Distributed Ledger Service Level Confirmation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current 5G technologies face challenges in managing network slicing and mobile edge computing architectures across different network operators, particularly in ensuring service level agreements (SLAs) are met and audited, due to lack of trust and compliance issues among network providers.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of distributed ledgers, specifically using Hyperledger Fabric, to create temporal audit trails and enhance contracts with asynchronous pi-calculus and labeled transition systems, enabling irrefutable evidence of service level performance and enforcement through symmetric asset exchanges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If distributed ledgers are implemented to track service levels across autonomous network systems, then reliability and trustworthiness of service level confirmation is improved, but device complexity and implementation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a distributed ledger as an intermediary mechanism between autonomous network systems to establish trust and confirm service levels. The ledger acts as a neutral mediator that all parties can verify against, eliminating the need for mutual trust between competing network operators while providing immutable audit trails for service level agreements.
Solution Approach 2:
The distributed ledger system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it tracks service levels, provides audit trails, enables dispute resolution, and confirms billing accuracy. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise require separate systems into a single universal platform that handles all aspects of inter-operator service level verification.
2Ease of operation
If manual auditing and trust verification processes are used among network operators, then ease of operation is maintained, but loss of time and productivity decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automated self-verification where network operators can independently query the distributed ledger to confirm service levels and billing accuracy without requiring manual intervention from counterparties. Each operator has direct access to verify the state of service level agreements, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual auditing processes while maintaining operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The distributed ledger provides real-time feedback on service level compliance by maintaining an immutable record of all transactions and service deliveries. This immediate feedback mechanism allows operators to verify service levels instantly rather than waiting for periodic manual audits, significantly reducing verification time while keeping the system easy to operate through standardized query interfaces.
3Device complexity
If traditional centralized auditing systems are used, then device complexity is minimized, but reliability and transparency of service level tracking deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the centralized auditing authority into multiple distributed nodes across different network operators. Instead of relying on a single centralized system that could be compromised or biased, the auditing function is distributed across multiple independent participants, each maintaining a copy of the ledger. This segmentation enhances reliability through decentralization while preserving transparency as all participants can verify the same data.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges the auditing functions of multiple autonomous network operators into a single distributed ledger infrastructure. By combining their verification capabilities and shared interests in accurate service level tracking, the operators create a more reliable system than any individual operator could achieve alone, while the unified ledger maintains simplicity in its core data structure and verification protocols.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques to using distributed ledgers to confirm service levels in a network routing are disclosed. Communications networks are virtualized thereby enabling software-defined networking (SDN). An SDN scheduler or allocator makes use of routing techniques where the state of the network is persisted in a form of storage that all nodes are in consensus is accurate. In one example, the SDN scheduler may generate a temporal audit trail of service level agreements (SLAs) over a network path that includes different intermediate autonomous systems from a transmitting node to a destination node. The SDN scheduler may further perform temporal enhancements of the contract, and then combine the temporal enhancements with the temporal audit trail to confirm the actual service level against the service level as prescribed in the contract.