Method, device and system for solution-agnostic provisioning requests of communication services

Abstract

Method, apparatus and system for provisioning communication services. According to an embodiment, a network node receives from a communication service provider, a service provisioning request message, the service provisioning request message containing service requirements to be fulfilled by the mobile network operator; it selects, from a list of network solutions, a network solution to provide the requested service based on the received service requirements, where the list of network solutions includes network slicing and at least another network solution; if the selected network solution is network slicing, it determines the network slicing service requirements based on the service requirements indicated in the received service provisioning request, and generates a request message for network slicing provisioning, this message containing the determined network slicing service requirements; otherwise, the network node generates a request message for provisioning said network solution, this message containing the service requirements to be fulfilled by said network solution.

Description

METHOD, DEVICE AND SYSTEM FOR SOLUTION-AGNOSTIC PROVISIONING REQUESTS OF COMMUNICATION SERVICESTechnical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, systems and computer readable medium for allowing the request of communication services in a solution-agnostic way.Background

[0002] This section introduces aspects that may facilitate better understanding of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.

[0003] 5G mobile communication technology has been designed from its inception to help boost the digital transformation of vertical industries (i.e., industry sectors aiming at becoming fully digital, such as manufacturing, smart cities, transportation, or agriculture). The direct involvement of these industries and their specific needs within the 5G technology ecosystem implies the emergence of a new wave of use cases, with very different requirements in terms of performance (e.g., throughput, latency, and reliability) and functionality (e.g., mobility, security, service continuity support). This entails a great challenge, considering that a single 5 G infrastructure should be able to satisfy diverging (even conflicting) requirements, potentially at the same time. This is where the network slicing concept fits in.

[0004] Network slicing is a 5G enabled solution that allows splitting a network infrastructure into a set of logical network partitions, each designed (in terms of resources, topology, functions, and configuration) to satisfy a specific set of service requirements. These partitions, referred to as network slices, can be executed in parallel but need to be operated in isolation from each other. This means that despite running on a common (shared) infrastructure, network slices require separate (independent) management.

[0005] Network slicing is considered a mandatory feature for 5G since 3GPP Rel-15, and has evolved a lot since then, with new capabilities and use case-driven enhancements incorporated over the different releases.

[0006] The 3GPP SA5 group specifies model-based solutions for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to automatically provide services, such that service requirements from served use cases / customers are met. In this aim, an MNO can play two roles:Communication Service Provider (CSP), which is responsible for providing communication services to enrolled customers. The CSP is focused on the management of requested services (ensuring their requirements can be fulfilled and assured) and customer relationship (onboarding, charging, ticketing, etc.).Network Operator (NOP), which is responsible for managing 5G network resources, and combining them to deliver network solutions (e.g., mobile VPN, network slicing, DNN provisioning). These solutions aim to provide individual CSP services with necessary capacity and functionality, while making an efficient resource usage.

[0007] Current 3GPP SA5 technical specifications lack the necessary abstraction for CSPs to effectively request service requirements and fail to offer sufficient flexibility for network operators to meet those service requirements.Summary

[0008] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0009] One of the objects of the disclosure is to provide an improved solution for provisioning communication services in 5G networks. This proposal aims to surpass the limitations of current technical specifications where communication services can only be provisioned in 5G networks today with one network solution: network slicing. That is, according to current 3 GPP SA5 group technical specifications, network slicing is the only solution that NOP can use to fulfill requirements of CSP communication services. This prevents the NOP from considering alternative solutions, potentially more suitable than network slicing, to meet service requirements based on the actual network conditions.

[0010] In particular, one of the problems to be solved by the disclosure may be how to allow to request 5G communications services in a technology-agnostic way. Another problem solved may be how to ensure that the mobile network operator has sufficient flexibility todecide the network solution to deliver the requested communication service or, in other words, how to ensure that the MNO has means to decide network solutions other than network slicing to deliver the requested communication service, because network slicing may not be the most appropriate network solution for such communication service.

[0011] The proposed solution has, among others, the following advantages over the prior art:• For the system requesting the fulfilment of service requirements, for example, a CSP system (e.g., Service Orchestrator, Business Support System BSS) that requests a communication service in a 5G network, there is no need to have knowledge on the network solutions managed by the NOP, such as network slicing. The requesting system only needs to focus on issuing service requirements, without the need to include solution-specific information (e.g., network slicing attributes) that prescribes how these requirements need to get fulfilled; the fulfilment decision is left to the system providing the NOP managed network solutions, for example the 3 GPP management system. The 3GPP management system is a NOP system.• By receiving service requirements without solution-specific information, the 3 GPP management system shall now implement mechanisms to derive which NOP managed network solution and associated attributes fulfil those requirements. The mechanisms used for achieving this is at vendor discretion, leaving room for innovation and differentiation. For example, Service / Slice Type, SST, attribute is a network slicing attribute; with this information now absent in the service requirements sent in the consumer request, the 3 GPP management system shall now derive the SST value based on the other sent requirements (together with operator internal policies).• 3 GPP management system can attract more consumers. The portfolio of consumers, which is currently limited to slicing-aware requesting systems, can be extended with new requesting systems that either do not understand slicing or do not want to tie their services to the slicing solution. Examples of these new consumers can be verticals’ systems. This enriched portfolio may promote 3GPP management system as single entry -point for service requests coming from the MNO or 3rdparties.• Thanks to the proposed solution, the system delivering the requested service can choose the most appropriate network solution to meet the service requirements, fromvarious perspectives. This approach avoids relying always on the same network solution (network slicing), which may not always be the optimal choice.

[0012] According to a first aspect of the disclosure, a method for provisioning communication services in 5G networks is provided, the method being implemented by a mobile network operator node (a network operator device) and comprising: the network node receiving, from a communication service provider node, a service provisioning request message, the service provisioning request message containing service requirements to be fulfilled by the service provided by the mobile network operator; the network node selecting, from a list of network solutions, one or more network solutions to provide the requested service based on the received service requirements, where the list of network solutions includes network slicing and at least another network solution; if a selected network solution is network slicing, the network node determining network slicing service requirements based on service requirements indicated in the received service provisioning request, and generating a request message for network slicing provisioning, this message containing the determined network slicing service requirements; if a selected network solution is other than network slicing, the network node generating a request message for provisioning said network solution, this message containing the service requirements to be fulfilled by said network solution.

[0013] In an embodiment the service requirements in the service provisioning request message may be included in a ServiceProfile data type and the network slicing service requirements are included in a SliceProfile data type.

[0014] In an embodiment, determining network slicing service requirements may comprise calculating value of attributes included in a SliceProfile data type from a value of attributes in a ServiceProfile data type.

[0015] In an embodiment, the SliceProfile data type may comprise a Slice / Service Type, SST, attribute and the ServiceProfile data type included in the service provisioning request message may not comprise a value for a Slice Service Type, SST, attribute and, wherein, determining network slicing service requirements may comprise at least calculating the value of the SST attribute based on the service requirements included in the ServiceProfile data type.

[0016] In an embodiment, the ServiceProfile data type included in the service provisioning request message may include no slice-specific information. Specifically, the ServiceProfile data type included in the service provisioning request message may not comprise a value for a plmnlnfoList attribute, identifying a network slice.

[0017] In an embodiment, the generated request message for provisioning network slicing may be a Network Slice Subnet Instance, NSSI, provisioning request.

[0018] In an embodiment, the list of network solutions may include, besides network slicing, at least one of the following network solutions: a mobile Virtual Private Network (VPN), a Non-Public network, a Non-Terrestrial Network, Data Networking Name (DNN) provisioning.

[0019] In an embodiment, the node of the mobile network operator may be part of the management system of the network operator, for example, it may be a 3 GPP management system node.

[0020] In an embodiment, the node of the mobile network operator may be performing a Network Solution Management Function.

[0021] In an embodiment, the service provisioning request message is received from a node of a communication service provider performing a Service Management Function.

[0022] According to a second aspect of the disclosure, a network node (a network device) of a mobile network operator for provisioning communication services in 5G networks is provided. The node comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory containing instructions executable by the at least one processor, whereby the node is operative to: receive, from a communication service provider, a service provisioning request message, the service provisioning request message containing service requirements to be fulfilled by the mobile network operator; select, from a list of network solutions, one or more network solutions to provide the requested service based on the received service requirements, where the list of network solutions includes network slicing and at least another network solution; if a selected network solution is network slicing, determine the network slicing service requirements to be fulfilled by the network slicing based on the service requirements indicated in the received service provisioning request, and generate a request message for network slicing provisioning, this message containing the determined networkslicing service requirements; if a selected network solution is other than network slicing, generate a request message for provisioning said network solution, this message containing the service requirements to be fulfilled by said network solution.

[0023] In an embodiment, the network node is operative to perform any of the above stated methods.

[0024] According to a third aspect of the disclosure, a system for provisioning communication services in 5G networks is provided. The system being configured to: receive, from a communication service provider, a service provisioning request message, the service provisioning request message containing service requirements to be fulfilled by a mobile network operator; select, from a list of network solutions, one or more network solutions to provide the requested service based on the received service requirements, where the list of network solutions includes network slicing and at least another network solution; if a selected network solution is network slicing, determine the network slicing service requirements to be fulfilled by the network slicing based on the service requirements indicated in the received service provisioning request, and generate a request message for network slicing provisioning, this message containing the determined network slicing service requirements; if a selected network solution is other than network slicing, generate a request message for provisioning said network solution, this message containing the service requirements to be fulfilled by said network solution.

[0025] According to a fourth aspect of the disclosure, it is provided a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to carry out any of the above stated methods.

[0026] According to a fifth aspect of the disclosure, it is provided a carrier containing the computer program, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer-readable medium.

[0027] According to a sixth aspect of the disclosure, it is provided a computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to carry out any of the above stated methods.Brief Description of the Drawings

[0028] These and other objects, features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which are to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

[0029] FIG. l is a schematic block diagram illustrating communication service provisioning in the landscape of relevant forums and Standard Development Organizations (SDOs).

[0030] FIG. 2 shows a schematic block diagram and workflow illustrating how nowadays a service provisioning request is handled by a 3GPP management system, when this system provides network slicing management capabilities, according to the prior art.

[0031] FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram and workflow illustrating how a service request is handled by a 3GPP management system, when this system provides network slicing management capabilities, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] FIG. 5 shows a schematic block diagram of a network node which implements the method according with an embodiment of the present disclosure.Detailed Description

[0034] For the purpose of explanation, details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments disclosed. It is apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that the embodiments may be implemented without these specific details or with an equivalent arrangement.

[0035] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0036] Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and / or isimplied from the context in which it is used. All references to a / an / the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and / or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

[0037] Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present disclosure should be or are in any single embodiment of the disclosure. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the disclosure.

[0038] The term “based on” is to be read as “based at least in part on”. The term “one embodiment” and “an embodiment” are to be read as “at least one embodiment”. The term “another embodiment” is to be read as “at least one other embodiment”. Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below. The term “one or more elements” used is to be read as “only one element” or “a plurality of elements”. The term “at least element” used is to be read as “only one element” or “more than one element”.

[0039] As mentioned previously, 3 GPP SA5 group technical specifications (for example, 3GPP TS 28.530, “Management and orchestration; Concepts, use cases and requirements”) elaborates on the different roles that are relevant for 5G networks and network slicing management. Among them, two stand out: Communication Service Provider (CSP) and Network Operator (NOP).

[0040] For the CSP role, clause 4.8 of TS 28.530 provides this definition: “Provides communication services. Designs, builds, and operates its communication services” and states “CSP provided communication service can be built with or without network slices”. For the NOP role, clause 4.8 of TS 28.530 provides this definition: “Designs, builds and operates networks and provides related services, including network services and network slices”. Finally, considering the provider-consumer relationship existing between the NOP and CSP roles, it can be noted that a CSP should be able to engage with one or more NOPs, each supporting a collection of network solutions.

[0041] From these and other assertions of this 3GPP SA5 technical specification, the following conclusions or principles can be drawn about the provision of services in 5G mobile communications:1. A communication service is a manageable construction in the realm of CSP.2. There is no mandate to provision a communication service using a network slice. This means that other network solutions can be used for this end.3. Network slicing is just an example of network solutions that a NOP can build; actually, other network solutions can exist. The specific set of network solutions that a NOP can support depends on the actual capabilities (technology, infrastructure, etc.) of the network(s) managed by this NOP.4. For a given communication service that requires to be provisioned, the CSP will be able to select which NOP(s) participate, and what service requirements each participant NOP will fulfil. The selection criteria (e.g., cost, reliability, resiliency) is on CSP’s discretion.5. For a set of service requirements that need to get fulfilled, a NOP will be able to select which network solution(s) are used to fulfil them. The selection criteria (e.g., energy efficiency, resource usage, management complexity) is on NOP’s discretion.

[0042] However, in the practical implementation of service provisioning in 5G networks (as per the relevant technical specifications), the previously stated principles regarding service provisioning in 5G networks are not fulfilled. In other words, the principles presented above concerning the roles and functions of the service-requesting entity (e.g., CSP) and the service-providing entity (e.g., NOP) are inconsistent with the practical implementation of these entities (according to other 3GPP technical specifications), as explained below.

[0043] There does not exist a 3GPP SA5 technical specification which details an information model that represents the management properties of a communication service. The existing information models (e.g. Generic NRM, 5G NRM, Edge NRM) represent the management properties of mobile network resources to provide a requested communication service.; however, these resources are in the realm of NOP, and therefore outside the scope of CSP, contradicting principle 1.

[0044] Principle 2 claims that communication service and network slice concepts can be decoupled, and do not need to always go together. However, the reality in 3 GPP SA5 technical specifications is different, with multiple references of this anchoring for example on TS 28.530 (“Management and orchestration; Concepts, use cases and requirements), TS 28.541 (“Management and orchestration; 5G Network Resource Model (NRM); Stage 2 and 3”) and TS 28.536 (“Management services for communication service assurance; Stage 2 and 3”).

[0045] In relation to principle 2, TS 28.530 illustrates how multiple communication services can be realized with different network slices (clause 4.1.3). However, the specification does not have another clause that reports how communication services can be implemented with network solutions other than slicing. Or for example, it explicitly notes that different types of communication services may include different network slice related requirements (clause 4.1.4). In addition, it defines two alternative models for a CSP to offer communication services, with both models assuming the usage of network slicing (clause 4.1.6); even in the CSP model called “Network Slice as a Service”, the concepts of communication service and network slices are intertwined, as it notes that the CSP offering (communication service) is actually a network slice.

[0046] As mentioned previously, network slicing is a network solution available in NOP domain for provisioning communication services, so the 3 GPP management system, which is specified and maintained by 3 GPP SA5, includes network slicing management. Among all the Information Object Classes (IOCS) and data types that conform the framework for network slicing management, according to 3GPP SA5 technical specifications (see for example 3 GPP TS 28.541), the following ones are relevant:Networkslice IOC (TS 28.541, clause 6.3.1), which represents the management properties of a NSI (Network Slice Instance).NetworkSliceSubnet IOC (TS 28.541, clause 6.3.2), which represents the management properties of an NSSI (Network Slice Subnet Instance).ServiceProfile data type (TS 28.541, clause 6.3.3), which represents the service requirements that should be supported by an NSI. This data type is used as input for an NSI allocation procedure.SliceProfile data type (TS 28.541, clause 6.3.4), which represents the service requirements that should be supported by an NSSI. This data type is used as input for an NSSI allocation procedure. An NSSI can be an end-to-end NSSI, radio access NSSI (RAN-NSSI) or core network NSSI (CN-NSSI).NetworkSliceController IOC (TS 28.541, clause 6.3.39), which represents the controller responsible for controlling the lifecycle of an NSI, allowing for async support.

[0047] On the other hand, 3 GPP SA5 also specified normative management services (MnS) for network slicing provisioning (see for example, 3GPP TS 28.531, “Management and orchestration; Provisioning”). These MnS provide capabilities to manage the lifecycle of individual NSIs (and constituent resources), from their commissioning to their decommissioning, with all the stages in between. Clause 7 of TS 28.531 describes the use cases for network slicing provisioning, which are the result of applying operations over the IOCS and data types. For example, Clause 7.1 specifies the workflow solution for NSI allocation, where the entity requesting a network slice (referred as to Slicing Prov MnS consumer) asks the entity providing a network slice ( Slicing Prov MnS producer) to provision a NSI able to fulfil the service requirements captured with ServiceProfile. This request may be issued using one of the following two operations: allocateNsi operation (Remote Procedure Call, RPC-style); or createMOI operation (Create Read Update and Delete, CRUD-style), with Managed Object Instance (MOI) associated to NetworkSliceController. The selected operation depends on which operations are supported on producer side and the preferences on consumer side.

[0048] Also in relation to principle 2, TS 28.541 specifies the framework for network slicing management. In this technical specification, the only construction that captures service- related requirements, and therefore could be closest to representing the concept of communication service, is ServiceProfile. However, multiple aspects prevent this aspiration:For example, ServiceProfile belongs to Network Slice NRM fragment. This makes it a construction in the realm of NOP.ServiceProfile contains slice-specific attributes that are mandatory. These attributes are inherited / mirrored from the Generic Slice Template (GST), specified and maintained by the GSM Association (GSMA). This makes ServiceProfile a slice- aware data type.ServiceProfile can only be contained by a Networkslice IOC, making ServiceProfile a construction rooted / anchored to network slice.ServiceProfile cannot be referenced by more than one Networkslice instance. This is not compliant with the ability to build a communication service with one or more network slices (see clause 4.1.3 in TS 28.530), making ServiceProfile an invalid construction to represent communication service-related requirements.

[0049] Also in relation to principle 2, TS 28.536 details a solution for communication service assurance, based on the usage of closed control loop. However, the solution reuses constructions from Network Slice NRM fragment, thus showing again the intertwining.

[0050] Maybe the most important contradictory issue is that network slicing is a mandatory feature in 5G since Rel-15, as documented in TS 23.501. This means that every traffic flow in 5G shall be associated to a network slice (a communication service is a collection of traffic flows). In other words, network slicing is the only solution that NOP can use in 5G to fulfil requirements of CSP communication services. This is in misalignment with principle 3 (which notes that NOP offering includes-but is it not limited to- network slicing), principle 4 (as there is a limited differentiation across NOPs, impacting CSP’s ability to select NOPs) and principle 5 (since the NOP has no flexibility / freedom to select alternative, and usually more convenient, network solutions to fulfil received service requirements).

[0051] CSP systems may need to communicate with systems other than 3GPP management system. In the context of 3GPP, it is assumed that communication services are provisioned always with 3GPP networks. However, the CSP offering may not be limited to these wireless- only services (aka “3GPP communication services”). As seen in Figure 1, other communication services can also be part of the CSP offering. Furthermore, the CSP can use these communication services and combine them with Information / Operation Technology (IT / OT) applications to define new communication services. CSP communication servicesare realized with NOP managed network solutions that span one or more network domains (e.g., Radio Access Network, Core Network, Transport Network, Data Network). These solutions are managed by NOP using domain-specific systems, each typically specified by a different SDO (e.g, 3GPP, O-RAN, IETF, BBF, ETSI F5G, etc ).

[0052] The TM Forum defines an architectural blueprint called Open Digital Architecture (ODA), which aims to help CSP structure their systems and catalogue their service offerings. CSP system may include service orchestration and Business Support System (BSS) tools for managing communication services and customer relationships.

[0053] According to TMF ODA, it is required that management systems at lower layers hide complexity and solution details to management systems at the upper layers, to facilitate scalability and maintain separation of concerns. This means that domain-specific systems available in the NOP shall provide abstraction to the CSP system, such that the latter focus on service requirements, without worrying on how they get fulfilled.

[0054] The 3GPP management system offers Managements Service (MnSs) to operate over IOCS and data types defined in the different Network Resource Models (NRMs). This means that when becoming MnS consumer, the CSP system shall then understand the IOCs and data types accessible from this MnS. To comply with TMF ODA on abstraction, it is required that these IOCs and data types include domain-agnostic details.

[0055] However, following current 3GPP SA5 technical specifications, the CSP system shall become a network slice MnS consumer, so that communication services are delivered using network slicing. The CSP system issues an NSI allocation request, with ServiceProfile expressing input requirements. As seen in table 1, ServiceProfile includes attributes representing slicing-specific information (marked with * symbol). Therefore, the CSP system needs to be slicing-aware.Table 1 : Service Profile attributes. (TS 28.541, clause 6.3.3.1). The * symbol specifies the attributes that capture slice specific information.

[0056] To gain a clearer understanding of the current operation of the procedure for provisioning a communications service, it will be schematically explained now, with the aid of Figure 2, how the 3GPP management system handles this provisioning, relying exclusively on network slicing as the sole solution. Currently in the specification, ServiceProfile is a data type that contains the service requirements to be fulfilled with a network slice. ServiceProfilemay be issued by a Service Management Function 211( performed for example by the CSP system) to a Network Slice Management Function 212(performed for example, by the 3 GPP management system in the NOP); therefore, the Service Management Function needs to be slicing-aware.

[0057] According to the prior art, the procedure will comprise the following steps or tasks:- An NSI provisioning request 201 is sent by a requesting entity 211 towards a receiving entity 212. This request 201 asks for the provisioning of a NSI fulfilling the service requirements specified in ServiceProfile, which is included as input parameter in the request (as specified in TS 28.531, clause 7.1).- The requesting entity 211 may be a node in the CSP system performing a Service Management Function. This entity also acts as a Slicing Prov MnS consumer, since it is requesting a network slice able to fulfil the specified service requirements.- The receiving entity 212 may be a node in the 3GPP management system performing a Network Slicing Management Function. This entity also acts as Slicing Prov MnS Producer, since it will be providing aNSI fulfilling the specified service requirements.- Upon capturing the NSI provisioning request 201, the entity performing the Network Slice Management Function 212 translates the service requirements related to a NSI into the service requirements related to an end-to-end NS SI, by mapping ServiceProfile attributes into SliceProfile attributes. This ServiceProfile-to- SliceProfile mapping 202 is direct and automatic, as there is 1 : 1 relationship between a NSI and an end-to-end NS SI.- After this mapping, the entity performing the Network Slice Management Function 202 sends a NSSI provisioning request 203 to a receiving entity 213. This request asks for the provisioning of an end-to-end NSSI fulfilling the service requirements specified in SliceProfile, which is included as input parameters in the request, as specified in TS 28.531, clause 7.2. The sending entity 202 also acts as a Slicing Prov MnS consumer, since it is requesting a NSSI fulfilling the specified service requirements.- The receiving entity 213 may be a node in the 3 GPP management system performing a Network Slicing Subnet Management Function. This entity also acts as Slicing Prov MnS Producer, as it is providing a NSSI fulfilling the specified service requirements.- Upon capturing the NSSI provisioning request 203, the entity performing the Network Slice Subnet Management Function 213 reads the SliceProfile attributes andprocesses how they can get fulfilled, for example, via other domain-specific network slice subnets 204, e.g. RAN-NSSI, CN-NSSI , via configuring impacted gNB nodes 205, via provisioning Network Functions of the 5G Core, 5GC NFs 206, etc.

[0058] Consequently, a problem to be solved in the prior art implementation (presented above) is that, to provide communication services in 5G networks, the system requesting for such provisioning (the CSP system) needs to understand details on network slicing; these details are captured in the slicing-specific attributes contained in the service request, and more specifically ServiceProfile data type. This slicing-awareness on CSP system side violates the TMF ODA defined principle on abstraction. Therefore, it is needed an alternative technical arrangement for the provision of communication services which solves this prior art problems.

[0059] In order to solve this problem, the present embodiments propose technical modifications so that the CSP system can send solution-agnostic provisioning requests to the 3GPP management system. Analogously, modifications may be introduced therefore in the 3 GPP SA5 technical specifications, for example in the Network Slice NRM fragment (3 GPP TS 28.541, clause 6) such that 3 GPP management system can comply with ODA principle on abstraction.

[0060] To allow this solution-agnostic provisioning request, the service requirements contained in this request must not contain attributes representing solution-specific information. In other words, these requirements must be stated without using any slicespecific attributes as it happens now.

[0061] As explained above, in an embodiment, as a ServiceProfile data type is used to capture the service requirements, according to the proposed solution the ServiceProfile data type should be a solution-agnostic data type. This may be based on ensuring that mandatory attributes of ServiceProfile are slicing-agnostic or, in other words, on ensuring slice-specific attributes of ServiceProfile are always optional. This gives the possibility for the CSP system to become consumer of 3 GPP management system, even when the CSP system does not understand slicing semantics.

[0062] As shown in table 1, currently there are eight (8) attributes in the ServiceProfile data type that capture slice-specific information. These attributes are arranged into two groups.

[0063] The first group is formed of those attributes with support qualifier set to “O (Optional)”, i.e. attributes that can be absent in ServiceProfile. These attributes are six: “networkSliceSharinglndicator”, “dlThputPerSlice”, “ulThputPerSlice”,“sliceSimultaneousUse”, “nssaaSupport”, “sliceAvailability”. This means that it is not required for Service Management Function (in CSP system) to provide them as input requirements when issuing a provisioning request to Network Slice Management Function (in 3 GPP management system).

[0064] The second group includes those attributes with support qualifier set to “M (Mandatory)”, i.e. attributes that must be present in ServiceProfile. These attributes are two:“sST”, which expresses the Slice / Service Type parameter (SST) associated to the service requirements. Standardized SST values can be eMB, uRLLC, MIoT, V2X, and HMTC (see clause 5.15.2 of TS 23.501). “ssT” attribute is writable, which means that Service Management Function (acting as Slicing Prov MnS consumer) must provide it as input requirement when issuing the NSI provisioning request.“plmnlnfoList”, which is an array of tuples {PLMN ID, S-NSSAI}, each univocally identifying a network slice. This attribute is set by the Network Slice Management Function (acting as Slicing Prov MnS producer), by first generating the S-NSSAI (Single-Network Slice Selection Assistance Information) and then appending it to the PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network) ID; the S-NSSAI is formed based on the “sST” value provided by the Service Management Function. “plmnlnfoList” attribute is readable, which means that Service Management Function must be able to interpret it.

[0065] As seen, the second group of attributes force the Service Management Function to be slicing-aware. According to an embodiment of the invention, it is proposed to remove this mandate, by changing the support qualifier of both attributes from “M (Mandatory)” to “O (Optional)”. In other words, the ServiceProfile data type may not include any attribute representing slicing-specific information.

[0066] Hence, it is possible that the Service Management Function does not provide “sST” value in the input service requirements. Without this information, the Network Slice Management Function is not able to generate S-NSSAI, and therefore is not able to set the value for “plmnlnfoList”. Without “plmnlnfoList” value, 3GPP management system is notable to configure network resources from NG-RAN and 5GC accordingly. Therefore, if the “sST” attribute is not provided by the Service Management Function, it is needed that “sST” attribute is included somewhere. And considering that this attribute represents slice-specific information, the most appropriate place may be the SliceProfile data type.

[0067] So, according to an embodiment of this disclosure, it is proposed to enrich the SliceProfile data type, by adding a “sST” attribute with the following properties: support qualifier = M (mandatory), isReadable = T (True), isWritable = T (True), islnvariant = F (False), isNotifyable = T (True).

[0068] Moreover, since the entity in the CSP system sending the provision request (Service Management Function) may not specify “sST” attribute as input service requirements in the ServiceProfile data type, but this attribute shall be present in the SliceProfile data type. Then, in an embodiment, it is proposed that the entity in the 3GPP management system receiving the provisioning request will be responsible for determining the SST value. Specifically, this entity shall have the capability to determine the SST value based on received ServiceProfile, and write this SST value to SliceProfile. It is therefore proposed to add a new requirement in the corresponding technical specification TS 28.531 to reflect on this new capability for the 3GPP management system.

[0069] To be consistent with these changes in data types ServiceProfile and SliceProfile, the definitions of these data types in the technical specifications should also be amended.

[0070] For example, the definition of the ServiceProfile data type (which can be found in TS 28.541, clause 6.3.3.1) is as follows: ’’This data type represents the properties of the network slice related requirements that should be supported by a Networkslice instance in a 5G network. The network slice related requirements apply to a one-to-one relationship between a Network Slice Customer (NSC) and a Network Slice Provider (NSP). A network slice can be tailored based on the specific requirements adhered to an SLA agreed between NSC and NSP, see clause 2 of

[0050] , An NSP may add additional requirements not directly derived from SLA’s, associated to the NSP internal [business] goals. The GST defined by GSMA (see

[0050] ) and the service performance requirements defined in 3GPP TS 22.261

[0028] and TS 22.104

[0051] are all considered as input for the network slice related requirements”.

[0071] As seen, the description is quiet tied to network slicing. The aim of the amendment may be to simplify the data type definition, focusing now on what it represents (servicerequirements) instead of the actual underlying network solution (network slice instance). A possible definition for the ServiceProfile that aligns with the changes proposed by the present embodiments would be the following (this is only a non-limitative example): “This data type represents the properties of the communication service requirements in a 5G network. The GST defined by GSMA (see

[0050] ) and the service performance requirements defined in 3GPP TS 22.261

[0028] and TS 22.104

[0051] are all considered as input for the network slice related requirements”.

[0072] The definition of the SliceProfile data type should be amended as well. The current definition (which can be found in TS 28.541, clause 6.3.4.1) is as follows: “This data type represents the properties of network slice subnet related requirement that should be supported by the NetworkSliceSubnet instance in a 5G network.” The aim of the amendment may be to make SliceProfile a datatype able to capture service requirements with necessary slicing information, regardless of whether this information represents requirements applicable to an end-to-end NSSI or to domain-specific NSSIs; this is consistent with the recursion property captured in the network slicing NRM fragment, whereby a network slice subnet can be composed of other network slice subnets. A possible definition that aligns with the changes proposed by the present embodiments would be the following (this is only a non-limitative example): “This data type represents the properties of network slicing related requirements in a 5G network”.

[0073] With the new definitions, SliceProfile represents slicing-specific information (valuable for NOP), while ServiceProfile represents slicing-agnostic information (valuable for CSP).

[0074] To gain a clearer understanding of the operation of the proposed procedure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it will be schematically explained now, with the aid of Figure 3, the procedure for provisioning a communication service and how the 3GPP management system handles this provisioning according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0075] In the proposed embodiments, ServiceProfile is made a data type that contains service requirements that can be fulfilled with any of the NOP managed network solutions. It is at the NOP discretion to decide which network solution (e.g., slicing or other network solution) is best to fulfil the service requirements captured in ServiceProfile. In an embodiment, thelogic implementing this decision-making may be hosted by Network Solution Management Function 312. The Network Solution Management Function is an entity in 3GPP management system that acts now as entry point for Service Management Function 311. In this proposed solution, ServiceProfile is issued by a Service Management Function 311 to a Network Solution Management Function 312, which uses the implemented logic to decide whether using network slicing or other NOP managed network solution to fulfill the service requirements; therefore, the Service Management Function does not need to be slicing-aware, and in general, solution-aware.

[0076] According to an embodiment, the procedure will comprise the following steps or tasks (this is only a non-limitative embodiment, and the procedure according to other embodiments may not comprise all the steps or comprise different steps):- A service provisioning request 301 is sent by a requesting entity 311. This request 301 asks for the provisioning of a network solution (among the ones that the operator supports) fulfilling the service requirements. In this embodiment, the service requirements are specified in the ServiceProfile, which is included as input parameter in the request.- The requesting entity 311 may be a network node of the CSP system performing a Service Management Function. This entity also acts as a Prov MnS Consumer, since it is requesting the NOP to provision a network solution able to fulfil the specified service requirements, without prescribing which specific network solution should be.- The receiving entity 312 may be a node in the 3 GPP management system of the NOP, performing the Network Solution Management Function. This entity also acts as acting as a Prov MnS Producer, since it will be providing a NOP managed network solution able to fulfil the specified service requirements.- Upon capturing the service provisioning request 301, the entity performing Network Solution Management Function 312 analyzes the request and determines 302 which network solution is best to fulfill the service requirements (in this embodiment included in a ServiceProfile data type). The selected network solution can be network slicing 303 or other 305. In addition to the obvious criterion — ensuring that the selected network solution can meet the requested service requirements — this decision can also take into account other factors such as resource consumption, complexity, business criteria etc.- If the entity performing the Network Solution Management Function 312 determines that slicing is the best solution to fulfill the service requirements, then the NetworkSolution Management Function translates the service requirements into network slicing requirements, by mapping ServiceProfile attributes into SliceProfile attributes. As the ServiceProfile may not include slice-specific attributes, this mapping 303 is not a direct mapping (contrary to the prior art where the slice information was included in the ServiceProfile received); instead, this mapping incorporates the capability of the entity performing the Network Solution Management Function 312 to ascertain the values of SliceProfile attribures (and specifically the SST value of the SliceProfile) based on the service requirements provided by the Service Management Function 311 in the ServiceProfile (in an embodiment, based also on other operator internal policies).- After this mapping, the entity performing the Network Solution Management Function 311 sends a network slicing provisioning request 304 to a receiving entity 313. This request 304) asks for the provisioning of an end-to-end NSSI fulfilling the network slicing requirements specified in SliceProfile, which is included as input parameters in the request, as specified in TS 28.531, clause 7.2.- The sending entity 312 acts as a Slicing Prov MnS consumer, since it is requesting a NSSI fulfilling the specified network slicing requirements.- The receiving entity 313 may be a node in the 3GPP management system, performing the Network Slice Subnet Management Function. This entity also acts as Slicing Prov MnS producer, since it will be providing an NSSI fulfilling the specified service requirements.- Upon capturing the NSSI provisioning request, the entity 313 performing the Network Slice Subnet Management Function reads the SliceProfile attributes and processes how they can get fulfilled, for example, via other domain-specific network slice subnets 306, via configuring impacted gNB nodes 307, via provisioning Network Functions of the 5G Core Network, 5GC NFs 308, etc- If the entity performing the Network Solution Management Function 312 determines that a network solution other than network slicing (<solution #i>) is the best solution to fulfill the service requirements, then this entity sends a provisioning request 05) asking for the provisioning of the <solution #i>.- The sending entity 312 acts as <solution #i> Prov MnS consumer.- The receiving entity 314 may be a node in the 3GPP management system performing the <solution #i> management function, taking necessary actions (for example, sending the necessary messages) to provision the network solution identified with <solution #i>. This entity also acts as <solution #i> Prov MnS producer..

[0077] Summarizing, in the prior art, the entity sending a provisioning request is a Slicing Prov MnS consumer (i.e., needs to be slicing-aware), whereas the entity receiving such provisioning request is a Slicing Prov MnS producer. The receiving entity always fulfil the service requirements specified in ServiceProfile with the use of network slicing. However, in the present proposed solution explained above, the entity sending a provisioning request is a Prov MnS consumer, whereas the entity receiving such provisioning request is a Prov MnS producer. The receiving entity can decide which network solution is best for fulfilling the service requirements specified in ServiceProfile, and act accordingly. If the selected network solution is slicing, then this entity becomes Slicing Prov MnS consumer, generates a SliceProfile (based on the slice-agnostic information included in the ServiceProfile and other operator internal policies) and sends it to the target Slicing Prov MnS producer. If the selected network solution is <solution #i>, then this entity becomes <solution #i> Prov MnS consumer and sends the appropriate provisioning request to the target <solution #i> Prov MnS producer.

[0078] The procedure described above has been explained with reference to an exemplary technical implementation. Now, a general procedure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be outlined with the help of Figure 4.- A mobile network operator node receives 401, for example from a Service Management Function, a service provisioning request message, the service provisioning request message containing service requirements to be fulfilled by the mobile network operator;- The MNO node processes the service requirements and selects 402, from a list of network solutions, according to one or more selection criteria, a network solution to provide the requested service based on the received service requirements; it can select only one network solution or more than one (for example, if the network operator wants to combine the slicing with another solution.- If a selected network solution is network slicing, the network slicing service requirements are determined 403 based on the service requirements indicated in the received service request, and a request message is generated 404 for network slicing provisioning. This message contains the determined network slicing service requirements.- If a selected network solution is other than network slicing (for example, a mobile VPN, a Non-Public network, a Non-Terrestrial Network, DNN provisioning or any other), a request message is generated 405 for provisioning said network solution, this message containing the service requirements to be fulfilled by said network solution.

[0079] In general, the various exemplary embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the disclosure is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.In an embodiment (Figure 5), the procedure may be implemented by a network node 511 comprising at least one memory 512 containing instructions executable by at least one processor 513, making the network node operative to perform the tasks of the methods proposed by the present disclosure.

[0080] As such, it should be appreciated that at least some aspects of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit chips and modules. It should thus be appreciated that the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may be realized in an apparatus that is embodied as an integrated circuit, where the integrated circuit may comprise circuitry (as well as possibly firmware) for embodying at least one or more of a data processor, a digital signal processor, baseband circuitry and radio frequency circuitry that are configurable so as to operate in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

[0081] It should be appreciated that at least some aspects of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure may be embodied in computer-executable instructions, such as in one or more program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types when executed by a processor ina computer or other device. The computer executable instructions may be stored on a computer readable medium such as a hard disk, optical disk, removable storage media, solid state memory, RAM, etc. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the function of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments. In addition, the function may be embodied in whole or in part in firmware or hardware equivalents such as integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and the like.

[0082] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment” and so on, indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to implement such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0083] It should be understood that, although the terms “first”, “second” and so on may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the disclosure. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms.

[0084] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes” and / or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof. The terms “connect”, “connects”, “connecting” and / or “connected” used herein cover the direct and / or indirect connection between two elements. It should be noted that two blocks shown in succession in the above figures may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

[0085] The present disclosure includes any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein either explicitly or any generalization thereof. Various modifications and adaptations to the foregoing exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, any and all modifications will still fall within the scope of the non-Limiting and exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

Claims

- 26 -Claims1. A method for provisioning communication services in 5G networks, the method being implemented by a mobile network operator node (312) and comprising: receiving (301, 401), from a communication service provider (311), a service provisioning request message, the service provisioning request message containing service requirements to be fulfilled by the mobile network operator; selecting (302, 402), from a list of network solutions, a network solution to provide the requested service based on the received service requirements, where the list of network solutions includes network slicing and at least another network solution; if a selected network solution is network slicing, determining network slicing service requirements based on service requirements indicated in the received service provisioning request (303, 403), and generating a request message (304, 404) for network slicing provisioning, this message containing the determined network slicing service requirements; if a selected network solution is other than network slicing, generating a request message (305, 405) for provisioning said network solution, this message containing service requirements to be fulfilled by said network solution.

2. A method according to claim 1 where the service requirements in the service provisioning request message are included in a ServiceProfile data type.

3. A method according to claim 2 where the network slicing service requirements are included in a SliceProfile data type.

4. A method according to any of the claims 1-3 where determining network slicing service requirements comprises calculating value of attributes included in a SliceProfile data type from a value of attributes in a ServiceProfile data type.

5. A method according to any of the claims 3 or 4 where the SliceProfile data type includes a Slice / Service Type, SST, attribute and the ServiceProfile data type in the service provisioning request message does not comprise a value for a Slice Service Type, SST, attribute and, wherein, determining network slicing service requirements comprises at least calculating the value of the SST attribute based on the service requirements included in the ServiceProfile data type.

6. A method according to any of the claims 2 to 5, where the ServiceProfile data type included in the service provisioning request message lacks any slice-specific information.

7. A method according to any of the claims 2 to 6 where the ServiceProfile data type included in the service provisioning request message lacks a value for a plmnlnfoList attribute, identifying a network slice.

8. A method according to any of the previous claims where the generated request message for provisioning network slicing is a Network Slice Subnet Instance, NSSI, provisioning request.

9. A method according to any of the previous claims where the list of network solutions includes, besides network slicing, at least one of the following network solutions: a mobile VPN, a Non-Public network, a Non-Terrestrial Network, DNN provisioning.

10. A method according to any of the previous claims where the mobile network operator node (312) is part of the management system of the network operator.

11. A method according to any of the previous claims where the mobile network operator node (312) is performing a network solution Management Function.

12. A method according to any of the previous claims where the service provisioning request message is received from a node of the communication service provider (311) performing a service Management Function.

13. A network node (312, 511) of a mobile network operator for provisioning communication services in 5G networks, the node comprising: at least one processor (513); and at least one memory (512), the at least one memory containing instructions executable by the at least one processor (513), whereby the node is operative to: receive (301, 401), from a communication service provider (311), a service provisioning request message, the service provisioning request message containing service requirements to be fulfilled by the mobile network operator;select (302, 402), from a list of network solutions, a network solution to provide the requested service based on the received service requirements, where the list of network solutions includes network slicing and at least another network solution; if a selected network solution is network slicing, determine network slicing service requirements to be fulfilled by the network slicing based on service requirements indicated in the received service provisioning request (303, 403), and generate a request message (304, 404) for network slicing provisioning, this message containing the determined network slicing service requirements; if a selected network solution is other than network slicing, generate a request message (305, 405) for provisioning said network solution, this message containing service requirements to be fulfilled by said network solution.

14. The network node of claim 13, wherein the network node is operative to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 12.

15. A system for provisioning communication services in 5G networks, the system being configured to: receive (301, 401), from a communication service provider (311), a service provisioning request message, the service provisioning request message containing service requirements to be fulfilled by a mobile network operator; select (302, 402), from a list of network solutions, a network solution to provide the requested service based on the received service requirements, where the list of network solutions includes network slicing and at least another network solution; if a selected network solution is network slicing, determine network slicing service requirements to be fulfilled by the network slicing based on service requirements indicated in the received service provisioning request (303, 403), and generate a request message (304, 404) for network slicing provisioning, this message containing the determined network slicing service requirements; if a selected network solution is other than network slicing, generate a request message (305, 405) for provisioning said network solution, this message containing service requirements to be fulfilled by said network solution.

16. A computer program, comprising instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to carry out the method according to any of claims 1-12.

17. A carrier containing the computer program according to claim 16, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer-readable medium.

18. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to carry out the method according to any of claims 1-12.

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