US-12628151-B2 - System and method for hierarchical management of radio resources

Abstract

A radio resource partitioning system may be configured to: divide a resource grid into first partitions based on: subscriber profile identifiers (SPIDs); a combination of SPIDs and network slice identifiers (IDs); or one or more network slice IDs and no SPID. The radio resource partitioning system may further divide the first partitions into second partitions based on Fifth Generation (5G) Quality-of-Service (QoS) Identifiers (5QIs) or QoS class Identifiers (QCIs); generate partition information based on the first partitions and the second partitions; and provide the partition information to a scheduler for scheduling data for transmission to or reception from a User Equipment device (UE).

Inventors

• Jin Yang
• Steven F. Rice
• William H. Stone

Assignees

• VERIZON PATENT AND LICENSING INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20230621

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A system comprising: a device configured to: divide a resource grid, which comprises a map of time-frequency locations for carrying modulation symbols, into first partitions based on: subscriber profile identifiers (SPIDs), a combination of SPIDs and network slice identifiers (IDs), or one or more network slice IDs and no SPID; divide the first partitions into second partitions based on Fifth Generation (5G) Quality-of-Service (QoS) Identifiers (5QIs) or QoS class Identifiers (QCIs); generate partition information based on the first partitions and the second partitions; and provide the partition information to a scheduler for scheduling data for transmission to or reception from a User Equipment device (UE).
2. 2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein when the device is configured to divide the radio resource grid into the first partitions based on the combination of the SPIDs and the network slice IDs, the device is configured to: divide the radio resource grid to obtain intermediate partitions based on the SPIDs, and divide the intermediate partitions to obtain the first partitions based on the network slice IDs, wherein the device is included in a 5G New Radio (NR) standalone (SA) access station, and wherein the first partition is in frequency ranges for use in both a 5G NR SA architecture and a 5G NR non-standalone (NSA) architecture.
3. 3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the second partitions include a partition that corresponds to a network slice ID for a default network slice.
4. 4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein when the device is configured to divide the radio resource grid into the first partitions based on the one or more network slice IDs and no SPID, the device is configured to: divide the radio resource grid to obtain the first partitions based on the one or more network slice IDs, wherein the device is included in a 5G New Radio (NR) standalone (SA) access station, and wherein the first partition is in frequency ranges for use in a 5G NR SA architecture and not in a 5G NR NSA architecture.
5. 5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the system comprises a Next Generation Node B (gNB) that includes the device and the scheduler.
6. 6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the scheduler is configured to: receive information related to the data, wherein the information includes a 5QI; and when communication channels between the gNB and UEs are congested, determine a priority of the data for scheduling based on the 5QI and the partition information; and schedule the data for transmission based on the priority.
7. 7 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the scheduler is configured to: receive information related to the data from a Unified Data Management (UDM) in a 5G core network connected to the gNB.
8. 8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first partitions comprise one or more of: physical resource blocks (PRBs); or resource elements.
9. 9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the second partitions include a partition that corresponds to a 5QI that indicates a default QoS.
10. 10 . A method comprising: dividing a resource grid, which comprises a map of time-frequency locations for carrying modulation symbols, into first partitions based on: subscriber profile identifiers (SPIDs), a combination of SPIDs and network slice identifiers (IDs), or one or more network slice IDs and no SPID; dividing the first partitions into second partitions based on Fifth Generation (5G) Quality-of-Service (QOS) Identifiers (5QIs) or QoS class Identifiers (QCIs); generating partition information based on the first partitions and the second partitions; and providing the partition information to a scheduler for scheduling data for transmission to or reception from a User Equipment device (UE).
11. 11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein dividing the radio resource grid into the first partitions based on the combination of the SPIDs and the network slice IDs includes: dividing the radio resource grid to obtain intermediate partitions based on the SPIDs, and dividing the intermediate partitions to obtain the first partitions based on the network slice IDs, wherein the first partition is in frequency ranges for use in both a 5G New Radio (NR) standalone (SA) architecture and a 5G NR non-standalone (NSA) architecture.
12. 12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the second partitions include a partition that corresponds to a network slice ID for a default network slice.
13. 13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein dividing the radio resource grid into the first partitions based on the one or more network slice IDs and no SPID includes: dividing the radio resource grid to obtain the first partitions based on the one or more network slice IDs, wherein the first partition is in frequency ranges for use in a 5G New Radio (NR) standalone (SA) architecture and not in a 5G NR NSA architecture.
14. 14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein a Next Generation Node B (gNB) includes the scheduler.
15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the scheduler is configured to: receive information related to the data, wherein the information includes a 5QI; and when communication channels between the gNB and UEs are congested, determine a priority of the data for scheduling based on the 5QI and the partition information; and schedule the data for transmission based on the priority.
16. 16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the scheduler is configured to: receive information related to the data from a Unified Data Management (UDM) in a 5G core network connected to the gNB.
17. 17 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first partitions comprise one or more of: physical resource blocks (PRBs); or resource elements.
18. 18 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the second partitions include a partition that corresponds to a 5QI that indicates a default QoS.
19. 19 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising processor-executable instructions, which when executed by a processor cause the processor to: divide a resource grid, which comprises a map of time-frequency locations for carrying modulation symbols, into first partitions based on: subscriber profile identifiers (SPIDs), a combination of SPIDs and network slice identifiers (IDs), or one or more network slice IDs and no SPID; divide the first partitions into second partitions based on Fifth Generation (5G) Quality-of-Service (QOS) Identifiers (5QIs) or QoS class Identifiers (QCIs); generate partition information based on the first partitions and the second partitions; and provide the partition information to a scheduler for scheduling data for transmission to or reception from a User Equipment device (UE).
20. 20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the first partitions comprise one or more of: physical resource blocks (PRBs); or resource elements.

Description

BACKGROUND INFORMATION In the early deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) networks, many mobile network operators (MNOs) built their 5G networks using a combination of 4G equipment and 5G equipment based on a non-standalone (NSA) network architecture. In a non-standalone architecture, a 5G radio access network (RAN) interoperates with 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, a 4G core network, and/or 5G core network. For many MNOs, 5G NR non-standalone networks serve as a steppingstone for transitioning from legacy 4G LTE networks to 5G standalone (SA) networks. Although 5G NR standalone networks are becoming more prevalent, many carriers retain both 5G NR standalone networks and 5G NR non-standalone networks. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates concepts described herein; FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary network environment in which systems and methods described herein may be implemented; FIG. 3 depicts example functional components of a system for hierarchical management of radio resources, according to an implementation; FIG. 4A illustrates an access station configured to operate as a Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) standalone access station, according to an implementation; FIG. 4B illustrates access stations configured to operate as 5G NR non-standalone access stations, according to an implementation; FIG. 5 illustrates example stages of a process for generating partition information for hierarchical management of radio resources, according to an implementation; FIG. 6 illustrates an example application of a process for hierarchical management of radio resources, according to an implementation; FIG. 7A is a flow diagram of an example process for generating partition information, according to an implementation; FIG. 7B is a flow diagram of an example process for using partition information for hierarchical management of radio resources, according to an implementation; and FIG. 8 depicts exemplary functional components of a network device according to an implementation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements. Systems and methods described herein relate to hierarchical management of radio resources. In 5G networks, network slicing (to be described below) may play a key role in providing many 5G communication services. To advance further use of network slicing, many MNOs are implementing 5G New Radio (NR) standalone (SA) networks. Currently, however, 5G NR SA coverage is limited, and it may take time for the coverage to match that of 5G NR non-standalone (NSA) networks. The systems and methods described herein provide for hierarchical management of radio resources across 5G SA and 5G NSA networks to advance the use of network slicing while accommodating the use of Subscriber Profile Identifiers (SPIDs) in 5G NSA networks, to meet Service Level Agreements. The hierarchical management may entail dividing radio resources into partitions and priority-based radio resource allocation to ensure consistent user experience across 5G NR SA coverage areas and 5G NR NSA coverage areas. According to systems described herein, users that are assigned to a high Quality-of-Service (QoS) network slice and to a high-priority SPID may be given the highest priority. That is, when a base station schedules data for downlink/uplink transmission to/from a User Equipment device (UE) of the user, the base station may give the highest priority to the data associated with particular network slices and SPIDs. FIG. 1 illustrates concepts described herein. As shown, in environment 100, a UE 102 establishes a radio frequency (RF) communication link 104 with an access station 210 (e.g., a base station). UE 102 and access station 210 may exchange symbols (e.g., Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols) over link 104, which may encompass a range of frequencies and time intervals. In FIG. 1, the frequencies and the time intervals form a radio resource grid 106. Radio resource grid 106 may comprise physical resource blocks (PRBs), each of which in turn comprises resource elements. When access station 210 is scheduling data for downlink transmission or uplink reception, access station 210 may identify radio resources (PRBs or resource elements) that the data will occupy and assign the identified radio resources to the data. Access station 210 may transmit or receive the scheduled data in accordance with the assigned radio resources. Access station 210 may be implemented to operate in SA-only frequency bands (frequency bands only used with SA architecture), in SA and NSA overlapping bands (frequency bands used with both SA and NSA architecture), and in NSA-only frequency bands. In SA-only frequency bands, access station 210 may be implemented as an SA access station; in the overlapping bands, as either an SA access station or an NSA access station; and in the NS