QUALITY OF SERVICE MANAGEMENT FOR DYNAMIC INSTANTIATION OF NETWORK SLICES AND/OR APPLICATIONS

• US 20180287891A1
• Filed: 03/31/2017
• Published: 10/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shaw, Venson, Dowlatkhah, Sangar
• Granted Patent: US 10,608,895 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5051 Service on demand, e.g. definition and deployment of services in real time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/302 Route determination based on requested QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/78 Architectures of resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/805 QOS or priority aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/61 taking into account QoS or priority requirements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/24 Negotiating SLA [Service Level Agreement]; Negotiating QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service

Abstract

Network and/or application resources can be dynamically instantiated based on quality of service (QoS) data. In one aspect, different QoS levels can be assigned for different segments of a content delivery session, for example, based on subscription and/or policy data. Further, the QoS levels can be varied in response to changes in user experience and/or expectation. Furthermore, core network slices can be instantiated and/or updated based on the QoS levels.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

assigning respective quality of service levels to portions of a communication session associated with a service; and

based on the respective quality of service levels, provisioning network application resources for a network slice of a network, wherein the network slice comprises a virtual replication of resources of the network that are employable to enable the service, and wherein traffic associated with the communication session is to be directed to the network slice.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

instantiating the network slice based on a quality of service level of the respective quality of service levels.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the provisioning comprises updating the network slice based on a quality of service level of the respective quality of service levels.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the assigning comprises assigning the respective quality of service levels based on user experience data associated with the communication session.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the assigning comprises assigning the respective quality of service levels based on user expectation data associated with the communication session.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein a request for the service is received from a user equipment and wherein the assigning comprises assigning the respective quality of service levels based on policy data associated with a subscriber account related to the user equipment.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein a request for the service is received from a user equipment and wherein the assigning comprises assigning the respective quality of service levels based on characteristic data that represents a device characteristic of the user equipment.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein a request for the service is received from a user equipment and wherein the assigning comprises assigning the respective quality of service levels based on location data that represents a geographical location of the user equipment.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the respective quality of service levels are varied during the communication session.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication session comprises a content delivery session.

11. A method, comprising:

partitioning, by a system comprising a processor, a communication session associated with a service, wherein the partitioning results in generation of a first portion of the communication session and a second portion of the communication session;

assigning, by the system, a first quality of service level to the first portion and a second quality of service level to the second portion, wherein the first quality of service level is different from the second quality of service level;

based on the first quality of service level, instantiating a first network slice of a network, wherein the first network slice comprises a first virtual replication of resources of the network that are employable to enable the service, and wherein first traffic associated with the first portion is directed to the first network slice; and

based on the second quality of service level, instantiating a second network slice of the network, wherein the second network slice comprises a second virtual replication of resources of the network that are employable to enable the service, and wherein second traffic associated with the second portion is directed to the second network slice.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the assigning comprises assigning the first quality of service level based on user experience data associated with the communication session.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the assigning comprises assigning the first quality of service level based on user expectation data associated with the communication session.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, by the system, request data indicative of a request for the service from a user equipment coupled to an access point device of the network.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the assigning comprises assigning the first quality of service level based on location data indicative of a location of the user equipment.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the assigning comprises assigning the first quality of service level based on information indicative of a hardware characteristic of the user equipment.

17. A machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

in response to receiving, from a user equipment coupled to a network device of a network, request data indicative of a request for a service, determining segments of a communication session associated with the service;

determining respective quality of service levels for the segments; and

based on the respective quality of service levels, provisioning network application resources for a network slice of the network, wherein the network slice comprises a virtual replication of resources of the network that are employable to enable the service, and wherein traffic associated with the communication session is to be directed to the network slice.

18. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the determining the respective quality of service levels comprises determining the respective quality of service levels based on location data indicative of a location of the user equipment.

19. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the determining the respective quality of service levels comprises determining the respective quality of service levels based on timing data indicative of a time of day.

20. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the determining the respective quality of service levels comprises determining the respective quality of service levels based on policy data indicative of a policy associated with the user equipment.