RIC UE Mobility Context for Real-Time ORAN Policy Enforcement
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Solution Overview
Problem
In Open RAN (ORAN) and 5G systems, the dynamic UE context maintained by access nodes is temporary and deleted upon UE mobility, leading to processing overhead and delays in policy enforcement, as core nodes handle these operations, which is inefficient for real-time monitoring and policy enforcement.
Innovation Solution
A semi-permanent UE context is maintained at the Non-Real-Time RIC, using dynamic data from access nodes (O-CU/O-DU, O-eNB) to enforce policies, by allocating a fresh UE ID and updating context information during handovers, ensuring seamless UE mobility across CUs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If core nodes maintain UE context and handle policy enforcement operations, then security is maintained and centralized control is achieved, but processing overhead and delays increase, reducing real-time policy enforcement capability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the UE context management functionality by separating permanent identifier storage (SUPI/IMSI) at core nodes from dynamic context maintenance at access nodes and RIC. This segmentation allows core nodes to maintain security-critical permanent identifiers while delegating real-time policy enforcement to access nodes with semi-permanent contexts, thereby reducing processing delays without compromising security.
Solution Approach 2:
The RIC acts as an intermediary entity that maintains semi-permanent UE contexts and enforces policies in real-time. It receives permanent identifiers from core nodes and dynamic data from access nodes, synthesizing this information to provide both security verification and low-latency policy enforcement, thus bridging the gap between centralized security control and distributed real-time processing.
2Productivity
If access nodes maintain temporary UE context, then real-time dynamic data is available for policy enforcement, but context is deleted upon UE mobility, requiring continuous updates to core nodes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having access nodes pre-maintain semi-permanent UE contexts beyond the traditional temporary lifecycle. Instead of deleting context immediately upon UE mobility, the context is retained and updated, allowing policy enforcement to continue without requiring immediate updates to core nodes. This preliminary maintenance of context information eliminates frequent update cycles and reduces signaling overhead.
3Reliability
If core nodes handle all policy enforcement operations, then centralized security control is maintained, but processing overhead increases and real-time responsiveness decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments policy enforcement responsibilities by dividing functions between core nodes, RIC, and access nodes. Core nodes retain responsibility for permanent identifier management and high-level security policies, while RIC handles real-time policy enforcement using semi-permanent contexts. This segmentation distributes processing load, improving overall system efficiency while maintaining centralized security control at the core node level.
Solution Approach 2:
The RIC serves as an intermediary that offloads real-time policy enforcement operations from core nodes. It maintains semi-permanent UE contexts and executes policy decisions locally, reducing the processing burden on core nodes. The RIC periodically synchronizes with core nodes to maintain security alignment, thus achieving both improved processing efficiency and maintained centralized security control.
4Loss of energy
If access nodes delete UE context upon mobility, then resource utilization is optimized, but processing overhead and delays occur in policy enforcement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the UE context lifecycle adaptive rather than static. Instead of uniformly deleting contexts upon mobility, the system dynamically maintains semi-permanent contexts at access nodes based on UE activity and mobility patterns. This dynamic approach optimizes resource utilization by clearing inactive contexts while retaining active ones, thereby avoiding policy enforcement delays without excessive resource consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
In aspects, a method of providing user equipment (UE) mobility context creation by a radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (RIC) in 4G and 5G systems is provided. The method includes determining a UE is moving across centralized units (CUs) in connected mode using S1/X2/N2/Xn handovers, downloading, by a non-real time (Non-RT) RIC of the system, a policy to coupled CUs that whenever a UE latches with initial UE message to a CU, the CU sends an Identity Request to get the UE subscription permanent identifier (SUPI), whenever the UE attaches to the CU/a distributed unit (DU) with the initial UE message, receiving the UE SUPI by the Non RT RIC, allocating, by the Non RT RIC, a RIC UE ID for the UE, and sending, by the Non RT RIC, the RIC UE ID to the CU. Numerous other aspects are provided.