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EP-4736387-A1 - APPARATUS, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR FORWARDING E2 COMMUNICATION IN A NETWORK

EP4736387A1EP 4736387 A1EP4736387 A1EP 4736387A1EP-4736387-A1

Abstract

Provided are apparatus, method, and device capable of forwarding E2 communication a network. According to embodiments, the apparatus may include: at least one memory storage storing computer-executable instructions; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one memory storage, wherein the at least one processor may be configured to execute the instructions to: obtain a mapping between a first IP address of an instance of E2 Termination deployed at the Near-RT RIC and at least one second IP address of at least one E2 node associated with the instance of E2 Termination; receive a data from an E2 node; determine whether to directly transmit the data to the instance of E2 Termination based on the mapping.

Inventors

  • KALISWAMY, Prabhu
  • RAMIYA, Raghavendran

Assignees

  • Rakuten Symphony, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230628

Claims (20)

  1. 1. An apparatus capable of forwarding E2 communication to a near-real-time radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (Near-RT RIC), the apparatus comprising: at least one memory storage storing computer-executable instructions; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one memory storage, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to: obtain a mapping between a first IP address of an instance of E2 Termination deployed at the Near-RT RIC and at least one second IP address of at least one E2 node associated with the instance of E2 Termination; receive data from an E2 node; determine whether to directly transmit the data to the instance of E2 Termination based on the mapping.
  2. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data is subjected to Internet Protocol Security (IP Sec).
  3. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to determine whether to directly transmit the data by: determining an IP address of the E2 node; determining whether or not the IP address of the E2 node corresponds to an IP address from among the at least one second IP address in the mapping; in response to determining that the IP address of the E2 node corresponds to the IP address from among the at least one second IP address in the mapping, directly transmitting the data to the instance of E2 Termination associated with the E2 node based on the mapping.
  4. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to: receive a notification that the instance of E2 Termination is deployed at the Near- RT RIC; and in response to receiving the notification, obtain the first IP address of the instance of E2 Termination and map the first IP address of the instance of E2 Termination to the at least one second IP address of the at least one E2 node associated with the instance of E2 Termination.
  5. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mapping comprises a table specifying the association between the first IP address of the instance of E2 Termination and the at least one second IP address of the at least one E2 node.
  6. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one E2 node comprises at least one of an O-CU, an O-DU, and an O-eNB.
  7. 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to, based on determining to directly transmit the data, directly transmit the data to the instance of E2 Termination by bypassing one or more security elements.
  8. 8. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to: in response to determining that the IP address of the E2 node corresponds to the IP address from among the at least one second IP address in the mapping, add the IP address of the E2 node in a row of the corresponding IP address of the at least one second IP address in the mapping; and in response to determining that the IP address of the E2 node does not correspond to any of the at least one second IP address in the mapping, add the IP address of the E2 node in a new row different from the at least one second IP address in the mapping.
  9. 9. A method for forwarding E2 communication to a near-real-time radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (Near-RT RIC), the method comprising: obtaining a mapping between a first IP address of an instance of E2 Termination deployed at the Near-RT RIC and at least one second IP address of at least one E2 node associated with the instance of E2 Termination; receiving data from an E2 node; determining whether to directly transmit the data to the instance of E2 Termination based on the mapping.
  10. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the data is subjected to Internet Protocol Security (IP Sec).
  11. 11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the determining whether to directly transmit the data comprises: determining an IP address of the E2 node; determining whether or not the IP address of the E2 node corresponds to an IP address from among the at least one second IP address in the mapping; in response to determining that the IP address of the E2 node corresponds to the IP address from among the at least one second IP address in the mapping, directly transmitting the data to the instance of E2 Termination associated with the E2 node based on the mapping.
  12. 12. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: receiving a notification that the instance of E2 Termination is deployed at the Near-RT RIC; and in response to receiving the notification, obtaining the first IP address of the instance of E2 Termination and mapping the first IP address of the instance of E2 Termination to the at least one second IP address of the at least one E2 node associated with the instance of E2 Termination.
  13. 13. The method according to claim 9, wherein the mapping comprises a table specifying the association between the first IP address of the instance of E2 Termination and the at least one second IP address of the at least one E2 node.
  14. 14. The method according to claim 9, wherein the at least one E2 node comprises at least one of an O-CU, an O-DU, and an O-eNB.
  15. 15. The method according to claim 9, further comprising, based on determining to directly transmit the data, directly transmitting the data to the instance of E2 Termination by bypassing one or more security elements.
  16. 16. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: in response to determining that the IP address of the E2 node corresponds to the IP address from among the at least one second IP address in the mapping, adding the IP address of the E2 node in a row of the corresponding IP address of the at least one second IP address in the mapping; and in response to determining that the IP address of the E2 node does not correspond to any of the at least one second IP address in the mapping, adding the IP address of the E2 node in a new row different from the at least one second IP address in the mapping.
  17. 17. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon instructions executable by at least one processor to cause the at least one processor to perform a method for forwarding E2 communication to a near-real-time radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (Near-RT RIC), the method comprising: obtaining a mapping between a first IP address of an instance of E2 Termination deployed at the Near-RT RIC and at least one second IP address of at least one E2 node associated with the instance of E2 Termination; receiving data from an E2 node; determining whether to directly transmit the data to the instance of E2 Termination based on the mapping.
  18. 18. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 17, wherein the data is subjected to Internet Protocol Security (IPSec).
  19. 19. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 17, wherein the determining whether to directly transmit the data comprises: determining an IP address of the E2 node; determining whether or not the IP address of the E2 node corresponds to an IP address from among the at least one second IP address in the mapping; in response to determining that the IP address of the E2 node corresponds to the IP address from among the at least one second IP address in the mapping, directly transmitting the data to the instance of E2 Termination associated with the E2 node based on the mapping.
  20. 0. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 17, wherein the method further comprises, based on determining to directly transmit the data, directly transmitting the data to the instance of E2 Termination by bypassing one or more security elements.

Description

APPARATUS, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR FORWARDING E2 COMMUNICATION IN A NETWORK TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] Apparatuses, methods, and computer programs consistent with example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a telecommunication network, and more specifically, relate to forwarding E2 communication to an instance of E2 Termination of a near- real-time radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (Near-RT RIC), in a telecommunication network. BACKGROUND [0002] A radio access network (RAN) is an important component in a telecommunications system, as it connects end-user devices (or user equipment) to other parts of the network. The RAN includes a combination of various network elements (NEs) that connect end-users to a core network. Traditionally, hardware and/or software of a particular RAN is vendor specific. [0003] Open RAN (O-RAN) technology has emerged to enable multiple vendors to provide hardware and/or software to a telecommunications system. Since different vendors are involved, the type of hardware and/or software provided may also be different. That is, different types of NEs may be provided by different vendors, and depending on the specific service, the NE could be virtualized in software form (e.g., virtual machine (VM)-based), or could be in physical hardware form (e.g., non-VM based). [0004] RAN functions in the O-RAN architecture are controlled and optimized by a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC). The RIC is a software-defined component that implements modular applications to facilitate the multivendor operability required in the O-RAN system, as well as to automate and optimize RAN operations. [0005] The RIC is divided into two types: a non-real-time RIC (Non-RT RIC) and a near- real-time RIC (Near-RT RIC). The Non-RT RIC operates on a timescale greater than 1 second within the Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework. Its functionalities are implemented through modular applications called rApps, and include: providing policy based guidance and enrichment across the Al interface, which is the interface that enables communication between the Non-RT RIC and the Near-RT RIC; performing data analytics; Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) training and inference for RAN optimization; and/or recommending configuration management actions over the 01 interface, which is the interface that connects the SMO to RAN managed elements (e.g., Near-RT RIC, O-RAN Centralized Unit (O-CU), O-RAN Distributed Unit (0-DU), etc.). [0006] The Near-RT RIC operates on a timescale between 10 milliseconds and 1 second and is coupled with the O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP), the O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), and the O-DU via the E2 interface. It hosts xApps to implement functions such as interference mitigation, load balancing, security, etc. The two types of RICs work together to optimize the O- RAN. For example, the Non-RT RIC provides the policies, data, and AI/ML models enforced and used by the Near-RT RIC for RAN optimization. [0007] As mentioned above, the Non-RT RIC is located within the SMO framework, which manages and orchestrates RAN elements. Specifically, the SMO manages and orchestrates what is referred to as the O-RAN Cloud (O-Cloud). The O-Cloud is a collection of physical RAN nodes that host the RICs, O-CUs, and O-DUs, the supporting software components (e.g., the operating systems and runtime environments), and the SMO itself. In other words, the SMO manages the O-Cloud from within. [0008] In further detail, the O-RAN E2 nodes (i.e., the O-CU, O-DU, O-eNB, etc., that are connected to the Near-RT RIC via the E2 interface) are orchestrated on the O-Cloud as Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) or Cloud Native Functions (CNFs). SMO anchored functionalities (Network Function Orchestrator (NFO), Federated O-Cloud Orchestration and Management (FOCOM), etc.) handle management and orchestration of VNFs/CNFs and the O-Cloud. [0009] In the related art, the E2 interface is introduced as part of O-RAN Work Group 3 Near RT-RIC E2AP Specification for communication between the Near-RT RIC and the E2 nodes, where the latency for communication through the E2 interface should adhere to the requirement for the Near-RT RIC of between 10 milliseconds and 1 second. [0010] However, introduction of O-RAN Work Group 11 Security specification results in the E2 interface being required to support confidentiality, integrity, replay protection and data origin authentication. To this end, the E2 interface may be required to enable IPSec in order to protect the communication through the E2 interface. Such introduction of IPSec on the E2 interface may impact the performance and latency of communication through the E2 interface, which may result in the latency failing the requirement for the Near-RT RIC of between 10 milliseconds and 1 second. SUMMARY [0011] Example embodiments of the present disclosure forward E2 communication from an E2 Node to an E2 Termination Instance based on a mapping betw