IMPLEMENTING A DYNAMICAL ANTENNA ARRAY RECONFIGURATION IN A TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

1 . An apparatus comprising:

a higher-layer network function of an open radio access network (O-RAN), the higher-layer network function configured to:

monitor, for implementing a dynamical antenna array reconfiguration, at least one network parameter via an O1 interface; and

request, based on the monitored at least one network parameter satisfying a predetermined condition, a distributed unit (O-DU) to reconfigure an antenna array.

2 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 ,

request, based on the monitored at least one network parameter satisfying a predetermined condition, a radio unit (O-RU) to reconfigure an antenna array via a management plane Fronthaul (FH M-Plane).

3 . An apparatus comprising:

a distributed unit (O-DU), the O-DU configured to:

receive configuration capability information from a radio unit (O-RU) via management plane (M-Plane) messaging;

receive a request to reconfigure an antenna array from a higher-layer network function;

based on the configuration capability information from the O-RU and based on the request to reconfigure the antenna array from the higher-layer network function, determine an antenna array configuration supported by the O-RU; and

activate the supported antenna array configuration via control plane (C-Plane) messaging.

4 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the O-DU is configured to:

activate the supported antenna array configuration via the management plane (M-Plane) messaging.

5 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the supported antenna array configuration is at least one of a configuration for implementing a TRx Control and a configuration for implementing at least one of sleep mode, wherein the configuration for implementing the at least one of sleep mode comprising at least one of a configuration for implementing an Advanced Sleep Mode and Deep Sleep.

6 . An apparatus comprising:

a radio unit (O-RU), the O-RU configured to:

send, to a distributed unit (O-DU), configuration capability information via management plane (M-Plane) messaging;

receive, from the O-DU, an antenna array configuration supported by the O-RU via control plane (C-Plane) messaging, wherein the supported antenna array configuration is based on the configuration capability information of the O-RU and a request to reconfigure the antenna array from the higher-layer network function; and

based on the supported antenna array configuration for the O-RU, reconfigure the antenna array configuration of the O-RU.

7 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the O-RU is further configured to:

receive, from the higher-layer network function, the request to reconfigure the antenna array via a management plane Fronthaul (FH M-Plane) Interface; and

based on the request to reconfigure the antenna array from the higher-layer network function, reconfigure the antenna array configuration of the O-RU.

8 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the O-RU is further configured to: receive, from the O-DU, an antenna array configuration supported by the O-RU via management plane (M-Plane) messaging, wherein the supported antenna array configuration is based on the configuration capability information of the O-RU and a request to reconfigure an antenna array from a higher-layer network function.

9 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the O-RU is further configured to:

notify a configuration change from one antenna array configuration to another antenna array configuration via management plane (M-Plane) messaging.

10 . A method comprising:

monitoring, by a higher-layer network function of an open radio access network (O-RAN), for implementing a dynamical antenna array reconfiguration, at least one network parameter via an O1 interface; and

based on the monitored at least one network parameter satisfying a predetermined condition, requesting, by the higher-layer network function, a distributed unit (O-DU) to reconfigure an antenna array.

11 . The method as claimed in claim 10 ,

requesting, by the higher-layer network function, based on the monitored at least one network parameter satisfying a predetermined condition, a radio unit (O-RU) to reconfigure an antenna array via a management plane Fronthaul (FH M-Plane).

12 . A method comprising:

receiving, by a distributed unit (O-DU), configuration capability information from a radio unit (O-RU) via management plane (M-Plane) messaging;

receiving, by the O-DU, a request to reconfigure an antenna array from a higher-layer network function;

based on the configuration capability information from the O-RU and based on the request to reconfigure the antenna array from the higher-layer network function, determining, by the O-DU, an antenna array configuration supported by the O-RU; and

activating, by the O-DU, the supported antenna array configuration via control plane (C-Plane) messaging.

13 . The method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the method further comprises:

activating, by the O-DU, the supported antenna array configuration via the management plane (M-Plane) messaging.

14 . The method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the supported antenna array configuration is at least one of a configuration for implementing a TRx Control and a configuration for implementing at least one of sleep mode, wherein the configuration for implementing the at least one of sleep mode comprising at least one of a configuration for implementing an Advanced Sleep Mode and Deep Sleep.

15 . A method comprising:

sending, by a radio unit (O-RU) to a distributed unit (O-DU), configuration capability information via management plane (M-Plane) messaging;

receiving, by the O-RU from the O-DU, an antenna array configuration supported by the O-RU via control plane (C-Plane) messaging, wherein the supported antenna array configuration is based on the configuration capability information of the O-RU and a request to reconfigure the antenna array from the higher-layer network function; and

based on the supported antenna array configuration for the O-RU, reconfiguring, by the O-RU, the antenna array configuration of the O-RU.

16 . The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the O-RU from the higher-layer network function, the request to reconfigure the antenna array via a management plane Fronthaul (FH M-Plane) Interface; and

based on the request to reconfigure the antenna array from the higher-layer network function, reconfigure the antenna array configuration of the O-RU.

17 . The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from the O-DU, an antenna array configuration supported by the O-RU via management plane (M-Plane) messaging, wherein the supported antenna array configuration is based on the configuration capability information of the O-RU and a request to reconfigure an antenna array from a higher-layer network function.

18 . The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the supported antenna array configuration is at least one of a configuration for implementing a TRx Control and a configuration for implementing at least one of sleep mode, wherein the configuration for implementing the at least one of sleep mode comprising at least one of a configuration for implementing an Advanced Sleep Mode and Deep Sleep.

19 . The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises:

notifying, by the O-RU, a configuration change from one antenna array configuration to another antenna array configuration via management plane (M-Plane) messaging.

20 . The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises:

upon initializing, sending, by the O-RU, configuration capability information via management plane (M-Plane) messaging.