IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,170,951
Granted Patent B1
US 12,170,951 · App. 18/732,289 · Granted Dec 17, 2024

Radio exposure function for telecommunications networks

Inventors: Marouane Balmakhtar (Fairfax, VA); Lyle Walter Paczkowski (Mission Hills, KS)
Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc.
H04W48/16H04W48/18H04W88/12
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 12,170,951
App. No.
18/732,289
Granted
Dec 17, 2024
Kind
B1
Abstract

Methods for resource and slice allocation for multi-mode operation in Open RAN architectures are described. A programmable radio exposure function switches between real-time and near-real-time modes of operation for a radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller of a telecommunications system. An application programming interface is exposed by the radio exposure function and performs radio resource management for the telecommunications system. The application programming interface communicates with services and/or applications to control RAN functions, and allocates RAN resources of the telecommunications system to a user equipment for the services and/or applications. A machine learning module is embedded within the radio exposure function and trained to identify network slices of the telecommunications system for the services and/or applications.

Claims (58)

1. A method performed by a telecommunications system, the method comprising:

receiving, by a programmable radio exposure function, a mode selection request from an application executing on a user equipment;

selecting an operational mode from real-time and near-real-time modes of operation of a radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller based on the request;

allocating, by an application programming interface exposed by the radio exposure function, a RAN resource to the user equipment based on the operational mode; and

analyzing, by a machine learning module embedded within the radio exposure function, operational data, received from the user equipment and at least one network function of the telecommunications system, for operating the RAN resource; and

providing access to a RAN function of the telecommunications system to the application based on the RAN resource.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

enabling the application to access the telecommunications system using a network slice identified by the machine learning module.

3. The method of claim 2 , comprising:

operating, by the radio exposure function, the network slice in accordance with a service level agreement of the telecommunications system.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

detecting that the user equipment has violated a security constraint of the telecommunications system; and

preventing, by the application programming interface, the user equipment from accessing the telecommunications system.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

training the machine learning module to perform steps comprising:

operating the RAN resource based on the operational data; and

allocating the RAN resource to the user equipment based on the application.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

creating a virtual network for the user equipment to send telemetry data to the telecommunications system to execute the application.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the application is a highly distributed Internet of things (HDIoT) application.

8. A telecommunications system comprising:

at least one hardware processor; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one hardware processor, cause the telecommunications system to:

receive, by a programmable radio exposure function, a mode selection request from an application executing on a user equipment;

select an operational mode from real-time and near-real-time modes of operation of a radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller based on the request;

allocate, by an application programming interface exposed by the radio exposure function, a RAN resource to the user equipment based on the operational mode; and

enable the application to access the telecommunications system using a network slice identified by a machine learning module embedded within the radio exposure function.

9. The telecommunications system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the telecommunications system to:

create a virtual network for the user equipment to send telemetry data to the telecommunications system to execute the application.

10. The telecommunications system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the telecommunications system to:

select, by a network slicing selection function of the telecommunications system, the network slice for executing the application.

11. The telecommunications system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the telecommunications system to:

detect that the user equipment has violated a security constraint of the telecommunications system; and

prevent, by the application programming interface, the user equipment from accessing the network slice.

12. The telecommunications system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the telecommunications system to:

train, based on historical network data of the telecommunications system, the machine learning module to:

operate the RAN resource based on operational data received by the radio exposure function; and

allocate the RAN resource to the user equipment based on the application.

13. The telecommunications system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the telecommunications system to:

operate, by the radio exposure function, the network slice in accordance with a parameter defined by a service level agreement of the telecommunications system.

14. The telecommunications system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the telecommunications system to:

receive, by a network data analytics function of the telecommunications system, operational data from the user equipment and at least one network function of the telecommunications system; and

analyze, by the machine learning module, the operational data for operating the RAN resource.

15. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed by at least one data processor of a telecommunications system, cause the telecommunications system to:

receive, by a programmable radio exposure function, a mode selection request from an application executing on a user equipment;

select an operational mode from real-time and near-real-time modes of operation of a radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller based on the request;

allocate, by an application programming interface exposed by the radio exposure function, a RAN resource to the user equipment based on the operational mode;

detect that the user equipment has violated a security constraint of the telecommunications system; and

prevent, by the application programming interface, the user equipment from accessing the telecommunications system.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the application is a highly distributed Internet of things (HDIoT) application.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions cause the telecommunications system to:

identify, by a machine learning module embedded within the radio exposure function, a network slice of the telecommunications system for the application to access the telecommunications system.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions cause the telecommunications system to:

train, based on historical network data of the telecommunications system, the machine learning module to allocate the RAN resource to the user equipment based on the application.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions cause the telecommunications system to:

receive, by a network data analytics function, operational data from the user equipment and at least one network function of the telecommunications system; and

analyze, by the machine learning module, the operational data for operating the RAN resource.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein allocating the RAN resource to the user equipment based on the operational mode reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared to ad hoc allocation of the RAN resource.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 3, 2024
From: PACZKOWSKI, LYLE WALTER; BALMAKHTAR, MAROUANE
To: T-MOBILE USA, INC.
Reel/Frame 067602/0959 →
Continuity (1)
Continuation 18506998 · Nov 10, 2023