Open control plane in mobile networks
An ‘open control network’ is described, wherein the control plane functions within the Radio Access Network (such as eNodeB and gNodeB) and Core Network (such as MME, AMF and SMF) provide an interface towards the operator and 3 rd party control applications. Applications are allowed to securely register to signaling protocols within the control plane, specifically to the RAN or the Core Network control functions to view, intercept and intervene certain types of control messages or procedures. Innovative applications can be developed to view and modify control plane behavior utilizing both traditional methods as well as upcoming Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence algorithms to provide services that are not part of standard operator offerings. An even more flexible control plane infrastructure is described by allowing operator services and/or non-operator services to subscribe to certain control functions/messages to manage in real-time certain user-group's behavior or enforce slice-specific behavior according to slice requirements.
1 . A system comprising:
one or more hardware processors having access to storage media comprising instructions executable by the one or more hardware processors to cause the system to:
send, by an application operated by a mobile operator or a third-party service provider, a registration message to a control plane function of a Radio Access Network of a mobile network or a Core Network of the mobile network,
wherein the registration message includes data indicating a control protocol procedure and causes the control plane function to register the application with the control plane function, and
wherein the registering causes the control plane function to send, to the application, one or more signaling/control messages for the control protocol procedure indicated by the data included in the registration message; and
receive, by the application via an interface, the one or more signaling/control messages for the control protocol procedure.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the application comprises one or more of a control application for a network slice configured in the mobile network, a slice Quality of Service application, or a slice admission control application.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to:
receive, by the application, the one or more signaling/control messages for the control protocol procedure without sending additional input to the control plane function.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the registration message indicates a request from the application to receive a duplicate service from the control plane function.
5 . The system of claim 1 ,
wherein the one or more signaling/control messages comprise one or more first signaling/control messages, and
wherein the registration message includes data indicating one or more second signaling/control messages that the control plane function is to receive from the application in response to the one or more first signaling/control messages sent to the application.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more signaling/control messages pertain to a group of users of the mobile network.
7 . A system comprising:
one or more hardware processors having access to storage media comprising instructions executable to cause the system to:
send, by an application operated by a mobile operator or a third-party service provider, a registration message to a control plane function of a Radio Access Network of a mobile network or a Core Network of the mobile network,
wherein the registration message includes data indicating a type of protocol and causes the control plane function to register the application with the control plane function, and
wherein the registering causes the control plane function to send, to the application, one or more signaling/control messages that are of the type of protocol indicated by the data in the registration message; and
receive, at the application via an interface, the one or more signaling/control messages that are of the type of protocol indicated by the data in the registration message.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the application comprises one or more of a control application for a network slice configured in the mobile network, a slice Quality of Service application, or a slice admission control application.
9 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more signaling/control messages pertain to a group of users of the mobile network.
10 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the registration message indicates a request from the application to receive a duplicate service from the control plane function.
11 . The system of claim 7 ,
wherein the one or more signaling/control messages comprise one or more first signaling/control messages, and
wherein the registering causes the control plane function to:
obtain the one or more first signaling/control messages;
suspend, in response to obtaining the one or more first signaling/control messages, a control protocol procedure; and
send, via an interface, based on determining the application is registered to receive signaling/control messages that are of the type of protocol, the one or more first signaling/control messages to the application; and
wherein the instructions cause the system to send, by the application to the control plane function, one or more second signaling/control messages generated by the application and based on the one or more first signaling/control messages, wherein the one or more second signaling/control messages generated by the application cause the control plane function to process, using the control protocol procedure, data included in the one or more second signaling/control messages generated by the application.
12 . A system comprising:
one or more hardware processors having access to storage media comprising instructions executable by the one or more hardware processors to cause the system to:
send, by an application operated by a mobile operator or a third-party service provider, a registration message to a control plane function of a Radio Access Network of a mobile network or a Core Network of the mobile network,
wherein the registration message includes data indicating a message sequence of one or more first signaling/control messages and causes the control plane function to register the application with the control plane function, and
wherein the registering causes the control plane function to send, to the application, one or more second signaling/control messages that are included in the message sequence of one or more first signaling/control messages indicated by the data in the registration message; and
receive, at the application via an interface, the one or more second signaling/control messages that are included in the message sequence of one or more first signaling/control messages indicated by the data in the registration message.
13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the application comprises one or more of a control application for a network slice configured in the mobile network, a slice Quality of Service application, or a slice admission control application.
14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the registration message indicates a request from the application to receive a duplicate service from the control plane function.
15 . The system of claim 12 ,
wherein the one or more signaling/control messages comprise one or more first signaling/control messages, and
wherein the registration message includes data indicating one or more second signaling/control messages that the control plane function is to receive from the application in response to the one or more first signaling/control messages sent to the application.
16 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more second signaling/control messages pertain to a group of users of the mobile network.
17 . A system comprising:
one or more hardware processors having access to storage media comprising instructions executable by the one or more hardware processors to cause the system to:
send, by an application operated by a mobile operator or a third-party service provider, a registration message to a first control plane function of a Radio Access Network of a mobile network or a Core Network of the mobile network,
wherein the registration message causes the first control plane function to register the application with the first control plane function, wherein the registering causes the first control plane function to send one or more first signaling/control messages, received by the first control plane function, to the application;
receive, by the application via an interface, the one or more first signaling/control messages;
generate, by the application, one or more second signaling/control messages based on the one or more first signaling/control messages; and
send, by the application, the one or more second signaling/control messages to the first control plane function to cause the first control plane function to send the one or more second signaling/control messages to a second control plane function of the Radio Access Network of the mobile network or a Core Network of the mobile network or to a User Equipment.
18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the application comprises one or more of a control application for a network slice configured in the mobile network, a slice Quality of Service application, or a slice admission control application.
19 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the one or more first signaling/control messages pertain to a group of users of the mobile network.
20 . A system comprising:
one or more hardware processors having access to storage media comprising instructions executable to cause the one or more hardware processors to:
send, by an application operated by a mobile operator or a third-party service provider, a registration message to a control plane function of a Radio Access Network of a mobile network or a Core Network of the mobile network,
wherein the registration message includes data indicating a trigger condition and one or more signaling/control messages and causes the control plane function to register the application with the control plane function, and
wherein the registering causes the control plane function to, based on an occurrence of the trigger condition, send, to the application, a signaling/control message of the one or more signaling/control messages indicated by the data included in the registration message; and
receive, by the application via an interface, the signaling/control message.
21 . The system of claim 20 , wherein the application comprises one or more of a control application for a network slice configured in the mobile network, a slice Quality of Service application, or a slice admission control application.
22 . The system of claim 20 , wherein the one or more signaling/control messages pertain to a group of users of the mobile network.