Configuration of a communications network
A method of configuration in a communications network includes: obtaining operational data relating to operation of at least one network node, the operational data including, for each of a plurality of time periods, data relating to at least one configuration parameter of the network node and data relating to at least one performance indicator of the network node; defining a plurality of actions, wherein each action corresponds to a specific set of values of the at least one configuration parameter in two successive time periods; and defining a plurality of states, wherein each state corresponds to one specific set of values of the operational data. A probabilistic graph is constructed from the operational data, the probabilistic graph indicating, for a plurality of the defined states, a probability that an action will lead to a transition to a respective other state.
1. A method of configuration in a communications network, the method comprising:
obtaining operational data relating to operation of at least one network node, the operational data comprising, for each of a plurality of time periods, data relating to at least one configuration parameter of the network node and data relating to performance indicators of the network node, wherein the data relating to the performance indicators of the network node is obtained by joint data binning of performance indicator values of the performance indicators, wherein the joint data binning includes clustering the performance indicator values to generate a finite set of bins;
defining a plurality of actions, wherein each action corresponds to a specific set of values of the at least one configuration parameter in two successive time periods;
defining a plurality of states based on the Cartesian product of a set of possible values for each of the at least one configuration parameter and the finite set of bins, wherein each state corresponds to one specific set of values of the operational data, the specific set of values comprising a value from each of the at least one configuration parameter and a bin from the finite set of bins; and
constructing a probabilistic graph from said operational data, the probabilistic graph indicating, for a plurality of the defined states, a probability that an action will lead to a transition to a respective other state.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the operational data relate to operation of a cell of a cellular communications network, such that the data relating to the at least one configuration parameter comprise data relating to at least one configuration parameter of the cell, and the data relating to the performance indicators comprise data relating to at least one performance indicator of the cell.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the performance indicators comprises one performance indicator selected from:
a drop rate of voice calls;
a latency of a streaming media connection; and
a jitter of a streaming media connection.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the operational data relate to operation of a core network node of a cellular communications network, such that the data relating to the at least one configuration parameter comprise data relating to at least one configuration parameter of the core network node, and the data relating to the performance indicators comprise data relating to at least one performance indicator of the core network node.
5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the performance indicators comprises one performance indicator selected from:
a service request success rate; and
a handover success rate.
6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the probability that an action will lead to a transition to a respective other state comprises a ratio of a number of times that performing said action in a first state has led to a transition to said other state to a total number of times that said action has been performed in said first state.
7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a current state and at least one desired state; and
determining at least one action to cause the transition from the current state to a desired state.
8. The method according to claim 7 , comprising:
determining said at least one action to cause a shortest path transition from the current state to the desired state.
9. The method according to claim 7 , comprising:
determining said at least one action to cause a maximum probability transition from the current state to the desired state.
10. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising:
applying any change in a configuration parameter corresponding to the at least one determined action.
11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
updating the probabilistic graph based on new operational data.
12. A method of configuration in a communications network, the method comprising:
receiving information defining a probabilistic graph including operational data, wherein the probabilistic graph indicates, for a plurality of defined states, a probability that an action will lead to a transition to a respective other state,
wherein the operational data relate to operation of at least one network node, and comprise, for each of a plurality of time periods, data relating to at least one configuration parameter of the network node and data relating to performance indicators of the network node, wherein the data relating to the performance indicators of the network node is obtained by joint data binning of performance indicator values of the performance indicators, wherein the joint data binning includes clustering the performance indicator values to generate a finite set of bins, wherein the plurality of defined states is based on the Cartesian product of a set of possible values for each of the at least one configuration parameter and the finite set of bins, wherein each defined state corresponds to one specific set of values of the operational data, the specific set of values comprising a value from each of the at least one configuration parameter and a bin from the finite set of bins, and
wherein each of a plurality of defined actions corresponds to a specific set of values of the at least one configuration parameter in two successive time periods;
identifying a current state and at least one desired state; and
determining at least one action to cause the transition from the current state to a desired state.
13. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising:
causing any change in a configuration parameter corresponding to the at least one determined action to be applied in a network node.
14. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the operational data relate to operation of a cell of a cellular communications network, such that the data relating to the at least one configuration parameter comprise data relating to at least one configuration parameter of the cell, and the data relating to the performance indicators comprise data relating to at least one performance indicator of the cell.
15. A node for configuration of a communications network, the node comprising processing circuitry and a memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry, whereby the node is operable to:
obtain operational data relating to operation of at least one network node, the operational data comprising, for each of a plurality of time periods, data relating to at least one configuration parameter of the network node and data relating to performance indicators of the network node, wherein the data relating to the performance indicators of the network node is obtained by joint data binning of performance indicator values of the performance indicators, wherein the joint data binning includes clustering the performance indicator values to generate a finite set of bins;
define a plurality of actions, wherein each action corresponds to a specific set of values of the at least one configuration parameter in two successive time periods;
define a plurality of states based on the Cartesian product of a set of possible values for each of the at least one configuration parameter and the finite set of bins, wherein each state corresponds to one specific set of values of the operational data; and
construct a probabilistic graph from said operational data, the probabilistic graph indicating, for a plurality of the defined states, a probability that an action will lead to a transition to a respective other state.
16. A node for configuration of a communications network, the node comprising processing circuitry and a memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry, whereby the node is operable to:
receive information defining a probabilistic graph including operational data, wherein the probabilistic graph indicates, for a plurality of defined states, a probability that an action will lead to a transition to a respective other state,
wherein the operational data relate to operation of at least one network node, and comprise, for each of a plurality of time periods, data relating to at least one configuration parameter of the network node and data relating to performance indicators of the network node, wherein the data relating to the performance indicators of the network node is obtained by joint data binning of performance indicator values of the performance indicators, wherein the joint data binning includes clustering the performance indicator values to generate a finite set of bins, wherein the plurality of defined states is based on the Cartesian product of a set of possible values for each of the at least one configuration parameter and the finite set of bins, wherein each defined state corresponds to one specific set of values of the operational data, the specific set of values comprising a value from each of the at least one configuration parameter and a bin from the finite set of bins, and
wherein each of a plurality of defined actions corresponds to a specific set of values of the at least one configuration parameter in two successive time periods;
identify a current state and at least one desired state; and
determine at least one action to cause the transition from the current state to a desired state.