DESCRIPTION

Background art

Technical field

The present disclosure generally relates to the communication network field. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a mobile communication network featuring SelfOrganizing Network (“SON”) capabilities.

Overview of the related art

Modern mobile communication networks, such as 4G, 5G mobile communication networks, are capable of implementing Self-Organizing Network ("SON") capabilities for the automatic configuration and management of network nodes of the mobile communication network.

Considering, just as an example, a mobile communication network compliant with the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) architecture, for example the O-RAN architecture disclosed in “G- RAN Use Cases and Deployment Scenarios, Towards Open and Smart RA ”, O-RAN Alliance White paper, February 2020, https://www.o-ran.org/resources, the mobile communication network comprises one or more controller platforms (referred to as near-real-time RAN Intelligent Controllers (near-RT RICs)), configured to perform near-real-time control of (or, concisely, to manage) network resources used by the network nodes.

Typically, each controller platform is configured to collect information from the network nodes and, by exploiting Machine Learning (ML) and/or Artificial Intelligence (Al) engines, to control the network nodes in order to carry out corresponding tasks. Examples of tasks include, but are not limited to, monitoring of potentials network faults, handling of Quality of Experience (QoE), handling of Quality of Service (QoS), handling of network traffic balance, and handling of network interference.

Each controller platform is a platform node of the mobile communication network where multiple applications (referred to as “xAPPs” in the O-RAN architecture) can run concurrently, each one for carrying out a corresponding task. Through the ML and/or Al engines, the controller platform can efficiently control the execution of the xAPPs for performing the corresponding tasks. Typically, each application is aimed at carrying out a corresponding task through execution of one or more procedures.

0-RAN.WG3.RICARCH-v02.00 contains the description of a near-RT RIC according to the O-RAN standard.

US20190253912 discloses an apparatus of a management service producer comprising one or more processors to create a measurement job for one or more NFs, NSSIs, NSIs, networks or subnetworks by receiving a CreateMeasurem entJob operation request for creating a measurement job for the one or more NFs, NSSIs, NSIs, networks or subnetworks from a consumer, checking if one or more new measurement types need to be collected for the one or more NFs or constituent NSSIs or constituent NFs, requesting the NFs or the management service producer of the constituent NSSIs or constituent NFs to collect the performance data when one or more new measurements types are to be collected for the one or more NFs or constituent NSSIs or constituent NFs. The management service producer allows the consumer to choose the reporting method from performance data file reporting and performance data streaming for the collected performance data in the CreateMeasurementJob operation request.

Summary

The Applicant has observed that none of the solutions known in the art is capable of performing an optimized management of the procedures.

Indeed, the Applicant has understood that, amongst the totality of procedures that may be executed by the applications controlled by a controller platform, a number of common procedures exist that are typically common to two or more applications (z.e., same types of procedures that two or more applications may be configured (by design) to execute with same configuration data).

According to the Applicant, since no control mechanism exists in the solutions known in the art to manage the common procedures, during operation unnecessarily repeated procedures may occur, which affects the performance of the mobile communication network.

In view of the above, the Applicant has devised a controller platform and a corresponding method capable of efficiently managing the common procedures.

One or more aspects of the present disclosure are set out in the independent claims, with advantageous features of the same disclosure that are indicated in the dependent claims, whose wording is enclosed herein verbatim by reference (with any advantageous feature being provided with reference to a specific aspect of the present disclosure that applies mutatis mutandis to any other aspect thereof).

An aspect of the present disclosure relates to a controller platform.

According to an embodiment, the controller platform is configured to control a plurality of applications for executing a plurality of procedures in a mobile communication network.

According to an embodiment, the controller platform comprises an interface module configured to interface the controller platform to one or more network nodes of the mobile communication network for controlling the execution of the plurality of procedures.

According to an embodiment, the controller platform comprises a database module configured to store configuration data of at least one predefined procedure of said plurality of procedures, and current radio access network parameters indicative of a current status of the mobile communication network.

According to an embodiment, the controller platform comprises a procedure module.

According to an embodiment, in response to a request, from a requesting application among said plurality of applications, to execute a requested one of the at least one predefined procedure for the requesting application, the procedure module is configured to: if the requested predefined procedure matches an ongoing predefined procedure, of the at least one predefined procedure, that is already under execution, prevent the execution of the requested predefined procedure and cause the requesting application to receive a result of the ongoing predefined procedure as a result of the requested predefined procedure, or if, according to said one or more current radio access network parameters, the result of the requested predefined procedure is already available at the database module, prevent the execution of the requested predefined procedure and cause the requesting application to receive the result of the requested predefined procedure.

According to an embodiment, in response to said request the procedure module is configured to, if the requested predefined procedure does not match an ongoing predefined procedure, of the at least one predefined procedure, that is already under execution, and if, according to said one or more current radio access network parameters, the result of the requested predefined procedure is not already available at the database module: retrieve the configuration data of the requested predefined procedure from the database module, and provide the request and the retrieved configuration data to the interface module to cause the interface module to control the execution of the requested predefined procedure and the requesting application to receive the result of the requested predefined procedure. According to an embodiment, the request comprises a procedure identifier identifying the requested predefined procedure and at least one among:

- one or more radio network node identifiers each one identifying a respective target radio network node, among said one or more radio network nodes, to be involved in the requested predefined procedure;

- one or more user equipment identifiers each one identifying a respective target user equipment, among a plurality of user equipment connected to the mobile communication network, to be involved in the selected predefined procedure.

According to an embodiment, each one of said one or more user equipment identifiers comprises a string identifier identifying (e.g., uniquely and univocally identifying) the user equipment.

According to an embodiment, for each user equipment the corresponding string identifier comprises a serialized version of a data structure including any user equipment identifiers associated with that user equipment at different protocol levels of the mobile communication network.

According to an embodiment, the at least one predefined procedure comprises a subscription to a periodic report of one or more performance parameters indicative of performance of the mobile communication network.

According to an embodiment, the configuration data comprises one or more among:

- a subscription identifier identifying the subscription to the periodic report;

- a reporting period of the periodic report;

- the one or more performance parameters the measurements of which are to be included in the periodic report;

- a format of the periodic report.

According to an embodiment, the at least one predefined procedure comprises a subscription to an event-based report of one or more radio access network parameters indicative of a status of the mobile communication network at the occurrence of one or more events.

According to an embodiment, the configuration data comprises one or more among:

- a subscription identifier identifying the subscription to the event-based report;

- the one or more events the occurrence of which triggers the event-based report;

- the one or more radio access network parameters the measurements of which are to be included in the event-based report;

- a format of the event-based report. According to an embodiment, said configuration data comprises a procedure subject associated with the requested predefined procedure, said procedure subject comprising one or both between: a topic adapted to be published on a data buffer module of the controller platform together with the result of the requested predefined procedure, thereby allowing any applications to identify and access the result of the requested predefined procedure on the data buffer module; and an end-point, such as a “Uniform Resource Locator” (URL) address, where the result of the requested predefined procedure is published, thereby allowing any applications accessing the endpoint to access the result of the requested predefined procedure.

Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a mobile communication network comprising the controller platform of above.

According to an embodiment, the mobile communication network is a 4G or a 5G mobile communication network configured to implement Self-Organizing Network capabilities.

According to an embodiment, the mobile communication network is compliant with the Open Radio Access Network architecture.

According to an embodiment, the controller platform comprises a near-Real-Time RAN Intelligent Controller.

Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method for controlling a plurality of applications for executing a plurality of procedures in a mobile communication network.

According to an embodiment, the method comprises storing configuration data of at least one predefined procedure of said plurality of procedures, and current radio access network parameters indicative of a current status of the mobile communication network.

According to an embodiment, the method comprises, in response to a request, from a requesting application among said plurality of applications, to execute a requested one of the at least one predefined procedure for the requesting application: if the requested predefined procedure matches an ongoing predefined procedure, of the at least one predefined procedure, that is already under execution, preventing the execution of the requested predefined procedure and causing the requesting application to receive a result of the ongoing predefined procedure as a result of the requested predefined procedure; or if, according to said one or more current radio access network parameters, the result of the requested predefined procedure is already available, preventing the execution of the requested predefined procedure and causing the requesting application to receive the result of the requested predefined procedure.

Brief description of the drawings

These and other features and advantages of the disclosure will be made apparent by the following description of some exemplary and non-limitative embodiments thereof. For its better intelligibility, the following description should be read referring to the attached drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 schematically shows a mobile communication network according to embodiments of the present disclosure, and

Figure 2 shows a method implemented by a controller platform of the mobile communication network of Figure 1 according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed description of embodiments of the present disclosure

With reference to the drawings, Figure 1 schematically shows a mobile communication network 100 (e.g., a portion thereof) according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the following, when one or more features of the mobile communication network 100 (and of a method implemented by it) are introduced by the wording “according to an embodiment”, they are to be construed as features additional or alternative to any features previously introduced, unless otherwise indicated and/or unless there is evident incompatibility among feature combinations that is immediately apparent to the person skilled in the art.

In the following, the terms “node”, “module”, “platform” and “unit” are intended to emphasize functional (rather than implementation) aspects thereof. Without losing generality, each node and/or module and/or platform and/or unit of the mobile communication network 100 may be implemented by software, hardware, and/or a combination thereof. In addition, each node and/or module and/or platform and/or unit of the mobile communication network 100 (or at least a subset thereof) may also reflect, at least conceptually, physical structures of one or more portions of the mobile communication network 100.

According to an embodiment, the mobile communication network 100 may be a 4G mobile communication network or a 5G mobile communication network. Without losing generality, the principles of the present disclosure may be applied to any other mobile communication network.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the mobile communication network 100 is configured to implement SON functionalities.

According to an embodiment, the mobile communication network 100 is compliant with the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) architecture, for example the O-RAN architecture disclosed in “O-RAN Use Cases and Deployment Scenarios, Towards Open and Smart RANT . Without losing generality, the principles of the present disclosure may be adopted and/or adapted to other architectures.

The mobile communication network 100 comprises a plurality of network nodes NN, (z = 1, 2, . .., 7). Without losing generality, the network nodes NN, may comprise radio network nodes. Examples of radio network nodes include, but are not limited to, eNodeB base stations (e.g., when the mobile communication network 100 is a 4G mobile communication network) and gNodeB base stations (e.g., when the mobile communication network 100 is a 5G mobile communication network).

In the considered embodiment in which the mobile communication network 100 is compliant with the O-RAN architecture, each network node NN, may comprise a respective O-RAN Central Unit (O-CU) (or more thereof), a respective O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU) (or more thereof), and a respective O-RAN Radio Unit (O-RU) (or more thereof) - the O-CUs, the O-DUs and the O-RUs being not shown in the figure.

According to an embodiment, the mobile communication network 100 comprises a controller platform CP (or more thereof). According to an embodiment, the controller platform CP is associated with the network nodes NN, (or a subset thereof). In the following, any interaction between the controller platform CP and the network nodes NN,, is intended as an interaction between the controller platform CP and the network nodes, among the network nodes NN,, that are associated with the controller platform CP.

Broadly speaking, the controller platform CP is configured to perform near-real-time control of (or, concisely, to manage) network resources used by the network nodes NN,.

According to an embodiment, the controller platform CP is configured to control a plurality of software plug-in or applications APP (j = 1, 2, . . . , J) for executing a plurality of procedures in the mobile communication network 100.

Without losing generality, each application APP may be aimed at carrying out a corresponding task through execution of respective one or more procedures. Examples of tasks include, but are not limited to, monitoring of potentials network faults, handling of Quality of Experience (QoE), handling of Quality of Service (QoS), handling of network traffic balance, and handling of network interference.

When considering a mobile communication network compliant with the O-RAN architecture, the controller platform CP may comprise the O-RAN near-real-time RAN Intelligent Controller (near-RT RIC) identified in the O-RAN architecture, and each software plug-in or application APP may comprise the “xAPP” identified in the O-RAN architecture.

According to an embodiment, the controller platform CP is configured to perform data exchange with the network nodes NN,. Examples of data include, but are not limited to, instruction data (for example, to instruct the network nodes NN, when a procedure is requested to be executed), and response data (for example, data including a procedure result).

According to an embodiment, the controller platform CP is configured to perform data exchange with the network nodes NN, through a corresponding interface E2. When considering a mobile communication network compliant with the O-RAN architecture, the interface E2 may comprise the E2 interface identified in the O-RAN architecture.

According to an embodiment, the mobile communication network 100 comprises a management module MGM. When considering a mobile communication network compliant with the O-RAN architecture, the management module MGM may comprise the Service Manager Orchestrator (SMO) module identified in the O-RAN architecture.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the management module MGM is configured to provide configuration data to the controller platform CP for a configuration (or reconfiguration) thereof.

According to an embodiment, the management module MGM and the controller platform CP are interfaced with each other (e.g., for provision of the configuration data) through a corresponding interface Ol. When considering a mobile communication network compliant with the O-RAN architecture, the interface Ol may comprise the 01 interface identified in the O-RAN architecture.

According to an embodiment, the controller platform CP comprises a database module 105 configured to store the configuration data. For the purposes of the present disclosure, the configuration data comprises configuration parameters of one or more predefined procedures (among the plurality of procedures that may be executed on behalf of the applications APP ), and current radio access network (RAN) parameters indicative of a current status of the mobile communication network 100.

According to an embodiment, the predefined procedures comprise procedures (hereinafter, common procedures) that are common to two or more applications APPy z.e., procedures that two or more applications APP execute (z.e., are configured to execute) with same configuration data (known at an application deploy time). Examples of common procedures include, but are not limited to, subscription creation, subscription removal, get list of active subscriptions, get list of network nodes connected to the controller platform, get list of user equipment connected to a specific network node, get network node data recovering information saved and updated in the controller platform (for example, in order to obtain detailed information on a specific network node, such as list of supported services and/or list of transmitted cells/carriers), and get user equipment data recovering information saved and updated in the controller platform (for example, in order to obtain detailed information on a specific user equipment, such as list of network slices and/or configured QoS). Examples of subscriptions an application APP can make to one or more of the network nodes NN,, include, but are not limited to, report, insert, control and policy services from one or more of the network nodes NN,.

Considering, just as an example, subscriptions to report services, according to an embodiment, the common procedure may comprise a subscription to a periodic report of one or more performance parameters indicative of performance of the mobile communication network 100. Without losing generality, considering a mobile communication network compliant with the O-RAN architecture, the periodic report of one or more performance parameters may be associated with the Key Performance Measurement (KPM) service model identified in the O-RAN architecture.

According to an embodiment, the configuration data of the periodic report may comprise one or more among:

- a subscription identifier identifying the subscription to the periodic report;

- a reporting period of the periodic report. According to an embodiment, the reporting period represents the time (e.g., expressed in milliseconds) between two subsequent reports of an active subscription;

- the performance parameter(s) the measurements of which are to be included in the periodic report. Without losing generality, the measurements of one or more additional performance parameters in addition to the measurements of the performance parameter(s) specified in the configuration data may also be included in the periodic report (the additional performance parameters the measurements of which are to be included in the periodic report being for example provided as request parameters included in a procedure request from a requesting application, as better discussed in the following);

- a format of the periodic report. According to an embodiment, the format of the periodic report may be expressed in the form of an integer value. Just as an example, value 1 may represent cell reporting, value 2 may represent single user equipment reporting, and value 3 may represent conditional based user equipment-group reporting;

- a subscription subject (for example, in the form of a string) associated with the subscription, indicative of a subject or content of the subscription. According to an embodiment, the subscription subject may comprise a topic, and the response data of the periodic report (or, more generally, of a common procedure) may be published together with the topic associated with the corresponding subscription, thereby allowing any applications (z.e., any application in addition to a requesting application having requested the execution of the periodic report, or, more generally, of the common procedure) to identify and access the corresponding response data (without redundantly re-executing additional procedures). Additionally or alternatively, the subscription subject may comprise an endpoint (such as a “Uniform Resource Locator” (URL) address, for example a URL address of a web page), and the response data of the periodic report (or, more generally, of a common procedure) may be available at the end-point, thereby allowing any applications (z.e., any application in addition to a requesting application having requested the execution of the periodic report, or, more generally, of the common procedure) to access the corresponding response data (without redundantly re-executing additional procedures) available at the end-point. According to an embodiment, if no subscription subject is included in the configuration data, the response data may be published together with a default subscription subject (such as a default topic or a default end-point).

Considering, just as an example, subscriptions to report services, according to an embodiment the common procedure may comprise a subscription to an event-based report of one or more radio access network (RAN) parameters indicative of a status of the mobile communication network at the occurrence of one or more events. Without losing generality, considering a mobile communication network compliant with the O-RAN architecture, the event-based report of one or more RAN parameters may be associated with the Radio Control (RC) service model defined by the O-RAN architecture.

According to an embodiment, the configuration data of the event-based report may comprise one or more among:

- a subscription identifier identifying the subscription to the event-based report;

- the one or more events (hereinafter, triggering event(s)) the occurrence of which triggers the event-based report. According to an embodiment, the triggering event(s) may be provided in the form of integer values representing RAN parameters enabling the report; - the one or more RAN parameters the measurements of which are to be included in the event-based reporting;

- a format of the event-based report;

- a subscription subject (for example, in the form of a string) associated with the subscription, indicative of a subject or content of the subscription. According to an embodiment, the subscription subject may comprise a topic, and the response data of the periodic report (or, more generally, of a common procedure) may be published together with the topic associated with the corresponding subscription, thereby allowing any applications (z.e., any application in addition to a requesting application having requested the execution of the periodic report, or, more generally, of the common procedure) to identify and access the corresponding response data (without redundantly re-executing additional procedures). Additionally or alternatively, the subscription subject may comprise an endpoint (such as a “Uniform Resource Locator” (URL) address, for example a URL address of a web page), and the response data of the periodic report (or, more generally, of a common procedure) may be available at the end-point, thereby allowing any applications (z.e., any application in addition to a requesting application having requested the execution of the periodic report, or, more generally, of the common procedure) to access the corresponding response data (without redundantly re-executing additional procedures) by accessing the end-point. According to an embodiment, if no subscription subject is included in the configuration data, the response data may be published together with a default subscription subject (such as a default topic or a default end-point).

According to an embodiment, the configuration data is stored in the database module 105, for example in form of a configuration file. Without losing generality, the configuration file may be in any suitable format (including, but not limited to, xml format, yang format, and Json format).

An exemplary configuration file is provided here below (e.g., in xml format):

<controllerPlatform xmlns="urn:tim: controllerPlatform "> periodic subscription list> periodic subscription

< sub scription id> 5 ^subscription id>

<r eport style> 1 </r eport style>

<reporting _period ms> 100 </reporting _period ms>

<topic> periodic cell report </topic>

<measure list>

<measure> DRB.PdcpSduVolumeDL </measure>

<measure> DRB.PdcpSduVolumeUL </measure>

</measure list>

< event subscription list>

<event subscription

< sub scription id> 10 </ subscription id>

<report style> 1 </r eport style>

<event trigger id list> 1, 6, 8 </event trigger id list>

<topic> message copy report </topic>

<ran parameter list

<ran _parameter> 1 </ran _parameter>

<ran _parameter> 3 </ran _parameter>

<ran _parameter> 4 </ran _parameter>

</ran _parameter list>

</event subscription

<event subscription

< sub scription id> 11 </ subscription id>

<r eport style> 3 </report style>

<event trigger id list> 1, 6, 8 </event trigger id list>

<topic> e2_node_info_report </topic>

<ran _parameter list>

<ran _parameter> 1 </ran _parameter>

<ran _parameter> 2 </ran _parameter>

<ran _parameter> 3 </ran _parameter>

</ran _parameter list>

</event subscription

<event subscription

< sub scription id> 12 </ subscription id>

<r eport style> 4 </r eport style> <event trigger id list> 1, 6, 8 </event trigger id list>

<topic> ue info report </topic>

<ran parameter list

<ran _parameter> 100 </ran _parameter>

<ran _parameter> 201 </ran _parameter>

<ran _parameter> 300 </ran _parameter>

</ran parameter list

</event subscription

</event subscription list>

</controllerPlatform > wherein:

“ subscription id' represents the subscription identifier;

“reporting period ms" represents the reporting period;

“measure list” represents the performance parameter(s) the measurements of which are to be included in the periodic report;

“report style" represents the format of the periodic report;

"topic" represents the topic associated with the subscription;

“end-point” represents the end-point (such as the URL address) associated with the subscription;

“event trigger id list” represents the triggering event(s) the occurrence of which triggers the event-based report;

“ran parameter list” represents the RAN parameter(s) the measurements of which are to be included in the event-based report.

In the exemplary configuration file, the information related to a block is contained inside <block namex/block name>.

The exemplary configuration file defines three subscriptions to periodic reports.

With reference, just as an example, to the subscription identified by subscription identifier 5 ( subscription id> 5 subscription id ), this subscription features cell reporting (< report style> 1 </r eport style> a 100 ms reporting period (<r eporting _period ms> 100 reporting period ms ), performance parameters DRB.PdcpSduVolumeDL and DRB.PdcpSduVolumeUL to be measured and reported in the periodic report (<measure> DRB.PdcpSdu VolumeDL </measure> <measure> DRB.PdcpSduVolumeUL </measure>\ and periodic report (e.g., available at a data buffer module, discussed in the following) identified by the topic “periodic cell report” (<topic> periodic cell report </topic>).

With reference, just as another example, to the subscription identified by subscription identifier 6 ( subscription id> 6 ^subscription id> this subscription features single user equipment reporting (< report style> 2 </r eport style> a 300 ms reporting period ( reporting period ms> 300 performance parameters DRB. UEThpDL and DRB. UEThpUL to be measured and reported in the periodic report (<measure> DRB. UEThpDL </measure>; <measure> DRB. UEThpUL </measure> and periodic report available at the endpoint (e.g., URL address) “http: 127.0.0. 1 : 3001 periodic single ue report” (<end-point> http://127.0.0.1:3001/periodic_single_ue_report </end-point>).

The exemplary configuration also defines three subscriptions to event-based reports.

With reference, just as an example, to the subscription identified by subscription identifier 10 (^subscription id> 10 subscription id ), this subscription features “Message Copy” report style (< report style> 1 </r eport style> triggering events 1, 6, 8 (f<event trigger id list> 1, 6, 8 <event trigger id list>” RAN parameters 1, 3 and 4 to be measured and reported in the event based report (f<ran _parameter> 1 </ran _parameter> ; <ran _parameter> 3 </ran _parameter> ; <ran _parameter> 4 </ran parameter ”), and report (e.g., available at a data buffer module, discussed in the following) identified by the topic "e2 node info report” (<topic> e2_node_info_report </topic>).

According to an embodiment, the controller platform CP comprises a configuration server module 110.

According to an embodiment, the configuration server module 110 is configured to receive (e.g., through the interface Ol) the configuration data (such as the configuration file) from the management module MGM and to accordingly store it in the database module 105 or (or to accordingly update/modify the configuration data stored in the database module 105). Without losing generality, the configuration server module 110 may also be configured to inspect the database module 105 when the configuration data stored therein is modified (e.g., so as to assess modifications on the stored configuration data).

According to an embodiment, the controller platform CP comprises a procedure module 115. As better discussed in the following, the procedure module 115 is configured to control execution of the common procedures.

Broadly speaking, the procedure module 115 is configured to, in response to reception, from a requesting application among the applications APPy of a request (hereinafter, procedure request) to execute one of the common procedures (or requested common procedure, hereinafter concisely referred to as requested procedure) for the requesting application, prevent execution of the requested procedure either if the requested procedure matches an ongoing common procedure (hereinafter concisely referred to as ongoing procedure) that is already under execution or if the result of the requested procedure is already available at the database module 105. Thus, contrary to the known solutions (in which in response to reception of the procedure request, execution of the requested procedure is performed indiscriminately), the procedure module 115 according to the present disclosure avoids unnecessary repetition of a procedure (particularly, a procedure matching an ongoing predefined procedure or a procedure the result of which is already available), which would negatively affect the performance of the mobile communication network 100.

According to an embodiment, the procedure module 115 is communicably coupled with the applications APP .

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the procedure module 115 is configured to receive, from the requesting application, the procedure request for the requesting application.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the procedure module 115 is configured to provide, to the requesting application, one or more information about the ongoing procedure (hereinafter, procedure information), e.g., when the requested procedure matches an ongoing procedure.

According to an embodiment, when the requested procedure matches an ongoing procedure, the procedure information may comprise a procedure subject associated with the ongoing procedure. An example of procedure subject comprises the subscription subject discussed above. Similarly to the subscription subject discussed above, the procedure subject (for example, in the form of a string) may be indicative of a subject or content of the ongoing procedure, and may comprise a topic (so that the response data of the ongoing procedure, when published together with the associated topic, may be identified and accessed by any applications without redundantly re-executing the requested procedure), and/or an end-point (such as a “Uniform Resource Locator” (URL) address, for example a URL address of a web page, so that the response data of the ongoing procedure, when available at the end-point, may be accessed by any applications accessing the end-point, without redundantly re- executing the requested procedure). According to an embodiment, if no procedure subject is included in the procedure information, a default procedure subject (such as a default topic or a default endpoint) may be assumed to be used for publishing the response data of the ongoing procedure.

According to an embodiment, the procedure information may comprise a notification of availability of the response data (or result) of the requested procedure (as discussed in the following). According to an embodiment, the controller platform CP comprises an interface module 120. According to an embodiment, the interface module 120 is configured to interface the controller platform CP to the network nodes NN,. For the purposes of the present disclosure, the interface module 120 is configured to interface the controller platform CP to one or more target network nodes, among the network nodes NN;, being involved (or to be involved) in the requested procedures for controlling (e.g., through the interface E2) the execution of the requested procedures (as better discussed in the following). In the exemplary considered embodiment, the interface module 120 is configured to interface the controller platform CP to the target network nodes to allow said data exchange (between the controller platform CP and the target network nodes) including the transmission of the instruction data (for example, to instruct the target network nodes to execute the requested procedures), and of the corresponding response data (for example, the data including the procedure results of the requested procedures).

According to an embodiment, the controller platform CP comprises a data buffer module 125. Broadly speaking, the data buffer module 125 is configured to allow communication among the applications APPy the procedure module 115, and the interface module 120.

According to an embodiment, the data buffer module 125 is communicably coupled with the interface module 120.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the data buffer module 125 is configured to provide to the interface module 120 the procedure request and the configuration data corresponding to the requested procedure, and to receive from it the response data corresponding to the requested procedure.

According to an embodiment, the data buffer module 125 is communicably coupled with the applications APP .

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the data buffer module 125 is configured to allow the applications APP to access the response data.

According to an embodiment, the data buffer module 125 is communicably coupled with the procedure module 115.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the data buffer module 125 is configured to receive from the procedure module 115 the procedure request and the configuration data corresponding to the requested procedure (for example, in case that the requested procedure has to be executed, e.g., in that the requested procedure does not match an ongoing procedure), or the response data (for example, in case that the requested procedure has not to be executed, e.g., in that the response data of the requested procedure is already available at the database module 105).

According to an embodiment, the controller platform CP comprises a deploying module 130. Broadly speaking, the deploying module 130 is configured to handle a deploying of the applications APP on the controller platform CP.

According to an embodiment, the deploying module 130 is communicably coupled with the applications APP through the data buffer module 125.

According to an embodiment, the deploying module 130 is communicably coupled with the database module 105.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, each application APPy during the corresponding deploying phase, is configured to access the database 105 and to retrieve from it a current configuration of the controller platform CP, e.g., in order to acknowledge the common procedures (and the corresponding configuration data) that are available in the controller platform CP (hereinafter, available common procedures). This makes each application APP capable of correctly addressing (to the procedure module 115) the procedure requests pertaining to the common procedures.

With reference now to Figure 2, it shows an activity diagram of a method 200 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Particularly, Figure 2 shows a swim-lane activity diagram which describes the flow of activities relating to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In this respect, each step of the activity diagram may correspond to one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s) on a relevant software component of a respective entity. Without losing generality, the following entities are exemplary considered as being involved in the method: the applications APPy the procedure module 115, the data buffer module 125, the interface module 120, the database module 105 and the network nodes NN,.

According to an embodiment, the method steps may be implemented by respective computer program products loadable into a digital memory of the entities (i.e., a digital memory of computational resources where the entities are implemented). According to an embodiment, each computer program product comprises software code means for performing the method steps when the computer program product is run on the corresponding entity.

Broadly speaking, the method 200 comprises, in response to reception (from a requesting application) of a procedure request to execute a requested procedure for the requesting application: if the requested procedure matches an ongoing procedure that is already under execution, preventing the execution of the requested procedure and causing the requesting application to receive the result of the ongoing procedure as the result of the requested procedure, or if, according to the current RAN parameters, the result of the requested procedure is already available at the database module 105, preventing the execution of the requested procedure and causing the requesting application to receive the result of the requested procedure.

Thus, the method 200 avoids unnecessary repetition of a procedure (e.g., a procedure matching an ongoing predefined procedure or a procedure the result of which is already available), which would negatively affect the performance of the mobile communication network 100.

According to an embodiment, as better discussed in the following, if the requested procedure does not match any ongoing procedure and no result of the requested procedure is already available at the database module 105, execution of the requested procedure takes place.

In the figure, when discussing a method step at a first entity, the bidirectional arrow between the first entity and a second entity (such as between the procedure module 115 and the data buffer module 125, between the data buffer module 125 and the interface module 120, between the applications APP and the data buffer module 125, between the procedure module 115 and the database module 105, and between the interface module 120 and the network nodes NN,) is intended to represent a bidirectional signal flow between the first and second entities aimed at achieving the action represented by that method step.

According to an embodiment, the method 200 comprises generating the procedure request to execute one or more of the common procedures (ie., the requested procedure) (step 205).

According to an embodiment, the procedure request may be generated by a requesting application among the applications APP .

According to an embodiment, the procedure request comprises a procedure identifier identifying the requested procedure among the available common procedures. Back to the above examples of common procedures, the procedure identifier may identify a common procedure, for example, among: subscription creation, subscription removal, get list of active subscriptions, get a list of network nodes connected to the controller platform, get a list of user equipment connected to a specific network node, get network node data recovering information saved and updated in the controller platform, and get user equipment data recovering information saved and updated in the controller platform.

According to an embodiment, the procedure request may comprise, in addition to the procedure identifier, one or more request parameters. Examples of request parameters may include, but are not limited to, the (above-mentioned) additional performance parameters the measurements of which are to be included in the periodic report, and/or one or more network node identifiers each one identifying a respective target network node, among the network nodes NN, (z.e., among the network nodes associated with the controller platform CP) to be involved in the requested procedure, and/or one or more user equipment identifiers each one identifying a respective target user equipment, among a plurality of user equipment connected to the mobile communication network 100, to be involved in the requested procedure.

Without losing generality, provision of the request parameters may depend on the requested procedure.

Just as an example, in case that the requested procedure is the subscription creation, the request parameters may comprise the subscription identifier and/or the network node identifier(s) and/or the user equipment identifier(s). According to an embodiment, if no network node identifier is included in the procedure request, all the network nodes associated with the controller platform may be regarded as the target network nodes. According to an embodiment, if no user equipment identifier is included in the procedure request, all the user equipment associated with (z.e., connected to or served by) the target network node(s) may be regarded as the target user equipment.

Just as another example, in case that the requested procedure is the subscription removal, the request parameters may comprise the subscription identifier and/or the network node identifier(s). According to an embodiment, subscription removal may take place when no other same subscriptions for the same target network nodes are active.

Just as another example, in case that the requested procedure is aimed at getting a list of network nodes connected to the controller platform, the procedure request may not include any procedure parameters.

Just as another example, in case that the requested procedure is aimed at getting a list of network nodes connected to the controller platform, the procedure request may not include any procedure parameters.

Just as another example, in case that the requested procedure is aimed at getting a list of user equipment connected to a specific network node, the request parameters may comprise the network node identifier of that specific network node.

Just as another example, in case that the requested procedure is aimed at getting network node data recovering information saved and updated in the controller platform, the request parameters may comprise the network node identifier. Just as another example, in case that the requested procedure is aimed at getting user equipment data recovering information saved and updated in the controller platform, the request parameters may comprise the user equipment identifier.

According to an embodiment, each user equipment identifier comprises unique user equipment identifier uniquely and univocally identifying the user equipment. According to an embodiment, each user equipment identifier comprises a string identifier uniquely and univocally identifying the user equipment. According to an embodiment, for each user equipment, the corresponding string identifier may comprise a serialized version of a data structure including all user equipment identifiers associated with that user equipment at different protocol levels of the mobile communication network (for example, when considering a mobile communication network compliant with the O-RAN architecture, a same user equipment may be associated with a first user equipment identifier in the O-DU, and with a second user equipment identifier in the O-CU, different from the first user equipment identifier). Without losing generality, the serialized version of the data structure into the string identifier may be achieved based on Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) serialization technique and/or on a hexadecimal representation of encoded bytes in ASN.l of the data structure defined in the O-RAN architecture.

Thanks to a string identifier uniquely and univocally identifying the user equipment, a simplified and low-computational effort handling of all user equipment identifiers associated with a same user equipment may be achieved.

According to an embodiment, the method 200 comprises transmitting (by the requesting application APP ) the procedure request to the procedure module 115 (step 210).

According to an embodiment, the method 200 comprises checking if the requested procedure matches an ongoing procedure, among the available common procedures, that is already under execution (steps 215-220). This could be the case, for example, of a requested procedure matching an ongoing procedure already under execution on behalf (z.e., under request) of a different requesting application other than the requesting application APPy and already under execution with same request parameters (such as with same target network nodes and same target user equipment) as the requested procedure. Just as an example, the target network node(s) and/or the target user equipment may be the same for both the requested procedure and the ongoing procedure due to same network node identifiers and/or same user equipment identifiers included in the corresponding procedure requests (z.e., in the respective request parameters). Just as another example, the target network node(s) and/or the target user equipment may be the same for both the requested procedure and the ongoing procedure due to absence of any network node identifiers in the corresponding procedure requests (z.e., default selection of all the network nodes associated with the controller platform CP) and/or due to absence of any user equipment identifiers in the corresponding procedure requests (z.e., default selection of all the user equipment connected to the network nodes, or to a subset thereof, associated with the controller platform CP).

According to an embodiment, the method 200 comprises, at the procedure module 115, accessing the interface module 120 (step 215) to retrieve one or more information allowing to check if the requested procedure matches an ongoing procedure. In the exemplary illustrated embodiment, the procedure module 115 is configured to access the interface module 120 by intermediation of the data buffer module 125 (although this should not be construed limitatively, in that any direct or indirect communication within the reach of the skilled person may be envisaged between the procedure module 115 and the interface module 120). Without losing generality, the one or more information may comprise the instruction data (or portions thereof) used by the interface module 120 to control the execution of the ongoing procedures. Just as an example, the one or more information may comprise the target network nodes and/or the target user equipment and/or measured parameters (for example, the performance parameter(s) and/or the RAN parameter(s)) associated with the ongoing procedures).

According to an embodiment, if the requested procedure matches an ongoing procedure (exit branch Y of step 220), re-execution of the requested procedure is prevented (step 225), and the requesting application APP is caused to receive a result (e.g., the response data) of the (matching) ongoing procedure as a result of the requested procedure (steps 230-235). This allows avoiding any redundant or replicated procedure execution.

According to an embodiment, in order to cause the requesting application APP to receive a result of the (matching) ongoing procedure as a result of the requested procedure, the method 200 comprises, at the procedure module 115, transmitting to the requesting application APP the procedure information to notify it that the result of the requested procedure is being made available at the data buffer module 125 and/or at an end-point, for example by reporting the corresponding procedure subject (e.g., the topic and/or the end-point, respectively) to the requesting application APP (step 230), and, at the requesting application APPy accessing the data buffer module 125 and/or the end-point to retrieve the result of the (matching) ongoing procedure, for example the response data associated with the reported topic and/or the response data available at the end-point (step 235).

According to an embodiment, the method 200 comprises, if the requested procedure does not match any ongoing procedure (exit branch N of step 220), checking if, according to the current RAN parameters (e.g., the current RAN parameters stored in the database module 105), the result of the requested procedure is already available at the database module 105 (steps 240-245). According to an embodiment, a RAN parameter stored in the database module 105 is considered to be a current RAN parameter for the purposes of (z.e., to be used for) checking if it represents or includes already the result of the requested procedure, if the RAN parameter was measured within a respective predefined time interval before a current time instant (the current time instant being for example a time instant of transmission or reception of the procedure request). Just as an example, the predefined time interval associated with a RAN parameter may correspond to an expected or estimated or average time interval of evolution of the RAN parameter.

According to an embodiment, the method 200 comprises, at the procedure module 115, accessing the database module 105 (step 240) to retrieve the current RAN parameters to check if the result of the requested procedure is already available.

According to an embodiment, if current RAN parameters are provided at the database module 105 and if the current RAN parameters at the database module 105 already represent (or include) the result of the requested procedure (exit branch Y of step 245), execution of the requested procedure is prevented (step 250), and the requesting application APP is caused to receive the corresponding result (steps 255). This allows avoiding any redundant or replicated procedure execution.

According to an embodiment, in order to allow the requesting application APP to receive the result, the current RAN parameters (or a subset thereof) may be (e.g., directly) transmitted from the procedure module 115 to the requesting application APP (step 255). In alternative embodiments, not shown, in order to allow the requesting application APP to receive the result, the current RAN parameters (or a subset thereof) may be published on the data buffer module 125 (e.g., together with a respective topic) and/or at an end-point, the procedure module 115 may transmit to the requesting application APP the procedure information to notify it that the result of the requested procedure is available at the data buffer module 125 and/or at the end-point, for example by reporting the corresponding subscription subject to the requesting application APPy and the requesting application APP may access the information provided by the data buffer module 125 (e.g., in case the procedure subject comprises a topic) and/or the information provided at the end-point (e.g., in case the procedure subject comprises an end-point) to retrieve the result.

According to the exemplary considered embodiment, the method 200 comprises, in response to reception (from the requesting application) of the procedure request: if the requested procedure matches an ongoing procedure that is already under execution, preventing the execution of the requested procedure and causing the requesting application to receive the result of the ongoing procedure as the result of the requested procedure (see steps 215-235 discussed above); or if, according to the current RAN parameters, the result of the requested procedure is already available at the database module 105, preventing the execution of the requested procedure and causing the requesting application to receive the result of the requested procedure (see steps 240-255 discussed above), otherwise, execution of the requested procedure takes place (see steps 260-285 discussed below). However, steps 260-285 may be omitted or differently implemented in basic embodiments.

According to an embodiment, the method 200 comprises, if no current RAN parameters are provided at the database module 105 that represent (or include) the result of the requested procedure (exit branch N of step 245), retrieving the configuration data of the requested procedure from the database module 105 (step 260), and providing to the interface module 120 an instructive message including the procedure request (and the corresponding request parameters included therein, if any) and the retrieved configuration data (step 265), so as to cause the interface module 120 to control the execution the requested procedure and the requesting application APP to receive the result of the requested procedure (as discussed here below).

According to an embodiment, transmission of the instructive message directly takes place from the procedure module 115 to the interface module 120, for example through a Remote Procedure Call (RPC) message framework (such as the gRPC message framework), or through a Representational state transfer (REST) interface.

According to an alternative embodiment, not shown, transmission of the instructive message takes place from the procedure module 115 to the data buffer module 125, and hence from the data buffer module 125 to the interface module 120.

According to an embodiment, the method 200 comprises, upon reception of the instructive message at the interface module 120, and preferably after consistency checks of the instructive message by the interface module 120, executing the requested procedure (step 270).

According to an embodiment, execution of the requested procedure determines data exchanges (e.g., through the interface 02) between the interface module 120 and the target network nodes NN,. According to an embodiment, execution of the requested procedure determines, at the interface module 120, transmission of the instruction data (corresponding to the instructive message) aimed at instructing the target network nodes NN,, and reception of the corresponding response data.

According to an embodiment, the method 200 comprises, at the interface module 120, publishing the result (e.g., the response data) of the requested procedure (for example, together with the associated procedure subject) on the data buffer module 125 and/or on the end-point (step 275). Without losing generality, the publication of the result of the requested procedure may take place while the requested procedure is still under execution (with the interface module 120 that may for example transmit to the data buffer module 125 and/or to the end-point the response data resulting from the execution of the requested procedure as soon as (and while) they are acquired by the interface module 120 from the target network node(s) and/or the involved user equipment), or at an end of the execution of the requested procedure (with the end of the execution of the requested procedure that may for example be decreed by the controller platform CP and/or as soon as all response data has been obtained).

According to an embodiment, in order to cause the requesting application APP to receive a result of the requested procedure, the method 200 comprises, at the interface module 120, transmitting the procedure information to the requesting application APP to notify it that the result of the requested procedure is being made available at the data buffer module 125 and/or at the end-point, for example by reporting the corresponding procedure subject (z.e., topic and/or end-point, respectively) to the requesting application APP (step 280), and, at the requesting application APPy accessing the data buffer module 125 and/or the end-point to retrieve the result of the requested procedure, for example the response data associated with the reported topic and/or the response data published at the end-point, respectively (step 285).

Naturally, in order to satisfy local and specific requirements, a person skilled in the art may apply to the disclosure described above many logical and/or physical modifications and alterations. More specifically, although the present disclosure has been described with a certain degree of particularity with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it should be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details as well as other embodiments are possible. In particular, different embodiments of the disclosure may even be practiced without the specific details set forth in the preceding description for providing a more thorough understanding thereof; on the contrary, well-known features may have been omitted or simplified in order not to encumber the description with unnecessary details. Moreover, it is expressly intended that specific elements and/or method steps described in connection with any disclosed embodiment of the disclosure may be incorporated in any other embodiment.

More specifically, similar considerations apply if the controller platform (and, more generally, the mobile communication network) has a different structure, comprises equivalent components or it has other operative characteristics. In any case, every component thereof may be separated into more elements, or two or more components may be combined together into a single element; moreover, each component may be replicated to support the execution of the corresponding operations in parallel. Moreover, unless specified otherwise, any interaction between different components generally does not need to be continuous, and it may be either direct or indirect through one or more intermediaries. Moreover, the present disclosure lends itself to be implemented through an equivalent method (by using similar steps, removing some steps being not essential, or adding further optional steps); moreover, the steps may be performed in different order, concurrently or in an interleaved way (at least partly).