Blockchain Smart Contracts for Roaming Agreement Automation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current roaming agreements between wireless communication networks are complex, time-consuming to establish, and difficult to modify, requiring significant efforts from both home and visited network operators, and often do not cover standardized services like SGi-LAN deployments, which limits the functionality and resource management in visited networks.
Innovation Solution
Implementing blockchain-based smart contracts to manage user equipment resource tracking, allowing for the migration of virtual network functions (VNFs) between home and visited networks, enabling simplified provisioning and charging through network slicing, and using a charging proxy to track resource usage on the blockchain.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional roaming agreements are used between wireless communication networks, then service coverage is extended to visited networks, but the complexity of negotiation and management increases substantially
Solution Approach 1:
A blockchain-based smart contract system is introduced as an intermediary between home and visited networks. The smart contract automatically manages roaming agreements, service provisioning, and charging without requiring complex manual negotiations. The blockchain ledger provides transparent and immutable recording of all interactions, simplifying the management complexity while maintaining service coverage.
2Adaptability or versatility
If traditional roaming agreements are established between networks, then users can access visited networks, but the time required to establish and modify agreements increases
Solution Approach 1:
Roaming agreements are pre-configured as smart contracts on the blockchain with standardized terms for network access, resource usage, and charging. When a user roams to a visited network, the smart contract is automatically activated without requiring time-consuming negotiations. Modifications to agreement terms can be efficiently updated on the blockchain, reducing the time required to establish and modify agreements while maintaining network access capability.
3Productivity
If blockchain-based smart contracts are implemented for resource tracking, then resource management and charging efficiency are enhanced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The blockchain-based smart contract system performs multiple functions simultaneously: it tracks resource usage, manages charging, provisions services, and records interactions between home and visited networks. This multi-functional approach enhances charging efficiency and resource management while avoiding the need for separate complex systems for each function, thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
A device to implement a method of managing user equipment resource tracking in a visited network using blockchain based smart contracts. The method is implemented by the device in a home network of the user equipment. The method includes receiving notification from the visited network of the user equipment connection request, installing a smart contract for the user equipment into a blockchain, and reporting an identifier for the smart contract to the visited network to enable recording of resource usage of the user equipment to the blockchain and association with the smart contract.