Admission Control Function for 5G Core Network Resource Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Service providers face challenges in managing the quantity of User Equipment (UEs) communicating with their resources, particularly in scenarios where resources are overloaded, undergoing maintenance, or unreachable, leading to inefficient use of network resources.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of admission control techniques within the 5G core network, allowing service providers to communicate with core network elements to limit and manage the number of UEs that can communicate with their services, by selectively establishing or denying communication sessions based on predefined criteria.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If admission control is implemented to limit the quantity of UEs communicating with service provider resources, then network resource efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional control mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an Admission Control Function (ACF) as an intermediary component within the core network that mediates between UEs seeking to communicate and service provider resources. The ACF receives communication requests, evaluates them against predefined criteria (such as resource availability, service level agreements, and network conditions), and makes admission decisions. This intermediary approach improves network resource efficiency by preventing overload while keeping the complexity localized to a dedicated control function rather than distributing it across all network elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary admission control evaluations before establishing communication sessions. By assessing resource availability and meeting criteria in advance, the network prevents wasted resource allocation on sessions that would ultimately be rejected. This preliminary action reduces overall network resource consumption and improves efficiency, as resources are only committed to sessions that have already been validated against admission criteria.
2Ease of operation
If communication session establishment is allowed without admission control, then ease of operation is improved, but network resource waste increases due to rejected sessions after establishment
Solution Approach 1:
The Admission Control Function performs preliminary evaluations of communication requests against predefined criteria before sessions are established. This advance assessment ensures that only sessions meeting resource availability and service requirements are admitted, preventing the waste of network resources on sessions that would be rejected after establishment. The process maintains operational simplicity by integrating this preliminary check into the existing session establishment workflow.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the ACF provides admission decisions back to the session management functions. This feedback loop allows the network to continuously monitor resource usage patterns and adjust admission criteria dynamically, optimizing the balance between ease of operation and resource efficiency. The feedback mechanism enables the network to learn from past decisions and improve resource allocation over time.
Data Source
AI summary
A system described herein may receive a request to establish a communication session between a core network and a User Equipment (“UE”), determine that the requested communication session is associated with one or more admission control options and receive, from the UE, a selection of a particular admission control option of the one or more admission control options. The system may identify one or more actions associated with the particular admission control option. The one or more actions include rejecting the request to establish the communication session, or accepting the request to establish the communication session. The system may perform the one or more identified actions associated with the particular admission control option. The system may include an interface between an Access and Mobility Management Function (“AMF”) of the core network and a Network Slice Access Control Function (“NSACF”) of the core network.