System and method for management of network slicing using hierarchical blockchain in a network

1 . A system ( 102 ) for management of network slicing using hierarchical blockchain in a network ( 108 ), the system ( 102 ) comprising:

one or more processors ( 202 ) coupled with a memory ( 204 ), wherein said memory ( 204 ) stores instructions which when executed by the one or more processors ( 202 ) causes the system ( 102 ) to:

receive, a user request to create one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) using the hierarchical blockchain based on at least one Network Subset Instances (NSSIs) of at least one domain ( 802 ) of a plurality of domains in the network ( 108 );

allocate, one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) associated with smart contracts for storing information pertaining to resource allocation of the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains and their respective one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) of the network ( 108 );

record, one or more hierarchical blockchain transactions pertaining to the resource allocation by the one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) to coordinate the one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) across the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains;

update, the one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) with the hierarchical blockchain transactions of the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains and their respective one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) of the network ( 108 ); and

provide, end-to-end network slicing by managing the hierarchical blockchain transactions across the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains for assisting activities in virtualized deployments in the network ( 108 ), wherein the end-to-end network slicing is provided based on a dynamic combination of a plurality of NSSIs of the plurality of domains ( 802 ), wherein the plurality of NSSIs and the plurality domains are selected for the combination based on one or more predefined parameters.

2 . The system ( 102 ) as claimed in claim 1 , the system ( 102 ) is further configured to, by one or more Artificial Intelligence (AI) models ( 106 ), dynamically compute availability of resources to enable resource allocation to the one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) of the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains in the network ( 108 ).

3 . The system ( 102 ) as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the one or more AI models ( 106 ) is further configured to:

allocate resources to the at least one domain ( 802 ) depending on at least one of network constraints and storage constraints, wherein, the network constraints include latency or bandwidth for communication of information, and the storage constraints include availability of storage, and read and/or write latencies, and bandwidth associated with storage.

4 . The system ( 102 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the system ( 102 ) is configured to

admit, a set of packet flow in the one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) based on a current admitted packet flows, an available slack, and a resource availability, wherein constraints for the current admitted packet flows are less than predefined constraints for the one or more subnet slices ( 306 ).

5 . The system ( 102 ) as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the system ( 102 ) is configured to:

map, the set of packet flows to the one or more subnet slices, appropriately, wherein the one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) are predictively allocated to the set of packet flows, and dynamically scaled up or down as required.

6 . The system ( 102 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the system ( 102 ) is configured to:

provide, updates from the one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) for attaining end-to-end resource optimization at a larger time-scale across the one or more subnets slices ( 306 ) based on at least one or more parameters to provide end-to-end network slicing, wherein the one or more parameters include a slice policy, a resource allocation parameter, a monitoring parameter, an analytics parameter, a prediction parameter, and an optimization parameter.

7 . The system ( 102 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the system ( 102 ) is configured to:

record, the hierarchical blockchain transactions by one or more cross domain distributed ledgers ( 104 ), associated with a cross domain contract, for Intra-Network slices ( 306 ) across the plurality of domains, wherein the Intra-Network slices ( 306 ) are created for different network slices with different constraints and entities, wherein the entities comprise at least one of private enterprises and edge resources wherein the cross domain smart contract tracks resources being used across the plurality of domains and updates the one or more cross network domain distributed ledgers based on the tracked resources.

8 . The system ( 102 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one domain ( 802 ) include Radio Access Network (RAN)/Transport/Core/Transport/RemoteCloud (for Remote Cloud-based applications), RAN/Transport/CollapsedCore/EdgeTransport/EdgeCloud (for Edge Cloud-based applications), and RAN/Transport/CollapsedCore/Transport/RAN for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) information exchange.

9 . The system ( 102 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the activities in virtualized deployments include future billing, updating records, and tracking application status and others.

10 . The system ( 102 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the user ( 112 ) is a network administrator, a network operator, and others.

11 . The system ( 102 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the one or more hierarchical blockchain transactions include dynamic resource allocations, resource utilization, soft threshold warnings, resource re-provisioning, and others.

12 . A user equipment (UE) ( 114 ) for management of network slicing using hierarchical blockchain in a network ( 108 ), the UE ( 114 ) comprising:

one or more processors ( 222 ) coupled with a memory ( 224 ), wherein said memory ( 224 ) stores instructions which when executed by the one or more processors ( 222 ) causes the UE ( 114 ) to communicate with a system ( 102 ), wherein the system ( 102 ) is configured to:

receive, a user request to create one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) using the hierarchical blockchain based on at least one Network Subset Instances (NSSIs) of at least one domain ( 802 ) of a plurality of domains in the network ( 108 );

allocate, one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) associated with smart contracts for storing information pertaining to resource allocation of the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains and their respective one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) of the network ( 108 );

record, one or more hierarchical blockchain transactions pertaining to the resource allocation by the one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) to coordinate the one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) across the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains;

update, the one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) with the hierarchical blockchain transactions of the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains and their respective one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) of the network ( 108 ); and

provide, end-to-end network slicing by managing the hierarchical blockchain transactions across the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains for assisting activities in virtualized deployments in the network ( 108 ), wherein the end-to-end network slicing is provided based on a dynamic combination of a plurality of NSSIs of the plurality of domains ( 802 ), wherein the plurality of NSSIs and the plurality domains are selected for the combination based on one or more predefined parameters.

13 . A method for management of network slicing using hierarchical blockchain in a network, the method comprising:

receiving, by a system ( 102 ), a user request to create one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) using the hierarchical blockchain based on at least one Network Subset Instances (NSSIs) of at least one domain ( 802 ) of a plurality of domains in the network ( 108 );

allocating, by the system ( 102 ), one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) associated with smart contracts for storing information pertaining to resource allocation of the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains and their respective one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) of the network ( 108 );

recording, by the system ( 102 ), one or more hierarchical blockchain transactions pertaining to the resource allocation by the one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) to coordinate the one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) across the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains;

updating, by the system ( 102 ), the one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) with the hierarchical blockchain transactions of the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains and their respective one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) of the network ( 108 ); and

providing, by the system ( 102 ), end-to-end network slicing by managing the hierarchical blockchain transactions across the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains for assisting activities in virtualized deployments in the network ( 108 ), wherein the end-to-end network slicing is provided based on a dynamic combination of a plurality of NSSIs of the plurality domains ( 802 ), wherein the plurality of NSSIs and the plurality domains are selected for the combination based on one or more predefined parameters.

14 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises the step of:

dynamically computing, by one or more Artificial Intelligence (AI) models ( 106 ), availability of resources to enable resource allocation to the one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) of the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains in the network ( 108 ).

15 . The method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises the step of:

allocating, by the one or more AI models ( 106 ), resources to the at least one domain ( 802 ) depending on at least one of network constraints and storage constraints, wherein, the network constraints include latency or bandwidth for communication of information, and the storage constraints include availability of storage, and read and/or write latencies, and bandwidth associated with storage.

16 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises the step of:

admitting, by the system ( 102 ), a set of packet flow in the one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) based on a current admitted packet flows, an available slack, and a resource availability, wherein constraints for the current admitted packet flows are less than predefined constraints for the one or more subnet slices ( 306 ).

17 . The method as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises the step of:

mapping, by the system ( 102 ), the set of packet flows to the one or more subnet slices, appropriately, wherein the one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) are predictively allocated to the set of packet flows, and dynamically scaled up or down as required.

18 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises the step of:

providing, by the system ( 102 ), updates from the one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) for attaining end-to-end resource optimization at a larger time-scale across the one or more subnets slices ( 306 ) based on at least one or more parameters to provide end-to-end network slicing, wherein the one or more parameters include a slice policy, a resource allocation parameter, a monitoring parameter, an analytics parameter, a prediction parameter, and an optimization parameter.

19 . The system ( 102 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the system ( 102 ) is configured to:

record, the hierarchical blockchain transactions by the one or more cross domain distributed ledgers ( 104 ), associated with a cross domain contract, for Intra-Network slices ( 306 ) across the plurality of domains, wherein the Intra-Network slices ( 306 ) are created for different network slices with different constraints and entities, wherein the entities comprises at least one of private enterprises and edge resources wherein the cross domain smart contract tracks resources being used across the plurality of domains and updates the one or more cross network domain distributed ledgers based on the tracked resources.

20 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the at least one domain ( 802 ) include Radio Access Network (RAN)/Transport/Core/Transport/RemoteCloud (for Remote Cloud-based applications), RAN/Transport/CollapsedCore/EdgeTransport/EdgeCloud (for Edge Cloud-based applications), and RAN/Transport/CollapsedCore/Transport/RAN for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) information exchange.

21 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the activities in virtualized deployments include future billing, updating records, and tracking application status and others.

22 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the user ( 112 ) is a network administrator, a network operator, and others.

23 . The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the one or more hierarchical blockchain transactions include dynamic resource allocations, resource utilization, soft threshold warnings, resource re-provisioning, and others.

24 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising processor-executable instructions that cause a processor to:

receive a user request to create one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) using the hierarchical blockchain based on at least one Network Subset Instances (NSSIs) of at least one domain ( 802 ) of a plurality of domains in a network ( 108 );

allocate one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) associated with smart contracts for storing information pertaining to resource allocation of the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains and their respective one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) of the network ( 108 );

record one or more hierarchical blockchain transactions pertaining to the resource allocation by the one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) to coordinate the one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) across the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains;

update the one or more distributed ledgers ( 104 ) with the hierarchical blockchain transactions of the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains and their respective one or more subnet slices ( 306 ) of the network ( 108 ); and

provide end-to-end network slicing by managing the hierarchical blockchain transactions across the at least one domain ( 802 ) of the plurality of domains for assisting activities in virtualized deployments in the network ( 108 ), wherein the end-to-end network slicing is provided based on a dynamic combination of a plurality of NSSIs of the plurality of domains ( 802 ), wherein the plurality of NSSIs and the plurality domains are selected for the combination based on one or more predefined parameters.