one or more renewable power sources that deliver (e.g., provide) power to a wireless communication network entity of the communication network 100 such as, for example, a radio access network node (e.g., gNB) of the RAN or an apparatus hosting one or more network functions of a core network (generally referred to as a core network apparatus) comprising one or more NFs. The Rl can also be equipped with embedded batteries (EBs) that may be used to store the surplus power produced by the renewable power sources of the Rl and may be used when the renewable power sources of the Rl do not generate enough power from renewable sources e.g., solar or wind. In practice, a wireless communication network, such as the example wireless communication network 100, may be powered by some combination of these three power sources, which form what is referred to herein as the "power delivery system” of the communication network.

[0100] Referring to FIG. 2, a schematic diagram showing a wireless communication network 201, an example power system 202 that is utilized to power a RAN 204 and / or a core network 206 of the wireless communication network 201 (e.g., an apparatus of the core network 206 that is hosting one or more network functions of the core network 206), and a management system for managing the wireless communication network 201. The communication network 201 may be similar to the communication network 100, the RAN 204 may be substantially similar to the RAN 106, and the core network 206 may be substantially similar to thecore network 108 described previously with reference to FIG. 1.

[0101] The power system 202 may include an ongrid power system 208, an offgrid power system 210 that may include renewable energy infrastructure (Rl) comprising one or more renewable energy sources that generate power (e.g., electricity) that power the wireless communication network (e.g., one or more RAN nodes and / or the core network of the wireless communication network), and an embedded battery (EB) system 212 that may store surplus power (e.g., electricity) generated and provided by either the ongrid power system 208 or the offgrid power system 210, or both. In other examples, the power system 202 may include any combination of an ongrid power system 208, an offgrid power system 210, and an embedded battery (EB) system 212. Further, in other examples, the RAN 204 and the core network 206 may be powered by different power sources and / or different network functions of the core network 206 may be powered by different power sources.

[0102] The wireless communication network 201, including the RAN 204 and core network 206, are managed by the management system (MS) 214. The MS 214 may be a management system that operates in accordance with the 3GPP standard and includes an operations, administration, and maintenance (GAM) entity 216, which includes functions that are used in provisioning and management the RAN 204 and the network functions of the core network 205. The OAM entity 216 includes management data analytics service (MDAS) 218 that receives and analyzes data collected from the communications network, including the RAN 204 and network functions of the core network 206, which is utilized in management of the communication network by the OAM entity 216 to, for example, optimize network performance.

[0103] Referring to the system 200 shown in FIG. 2, and as described in more detail below, the service operability level for the RAN 204 may be determined by, for example, the MDAS 218 or a centralized selforganizing network (SON) power saving function 220 included in the OAM entity 216, or by a distributed SON power saving function 222 included in the RAN 204 in the example system 200 shown in FIG. 2. In examples in which the service operability level is determined for the core network 206 (e.g., for an apparatus of the core network 206 that is hosting one or more core network functions of a core network 206 of the communication network), a distributed SON power saving function may be include the entity determining the service operability level for the core network (e.g., for the apparatus of the core network that is hosting one or more network functions of the core network).

[0104] The MDAS 218, or the SON 220 or the SON 222 if included in the system 200, or any other entity that incorporates some or all of the functionality of determining a suggested network service operability levels, may be implemented by a combination of hardware processing circuit and software and / or firmware comprising machine-readable instructions that are executable by the hardware processing circuit, or software comprising machine-readable instructions that are executable by a hardware processing circuit of an apparatus. A hardware processing circuit includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing machine-readable instructions that are executable by the at least one processor of the hardware processing circuit. A processor includes any or some combination of an accelerator, a microprocessor, a core of a multi-core microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable integrated circuit, a programmable gate array, a digital signal processor, a central processing unit, a graphic processing unit, a tensor processing unit. Memory includes any or some combination of volatile or non-volatile memory (e.g., a flash memory, cache, a randomaccess memory (RAM), and / or a read-only memory (ROM)). The memory stores the machine-executable instructions of the software and / or firmware for execution by the at least one processor of the hardware processing circuit. The machine-executable instructions are executable by the at least one processor of the hardware processing circuit cause the hardware processing circuit to perform the actions or operations of the methods described herein to determine a service operability level for a radio access network node and / or a core network, and to utilize the determined service operability level for a RAN node to configure the RAN node to provide a subset of services based on the determined service operability level.

[0105] Embodiments described in the present disclosure may include the following four main systems or entities: a wireless communication network, which may be a 5G network such as the example network 100 described previously, at least one offgrid power delivery system, at least one EB, and, in some examples, some other entity that provides information related, or relevant, to any of the other three entities such as, for example, a weather agency. Each of these four systems or entities may have its own associated management system (MS).

[0106] In addition to the OAM entity 216 that manages the communication network, including the RAN 204 and the core network 206, each of the ongrid power system 208, the offgrid power system 210 and the EB system 212 may have their own management system. These management systems may be included in the 3GPP MS 214, or may be included in a non-3GPP MS that is separate from the 3GPP MS 214.

[0107] FIGS. 3Aand 3B show two possible arrangements for the management systems 300, 350, one in which the management system (MS) for the ongrid power system, which may also be referred to as renewable infrastructure (Rl), and the EB power system do not operate in accordance with the 3GPP standard and therefore are included in a non-GPP MS (FIG. 3A) and another in which the MS for the Rl and the EB operate in accordance with the 3GPP standard, and are therefore part of a 3GPP MS (FIG. 3B).

[0108] In FIG. 3A, the OAM entity 302 is the MS for a wireless communication network 304, which includes the RAN 306 and the core network (CN) 308, and is included in a 3GPP MS 310. The OAM entity 302 may be substantially similar to the OAM entity 216 described previously. The Rl MS (RIMS) 312, which is the MS for the Rl 314, which may be similar to the offgrid power system 210 described previously, and the battery MS (BMS) 316, which is the MS for the EB 318 which may be similar to the EM 212 described previously, as well as the other entity 320, do not operate in accordance with the 3GPP standard and are included in a non- 3GPP MS 322.

[0109] In FIG. 3B, the OAM entity 352 is similarly the MS for the wireless communication network 354, which includes the RAN node 356 and CN 358, and is included in a 3GPP MS 360. The OAM entity 352, the RAN node 356, and the CN 358 may be similar to the OAM entity 216, the RAN 204, and the core network 206 described previously. The RIMS 362, which is the MS for the Rl 364, which may be similar to the offgridpower system 210 described previously, and the BMS 366, which is the MS for the EB 368 which may be similar to the EB 212 described previously, in the example MS 305 operate in accordance with the 3GPP standard and are included in the 3GPP MS 360 as well. The other entity 320 in the example shown in FIG. 3B does not operate in accordance with the 3GPP standard and is included in a non-3GPP MS 322.

[0110] The wireless communication networks 304, 354 may be similar to, for example, the wireless communication network 100 described previously with reference to FIG. 1. The other entities 320, 370 may be, for example, an AS hosting an AF outside of the core of the wireless communication systems 304, 354, similar to AS 303 that hosts AF 303a in the example network 100 described previously with reference to FIG. 1 . The other entities 320, 370 may be, for example, a weather service that provides weather information, including current and predicted weather information relevant to the RIs 314, 364. Further, the RIMS 212 and BMS 216, when included in the non-3GPP MS 322 may be, for example, an AS hosting an AF outside of the core of the wireless communication systems 304, similar to AS 303 that hosts AF 303a in the example network 100 described previously with reference to FIG. 1.

[0111] These MSs, OAMs 302, 352, RIMS 312, 362, and BMS 316, 366 perform management functions associated with their respective entities, including performing one or more of maintaining the operational information, configuring and / or controlling their respective entities, and receiving alarms from their respective entities.

[0112] The present disclosure provides procedures for determining a suggested service operability level for a RAN node at two possible MSs 300, 350 shown in FIG. 3A and 3B utilizing information about the power system delivering power to the RAN node, which may be received from the RIMS 312, 362 and / or the BMS 316, 366.

[0113] In the examples of present disclosure focus mainly on determining a service operability level for a radio access network node (e.g., a gNB) powered by an offgrid power system where the offgrid power system uses the renewable power, like wind, solar or hydro power or a combination of renewable power sources and that EBs that store the surplus power produced by the Rl. However, the examples described are applicable to generating a service operability level for other entities of a communication network, for example, an apparatus of a core network that is hosting one or more network functions of the core network, as well as to determining a service operability level for entities of a communication network that are powered by power systems that include a connection to the main ongrid power source in addition to, or as an alternative to, the offgrid power source.

[0114] The amount of power generated by Rl fluctuates depending on several factors. Some factors such as environmental factors include, for example, weather condition, humidity, and temperature, infrastructure development, human activity, and even wildlife may impact the efficiency of the Rl and the amount of power generated by the Rl. Fluctuations in the power that is generated by the Rl may limit the amount of power that is available to power entities of a communication network (e.g., RAN nodes and / or an apparatus of the core network that are hosting one or more network functions of the communication network). In some examples, itmay be desirable to manage the power consumed by the entities of a communication network (otherwise referred to as network entities) for example to manage the power consumed by a RAN node to conserve power and to ensure that more essential services of a communication network are provided by the RAN node while less essential services of a communication network and that less essential services of the communication network are not provided by the RAN node when the amount of power available to power the RAN node is reduced. In some examples, it may be desirable to manage the power consumed by a core network (e.g., an apparatus of the core network that is hosting one or mor e network functions of the core network) to conserve to ensure that essential network functions of the one or more network function hosted on the apparatus of the core network (or essential functionality of the one or more network functions) are enabled while less essential network functions of the one or more network function hosted on an apparatus of the core network are disable or less essential functionality of the one or more network functions is disabled when the amount of power available to power the apparatus of the core network is reduced.

[0115] In the present disclosure, power consumption is managed by utilizing information associated with the power system to predict an amount of power available at a current or future time and, based the predicted power available, determine a predicted "service operability level” for a network entity, such as a RAN node or an apparatus hosting one or more network functions of a core network. The service operability level indicates a type and characteristic of a set of services that is suggested to be provided by the network entity (e.g., indicates a type and characteristics of a subset of service of the communication network that are to be provided by a RAN node when the network entity is a RAN node or indicates a type and characteristic of services to be provided by one or more network functions when the network entity is an apparatus hosting the one or more network functions) in view of the predicted amount of power available. The service operability level for a network entity may be standardized or operator-specific, and may be determined for an specific area served by the network entity or for a specific type of Rl in the power delivery system.

[0116] Currently, a communication network does not have any way to access offgrid power-related information, including the type of power sources, including renewable power sources, or the amount of power available from the offgrid power system, and therefore a communication network cannot adapt its operations and the services it provides including, for example, communication, computing, and / or sensing based on the available generated renewable power of an Rl included in the power delivery system as well as the power level of EBs included in the Rl. Therefore, it would be desirable for a communication network, such as communication network operating according to the 3GPP standards for new radio, to be enabled to estimate, for example, per NG-RAN node and / or per apparatus hosting one or more network functions (NFs) of a core network, power related information including, for example, carbon emission information, and ratio of renewable power and to provide this information to authorized consumers, as well as to adjust power consumption of network entities, such as RAN nodes and / or an apparatus of the core network hosting one or more network functions, based on anticipated or predicted amounts of power available.

[0117] To this end, the present disclosure enables identifying the power system used to power a networkentity such as, for example, a RAN node (e.g., a gNB comprising a gNB-DU, a gnB-CU) or an apparatus of a core network that is hosting one or more NFs of the core network. The present disclosure enables obtaining information associated with the power system and, in some embodiments, weather prediction information from a weather agency server, such that current and future power available to power or be delivered to the network entity by the power system may be obtained.

[0118] The present disclosure enables conveying offgrid power system information and, in some embodiments, weather information to an entity of the OAM entity of the communication network, such as the MDAS 218 or SON 220, or to an entity of a RAN node, such as the SON 222 of the RAN node 204. The present disclosure enables the use of the information related to the power system, such as offgrid power system information and weather prediction information, together with other information, such as network traffic information, or any other data, sent and received at the network entity, in order to provide analytics about future amounts of power such as, for example, the potential amount of generated power by Rl and the stored power by EB and future amounts of power required by the network element. The potential amount of power available at the network entity, as well as the potential amount of power required by the network element may be utilized to determine a suggested "service operability level” of the network entity, or in the case in which the network entity is a gNB, a cell of the gNB.

[0119] "Service operability level” for a RAN node as used herein refers to an indicator related to the type and characteristics of a subset of services of a communication network that are provided by the RAN node. "Service operability level” for a core network as used herein refers to an indicator related to the type and characteristics of services provided by one or more NFs of the core network. Such levels may be standardized or operator-specific, for all entities of a communication network or to a specific area of a communication network, such as, for example, a specific group of RAN nodes (e.g., gNBs) based on geography, or to entities powered by a specific type of Rl.

[0120] Service operability levels for a RAN node may be indicated by any suitable identifiers including, for example, names, numbers, or letters, such as, for example, "A...F", "green", "orange, "red", "normal", "warning", "critical", and the like or a range of numerical values (e.g. 1 ...10000). In some examples, network service operability level may correspond to an Energy Cost Index (ECI) in RAN as defined in section 9.1.3.29 of 3GPP TS 38.423.

[0121] Each type or characteristic of a service provided by the communication network may have an associated power consumption, which may also depend on other factors, including load and characteristics of the data traffic communicated over the communication network. As such, disabling or reducing some service characteristics may help the communication network reduce that amount of power consumed. Such a reduction in power consumed by the network may be desirable in particular network elements or functions of a communication network to reduce power consumption and / or, for example, to extend the operational lifetime of the communication network and / or to maintain critical service as long as possible. Therefore, advantageously, have a communication network that is enabled to change the network service operabilitylevel for some or all network entities of a communication network may enable longer operation time, particularly when a network entity is powered by a Rl power system, as some services of the communication network or NFs of the core network are more power consuming than others.

[0122] In general, service operability levels may relate to: normal operations; reduced operations in which some services of a communication network or NFs are either disabled or limited.

[0123] In some cases, reduced operations may be implemented when the forecasted power availability from an Rl and / or expected battery life of EBs goes below a certain threshold.

[0124] Additionally, or alternatively, such levels may refer to optimal operations, meaning that they can easily handle a lot of (additional) traffic because of particularly good power production conditions, including for example, low cost and / or low carbon associated with the power consumed by the network and / or low consumption / load forecast. For example, a dedicated level, e.g., "dark green" or "green leaf", may be defined to indicate, for example, such favorable situations "beyond" normal, which can then be leveraged at RAN or core network level.

[0125] The mapping between a service operability level and the actions to be taken by a network entity or services a network entity provides and does not provide can be defined in different ways. For example, the actions or functionality associated with the particular service operability levels may be included in the relevant standards, e.g., the 3GPP standard for new radio, i.e., standardized, or may be operator-specific based on, for example, mapping rules provided by an OAM entity of the communication network, or may be vendor-specific and / or implementation-dependent.

[0126] In one example, respective service operability levels for a RAN node may take the following values and relate to the following functionality:1 . provide only emergency services and a multimedia service to priority users, e.g., multimedia priority service (MPS);2. provide, in addition to 1, short message service (SMS);3. provide, in addition to 1 and 2, internet protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem (IMS) voice and messaging (traffic on the data network name (DNN) not related with IMS is not allowed);4. provide, in addition to 1-3, data, but with reduced throughput;5. provide normal service delivery (e.g., provide all noraml services of a communication network).

[0127] Such service operability levels for example may be mapped to existing access class barring techniques by a RAN node in, for example, either standard or operator-specific classes as per existing techniques, e.g. in a allow-listing or block-listing manner.

[0128] In other examples, service operability levels may be mapped to services beyond the communication service, e.g., by enabling / disabling / limiting (edge) computing service or sensing service by the network entity or function depending on the level.

[0129] Service operability levels for a RAN node may be determined for a cell rather at the RAN node as there may be different radio unit(s) (RU(s)), which are antennas including the power amplifier and may be theentity of the RAN that consumes the most power. The entity of the RAN node may be connected to and powered by a different power delivery system (e.g. one RU of a RAN node may be connected to and powered by solar panels and another RAN node may be connected to and powered by wind turbines).

[0130] The relationship between the type or characteristic of a subset of th services provided by the communication network, with the associated power consumption, the traffic characteristics, the power available by the Rl power system and / or EBs, may be complex. As such, a machine learning or artificial intelligence model may be utilized to predicted a service operability level for a network entity (e.g., a RAN node) as analytics, based on the current and forecasted power, power-related characteristics and weather- related characteristics (e.g. power delivery system, power supply mix, weather information), the traffic load and characteristics etc. However, some formula or rule as weighted function of various components (e.g. type of power) may be utilized to predict a service operability level of a network entity (e.g., a RAN node).

[0131] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a method or process for predicting a service operability level for a RAN node of a communication network or a cell associated with a RAN node of a communication network in accordance with one example. The RAN node may be, for example, a gNB, and may comprise a gNB-DU, a gnB-CU, and may provide one or more cells. The method or process may be performed by an entity of a communication network, for example, an MDAS entity or and SON entity of an OAM entity, such as the MDAS 218 or the SON 220 described previously with reference to FIG. 2, or for example, by a SON entity of the RAN node, such as SON 222 described with reference to FIG. 2. The method or process may be performed by an apparatus comprising one or more processors and at least one memory storing computer-readable code or instructions of the MDAS or SON of the OAM entity, or the network entity such as, for example, a SON included at the network entity. The method or process is performed by the apparatus when the computer- readable code or instructions stored in the at least one memory are executed by the one or more processors.

[0132] Although the example method or process described below with reference to FIG. 4 relates to predicting a service operability level for a RAN node, such as a gNB or a cell associated with a gNB, the method or process could be applied to predict a service operability level of any network entity of a communication network such as, for example, an apparatus hosting one or more NFs of the core network 108 of the example communication system 100 described previously with reference to FIG. 1 . Furthermore, although the below method or process is described as predicting a service operability level predicted for one RAN node, it is understood that the method or process could be applied to predict a service operability level for multiple RAN nodes, or other network entities such as, for examples, RAN nodes or other network entities located in particular geographical area, or that are all powered by the same power system.

[0133] At 402, power deliver related information is received. The power deliver related information is associated with a power system that provides power to the RAN node, or other network entity. Power delivery related information may be received from a RIMS, such as RIMS 312, 362 described previously with reference to FIG. 3, for information associated with an Rl or offgrid power system, and from a BMS, such as BMS 316, 366 described previously with reference to FIG. 3, for information associated with an EB power system.

[0134] The power delivery information for the RAN node may be received via "PowerDelivery” datatype that may be, for example, added as a new field, also known as an "attribute”, to the CUCP IOC that is described in section 4.3.2.2 of 3GPP V18.0 TS 28.541. Each RAN node, indicated by its own identifier, may have an associated "PowerDelivery” datatype that includes an indication of the power source that is to deliver power to that RAN node. In an example, the "PowerDelivery” datatype may include the following properties:

[0135] The "PowerDelivery” datatype may also include the following definition:

[0136] Other information that is related to the power system may be received from, for example, the RIMS of an offgrid power system. This information may include reporting the amount of power generated by the offgrid power system during a specified time, environmental information from, for example, sensors included in the Rl of the offgrid power system, predicted generated power levels for specific future time periods as determined by, for example, a RIMS of the offgrid power system, disruptions or other alarms associated with the offgrid power system, cleaning or maintenance schedules of the offgrid power system, a state of charge of an EB, alarms associated with the EB.

[0137] The following table is an example of information regarding the generated energy of an Rl of an offgrid power system that may be received at 202. The information may include the amount of generated energy by each power source of the Rl (i.e. the amount of energy generated by solar panels and / or the amount of energy generated by wind turbines) for different time periods, shown in in hours. Although the amount of energy generated by each power source of the Rl is shown in hours in the following table, the time periods may be in minutes, seconds, days, weeks, or months.

[0138] The following table is an example of environmental information about an Rl of an offgrid power system that may be received at 202. The environmental information includes information on environmental conditions, such as wind, solar radiations, humidity, dust, over specified time periods, which may impact the ability of the Rl to generate power. Sensors (referred to a pEE sensors) may be installed over the Rl to monitor environmental conditions and generate the environmental information that is provided. Such sensors can monitor environmental conditions over specific time period.

[0139] The following table is an example of predicted power generation information of an Rl of an offgrid power system that may be received at 202. The predicted power generation information of an Rl may include the predicted amount of energy (or power) generated by each renewable power source of the Rl (i.e. solar panels or wind turbines) over specified time periods. The power generated by each renewable power source of the Rl depends on the environmental conditions and weather conditions. If the RIMS of the offgrid power system is configured to estimate or predict the amount of energy (or power) generated by each renewablepower source of the Rl for a specific time period based on environmental information and weather prediction information , RIMS may provide the estimated or predicted amount of energy generated by each renewable power source of the Rl for the specific time period to the OAM entity as described in more detail below.

[0140] The following table shows an example of information indicating an alarm or disruption associated with the Rl that may be received at 202. For example, information indicating an alarm or disruption associated with the Rl may indicate that certain parts of the Rl, such as solar panels or turbines, are damaged, which may affect the power generation and performance of the Rl.

[0141] The information that is received at 202 may include information about cleaning or maintenance schedules. Some components of an Rl of an offgrid power system may be subject to periodic cleaning at, for example, specific time intervals, and the information about cleaning and / or maintenance schedules may be helpful in predicting future power available from the offgrid power system. Also, in addition, or alternative to the information about maintenance or cleaning schedules, some components of the Rl may be cleaned immediately or sooner than the scheduled cleaning times due to weather conditions and other environmental factors such as, for example, e.g., sandstorm. Therefore the RIMS may be configured to provide information indicating either the beginning time or end time, or both, of the cleaning or maintenance, and may also indicate the impact of the cleaning or maintenance on the generated power during the cleaning or maintenance period, which may then be used to predict future power production by the offgrid power system.

[0142] In examples in which the RIMS and the BMS are included in the 3GPP MS, similar to the system 350 described previously with reference to FIG. 3B, RIMS and BMS are assumed to support communication mechanisms supported by the 3GPP standard, and the OAM entity may utilize 3GPP management procedures to receive the information associated with the power system from the RIMS and / or the BMS.

[0143] For example the OAM entity when authorized by the 3GPP management entity to communicate with the RIMS and BMS, receives information associated with the power system from the RIMS and BMS by means of performance metrics jobs. In this example, the OAM entity requests the RIMS and BMS to create a PerfMetricJob instance to collect per Rl and EB power information (e.g., to collect power information from each component of the Rl and / or each component of the EB).

[0144] The OAM entity may request the RIMS and BMS to create a ManagementDataCollection instance, for example, as defined in section 4.3.47 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 28.622. The request to create theManagementDataCollection instance may include following information elements (otherwise referred to as input parameters):• managementData: this information element indicates the management data which shall be reported. This may either include a list of data categories (e.g. "predicted generated power"), or a list of management data identified with their name (e.g. environmental parameters).• targetNodeFilter: information element indicates the target object instance(s) producing the required management data. As the OAM may not have detailed knowledge of the Rl and EBs of the power system because the power system may include several RIs such as solar panels and wind turbines or EB can be several batteries which are included in the BMS, it may not be able to identify the exact object instance producing the required management data. In this case, the OAM can request management data produced by certain object instance(s) based on: o a particular location (e.g. gNB id) or o by a geographical area.• collectionTimeWindow: information element indicates the time window for which the management data should be reported.• reportingCtrl: information element indicates the method and associated control parameters for reporting the produced management data to the OAM. Three methods are available: o file-based reporting with selection of the file location by the producer, i.e., the RIMS and BMS, o file-based reporting with selection of the file location by the consumer, o stream-based reporting.• dataScope: information element indicates whether the management data should be reported per renewable infrastructure, i.e. solar panels or wind turbines, or per whole batteries or each of the several batteries that are in the EB, if applicable.

[0145] In this example, the power delivery related data associated with the power system as described previously may each be ManagementData.

[0146] The OAM entity may receive alarms from the RIMS and / or BMS. In this case, the OAM entity may subscribe to receive alarms from the RIMS and BMS, including the example alarms of the Rl and the EB described previously. For example, the OAM entity may subscribe to be notified of alarms utilizing notifyNewAlarm message and / or notifyChangedAlarm message and / or notifyAckStateChanged message as set out in section 4.3.22 of 3GPP V18.0.0 TS 28.622 to receive alarms about Rl and EBs. The notifyNewAlarm, notifyChangedAlarm message, and notifyAckStateChanged message may have the following information elements (otherwise referred to as inputs):• Hearbeatcontrol: this information element indicates that the emission of heartbeat notifications is controlled by the RIMS, BMS.• notificationTy pes: this information element indicates that the OAM entitiy is allowed to control whichcandidate notifications are sent to the notificationFilter attribute.• notificationFilter: this information element defines a filter that is applied to the set of candidate notifications in order to specify which alarms should be notified to the OAM entity.

[0147] In order to receive information about maintenance and / or cleaning schedules from the RIMS and / or BMS, a new information object class (IOC) "Maintenanceschedule'' may be defined to receive the information about maintenance and / or cleaning schedules of an Rl of the power system.

[0148] This "Maintenanceschedule'' IOC may be utilized to represent the mutual information exchanged between RIMS and the OAM entity, for a particular instance of maintenance / clearing periods, and may include the following fields (otherwise referred to as attributes):

[0149] The field named MaintenanceStartTime is used by the RIMS to inform the OAM about the time when the outage of the power service starts.

[0150] The field named expectedMaintenanceEndTime is used by the RIMS to inform the OAM about the time when power generation is exclpected to be restored. In cases in which the end of the outage cannot be estimated, the field is not filled.

[0151] The field named ExpectedGeneratePower is used by the RIMS to inform the OAM about the current estimated ability of Rl to generate power.

[0152] The field named MNOmaxServiceduration is used by the OAM to inform the RIMS about possible amount of battery storage which is available to provide power to the network.

[0153] In an example, the "Maintenanceschedule'' IOC may include the following fields:

[0154] An example of the definition included for each field may be as follows:

[0155] Alternatively, in other examples in which the RIMS and the BMS are not part of the 3GPP MS, similar to the system 300 described previously with reference to in FIG. 3A, information associated with the power system may be received at 202 via AFs, similar to AF 103a, that implement the RIMS and the BMS. The RIMS and BMS AFs may register their available data via an 0AM configuration at NEF. The data that can be collected from the RIMS and BMS AFs may include AF identification, AF service identification (e.g. endpoint information of Naf_EventExposure), available data to be collected per application (e.g. identified by Event ID(s)). After the registration of AF available data at the NEF, NEF generates an event exposure with new EventID to be associated with available data to be collected from the AF. This information is stored in the NF profile of the NEF which is updated with the new Event IDs and associated AF identification and Application ID(s). Such update is reflected at the NRF as set out in Section 6.2.2.3 of 3GPP V18.0 TS 28.233. The 0AMentity may retrieve the information associated with the Rl and / or EB of the power system from the NEF by, for example, reading the afEvents field or attribute from AfEventExposureData object as described in Section 5.3.136 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 28.541. "afEvent” represents AF Event(s) exposed by the NEF after registration of the AF(s) at the NEF. In this way the 3GPP GAM entity may request to be notified about changes in those subscribed information.

[0156] New event IDs may be utilized to receive the information associated with the power system, including the aforementioned value of generated power of Rl over a specific period, environmental information about an Rl over a specific period, predicted power generated by the Rl, cleaning / maintenance schedules of the Rl, Rl alarms and disruption, state of charge of embedded battery, alarms about EB.

[0157] These new event IDs are described in more detail below with reference to Figure 5. By these new event IDs, an 0AM can subscribe for the information / change about the Rl and BM related information.

[0158] Alternatively, or additionally to the above process of using event IDs to obtain information associated with the power system, when the RIMS and BMS are not included in the 3GPP MS an 0AM can retrieve the information about Rl and EB using the Federated Network Information Model (FNIM), defined in 3GPP V.18.0 TS 32.107 - Telecommunication management; Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) Federated Network Information Model (FNIM).

[0159] Optionally, at 404, weather prediction information may be received. For example, when the power system of the RAN node includes a renewable power source, e.g., solar, wind, or hydroelectric generated power.

[0160] The weather prediction information may include any suitable weather parameter, may also include a value of that specific weather parameter and specific time for the value of the weather parameter. An example of weather prediction information that is optionally received at 404 is as follows:

[0161] The weather prediction information may be optionally received at 204 from a 3rd party weather prediction service provided by, for example a weather agency, which is implemented as an AF, similar to AF103a described previously with reference to FIG. 1. Similar to the case described above in which the RIMS and BMS are not part of the 3GPP MS and are implemented as AF, the weather AF may register its available data via 0AM configuration at the NEF. The 0AM entity may retrieve the weather prediction information that includes information about weather predictions from the NEF by reading the afEvents attribute from AfEventExposureData object as described in Section 5.3.136 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 28.541. In this way the 0AM entity may inquire about the changes in the weather prediction information. New event IDs are required to receive the weather prediction information.

[0162] Referring to FIG. 5, operations of a procedure in accordance with an example embodiment are shown by which a consumer, such as consumer 502, may obtain information associated with a power system from a RIMS 504 and a BMS 506, and optionally obtain weather prediction information from a weather agency service provider 508 in the example in which the RIMS 504 and the BMS 506 are not included in the 3GPP MS and are implemented by AFs. The consumer 502 may be, for example, the entity that predicts the service operability level of the RAN node, such as the MDAS or SON of the 0AM entity, similar to the example MDAS 218 and SON 220 of the example 0AM 214 described previously in FIG. 2, or the SON of the RAN node, similar to the example SON 222 of the RAN node 204 describe previously with reference to FIG. 2.

[0163] At 510, the RIMS 504, the BMS 506, and weather agency server 508 are registered with the NEF 512. At 514, actions are performed by the RIMS 504, the BMS 506, and weather agency server 508 to obtain information about the Rl and EB of the power system and to obtain weather prediction information from the weather agency server 508.

[0164] At 516, a Nnaf_EventExposure_Subscribe request is sent from the NEF 514 to the weather agency server 508 that includes an eventID related to the weather prediction and the weather area coverage. The Nnaf_EventExposure_Subscribe request causes the weather agency server 508 to notify the NEF of each event identified by the event ID. In other words, the weather agency server 508 notifies the NEF whenever there is weather prediction information indicative of a weather prediction the weather coverage area. At 518, a Nnaf_EventExposure_Subscribe response is received at the NEF 512 from the weather agency 508, that includes weather prediction information indicative of a weather prediction in the weather area coverage. At 520, the customer 502 reads the afEvents field from the AfEventExposureData created by the NEF 512 to receive the predicted weather prediction information.

[0165] Similarly, at 522 a Nnaf_EventExposure_Subscribe request is sent from the NEF 514 to the RIMS 504 with an eventID related to the information associated with the Rl as described previously, and at 524, a Nnaf_EventExposure_Subscribe response is received at the NEF 512 from the RIMS 504, that includes the information associated with the Rl. At 526, the customer 502 reads the afEvents field from the AfEventExposureData created by the NEF 512 to receive the information associated with the Rl.

[0166] Similarly, at 528 a Nnaf_EventExposure_Subscribe request is sent from the NEF 514 to the BMS 506 with an eventID related to the information associated with the EB as described previously, and at 530, a Nnaf_EventExposure_Subscribe response is received at the NEF 512 from the BMS 506, that includes theinformation associated with the EB. At 532, the customer 502 reads the afEvents field from the AfEventExposureData created by the NEF 512 to receive the information associated with the EB.

[0167] At 534, the customer 502 may send a request to an analytics function 536 to generate analytics based on the information received at 520, 526, and 532. The analytics function 536 may be, for example, a network data analytics function (NWDAF) of the communication network, or a management data analytic service (MDAS) of the MS. The request sent at 534 may include the information received at 520, 526, and 532 which is to be used by the analytic function 536 to generate analytics. At 538, the analytic function 536 sends a response to the customer 502 providing the analytics that were requested at 534. The requesting and receiving of analytics are described in more detail below.

[0168] Referring back to FIG. 4, at 406, information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period is obtained. This information obtained at 406 may include the total amount of traffic sent and received by the RAN node, characteristics of the traffic sent and received by the RAN node, the amount of traffic sent and received by the RAN node per quality of service (QoS) flow, the power consumption by the RAN node based on amount of traffic and characteristics of traffic sent and received by the RAN node, or alarms associated with the communication network, such as power outages at the network.

[0169] This information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period may be obtained by performing traffic prediction analytics and / or power saving analytics by the MDAS of the network, such as MDAS 218 described previously with reference to FIG. 2, utilizing, for example the processes described in Section 8.4.4 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 28.104. The information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period may be useful for predicting the power requirements for the RAN node during the first time period.

[0170] In an example, a function of the QAM entity, such as for example, the MDAS of the QAM entity or some other entity, may collect from the RAN node the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node and / or information related to power consumption by the RAN node. In an example, the OAM entity obtains from the RAN node, such as, for example, a g N B, information related to the power consumption of the RAN node for each quality of service (QoS) flow and for each type of service provided by the communication network . The OAM entity may obtain the information related to the power consumption of the RAN node for each quality of service (QoS) flow and for each type of service provided by the communication network by, for example, using performance metrics jobs or by performing analytics.

[0171] For example, if the RAN node is configured to measure the power consumption for each QoS flow, a function of the OAM entity, for example the MDAS, may requests the RAN node to create a ManagementDataCollection instance, described in section 4.3.47 of 3GPP V.18.0TS 28.622. The request to create a ManagementDataCollection instance may include the following example information elements (otherwise referred to as input parameters):• managementData: this information element indicates the management data which shall be reported. Here this is QoS flow power consumption.• targetNodeFilter: this information element indicates the target object instance(s) producing the required management data. In this case, the function of the 0AM may request management data produced by certain RAN nodes based on, for example, a particular location, e.g. by gNB ID of the RAN node(s), or based on a particular power delivery system, e.g., the RAN nodes powered by offgrid power delivery systems or renewable power delivery systems generally, or by a particular offgrid or renewable power deliver system.• collectionTimeWindow: this information element indicates the time window for which the management data should be reported.• report! ngCtrl: this information element indicates the method and associated control parameters for reporting the produced management data to the requester, i.e. the function of the 0AM.

[0172] In this example, the RAN node is configured to provide a new performance metric, which may be referred to as QoSflowpower, in order to provide the above described information requested by the function of the OAS. The QoSflowpower performance metric may be included, for example, section 5.1.1.13 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 28.552. The QoSflowpower performance metric may be defined as follows:1 . This measurement provides a table containing the power consumption per each service type over the given granularity period (i.e. collectionTimeWindow) in performance measurement settings.2. This measurement is obtained if the RAN node is capable of measuring such power consumption based on its implementation.3. Each measurement contains a real value in watts (W) indicating the amount of power which is consumed for each QoS flow traffic. In other words, each measurement is a table with each QoS flow and the real number indicating amount of consumed power in watts (W).4. Reporting should be performing utilizing "NRCellCU”

[0173] Different service types that may be provide may include:1 . emergency services;2. emergency services and SMS;3. emergency services and IMS voice and messaging (traffic on DNN not related with IMS is not allowed); and4. emergency services and data.

[0174] Each service type may be related to different QoS flows. After the requesting function of the QAM receives the power consumption information from the RAN node for each QoS flow, the power consumption of each service may, for example, be calculated as summations of power consumption of multiple QoSflowpower that make up that service. The results of the summation may form new key performance indication (KPI) of the RAN node, which may be referred to herein as "ServiceTypePower”.

[0175] In another example in which the RAN node is not configured to measure the real power consumption of each QoS flow, the ServiceTypePower as a new KPI may be calculated and / or estimated by a function of the QAM such as, for example, the MDAS. The MDAS may access the whole traffic data and per each QoSflow data traffic for the RAN node. Moreover, the MDAS has access to the whole power consumption in the RAN node. For example, the MDAS may obtain the whole traffic data utilizing using the PM as PDCP Data Volume in clauses 5.1 .2.1 and 5.1 .3.6 of 3GPP V.18.0 of TS 28.552.

[0176] The whole traffic data obtained for the RAN node may be filtered for each QoS flow to obtain information related to the traffic data per each QoS flow.

[0177] Also, for all gNBs, section 5.1.1.19.3 (physical network function (PNF) Power consumption) of 3GPP V.18.0 of TS 28.552 describes how to measure energy consumption of PNFs. Utilizing the obtained information related to the traffic data per QoS flow, the total traffic data, and the total power consumption, the power consumption per each QoS flow, i.e., "QoSflowpower”, may be estimated as equal to (QoS traffic flow*whole power consumption) I (total traffic flow).

[0178] Next, with the estimate "QoSflowpower” values, the "ServiceTypePower” may be estimated as previously described by summing the "QoSflowpower” value for each QoS flow that is included within a particular service to obtain the "ServiceTypePower” value for that service.

[0179] In cases in which the service operability level is determined by a function other than the MDAS, such as the SON of the QAM, such as SON 220 described previously, or the SON of the RAN node, such as SON 222 of RAN 204 described previously, then obtaining the information associated with the traffic sent and received at the RAN node may be performed by receiving the information from the MDAS of the QAM.

[0180] At 408, an amount of power available to the RAN node during a first time period is obtained. The amount of power may be obtained based on information received at 402. For example, if the information associated with the power system includes an amount of power predicted to be generated by the Rl during the first time period, as previously disclosed, then this data may the amount of power available to the RAN node that is obtained at 406.

[0181] Alternatively, the amount of power available to the RAN node during the first time period may be obtained by performing analytics utilizing the information associated with the powers system received at 402, and optionally the weather prediction data optionally received at 404, as inputs. The analytics may be performed by, for example, an analytics function 534, such as an MDAS or a NWDAF, in response to a request from as customer 502 as describe previously with reference to FIG. 5 in cases in which the customer 502 is not the MDAS of the QAM, i.e., the customer is an SON of the QAM or of the RAN node, or when the analytics are performed by the NWDAF, i.e., the customer is any of the MDAS, the SON of the QAM, or the SON of the RAN node.

[0182] In an example, the analytics related to the Rl of the power system may generate one or more of a power generation of the Rl, a performance ratio, an availability, and a level of criticality of the Rl. In an example, the analytics may take as input the following information associated with the power system received at 402 and the optional weather prediction data received at 404:

[0183] The output of this analytics related to the Rl may be derived in terms of predicted statistics on the generated power of Rl, performance ratio, availability, and level of criticality over different granularities that gNB is facing (or is expected to face) and the period of that. Example definitions of these predicted outputsmay be as follows:

[0184]

[0185] One example of the output of the analytics related to the Rl is as follows:

[0186] Analytics related to the EB may be performed to predict amount of power stored in the EB. The analytics may take as input the following information, which includes information associated with the power system received at 402, and may also include information related to the traffic sent and received from the network node, which may be obtained from as described previously with reference to 406.

[0187] The output of the analytics related to the EB may be expressed in terms of statistics on the stored power in the embedded battery over a period of time. The output power stored may be an indication of how much power will be stored in the battery at a given time based on the generated power of the Rl and power consumption of the network, or portion of the network powered by the Rl, in a specific time duration. One example of output from analytics related to the EB may be as follows:

[0188] At 410, a service operability level for the RAN node for the first time period is determined based on the information associated with traffic sent and received from the RAN node obtained at 406 and the amount of power available obtained at 408. The service operability level determined at 410 may include an indication of one or more suggested services to be provided and an indication of a first time period for which the suggested services are suggested to be provided. The service operability level may be one of a plurality of service operability levels and each correspondingly map to service characteristics, i.e., services to be provided, and may include durations or planning during which the RAN node can support that level of service.

[0189] The service operability level may be determined at 410 utilizing analytics to provide the service operability level.

[0190] The analytics may utilize as input the information associated with the power system received at 402, the optional weather prediction data optionally received at 404, the amount of power available obtained at 406, and the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period obtained at 408 to determine the service operability level. An example of the input to the analytics for determining the service operability level may be as follows:

[0191] The service operability level may a value indicating a level of service, and duration or planned for the indicated level of service, which may be times or days or periods during which the RAN node can support that indicated level of service. As described previously, the indication of the level of service may be any type of indication, including numbers, letters, words, and the like. One example of level of service outputs is as follows:

[0192] In the table above, the output is a list of possible levels given for the RAN node to choose or select from. The duration / planning information that is included for each level will apply to the level of services level that the RAN node chooses.

[0193] In some examples, the service operability level may provide a single target level with no planning information. In other examples, the list of possible service operability levels and associated meaning such as, for example, services and characteristics may be provided to the RAN node separately, via the OAM entity, separate from the service operability level such as, for example, upon the RAN node start up or configuration process.

[0194] At 412, the service operability level is provided for use by the RAN node to configure a service operability level of the RAN node during the first time period. In examples in which the service operability level is determined by a MDAS or SON of the OAM, then providing the service operability level may include transmitting the service operability level to the RAN node. In examples in which the service operability level is determined by a SON of the RAN node, the providing the service operability level may include utilizing the service operability level at the RAN node for selecting and configuring a service operability level of the RAN node by, for example, determining services to provide, and / or characteristics of the services provided. In some examples, the service operability level is provided by the RAN node to the core network, other RAN nodes, and / or a user equipment. In some examples, the services to provide, and / or characteristics of the services provided by the RAN node may be provided to the core network.

[0195] In some examples, the RAN node, upon receipt of the service operability level for the RAN node, may determine operations to be performed by the RAN node based on the service operability level for the RANnode for the first time period.

[0196] In some examples, a service operability level may also be determined for an apparatus hosting one or more network functions of the core network for the first time period based on power delivery related information associated with a power system of the apparatus and weather prediction information received from a server of a weather agency. The service operability level for the RAN node and the service operability level for the apparatus may be combined to obtain a combined service operability level which is referred to as "NETSCORE”.

[0197] Referring to FIG. 6, operations of a procedure in accordance with an example embodiment are shown in which the service operability level is generated at 604 by a "MnS Producer” 602, such as the MDAS of the OAM. The service operability level is then provided at 606 to an "MnS Consumer” 608, which may be for example a SON power saving function of the RAN Node 610, which may be similar to the SON 222 of the RAN node 204 described previously with reference to FIG. 2. The RAN node 610 then selects service operability level based on the service operability level and configures the services that it provides in accordance with the selected service operability level.

[0198] As disclosed previously, once the service operability level is determined, it may be utilized by the RAN node to configure the services that are provided by the RAN node. Referring to FIG. 7, a flowchart showing a method or process for utilizing a service operability level in accordance with one example is provided. The RAN node may be, for example, a gNB, a gNB-DU, a gnB-CU, or a cell associated with a gNB. The method or process may be performed by, for example, by the RAN node itself such as, for example, by a SON included at the RAN node, such as SON 222 described with reference to FIG. 2. The method or process may be performed by one or more processors of the RAN node, that execute computer-readable code stored in a non-transitory memory, the computer-readable code providing instructions to the one or more processor for performing the method or process.

[0199] Although the example method or process described below with reference to FIG. 7 relates to utilizing a service operability level by a RAN node, such as a gNB or a cell associated with a gNB, the method or process could be applied to utilizing a service operability level by any entity of a communication network such as, for example, any of the NFs of the core network 108 of the example communication system 100 described previously with reference to FIG. 1.

[0200] At 702, a service operability level is received at the RAN node. The service operability level may include an indication of one or more suggested services and an indication of a first time period for which the suggested services are suggested to be provided. The service operability level that is received at 702 may have been generated as described previously with reference to FIG. 4.

[0201] In examples in which the service operability level is generated at OAM, the service operability level may be received at the RAN node from a function of an OAM, such as a MDAS or SON which may be similar to the MDAS 218 and SON 220, respectively, of the example OAM 216 described previously with reference to FIG. 2. In examples in which the service operability level is generated at the RAN node, for example at aSON, similar to SON 222 describe previously with reference to FIG. 2, then receiving the service operability level at 702 may comprise predicting or generating the service operability level as describe previously.

[0202] At 704, the RAN node determines one or more services to be provided by the RAN node during the first time period. The determination at 704 is based on the service operability level received at 702. The determination at 704 may be performed by mapping the indication of the one or more suggested services included in the service operability level to one or more services of the RAN node to determine the one or more suggested services, then determining whether or not to configure itself to provide those one or more suggested services, and / or whether to provide services other than the one or more suggested services. In some cases the RAN node may configure itself to provide only services that map to the indication of the one or more suggested services included in the received service operability level during the first time period. In other cases, the RAN node may configure itself to not provide one or more of the services that map to the indication of the suggested one or more services and / or the RAN node may configure itself to provide one or more additional services that do not map to the indication of the one or more suggested services. In other cases, the RAN node may be provisioned separately to provide one or more services in relation to a service operability level, for example via OAM configuration.

[0203] At 706, the one or more services determined at 704 to be provided during the first time period are provided. Providing the one or more services 706 may comprise RAN node configuring itself, prior to or at the beginning of the first time period, to provide the one or more services determined at 704.

[0204] Optionally at 708, an indication of the determined one or more services being provided by the RAN node during the first time period are transmitted by the RAN node. The transmission at 708 may include potential actions to recommend based on the determined one or more services, as described in more detail below.

[0205] For example, the potential actions may be helpful for the core network of the communication network that includes the RAN node to maintain its current level of operability in the event that the determined one or more services being provided by the RAN node during the first time period comprise a reduction in services (or service parameter or performance) that were provided prior to the first time period, or for the core network to increase its level of operability in the event the determined one or more services being provided by the RAN node during the first time period comprise an increase in the services (or service parameter or performance) that were provided prior to the first time period.

[0206] Transmitting at 708 the potential actions may comprise the RAN node first determining the potential actions to recommend based on the determined one or more services to be provided during the first time period. In one example, the RAN node may associate a radio capacity level, in Gbps for example, to the determine one or more services to be provided during the first time period and, based on the radio capacity level, the RAN node can determine what adjustments should be made by the core network to the QoS targets of UEs connected to the RAN node to achieve its goal(s) of maintaining level of operability at the determined one or more services level and / or to extend its operability duration based the anticipated power available tothe RAN node during the first time period. In one example, the RAN node may determine a recommended reduction to the maximum bit rate (MBR) and / or to the aggregated MBR (AMBR) and / or recommend an increase to the packet delay budget (PDB) of one or more QoS flows or UEs of the RAN node to achieve these goals of maintaining level of operability at the determined on or more services level and / or to extend its operability duration based the anticipated power available to the RAN node during the first time period.

[0207] It may be desirable for the RAN node to estimate the proper adjustments itself, rather than by NFs included in the core network, because the RAN node may account for the radio conditions of the UEs connected to the RAN node, which radio conditions strongly influence the radio resources of the RAN node and, in turn, the power consumption of the RAN node.

[0208] According to one aspect, the transmission at 708 may be to related RAN nodes, which may utilize the indication of the determine one or more services to when making handover decisions during the first time period. Different RAN nodes may have different power supply characteristics, based on being powered by different power deliver systems, which power supply characteristics may vary over time as previously described, and it may be desirable for RAN nodes to receive a service operability level that indicating the actual services provided by the neighboring RAN node.

[0209] In the below description of these examples related to transmitting the determined one or more services, "service operability level” refers to an indication of the one or more services that are actually being provided by the RAN node, as set out at 706, and an indication of the first time period during which these one or more services are being provided, which may be different than the service operability level that indications the suggested one or more services that is received at 702.

[0210] The transmission of the determined one or more services to be provided during the first time period may be performed via an Xn interface between neighboring gNBs, for example.

[0211] In an example, a request may be received to share the determined one or services being provide. For example, a gNB1 may request another gNB2 to share its "service operability level” via the Data Collection Reporting procedure defined in Section 9.1.3.26 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 38. A new bit, "Service operability level", of the Report Characteristics for Data Collection parameter, or information element (IE) in the DATA COLLECTION REQUEST defined in Section 9.1.3.26 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 38.423 is may be included as follows, shown underlined and bolded.

[0212] If such bit is included in the DATA COLLECTION REQUEST message is set to "1" and the measurement object is admitted by gN B2, a new Service Operability Level IE may then be included as part of the DATA COLLECTION UPDATE described at Section 9.1.3.29 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS38.423.

[0213] Note that the "ENUMERATED” type (i.e., dark green, green, orange, red) in the above example is only an example and could be any other type of indicator that indicates the service operability level including an "INTEGER” type or a more complex data type with additional information as described previously.

[0214] Alternatively, or additionally, the RAN node may transmit an indication of its service operability level via N2 RAN CONFIGURATION TRANSFER as follows:

[0215] The level of operability may be transferred within or besides SON Configuration Transfer. For example, it may be transferred as a new Service Operability Level parameter or IE included as part of the UPLINK RAN CONFIGURATION TRANSFER message and / or SON Configuration Transfer IE described at sections 9.2.7.1 to 9.2.7.3 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS38.413, such as for example:9.2.7.1 UPLINK RAN CONFIGURATION TRANSFERThis message is sent by the NG-RAN node in order to transfer RAN configuration information. Direction: NG-RAN node to AMF9.27.2 DOWNLINK RAN CONFIGURATION TRANSFERThis message is sent by the AMF in order to transfer RAN configuration information.9.3.3.6 SON Configuration Transfer This IE contains the configuration information, used by e.g., SON functionality, and additionally includes the NG-RAN node identifier of the destination of this configuration information and the NG- RAN node identifier of the source of this information.

[0216] Additionally, or alternative to transmitting the service operability level to related RAN nodes, the RAN node may transmit at 708 the service operability level to functions of the core network to, for example, enable the core network to take action, either via the control plane (CP) or the user plane (UP), that impacts service delivery.

[0217] For example, AMF of the core network, such as the example, the AMF 112 of the communication network 100 describe previously, may utilize the service operability level of the RAN node in order to, for example, restrict or enable short messaging service (SMS) for UEs connected to the RAN node depending on whether SMS is being provided in the service operability level of the RAN node.

[0218] In another example, the SMF and UPF, such as the SMF 126 and UPF 128 of the example communication network 100 described previously, may utilize the service operability level of the RAN node in order to configure QoS flows at the RAN node accordingly.

[0219] When the RAN node reports its service operability levels for its associated cells, it is possible that could result in in the AMF and the SMF / UPF tracking any UE at the cell level, which would induce a lot of signaling. However, such additional signaling may be reduced if it is assumed that it is very likely neighboring cells have the same service operability level as the reported service operability level, and that signaling may be reduced if the AMF and SMF / UPF subscribe into RAN nodes only regarding changes of RAN service operability level for the UE (AMF) or for the PDU Session (SMF / UPF) and only for changes related with the values that are relevant to each function. For example, the AMF may subscribe to service operability level values that correspond to services that the AMF enables or disables such as, for example, PDU session UPand SMS, while the SMF / UPF subscribe to service operability level values corresponding to services that the SMF / UPF enable or disable, such as for example, the delivered QoS.

[0220] Referring to FIG. 8, operations of a procedure in accordance with an example embodiment that illustrates messaging between a UE 802, a RAN node 804, an AMF 806, a UPF 808, an SMF 810, a PCF 812, a UDM 814, and a CHF 816 to implement a control plane based solution to transmit a service operability level from the RAN node 804 via a control plane interface to the AMF 806.

[0221] The UE 802, RAN node 804, AMF 806, UPF 808, SMF 810, PCF 812, UDM 814, and CHF 816 may be substantially similar to the UE 102, the RAN node 106, the AMF 112, the UPF 128, the SMF 126, the PCF 124, the UDM 130, and CHF 110, respectively, of the example communication network described previously with reference to FIG. 1.

[0222] At 818, a determination of the one or more services to be provided by the RAN node during the first time period is made as described previously with reference to 704, and the determined one or more service are provided by the RAN node during the first time period. As noted previously, the determined one or more services to be provided by the RAN node during the first time period is referred to as the "service operability level” of the RAN node for the purposes of this description related to FIG. 8.

[0223] At 812, a PDU Session establishment procedure is performed in described in in section 4.3.2.2 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 23.502, in which the PCF 812 may (in step 1a) set a Policy Control Request Trigger(s) (PCRT) of session management (SM) Policy Association as defined in section 6.1.3.5 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 23.503 that is related with the service operability level, which may include the subscribing only to some subsets of service operability level changes at the RAN node. All subscriptions from the SMF 810 to the AMF 806, from the PCF 812 to the SMF 810, and from AMF 806 to the RAN node 804 related to the service operability level of the RAN node 804 may indicate that only certain changes to the service operability level are subscribed to. For example, only changes to the service operability level that result in changes to provision of certain services are subscribed to. For example, such subscription may indicate there no need to report changes when the service operability level of the RAN node remains above a certain value, e.g., above or equal to 4. This is due to the fact that different NF(s), e.g., the PCF 812, the SMF 810, and the AMF 806 only perform actions response to certain services being enable or disabled, which certain services may map to only certain values of the service operability level of the RAN, as described previously.

[0224] The SMF 810 may at step 1b of 820 subscribe to changes of the service operability level of the RAN node 804 for the corresponding PDU Session, using "Namf_EventExposure” message that subscribe to the service operability level for certain subscribed level changes, as described above.

[0225] At 822 the UE 802 sends an initial UE connection request to the RAN node 804. The RAN note 804 sends an NGAP INITIAL UE message, as defined in section 9.2.5.1 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 38.413 to the AMF 806 at 824. When sending the NGAP INITIAL UE message, the RAN node 804 may provide the current service operability level of the RAN node 804, which may be the transmitting at 708 of FIG. 7 described previously. The AMF 806 may use the information included in the service operability level of the RAN node804, as well as subscription data, to determine whether to accept the UE request to access to the network. The NGAP INITIAL UE message may contain a NAS message sent by the UE 802 at 822 to indicate the procedure the UE requests to run (Service Request, registration, PDU Session establishment, and the like).

[0226] It may be desirable for the AMF 606 to assess whether to accept the UE 802 request to access to the network because the AMF 606 has access to user subscription information that for some users, such as, for example, multimedia priority service (MPS) users, may be enabled to override the current RAN service operability level.

[0227] At 826, the AMF 806 may run NAS procedures such as Service Request, registration, PDU Session establishment, and the like per the NAS message received in at 824. This NAS procedure involve rejecting all or some parts of the UE's 802 request due to the current service operability level of the RAN node. For example, in a Service request the AMF 806 may reject the activation of the User Plane of some or of all PDU sessions requested by the UE 802. The AMF 806 may indicate to the UE 802 that the rejection is due to power efficiency constraint which related to the service operability level of the RAN node.

[0228] At 828, the AMF 806 may utilize NGAP INITIAL UE CONTEXT as defined in section 9.2.2.1 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 38.413 to subscribe to changes of the service operability level of the RAN node 804 for the corresponding UE 802, which may include subscribing only for some specific level changes.

[0229] Although the example shown in FIG. 8 shows an initial UE connection to the RAN node 804 at 822 and thus the RAN node 804 sends NGAP INITIAL UE message at 824 and the AMF 806 subscribes to changes of the service operability level in NGAP INITIAL UE CONTEXT at 828, if the access to the RAN node 804 is part of a handover, the sequence of messages in 822 to 828 is different as described below.

[0230] If the access to the RAN node 804 is a Xn Handover, i.e., a handover without involvement of the core network for the preparation phase, the target RAN node 804 may, when sending the NGAP PATH SWITCH request message to the AMF 806 as defined in section 9.2.3.8 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 38.413 provide the current service operability level of the RAN node 804. In that case the AMF 806 subscribes to changes of service operability level as described previously in NGAP PATH SWITCH response sent to the RAN node 804.

[0231] If the access to the RAN node 804 is a N2 Handover, i.e., handover with involvement of the core network for the preparation phase, the RAN node 804 may, when sending a NGAP HANDOVER REQUEST ACK message as defined in section 9.2.3.5 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 38.413 provide the current service operability level of the RAN node. In that case the AMF 806 subscribes to changes of the service operability level of the RAN node 804 in a NGAP HANDOVER REQUEST response sent to the RAN node 804.

[0232] At 830, 3GPP communication service delivery takes place.

[0233] At 832, a change of the service operability level of the RAN node 804 for the corresponding UE 802 that, in some examples, meets the trigger criteria for the AMF 806, and the RAN node 804 notifies the AMF 806 at 834. The change of the service operability level of the RAN node 804 for the UE 802 may be due to a change of the service operability level of the cell that includes the UE 802 or to an intra gNB inter cell mobility, i.e., to a cell with a different service operability level.

[0234] At 836, the AMF 806 may start restricting the service by, for example, deactivating the user plane of PDU sessions whose User Plane is not compatible with the new service operability level of the RAN node 804.

[0235] If the service operability level change indicated by the RAN node 804 maps to the SMF 810 subscription in step 1b of 802 the AMF 806 notifies the SMF 810 accordingly at 838. If the service operability level change indicated by the AMF 806 maps to the PCF 812 subscription in step 1a of 820 the SMF 810 may notify the PCF 812 accordingly at 840.

[0236] At 842, the PCF 812 may update its policies based on the service operability level change indicated by the SMF 810 at 840.

[0237] At 844, the SMF 844 may notify the CHF 816 with the new service operability level for the RAN node 804 for the PDU Session such that the CHF 816 may adjust the charging structure for the UE 802, as described in more detail below.

[0238] Referring to FIG. 9, operations of a procedure in accordance with an example embodiment that illustrates messaging between a UE 902, a RAN node 904, an AMF 906, a UPF 908, an SMF 910, a PCF 912, a UDM 914, and a CHF 916 to implement a user plane based solution to transmit a service operability level from the RAN node 904 via a user plane interface to the UPF 908.

[0239] The UE 902, RAN node 904, AMF 906, UPF 908, SMF 910, PCF 912, UDM 914, and CHF 916 may be substantially similar to the UE 102, the RAN node 106, the AMF 112, the UPF 128, the SMF 126, the PCF 124, the UDM 130, and CHF 110, respectively, of the example communication network described previously with reference to FIG. 1.

[0240] At 918, a determination of the one or more services to be provided by the RAN node during the first time period is made as described previously with reference to 704, and the determined one or more service are provided by the RAN node during the first time period. As noted previously, the determined one or more services to be provided by the RAN node during the first time period is referred to as the "service operability level” of the RAN node for the purposes of this description related to FIG. 9.

[0241] Similar to 820 described previously with reference to FIG. 8, as part of the PDU Session establishment procedure (not shown) defined in section 4.3.2.2 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 23.502, based on for example, the data network name (DNN), the single network slice selection assistance information (s-NSSAI), the user category, the subscribed services, or whether the UE 902 is entitled to benefit from MPS, the PCF 912 may provide QoS policies based on the service operability level. This may include the PCF 912 at 920 setting a PCRT of the session management (SM) Policy Association as defined in section 6.1.3.5 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 23.503 that is related with the service operability level, which may include the subscribing only to some subsets of service operability level changes at the RAN node 904.

[0242] At 922, the SMF 910 configures the UPF 908 over N4 with QoS policies related with service operability level of the RAN node 904.

[0243] At 924, when creating or modifying PDU session resource according to section 9.2.1.1 - PDUSESSION RESOURCE SETUP REQUEST and section 9.2.1 .5 - PDU SESSION RESOURCE MODIFY REQUEST of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 38.413 the SMF 910 may request the RAN node 904 to notify the service operability level over GTP-u.

[0244] At 926, the RAN node 904 provides the service operability level of the RAN node 904 through a general packet radio service tunnelling protocol uplink (GTP-U) header to the UPF 908. The service operability level may be sent at 926 in uplink (UL) traffic to the UPF 908.

[0245] Based on QoS policies related with the service operability level of the RAN node 904, the UPF 908 may change, for example, the session maximum Bit Rate (MBR) at 928.

[0246] If the SMF 910 has configured the UPF 908 to report usage, such as data traffic figures, per service operability level, the SMF 910 sends the service operability level information together with traffic usage figures to charging system via the CHF 916 at 930.

[0247] At 932, charging adaption may be performed by the CHF 916. Charging impacts associated with the service operability level are described in more detail below.

[0248] If a service operability level change is indicated by the RAN node 904 via the UPF 908 that maps to the PCF 912 subscription at 920 the SMF 910 notifies the PCF912 accordingly at 934.

[0249] At 936, policy related actions are taken by PCF912, which may be similar to the actions described previously with reference to 842 of FIG. 8.

[0250] As referred to in the descriptions reference 844 and 932 of FIGS. 8 and 9 respectively, the service operability level of the RAN node may be providing to a CHF, such as the CHF 110 of the example communication network 100, by the SMF in order to adapt the charging that is applied based on the service operability level that is implemented by the RAN node, or other network functions.

[0251] There can be several options to be considered for adapting the charging including, for example: Optionl : the UE is charged more when the service operability level for the RAN node is low or limited; and Option 2: provide some rewards to the UEs which are currently in an area of a RAN node that has a service operability level that is low or limited, such as cheaper data subscription when the UE are out of the area of the RAN node.

[0252] In order to enable the reporting of power delivery system and type of RAN node serving the UE in Charging Data Requests CDRs), and use this information, for example, for session management policy configuration or UPF selection, new information elements in may be added to the PCC rules sent by a PCF, such as PCF 124 described previously with reference to FIG. 1, to a SMF, such as SMF 126 described previously with reference to FIG. 1, in the charging data request message content set out in table 6.3.1 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 23.503, which is reproduced below with the new information shown bolded and underlined. SMF can receive new PCRT (Policy Control Request Triggers, which may be added to section 6.1.3.5 in 3GPP V.18.0 TS 23.503 from the PCF, e.g., to report "Servicing gNB power delivery system” and "service operability level” for the PDU sessions information accordingly over Npcf / N7 to the PCF. Then the "Servicing gNB power delivery system” and "service operability level” information can be added to the Charging DataRequest as below.

[0253] The Charging Data Response returned will then contain the rating group (RG) that shall be applied to the PDU Session, based on the provided Servicing gNB power delivery system and / or service operability level. RG calculation can be based on, for example, 1 -to-1 mapping with the Servicing gNB power delivery system and / or Network service operability level, or on other calculation.

[0254] This approach avoids the CHF having to request and / or subscribe to each Servicing gNB its power delivery system or Network service operability level in the system for scalability. However, if the Servicing gNB power delivery system or service operability level is not provided in the Charging Data Request, the CHF may retrieve this information autonomously such as from, for example, a network data analytics function (NWDAF).

[0255] The charging event can be triggered by the SMF on the following new conditions related to the service operability level (shown in bold and underline) in the reproduced table 5.2.4.1 of 3GPP V.18.0 TS 32.255:

[0256] The chargeable events and SMF actions are described in table (5.2.1.4.2) of 3GPP V.18.0 TS32.255, with the new chargeable events related to the service operability level of the RAN node shown in bold and underlined.

[0257] Finally, the optional transmitting at 708 may include transmitting the determined one or more services to the UEs connected to the RAN node.

[0258] In an example, information transmitted to the to the UEs by the RAN node which indicates the cell service operability level(s) provided by the RAN node, or the cell of the RAN node that the UE is connected to, on a per-service (or on per-service type basis or on per device type basis). The information can alternatively or additionally be provided per radio access technology (RAT) (or per cell per RAT) if the base station controls multiple RATs, or even for the network in the area. The information can also include a calendar of the expected service operability level(s) in the future such as, over the next 24 hour period. The UE may determine whether and when it accesses the network and / or request a certain service from a cell / RAT based on the information. The UE behavior based on the service operability level(s) may be as specified in specifications that the UE is configured with and / or may be configured in additional information provided with the service operability level, and / or may be defined by the operator in a universal subscriber identify module (USIM) that is under the operator's control.

[0259] The information that is transmitted to the UEs can be a composite index related to several factors such as the power price, power availability or constraints (at local base station level or grid level), carbon footprint, renewal availability and cell / base station load, and, in one example, the information can include the predicted service operability level probability that is generated using, for example, the method described with reference to FIG. 4, which is based on for example a prediction of power production and expected cell load.

[0260] For certain service operability level values, the corresponding UE action(s) can be mandatory while for other values it can be up to the UE implementation. For example, the UE-own decisions can be taken if the service operability level value is 'greener' or 'green' but mandatory behavior if the service operability level values are 'orange' or 'red'.

[0261] In one example, the UE can be configured by the network and / or operator (e.g. in USIM or subscription, UE category, etc.), or locally by the application / user to comply with (or ignore - for MPS / MCS devices for example) the mandatory actions for one or more specific service operability values. Such possible,recommended, or mandatory UE actions can be provided as part of the information provided with the service operability level.

[0262] In one example, the following UE actions can be taken based on the service operability level value:• Deferring a service request if service operability level value is lower that a threshold (e.g. orange) by for example, setting the logical channel priority (LCP) to zero for a particular uplink logical channel (LC);• Pre-fetching video streaming, or social media, etc. or uploading video content when the service operability level value is higher that a first threshold (e.g. green); and• Pre-fetching navigation maps content when the service operability value is higher that a second threshold (e.g. greener).

[0263] An example of UE actions based on the service operability level value is shown in the following table:

[0264] In one example, the UE may scale or bias the service operability level value based on its radio conditions or mobility status. For example, if configured and if the UE is in good radio quality, and in turn it would consume little resources and power, the UE can increase the service operability level value by, for example, + 1 . Vice-versa, if the UE is in poor radio quality, the UE can decrease the service operability level value by, for example, - 1 . Scale or bias configuration rules may be written in the specifications of the UE or provided by the network and / or by operator in the USIM. In one example, the Public Safety UEs may have a different bias than commercial UEs, so that more traffic is allowed by public safety UEs during periods in which the service operability level values are lower.

[0265] The UE may predict or acquire prediction of the service operability level calendar, and a confidence level corresponding to that prediction, for the future based on past service operability level values. The prediction could be especially beneficial if there is no calendar provided by the network. This calendar may be provided by the network, a third party, and / or may be generated locally by the UE based on the serviceoperability levels previously received by the UE. The UE may further use additional information for the prediction such as weather predictions if it determines that service operability level values are correlated with weather in terms of wind or sun power.

[0266] The service operability level and related information may be broadcast in system information, in system information type 1 (SI B1) or in another system information block (SIB) such as, for example, dedicated SIB or on-demand SIB. In addition, the service operability level and related information can be provided via dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or downlink control information (DCI). This messaging may also include the neighboring cell's service operability level amd related information.

[0267] Referring to FIG. 10, a schematic diagram illustrating various physical and logical components of an exemplary apparatus 1000 for an SON, MDAS, RAN node, or any other network function disclosed to perform any of the methods previously described herein in accordance with an embodiment is shown. Although an example embodiment of the apparatus 1000 is shown and discussed below, other embodiments may be used to implement examples disclosed herein, which may include components different from those shown. Although FIG. 10 shows a single instance of each component of the apparatus 1000, there may be multiple instances of each component shown.

[0268] The apparatus 1000 includes one or more processors 1002, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a dedicated logic circuitry, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a tensor processing unit, a neural processing unit, a dedicated artificial intelligence processing unit, a hardware accelerator, or any other suitable hardware processing circuitry, or combinations thereof. The one or more processors 1002 may collectively be referred to as a processor 1002.

[0269] The apparatus 1000 also includes one or more memories 1004 (collectively referred to as "memory 1004"), which may include a volatile or non-volatile memory (e.g., a flash memory, a random-access memory (RAM), and / or a read-only memory (ROM)). The non-transitory memory 1004 may store instructions for execution by the processor 1002. In some embodiments, instructions 1006 of an SON, MDAS, RAN node, or any other network function disclosed to perform any of the methods previously described herein, may be stored in the memory 1004, and the instructions 1006 may be executed by the processor 1002 to perform the actions or operations of the methods or processes described herein. In examples such functionality may be incorporated as a software module in the form of instructions 1006 stored in the memory 1004 that are executable by the processor 1002 to perform the functions of any of the SON, MDAS, RAN node, or any other network function disclosed to perform any of the methods previously described herein.

[0270] The apparatus 1000 may also include one or more network interfaces 1008 for connecting to a network, such as a data network, or other apparatuses of the core network or the access networks described herein.

[0271] The apparatus 1000 may optionally include a user input 1010 for receiving input from a user of theapparatus 1000 and a display 1012.

[0272] In some examples, the apparatus 1000 may also include one or more electronic storage units (not shown), such as a solid state drive, a hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive and / or an optical disk drive. In some examples, one or more datasets and / or modules may be provided by an external memory (e.g., an external drive in wired or wireless communication with the apparatus 1000) or may be provided by a transitory or non-transitory computer-readable medium. Examples of non-transitory computer readable media include a RAM, a ROM, an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, a CD-ROM, or other portable memory storage. The storage units and / or external memory may be used in conjunction with memory 1004 to implement data storage, retrieval, and caching functions of the apparatus 1000.

[0273] The components of the apparatus 1000 may communicate with each other via a bus. In some embodiments, the apparatus 1200 may be a processing system implementing functionality of the SON, MDAS, RAN node, or any other network function disclosed to perform any of the methods previously described herein. In some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 may be distributed computing system and may include multiple computing devices in communication with each other over a data network, as well as optionally one or more additional components. The various operations described herein may be performed by different computing devices of a distributed computing system in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the apparatus 1000 a cloud computing system or may be a virtual machine provided by a cloud computing system.

[0274] Embodiments of the present invention including functions, processes, and operations, may be implemented in software, hardware, application logic or a combination of software, hardware and application logic. The software, application logic and / or hardware may reside on memory, or any computer media. In an example embodiment, the application logic, software or an instruction set is maintained on any one of various conventional computer-readable media. In the context of this application, a "memory” or "computer-readable medium” may be any non-transitory media or means that contains, stores, communicates, propagates or transports the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer.

[0275] Reference to, where relevant, "computer-readable medium”, "computer program product”, "tangibly embodied computer program” etc., or a "processor” or "processing circuitry” etc. should be understood to encompass not only computers having differing architectures such as single / multi-processor architectures and sequencers / parallel architectures, but also specialized circuits such as field programmable gate arrays FPGA, application specify circuits ASIC, signal processing devices / apparatus and other devices / apparatus. References to computer program, instructions, code etc. should be understood to express software for a programmable processor firmware such as the programmable content of a hardware device / apparatus as instructions for a processor or configured or configuration settings for a fixed function device / apparatus, gate array, programmable logic device / apparatus, etc.

[0276] As used in the present disclosure, the term "circuitry”, for example in the hardware processing circuitry that may be used to implement the IVE or the CHF in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure, may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable): (I) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / fi rmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (ill) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in the present disclosure, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0277] The present disclosure provides methods and apparatuses for predicting a service operability level for a RAN node, or another network function. The service operability level includes an indication of one or more services that are suggested to be provided, and an indication of a time period that the suggested one or more suggested services is suggested to be provided. The service operability level is determined based on data associated with a predicted amount of power available to be delivered to the RAN node or network function during the time period, information associated with the traffic. The present disclosure also provides methos and apparatuses for a RAN node to receive the predicted service operability level, determine one or more services to provide during the time period based on the received predicted service operability level, and provide those determined one or more services during the time period, and optionally transmit an indication of the one or more services that are provided during time period.

[0278] The functions, processes, and operations described herein may be performed in a different order, or may be performed concurrently with each other, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, one or more of the functions, processes, and operations may be optional or may be combined. It will be appreciated that the flow diagrams shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 7 and the operations illustrated in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 8, and FIG. 9 are examples only. Various operations and processes depicted therein may be omitted, may be reordered, may be combined, or a combination of reordered and combined.

[0279] Advantageously, the present disclosure enables changing the level services provided by a RAN node, or other network function, based on the predicted amount of power available. This may be particularly advantageous for RAN nodes, and other network functions, that are powered, at least partially, by offgrid power systems such as, for example, offgrid power systems that include renewable power sources such aswind, solar, or hydroelectric sources, and / or that include embedded batteries.

[0280] The scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.

Claims

Claims1 . A method of an entity of a communication network, the method comprising: obtaining a predicted amount of power available to be delivered by a power system to power a radio access network (RAN) node during a first time period; obtaining information associated with traffic that is predicted to be communicated by the RAN node between a user equipment and a core network of the communication network during the first time period; determining, based on the predicted amount of power during the first time period and the information associated with traffic to be communicated by the RAN node during the first time period, a service operability level for the RAN node for the first time period; and providing the service operability level for the RAN node for the first time period for use in determining a subset of services of the communication network that the RAN node is to provide during the first time period, wherein the RAN node is capable of providing a set of services of the communication network, the set of services comprising the subset of services.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the entity is disposed in the RAN node or in an operations and maintenance system of the communication network.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the predicted amount power comprises: receiving information associated with the power system that is delivering power to the RAN node, wherein information associated with the power system comprises information indicative of a type of power system, wherein the information indicative of the type of power system comprises an ongrid power system, an offgrid power system, or a battery power system; and determining the predicted amount of power based on the information associated with the power system that is delivering power to the RAN node.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the information associated with traffic communicated by the RAN node between a user equipment and a core network of the communication network comprises information indicative of an amount of traffic to be communicated by the RAN node and information indicative of a characteristic of the traffic.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the power delivery related information indicates the power source is offgrid, the power delivery related information includes one or more of: information indicative of a type of power source of the power system, information indicative of one or more times of scheduled maintenance or disruptions of the offgrid power system,information indicative of an amount of power generated by the offgrid power system, a performance ratio of the offgrid power system, or alarms associated with the offgrid power system.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising receiving weather prediction data, and wherein obtaining the amount of power available to the RAN node during the first time period comprises determining the amount of power level available to the RAN node during the first time period based on the weather prediction data and the power delivery related information for the offgrid power source.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein, when the information associated with the power system indicates the power system includes battery, the power delivery related information includes an indication of a state of charge of the battery, and obtaining the amount of power available to the RAN node during the first time period comprises determining an amount of power stored in the battery based on the information indicating the state of charge of the battery.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information associated with the power system indicates the amount of power the power system is able to deliver to the RAN node during the first time period.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period comprises obtaining one or more of: total amount of traffic sent and received by the RAN node, characteristics of the traffic sent and received by the RAN node, amount of traffic sent and received by the RAN node per quality of service (QoS) flow, power consumption by the RAN node based on amount of traffic and characteristics of traffic sent and received by the RAN node, or alarms associated with the communication network.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period comprises predicting an amount of traffic and characteristics of the traffic to be sent and received by the RAN node during the first time period.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the information comprises receiving the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node from the RAN node.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node is received in response to transmitting a request to the RAN node for the information associated with traffic sent and received by the RAN node, wherein the request includes one or more of: a type of network information to report, a target network entity that is requested to provide the network information, a time window for network information requested to be provided, or control parameters to be used by the network entity when providing the requested network information.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is performed by a management data analytics service (MDAS) function or a distributed self-organizing network (SON) power saving function included in an operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) of the communication network, or in a SON power saving function included in the RAN node.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the service operability level comprises outputting the service operability level to the RAN node.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the service operability level includes an indication of one or more services of the RAN node that are suggested to be provided and an indication of the first time period for which the one or more services are suggested to be provided.

16. A method for a radio access network (RAN) node of a communication network, the method comprising: receiving a service operability level for the RAN node that includes an indication of one or more suggested services of the communication network that are to be provided by RAN node and an indication of a first time period for which the suggested services are suggested to be provided by the RAN node; determining, based on the service operability level for the RAN node, one or more services of the communication to be provided by the RAN node during the first time period; and providing the determined one or more services of the communication network during the first time period.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the service operability level is received from a management data analytics service (MDAS) function or a distributed self-organizing network (SON) power saving function included in an operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) function of the communication network.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising transmitting an indication of the determined one or more services to one or more of: an access and mobility management function (AMF); a user plane function (UPF) of the communication network; one or more other RAN nodes of the communication network for use in making handover decisions between the RAN node and the one or more other RAN nodes during the first time period; or one or more UEs connected to the RAN node.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein transmitting the indication of the determined one or more services to the AMF or the UPF comprises transmitting preferring actions to be taken during the first time period based on the determined one or more services.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein transmitting the indication of the determined one or more services to the one or more UEs comprises transmitting preferred actions to be taken by the one or more UEs during the first time period based on the determined one or more services.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein transmitting the determined one or more services to the one or more UEs comprises: receiving a service operability level of a core network function of the communication network; determining a composite service operability level based on the received service operability level of the core network function and the determined one or more services; and transmitting the composite network service operability level to the one or more UEs.

22. A method of a user equipment of a communication network comprising: receiving from a radio access network (RAN) node of the communication network a network service operability level; and performing an action in response to the received network service operability level.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising receiving a set of actions that are required or are not allowed for each of a plurality of network service operability levels, wherein: performing an action in response to the received network service operability level comprises: determining, based on the received set of actions, actions that are not allowed for the received network service operability level and configuring the UE not to perform those determined actions that are not allowed.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the actions include in the set of actions include prefetching data and deferring requests for data.

25. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; at least one memory storing instructions of an entity of a communication network, wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 15.

26. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; at least one memory storing instructions of radio access network (RAN) node, wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 16 to 21.

27. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; at least one memory storing instructions of a user equipment (UE), wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 22 to 24.

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