IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,212,199
Granted Patent B2
US 11,212,199 · App. 17/005,439 · Granted Dec 28, 2021

Automated provisioning of radios in a virtual radio access network

Inventors: Om Prakash Suthar (Bolingbrook, IL); Arghya Mukherjee (Acton, MA); Santanu Dasgupta (Fremont, CA)
Assignee: CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC.
H04L41/5054G06F9/45558H04L41/0893H04L41/5048H04W88/085G06F2009/45595
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,212,199
App. No.
17/005,439
Granted
Dec 28, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

In one example, a Network Functions Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO) obtains a radio service descriptor defining communication parameters for a radio in a virtual Radio Access Network (vRAN). Based on the radio service descriptor, the NFVO determines whether a virtual Distributed Unit (vDU) that is configured in accordance with the communication parameters and a virtual Centralized Unit (vCU) that is configured in accordance with the communication parameters are already instantiated in the vRAN. If it is determined that the vDU or the vCU is not already instantiated, the NFVO automatically instantiates the vDU or the vCU in the vRAN.

Claims (41)

1. A method comprising:

at one or more processors:

obtaining a radio service descriptor defining communication parameters for a radio in a virtual Radio Access Network;

based on the radio service descriptor, determining whether a virtual distributed unit that is configured in accordance with the communication parameters and a virtual centralized unit that is configured in accordance with the communication parameters are already instantiated in the virtual Radio Access Network based at least in part on a resource availability of the virtual distributed unit; and

if it is determined that the virtual distributed unit or the virtual centralized unit is not already instantiated in the virtual Radio Access Network, automatically instantiating the virtual distributed unit or the virtual centralized unit in the virtual Radio Access Network.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

monitoring the virtual distributed unit or the virtual centralized unit based on one or more service level agreements.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

deploying one or more container workloads.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically instantiating the virtual distributed unit or the virtual centralized unit in the virtual Radio Access Network includes:

automatically instantiating the virtual distributed unit or the virtual centralized unit in a network function virtualization infrastructure.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resource availability of the virtual distributed unit includes a compute resource availability of the virtual distributed unit.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resource availability of the virtual distributed unit includes a memory resource availability of the virtual distributed unit.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resource availability of the virtual distributed unit includes a storage resource availability of the virtual distributed unit.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resource availability of the virtual distributed unit includes an input/output resource availability of the virtual distributed unit.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a communication interface configured to obtain and/or provide network communications; and

a processor coupled to the communication interface, wherein the processor is configured to:

obtain a radio service descriptor defining communication parameters for a radio in a virtual Radio Access Network;

based on the radio service descriptor, determine whether a virtual distributed unit that is configured in accordance with the communication parameters and a virtual centralized unit that is configured in accordance with the communication parameters are already instantiated in the virtual Radio Access Network based at least in part on a resource availability of the virtual distributed unit; and

if it is determined that the virtual distributed unit or the virtual centralized unit is not already instantiated in the virtual Radio Access Network, automatically instantiate the virtual distributed unit or the virtual centralized unit in the virtual Radio Access Network.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

monitor the virtual distributed unit or the virtual centralized unit based on one or more service level agreements.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

deploy one or more container workloads.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to:

automatically instantiate the virtual distributed unit or the virtual centralized unit in a network function virtualization infrastructure.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the resource availability of the virtual distributed unit includes a compute resource availability of the virtual distributed unit.

14. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the resource availability of the virtual distributed unit includes a memory resource availability of the virtual distributed unit.

15. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the resource availability of the virtual distributed unit includes a storage resource availability of the virtual distributed unit.

16. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the resource availability of the virtual distributed unit includes an input/output resource availability of the virtual distributed unit.

17. One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

obtain a radio service descriptor defining communication parameters for a radio in a virtual Radio Access Network;

based on the radio service descriptor, determine whether a virtual distributed unit that is configured in accordance with the communication parameters and a virtual centralized unit that is configured in accordance with the communication parameters are already instantiated in the virtual Radio Access Network based at least in part on a resource availability of the virtual distributed unit; and

if it is determined that the virtual distributed unit or the virtual centralized unit is not already instantiated in the virtual Radio Access Network, automatically instantiate the virtual distributed unit or the virtual centralized unit in the virtual Radio Access Network.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 17 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

monitor the virtual distributed unit or the virtual centralized unit based on one or more service level agreements.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 17 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

deploy one or more container workloads.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 17 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to:

automatically instantiate the virtual distributed unit or the virtual centralized unit in a network function virtualization infrastructure.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 28, 2020
From: SUTHAR, OM PRAKASH; MUKHERJEE, ARGHYA; DASGUPTA, SANTANU
To: CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Reel/Frame 053624/0844 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 16364871 · Mar 26, 2019
Provisional Application 62767732 · Nov 15, 2018
Related Publication 20200396142A1 · Dec 17, 2020
Cited By (2)
US 12,289,377 US 12,563,409