DESC:
FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule 13)
1. TITLE OF THE INVENTION
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CELL MANAGEMENT
2. APPLICANT(S)
Name Nationality Address
JIO PLATFORMS LIMITED INDIAN Office - 101, Saffron, Nr. Centre Point, Panchwati 5 Rasta, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad - 380006, Gujarat, India
3. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

RESERVATION OF RIGHTS
[0001] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material, which is subject to intellectual property rights such as, but are not limited to, copyright, design, trademark, Integrated Circuit (IC) layout design, and/or trade dress protection, belonging to Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) or its affiliates (hereinafter referred as owner). The owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever. All rights to such intellectual property are fully reserved by the owner.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communication systems. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods that perform cell management.

DEFINITION
[0003] As used in the present disclosure, the following terms are generally intended to have the meaning as set forth below, except to the extent that the context in which they are used to indicate otherwise.
[0004] The term “Zero-touch" refers to systems, processes, or technologies designed to operate with minimal or no human intervention.
[0005] The term “Cell addition” refers to the process of expanding or enhancing the coverage and capacity of a cellular network by adding more cells or upgrading existing ones.
[0006] The term “Cell removal" refers to the process of reducing the number of active cells or base stations or decreasing the capacity and coverage of existing cells.
[0007] The term “Cell plan data" refers to information and configurations related to the deployment and management of cells within the network. The cell plan data may include cell parameters (e.g., cell identifier, location, coverage area), frequency allocation, transmission power, antenna configuration, traffic load, network capacity, cell type (e.g., microcell, microcell, picocell), sectors, performance metrics, etc.
[0008] The term “Cognitive Platform (CP)” refers to a platform for data entry of cell plan data. The CP allows real time data exchange with a unified access platform via an interface (e.g., APIs).
[0009] The term “Application Programming Interface (API)” refers to a set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate with each other. The APIs define the methods and data formats that applications can use to request and exchange information. The API may include REST API, web API, service API, hardware API, etc.
[0010] The term “Data repository” refers to a storage location where data is collected, stored, and managed.
[0011] The term “Physical Cell Identity (PCI)” refers to a unique identifier used to differentiate between cells within a network. The PCI is essential for various functions, including cell identification, handovers, and signal optimization. For example, for residential area A, the PCIs range from 100-500. PCI of cell A = 123, PCI of cell B = 456, PCI of cell C = 479, etc.
[0012] The term “Web Services” refers to software systems designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over the network. The web services use web protocols and standards to allow different applications to communicate and share data regardless of their underlying platforms or programming languages.
[0013] The term “API Gateway” refers to a server that acts as an entry point for client applications to access backend services or microservices. The API Gateway helps in managing API traffic, providing a single-entry point for clients to access backend services. It manages various responsibilities such as request routing, load balancing, security, and monitoring, which simplifies the management of APIs and improves system performance, scalability, and security.
[0014] The term “Microservices” refers to a collection of small, independent services. Each service is designed to perform a specific function and communicates with other services via the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).
[0015] The term “Database microservices” refers to each microservice managing its own database or a data store.
[0016] The term “Database server” refers to a system designed to manage and provide access to databases. It is responsible for storing, retrieving, and managing data, ensuring that data is available and secure for users and applications.
[0017] The term “Load balancer” refers to a component in network architecture and application deployment, designed to distribute incoming network or application traffic across multiple servers or resources so that no server is overloaded.
[0018] The term “Network Management System (NMS)” refers to a system used to monitor, control, and manage network infrastructure and services.
[0019] The term “Data request” refers to a request made to access, retrieve, or manipulate data from a database, application, or service.
[0020] The term “Operation Aborted" refers to indicate that a specific operation, task, or process has been terminated or canceled before its completion. This usually happens due to an error, interruption, or decision to halt the operation due to various reasons.
[0021] The term “Timeout” refers to describe a situation where an operation or process fails to complete within a specified time limit. When the timeout occurs, the system stops waiting for the operation to complete and usually takes predefined actions, such as aborting the operation, generating an error, or retrying the process.
[0022] The term “Acknowledgement” refers to the confirmation or recognition that a specific action, message, or request has been received and processed successfully. It is a crucial concept in various systems to ensure reliable communication, data integrity, and error handling.
[0023] The term “Specific Time Limit” refers to a specified duration within which a particular task, operation, or event must be accomplished, or a condition must be met. If the task or condition is not completed or met within the specific time frame, predefined actions or consequences may follow, such as cancellation, timeout, or error reporting.
[0024] The term “Operation Successful" is a term used to indicate that a specific action, task, or process has been completed as intended without errors or issues.
[0025] The term “No Response" refers to a condition where an expected reply, acknowledgement, or result is not received within the designated time or after making a request or initiating an action.
[0026] The term “Bad Request” refers to indicate that the system cannot or will not process a request due to an issue with the request itself.
[0027] The term “Unexpected Data” refers to data received or encountered that does not conform to the expected format, type, or value.
[0028] The term “Duplicate Data" refers to the occurrence of identical or redundant parts of data within the system.
[0029] The term “Overwrite Data" refers to the process of replacing existing data in the system with new data. This process can either update, modify, or completely replace the original data, depending on the context and operation performed.
[0030] The term “Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) refers to a signal sent to indicate that a request or data transmission was unsuccessful or that an error occurred.
[0031] The term “Data Validation” refers to a process of checking data to ensure it is accurate, complete, and meets specific rules or criteria before it is accepted or processed by the system.
[0032] The term “Unified Access Platform” is a network infrastructure that manages various types of access networks and services. The unified access platform aims to unify different network access technologies, such as wired, wireless, and cellular, etc.
[0033] These definitions are in addition to those expressed in the art.
BACKGROUND
[0034] The following description of related art is intended to provide background information pertaining to the field of the disclosure. This section may include certain aspects of the art that may be related to various features of the present disclosure. However, it should be appreciated that this section be used only to enhance the understanding of the reader with respect to the present disclosure, and not as admissions of prior art.
[0035] In today's fast-growing and ever-evolving cellular network environment, it is crucial for network operators to meet subscribers' ever-increasing coverage and capacity requirements. To address the rapid technological advancements, innovative approaches are necessary for efficiently managing cellular networks. .
[0036] Currently, network operators are planning to upgrade their networks with the latest upcoming technologies, such as transitioning from 4G network to 5G network. Expanding the network from 4G to 5G often requires new network cells to serve end consumers. Currently, this process is entirely manual. Furthermore, network operators receive the cell plan using certain tools, but engineers need to upload all cell plan details manually to execute cell addition or cell removal functions.
[0037] There is, therefore, a need in the art to provide a system and a method for performing cell management function (e.g., cell addition/cell removal) without the requirement of human assistance by overcoming the deficiencies of the existing methods.
SUMMARY
[0038] In an exemplary embodiment, a system for performing cell management in a network is described. The system comprises a cognitive platform (CP) system, an unstructured data storage function (UDSF) system and a self-organizing network (SON) system. The CP system is configured to receive cell plan data from a web service. The CP system is further configured to store the cell plan data in one or more CP database servers. The CP system is configured to transmit the cell plan data to an unstructured data storage function (UDSF) system. In response to receiving the cell plan data from the CP system (102), the UDSF system is configured to process the cell plan data. The UDSF system is configured to store the processed cell plan data in one or more UDSF database servers. The UDSF system is further configured to transmit the processed cell plan data to a self-organizing network (SON) system. In response to receiving the processed cell plan data, the SON system, while maintaining a continuous feedback loop with the CP system and the UDSF system, is configured to automatically execute at least one cell management function based on the processed cell plan data.
[0039] In some embodiments, the cell management function includes at least one of cell addition, cell removal, cell planning, cell adjustment, and cell modification.
[0040] In some embodiments, the CP system is configured to perform data validation based on data type and duplicate values.
[0041] In some embodiments, the UDSF system is configured to store data from one or more cells across one or more network operators.
[0042] In some embodiments, the SON system is configured to dynamically perform at least one of updates and adjustments to network parameters.
[0043] In some embodiments, after performing the at least one of updates or adjustments to the network parameters, the SON system is configured to communicate the at least one of updates or adjustments to the network parameters to the CP system through the UDSF system in order to keep the CP system, the UDSF system and the SON system in sync with defined network configurations.
[0044] In some embodiments, the UDSF system is configured to perform neighbor management and physical cell identity (PCI) allocation.
[0045] In another exemplary embodiment, a method for performing cell management in a network is described. The method includes receiving cell plan data from a web service by a cognitive platform (CP) system, storing the cell plan data in one or more CP database servers by the cognitive platform (CP) system and transmitting, by the cognitive platform (CP) system, the cell plan data to an unstructured data storage function (UDSF) system. The method further includes in response to receiving the cell plan data, processing, by the UDSF system, the cell plan data and storing, by the UDSF system, the processed cell plan data in one or more UDSF database servers. The method includes transmitting, by the UDSF system, the processed cell plan data to a self-organizing network (SON) system. The method further includes in response to receiving the processed cell plan data, automatically executing, by the SON system, at least one cell management function based on the processed cell plan data, while maintaining a continuous feedback loop with the CP system and the UDSF system.
[0046] In some embodiments, the cell management function includes at least one of cell addition, cell removal, cell planning, cell adjustment, and cell modification.
[0047] In some embodiments, the method comprises performing, by the CP system, data validation based on data type and duplicate values.
[0048] In some embodiments, the method comprises storing, by the UDSF system, data from one or more cells across one or more network operators.
[0049] In some embodiments, the method further comprises dynamically performing, by the SON system, at least one of updates and adjustments to network parameters.
[0050] In some embodiments, the method further comprises after performing the at least one of updates or adjustments to the network parameters, communicating, by the SON system, the one of updates or adjustments to the network parameters to the CP system through the UDSF system in order to keep the CP system, the UDSF system and the SON system in sync with the defined network configurations.
[0051] In some embodiments, the UDSF system is configured to perform neighbor management and physical cell identity (PCI) allocation.
[0052] In some embodiments, a user equipment (UE) is communicatively coupled with a system. The system is configured to receive a connection request from the UE. The system is configured to send an acknowledgment of the connection request to the UE. The UE is configured to transmit a plurality of signals in response to the connection request. The system is configured for performing cell management in a network.
[0053] The foregoing general description of the illustrative embodiments and the following detailed description thereof are merely exemplary aspects of the teachings of this disclosure, and are not restrictive.
OBJECTS
[0054] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies, are as follows:
[0055] An object of the present disclosure is to provide an automation system and method that perform cell management function (e.g., cell addition/cell removal function.
[0056] Another object of the present disclosure is to automate the process of addition or removal of cellular network cells by directly taking cell plan data as input in order to serve the required number of cells which are required to meet increasing/decreasing customer requirements in real-time without any human intervention.
[0057] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a cognitive platform (CP) system that is configured to interface seamlessly with a unified access platform through application programming interfaces (APIs), thereby allowing for real-time data exchange.
[0058] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide an unstructured data storage function (UDSF) system. The UDSF system functions as a master data storage function and is configured to store data from all cells across different network vendors or operators, thereby enabling efficient decision-making and streamlined operations for a network which consists of multi-vendor nodes.
[0059] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a self-organizing network (SON) system that is configured to autonomously execute cell management functions while maintaining a continuous feedback loop with the CP system and the UDSF system.
[0060] Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description, which is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING
[0061] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed methods and systems in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different drawings. Components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Some drawings may indicate the components using block diagrams and may not represent the internal circuitry of each component. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that disclosure of such drawings includes disclosure of electrical components, electronic components or circuitry commonly used to implement such components.
[0062] FIG. 1A illustrates an exemplary network architecture, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0063] FIG. 1B illustrates an exemplary system architecture for implementing a system having a cognitive platform (CP) system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0064] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram for create/update/delete flow in cell management, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0065] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram for an update flow in cell management, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0066] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram of a method for performing cell management, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0067] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a computer system in which or with which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.
[0068] The foregoing shall be more apparent from the following more detailed description of the disclosure.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
100A - Network infrastructure
101 – User Equipment
103 – Base Station
105 – Network
107 – System
100B – System Architecture
102 - Cognitive platform (CP) system
104 - Unstructured data storage function (UDSF) system
106 - Self-organizing network (SON) system
108 - Web services
110 - API gateway
112-(1-N) - CP database microservices
114 - CP database servers
116-(1-N) - UDSF microservices
118 - Load balancers
120 - UDSF database servers
122-(1-N) - SON microservices
124 - SON database servers
126 - Network management system
200 - Flow diagram
300 - Flow diagram
400 – Method flow diagram
500 - Computer System
510 - External Storage Device
520 - Bus
530 - Main Memory
540 - Read-Only Memory
550 - Mass Storage Device
560 - Communication Ports
570 – Processor
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0069] In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. Several features described hereafter can each be used independently of one another or with any combination of other features. An individual feature may not address any of the problems discussed above or might address only some of the problems discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above might not be fully addressed by any of the features described herein. Example embodiments of the present disclosure are described below, as illustrated in various drawings in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different drawings.
[0070] The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth.
[0071] Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.
[0072] Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process that is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed but could have additional steps not included in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination can correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.
[0073] The word “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplary structures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “has,” “contains,” and other similar words are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive like the term “comprising” as an open transition word without precluding any additional or other elements.
[0074] Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or “an instance” or “one instance” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
[0075] The terminology used herein is to describe particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It should be noted that the terms “mobile device”, “user equipment”, “user device”, “communication device”, “device” and similar terms are used interchangeably for the purpose of describing the invention. These terms are not intended to limit the scope of the invention or imply any specific functionality or limitations on the described embodiments. The use of these terms is solely for convenience and clarity of description. The invention is not limited to any particular type of device or equipment, and it should be understood that other equivalent terms or variations thereof may be used interchangeably without departing from the scope of the invention as defined herein.
[0076] As used herein, an “electronic device”, or “portable electronic device”, or “user device” or “communication device” or “user equipment” or “device” refers to any electrical, electronic, electromechanical and computing device. The user device is capable of receiving and/or transmitting one or parameters, performing function/s, communicating with other user devices and transmitting data to the other user devices. The user equipment may have a processor, a display, a memory, a battery and an input-means such as a hard keypad and/or a soft keypad. The user equipment may be capable of operating on any radio access technology including but not limited to IP-enabled communication, Zig Bee, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, Near Field Communication, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi direct, etc. For instance, the user equipment may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, smartphone, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, laptop, a general-purpose computer, desktop, personal digital assistant, tablet computer, mainframe computer, or any other device as may be obvious to a person skilled in the art for implementation of the features of the present disclosure.
[0077] Further, the user device may also comprise a “processor” or “processing unit” includes processing unit, wherein processor refers to any logic circuitry for processing instructions. The processor may be a general-purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits, Field Programmable Gate Array circuits, any other type of integrated circuits, etc. The processor may perform signal coding data processing, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that enables the working of the system according to the present disclosure. More specifically, the processor is a hardware processor.
[0078] As portable electronic devices and wireless technologies continue to improve and grow in popularity, the advancing wireless technologies for data transfer are also expected to evolve and replace the older generations of technologies. In the field of wireless data communications, the dynamic advancement of various generations of cellular technology are also seen. The development, in this respect, has been incremental in the order of second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), and now fifth generation (5G), and more such generations are expected to continue in the forthcoming time.
[0079] Radio Access Technology (RAT) refers to the technology used by mobile devices/ user equipment (UE) to connect to a cellular network. It refers to the specific protocol and standards that govern the way devices communicate with base stations, which are responsible for providing the wireless connection. Further, each RAT has its own set of protocols and standards for communication, which define the frequency bands, modulation techniques, and other parameters used for transmitting and receiving data. Examples of RATs include GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), LTE (Long-Term Evolution), and 5G. The choice of RAT depends on a variety of factors, including the network infrastructure, the available spectrum, and the mobile device's/device's capabilities. Mobile devices often support multiple RATs, allowing them to connect to different types of networks and provide optimal performance based on the available network resources.
[0080] While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the components and component parts of the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the disclosure. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment as well as other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the disclosure and not as a limitation.
[0081] In today's fast-growing and ever-evolving cellular network environment, it is crucial for network operators to meet subscribers' ever-increasing coverage and capacity requirements. To address the rapid technological advancements, innovative approaches are necessary for efficiently managing cellular networks .
[0082] Currently, network operators are planning to upgrade their networks with the latest upcoming technologies, such as transitioning from 4G network to 5G network. Expanding the network from 4G to 5G often requires new network cells to serve end consumers. Currently, this process is entirely manual. Furthermore, network operators receive the cell plan using certain tools, but engineers need to upload all cell plan details manually to execute cell management functions. Therefore, network operators face operational inefficiencies and network performance challenges due to the reliance on manual cell grow and/or degrow processes.
[0083] Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods that execute or perform cell management functionality with no or minimal human intervention.
[0084] The present disclosure aims to overcome the above-mentioned and other existing problems in this field of technology by providing a system and a method that performs cell management functionality in telecommunication networks with no or minimal human intervention. Accordingly, the system and the method provide for zero-touch (i.e., with minimal or no human intervention) cell management functionality. In an aspect, the present disclosure provides a cognitive platform (CP) system that is configured to interface with an unstructured data storage function (UDSF) system and a self-organizing network (SON) system to perform cell management process with real-time data synchronization among all the three entities (i.e., the CP system, the UDSF system, and the SON system), thereby, ensuring efficient resource utilization and data reliability in the network with real-time synchronization. The system and method automate the process of cell management of cellular network cells by directly taking cell plan data as input to serve required number of cells to meet increasing/decreasing customer requirements in real-time without human intervention.
[0085] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0086] FIG. 1A illustrates an exemplary network architecture (100A), in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0087] Referring to FIG. 1A, the network architecture (100A) may include one or more computing devices or user equipments (101-1, 101-2…101-N) associated with one or more users in an environment. The network architecture (100A) may be a 5G or 6G network architecture. A person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that one or more user equipments (101-1, 101-2…101-N) may be individually referred to as the user equipment (101) and collectively referred to as the user equipment (101). A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the terms “computing device(s)” and “user equipment” may be used interchangeably throughout the disclosure. Although three user equipments (101) are depicted in FIG. 1A, however any number of the user equipments (101) may be included without departing from the scope of the ongoing description.
[0088] In an embodiment, the user equipment (101) may include smart devices operating in a smart environment, for example, an Internet of Things (IoT) system. In such an embodiment, the user equipment (101) may include, but is not limited to, smart phones, smart watches, smart sensors (e.g., mechanical, thermal, electrical, magnetic, etc.), networked appliances, networked peripheral devices, networked lighting system, communication devices, networked vehicle accessories, networked vehicular devices, smart accessories, tablets, smart television (TV), computers, smart security system, smart home system, other devices for monitoring or interacting with or for the users and/or entities, or any combination thereof. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the user equipment (101) may include, but is not limited to, intelligent, multi-sensing, network-connected devices, that can integrate seamlessly with each other and/or with a central server or a cloud-computing system or any other device that is network-connected.
[0089] In an embodiment, the user equipment (101) may include, but is not limited to, a handheld wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a smart phone, a phablet device, and so on), a wearable computer device(e.g., a head-mounted display computer device, a head-mounted camera device, a wristwatch computer device, and so on), a Global Positioning System (GPS) device, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, or another type of portable computer, a media playing device, a portable gaming system, and/or any other type of computer device with wireless communication capabilities, and the like. In an embodiment, the user equipment (101) may include, but is not limited to, any electrical, electronic, electro-mechanical, or an equipment, or a combination of one or more of the above devices such as virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, laptop, a general-purpose computer, desktop, personal digital assistant, tablet computer, mainframe computer, or any other computing device, wherein the user equipment (101) may include one or more in-built or externally coupled accessories including, but not limited to, a visual aid device such as a camera, an audio aid, a microphone, a keyboard, and input devices for receiving input from the user or the entity such as touch pad, touch enabled screen, electronic pen, and the like. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the user equipment (101) may not be restricted to the mentioned devices and various other devices may be used.
[0090] In an embodiment, the network (105) may include one or more base stations (103) for facilitating communication between the one or more UEs (101). The network (105) may be formed by a set of base stations (103-1, 103-2….103-N) communicatively coupled to enable telecommunication exchanges between one or more UEs (101). A person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that one or more base stations (103-1, 103-2…103-N) may be individually referred to as the base stations (103) and collectively referred to as the base station (103).
[0091] The base station (103) may be a network infrastructure that provides wireless access to one or more terminals associated therewith. The base station may have coverage defined to be a predetermined geographic area based on the distance over which a signal may be transmitted. The base station (103) may be, but not be limited to, wireless access point, evolved NodeB (eNodeB), 5G node or next generation NodeB (gNB), wireless point, transmission/reception point (TRP), and the like. In an embodiment, the base station (103) may include one or more operational units that enable telecommunication between two or more UEs (101). In an embodiment, the one or more operational units may include, but not be limited to, transceivers, baseband unit (BBU), (remote radio unit - RRU), antennae, mobile switching centres, radio network control units, one or more processors associated thereto.
[0092] Referring to FIG. 1A, the user equipment (101) may communicate with a system (107) via one of the base stations (103) in the network (105). In an embodiment, the network (105) may include at least one of a Fifth Generation (5G) network, 6G network, or the like. The network (105) may enable the user equipment (101) to communicate with other devices in the network architecture (100A) and/or with the system (107). The network (105) may include a wireless card or some other transceiver connection to facilitate this communication. In another embodiment, the network (105) may be implemented as, or include any of a variety of different communication technologies such as a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless network, a mobile network, a Virtual Private Network (VPN), the Internet, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), or the like.
[0093] In an embodiment, the user equipment (UE) (101) is communicatively coupled with the system (107). The system (107) is configured to receive a connection request from the UE (101). The system (107) configured to send an acknowledgment of the connection request to the UE (101). The UE (101) is configured to transmit a plurality of signals in response to the connection request. The system (107) is configured for performing cell management.
[0094] FIG. 1B, an exemplary system architecture (100B) for implementing the system (107) having a cognitive platform (CP) system (102) is illustrated, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0095] As shown in FIG. 1B, the system (107) includes the CP system (102), an unstructured data storage function (UDSF) system (104), and a self-organizing network (SON) system (106).
[0096] The CP system (102) includes web services (108), API gateway (110), CP database microservices (112-(1-N)), CP database servers (114), UDSF microservices (116-(1-N)), and load balancers (118). In an implementation, the UDSF system (104) includes UDSF (121) and UDSF database servers (120). Further, the SON system (106) includes SON microservices (122-(1-N)), SON database servers (124), and a network management system (126).
[0097] In an implementation, the CP system (102) may serve as an initial data entry point of cell plan. The CP system (102) may interface with a unified access platform through application programming interfaces (APIs) for real-time data exchange. The CP system (102) may fetch cell plan data from the unified access platform, thereby ensuring that the most up-to-date information is available for decision-making. The CP system (102) is configured to perform first level data validation based on data type and duplicate values (if any) so that no issue is observed in data processing at next levels. In an aspect, the data type includes, but is not limited to, numerical data, time series, string, date, boolean, etc. The data type validation is used to ensure that data conforms to the expected data type. The data type validation helps in preventing errors and ensuring that data based on the type can be processed. The duplicate value detection is used to identify and handle duplicate records to maintain data integrity and prevent redundancy in the data. In an aspect, during the configuration, the data types are configured and provided to all three systems (i.e., the CP system (102), the UDSF system (104) and the SON system (106)). The CP system (102) uses the configured data types for data validation. The UDSF system (104) processes the received data to check whether the data format of the received data matches format of the configured data types. In an aspect, the CP system (102) may also support on-demand report preparation for end-users using a graphical user interface (GUI). The report of the cell plan data involves information corresponding to cell configurations, coverage, and performance of the network.
[0098] In an aspect, the cell plan data includes, but is not limited to, cell parameters (e.g., cell identifier, location, coverage area), frequency allocation, transmission power, antenna configuration, traffic load, network capacity, cell type (e.g., microcell, microcell, picocell), sectors, performance metrics (signal strength, call quality, data speed), cell activation, cell deactivation, regularity and compliance information.
[0099] According to an implementation, the CP system (102) may store the fetched cell plan data into a dedicated database (for example, CP database servers (114). The database may act as a repository for all pertinent network information. In an implementation, the CP system (102) is configured to transmit the acquired cell plan data to the UDSF system (104), thereby ensuring that the UDSF system (104) has access to the latest network parameters and configurations.
[00100] According to an implementation, the UDSF system (104) may function as both a data repository and a facilitator of various network management tasks. The UDSF system (104) may store incoming data (for example, cell plan data) in its own database (for example, the UDSF database servers (120)). In this way, the UDSF system (104) may create a comprehensive record of all cell-related information. The UDSF system (104) may forward the cell-related data to the SON system (106) to ensure that the SON system (106) operates with the most accurate and current or latest data.
[00101] In an implementation, the UDSF system (104) may function as a master data storage function. The UDSF system (104) stores data from all cells across different vendors/operators. In this way, the UDSF system (104) may function as a consolidated repository to enable efficient decision-making and streamlined operations for a network which consist of multi-vendor nodes. By leveraging the data at its disposal, the UDSF system (104) perform a range of activities such as neighbor management and physical cell identity (PCI) allocation. This empowers the network to adapt dynamically to changing conditions and demands. In an aspect, the network vendors are companies or organizations that provide the hardware, software, and services necessary to build, maintain, and optimize telecommunications and data networks. The network vendors/operators offer a wide range of products and solutions designed to support various network functions, including connectivity, performance management, security, and network automation. The network vendors/operators may be, but not limited to, network hardware provider, software provider, telecommunication provider, network service provider, network solution provider, etc.
[00102] In an aspect, the neighbor management includes maintaining and managing neighboring cells for efficient network operation, including handovers and interference management. Further, the PCI is a unique identifier assigned to each cell in the network to differentiate it from other cells. The PCI allocation refers to a process of assigning the PCIs to individual cells within the network. The PCI allocation ensures that each cell is uniquely identifiable and minimizes interference in the network.
[00103] According to an implementation, the SON system (106) may be an automation and intelligent platform that executes cell management functions (i.e., cell addition, cell removal, cell planning, cell adjustment, cell modification) while maintaining a continuous feedback loop with the CP system (102) and the UDSF system (104). The SON (106) may leverage the cell plan data provided by the UDSF system (104) to autonomously manage cell management activities. The SON system (106) may dynamically adjust cell parameters as per the cell plan received from the UDSF system (104) and the CP system (102).
[00104] In an aspect, the cell management function includes at least one of cell addition, cell removal, cell planning, cell adjustment, cell modification.
[00105] The cell addition is a process of incorporating/adding a new cell (or base station) into the network. The cell addition improves the network performance by increasing coverage, enhancing capacity and improving quality of service.
[00106] The cell removal is a process of removing or decommissioning or taking a base station (or cell) out of operation within the network. The cell removal helps in improving network efficiency, reducing interference, optimizing resource allocation, minimizing operational cost.
[00107] The cell planning is the process of designing and optimizing the network to ensure efficient coverage, capacity, and performance. The cell planning involves analyzing factors (e.g., coverage, capacity, frequency allocation, location, configuration) to determine the placement and configuration of base stations (cells) within the network.
[00108] The cell adjustment is a process of modifying configurations, parameters, or characteristics of cells to improve network performance, coverage, and enhance user experience. The cell adjustment includes parameter tuning, load balancing, frequency reconfiguration, antenna adjustments, handover optimization, interference management. The parameter tunning refers to a process of adjusting settings (e.g., transmit power, antenna tilt, and mechanical orientation) to improve signal strength and quality. The load balancing refers to a process of modifying configurations to redistribute traffic among neighboring cells, ensuring that no single cell becomes overloaded while other cells are underutilized. The frequency reconfiguration refers to a process of changing the frequency bands used by the cell to minimize interference and improve spectral efficiency. The antenna adjustment refers to a process of changing height, type, or orientation of antennas to improve coverage and reduce interference with adjacent cells. The handover optimization refers to a process of fine-tuning handover parameters to enhance the transition of user equipment (UE) between cells, minimizing dropped calls and improving data continuity. The interference management refers to a process of reducing interference from neighboring cells by adjusting power levels. The coverage expansion refers to a process of adding new sectors, small cells, or repeaters to improve coverage in areas with weak signals or high user demand.
[00109] The cell modification refers to a process of making changes to an existing cell or base station to enhance its performance, adapt to new technologies, or improve overall network efficiency. The cell modification includes hardware upgradation, configuration updation, software upgradation. The hardware upgradation refers to a process of replacing or upgrading physical equipment such as antennas, radios, or baseband units to support new technologies (e.g., moving from 4G to 5G). The configuration updation refer to a process of adjusting network parameters (e.g., transmit power, frequency bands, and sector configurations) to improve performance and minimize interference. The software upgradation refers to a process of updating the firmware or software of the cell’s equipment to introduce new functionalities, improve security, or enhance performance.
[00110] In an implementation, the SON system (106) may update or dynamically perform adjustments to network parameters and may communicate the updates and/or adjustments made to the network parameters to the CP system (102) through the UDSF system (104). In an example, the network parameters include, but are not limited to, cell parameters, sector parameters, radio access network (RAN) parameters, core network parameters, network security parameter, performance parameters. The cell parameters include, but are not limited to, frequency band, transmission power, coverage radius, cell ID, technology, etc. The sector parameters include, but are not limited to, azimuth, tilt, beamwidth, sector ID, etc. The RAN parameters include, but are not limited to, bandwidth, carrier frequency, modulation, etc. The core network parameters include, but are not limited to, handover parameters, quality of service (QoS) parameters, etc. The network security parameters include, but are not limited to, encryption, authentication, etc. The performance parameters include, but are not limited to, throughput, latency, packet loss, etc. In an aspect, the updates and/or adjustments to the network parameters include, but are not limited to, cell configuration updates (e.g., adjusting frequency band and transmission power of a specific cell), sector configuration updates (e.g., adjusting coverage by changing azimuth and tilt), coverage area adjustments (e.g., updating the coverage area of the cell radius).
[00111] In operation, the CP system (102) may interface with the web services (108) through the API gateway (110) for real-time data exchange. In an implementation, the CP system (102) may fetch cell plan data from the web services (108). The CP system (102) may then perform data validation on the cell plan data based on data type and duplicate values (if any) such that no issue is observed in cell plan data processing at a later stage. After the data validation, the CP system (102) may store the cell plan data in the CP database servers (114) using the CP database microservices (112-(1-N)). In an implementation, the load balancers (118) may handle multiple requests pertaining to the cell plan data. The CP system (102) may then transmit the cell plan data to the UDSF system (104) using the UDSF microservices (116-(1-N)). Upon receiving the cell plan data, the UDSF system (104) stores the cell plan data in the UDSF database servers (120). The UDSF system (104) is configured to create a comprehensive record of all cell-related information. In an implementation, the UDSF system (104) may process the cell plan data into an appropriate format. In an example, if the cell plan data is in numerical format, then the UDSF system (104) processes the cell plan data to check whether the format of the cell plan data is in the numerical format or not.
[00112] According to an implementation, the UDSF system (104) may forward the stored cell plan data to the SON system (106) using the using the SON microservices (122-(1-N)). The SON system (106) may store the cell plan data in the SON database servers (124). In an implementation, the SON system (106) may automatically execute cell management functions (e.g., cell addition, cell removal, etc.) based on the cell plan data received from the UDSF system (104). The SON system (106) may dynamically adjust cell parameters as per the cell plan data. In an implementation, the SON system (106) may make adjustments or updates to the network parameters. The network management system (126) may interact with the actual cells of the network. The SON system (106) may then communicate the adjustments or updates made to network parameters to the CP system (102) through the UDSF system (104) which keeps all the entities (i.e., the CP system (102), the UDSF system (104), and the SON system (106)) in sync with the latest network configurations.
[00113] In an aspect, updates and adjustments to the network parameters involve modifying various settings and configurations of the network parameters within the network. The network parameters include frequency allocation adjustment, power level adjustments, neighboring cell configurations, cell coverage and cell capacity management, interference management, quality of service adjustments, etc. For example, changing the frequency band of Cell A from Band 1 (2100 MHz) to Band 3 (1800 MHz), and increasing the transmission power of the base station from 43 dBm to 46 dBm. Additionally, in neighbor management, Cell A originally has 5 neighboring cells. By adding Cell B as a neighbor to improve handover efficiency, the number of neighboring cells for Cell A increases from 5 to 6. Furthermore, in cell coverage management, the network originally has 50 cells in Area A. Deploying 10 additional cells to manage increased user demand raises the total number of cells in Area A from 50 to 60.
[00114] In an aspect, the network configuration refers to process of setting up and managing network parameters and settings within the network to improve performance, coverage, and efficiency. The network configuration comprises frequency allocation, power levels, neighboring cell relationships, coverage areas, capacity management, interference control, security settings, quality of service (QoS), and integration of new technologies.
[00115] In an aspect, in automatic neighbour relation management for new generation-radio access network (NG-RAN), the neighbour cell relation information is updated (i.e., add or remove) in the deployed NG-RAN nodes (i.e. gNB and/or ng-eNB) in automated manner, ensuring the NG-RAN nodes (i.e. gNB and/or ng-eNB) are in the operational status.
[00116] When a newly created NG-RAN node or cell is taking into service, the automatic neighbour function assists the new NG-RAN node to build its neighbouring cell relation information in automated manner. The automatic neighbour relation function also assists the neighbouring NG-RAN nodes to include new cells data in their neighbour cell relation information automatically. Further, when network conditions or topology change, the automatic neighbour relation function assists the NG-RAN nodes in update of the neighbouring cell relation information. For example, when an existing NG-RAN node or cell is taken out of service, the automatic neighbour relation function assists the neighbouring NG-RAN nodes to remove the related cells data from their neighbour cell relation information automatically.
[00117] For management of unstructured data storage function (UDSF), the operator has deployed UDSF(s) and 5GC NFs that store and retrieve their corresponding data into/from the UDSF(s). The UDSF(s) supports data storage/retrieval from different groups of 5GC NFs (e.g. group for different type of NFs from same vendor, or group for same type of NFs from different vendors), the unstructured data stored in UDSF(s) for different groups of NFs may require to be distinguish.
[00118] In self-organizing network (SON), the new-installed NG-RAN node (i.e. gNB or ng-eNB) to be configured in automated manner with no or minimal manual intervention, to go to the operational state. The NG-RAN node (i.e. gNB or ng-eNB) is configured with initial operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM) setup information (e.g. local OAM IP address and EM information etc.) in automated manner, and the OAM connection is established automatically after initially installed. After the OAM connection is established, the self-configuration function of the management system executes self-configuration operations on the NG-RAN node with appropriate configuration data (e.g. radio configuration data, connectivity data, etc.). After the configuration is done and the configured external interfaces have been established, the NG-RAN node is operational. In self-configuration management for NG-RAN, 3GPP management system supports initial OAM connectivity establishment for NG-RAN nodes in a fully automated manner using REQ-SCM5GR-CON-1. The 3GPP management system supports self-configuration operations for NG-RAN nodes with no or minimum manual intervention using REQ-SCM5GR-CON-2. The 3GPP management system supports the neighbour cell relation information update (e.g. add or remove) automatically according to radio network conditions and topology using REQ-ANR5GR-CON-1.
[00119] In SON management and automated management, the operators approach automated network management target via automating the configuration, optimization, and maintenance of mobile networks. Based on identified SON related use cases and corresponding requirements, the SON functions used in the radio access networks such as automatic neighbour cell relation (ANR) function, load balancing optimization (LBO) function, handover parameter optimization function, coverage and capacity optimization (CCO) function, SON coordination function.
[00120] In an aspect, the SON functions use for automation of network planning, configuration and optimisation processes. The SON functions use for automatic neighbour relation management in the radio access networks.
[00121] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram (200) illustrating create/update/delete flow in cell management, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[00122] In examples, if a cell is never ON, then a new cell may be introduced such that a request can be handled as a create request (or create flow). Further, network parameters can be updated using an update request (or update flow). Furthermore, if there is a requirement to remove any cell due to any reason, such as faulty hardware or cell is not anymore required due to less consumer demand, then a request may be handled as a delete request (or delete flow).
[00123] At step (202) of the flow diagram (200), the CP system (102) may send a data request to the UDSF system (104). The data request includes at least one of create request, update request, or delete request corresponding to cell management functionality. In an aspect, the create request includes adding new cells to the network. The update request involves modifying the configuration or characteristics (e.g., coverage area, transmit power) of existing cells in the network. The delete request includes deleting of existing cells in the network.
[00124] At step (204) of the flow diagram (200), if the UDSF system (104) is unable to send an acknowledgement of the data request within a specific time limit to the CP system (102) (i.e., there is timeout at the UDSF system (104)), then the operation is aborted. In an aspect, the operation aborted due to timeout refers to the termination of the process because it has not completed within the specified time limit. The specific time limit is used to prevent processes from running indefinitely and to ensure that system resources are managed efficiently. For example, the data request (e.g., create request) is received. If the acknowledgement of reception of the data request (e.g., create request) is not sent within the time limit (e.g., 2 mins), then the operation of cell creation corresponding to the data request (e.g., create request) is aborted.
[00125] In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends a “504 error message” to the CP system to indicate timeout error. In an aspect, the specific time limit is a predefined duration within which the UDSF system (104) needs to process the data request and send an acknowledgment to the CP system (102). For example, the specific time limit is 5 mins. The CP system (102) sends the update request to the UDSF system (104). The UDSF system (104) processes the update request, making the necessary configuration changes to the cell. Within the specific time limit (e.g., 5 mins), the UDSF system (104) sends an acknowledgment to the CP system (102) indicating the status of the request (e.g., successful or failed).
[00126] At step (206) of the flow diagram (200), the CP system (102) may again send the data request to the UDSF system (104). For example, the data request (e.g., create request) is send to the UDSF system (104).
[00127] At step (208) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may send an acknowledgement (i.e., ACK) of the received data request to the CP system (102). For example, the UDSF system (104) sends the acknowledgement of the received data request (e.g., create request) to the CP system (102).
[00128] At step (210) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may send the data request to the SON system (106). For example, the UDSF system (104) may send the received data request (e.g., create request) to the SON system (106).
[00129] At step (212) of the flow diagram (200), the SON (106) may send an acknowledgement of operation successful on receiving the data request from the UDSF system (104). On successfully receiving the data request (e.g., create request), the SON system (106) sends “200 response message” indicating successful reception of the data request.
[00130] At step (214) of the flow diagram (200), if the UDSF system (104) is unable to write data in a database, for example, the UDSF database servers (120), then operation is aborted. In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) may send “503 error message” to the CP system (102) indicating unable to write data in the database.
[00131] At step (216) of the flow diagram (200), the CP system (102) may again send the data request to the UDSF system (104). In an aspect, the CP system (102) sends the data request (e.g., delete request) to the UDSF system (104)
[00132] At step (218) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may send an acknowledgement to the CP system (102). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends an acknowledgement of reception of the data request (e.g., delete request) to the CP system (102).
[00133] At step (220) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may send the data request to the SON system (106). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends the data request (e.g., delete request) to the SON system (106).
[00134] At step (222) of the flow diagram (200), if the SON system (106) is unable to send the acknowledgement of the data request within a specific time limit (i.e., there is a timeout at SON system (106), then the operation is aborted. In an aspect, the time limit is 2 mins. The SON system (106) is unable to send acknowledgement of the data request (e.g., delete request) in the time limit (i.e., 2 mins).
[00135] At step (224) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may notify the CP system (102) that there is no response from the SON system (106), and operation is aborted. In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends “504 error message” indicating no response received from the SON system (106) due to timeout at the SON system (106).
[00136] At step (226) of the flow diagram (200), the CP system (102) may send the data request to the UDSF system (104). In an aspect, the CP system (102) sends the data request (e.g., create request) to the UDSF system (104).
[00137] At step (228) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may send an acknowledgement to the CP system (102). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends an acknowledgement of reception of the data request (e.g., create request) to the CP system (102).
[00138] At step (230) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may send the data request to the SON system (106). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends the received data request (e.g., create request) to the SON system (106).
[00139] At step (232) of the flow diagram (200), if the SON system (106) is unable to write data in the database (for example, the SON database servers (124)), then the SON system (106) may notify the UDSF system (104). In an aspect, if the SON system (106) is unable to write data corresponding to the data request (e.g., create request) in the database. The SON system (106) sends a “502 error message” to the UDSF system (104). The “502 error message” indicates that the SON system (106) is unable to write data in the database.
[00140] At step (234) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may notify the CP system (102) that there is no response from the SON system (106), and operation is aborted. In an aspect, upon not receiving the response from the SON system (106), the UDSF system (104) sends the “502 error message” to the CP system (102). The “502 error message” indicates a failure from the SON system (106).
[00141] At step (236) of the flow diagram (200), the CP system (102) may send the data request to the UDSF system (104). In an aspect, the CP system (102) sends the data request (e.g., delete request) to the UDSF system (104).
[00142] At step (238) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may send an acknowledgement (i.e., ACK) to the CP system (102). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends an acknowledgement of reception of the data request (e.g., delete request) to the CP system (102).
[00143] At step (240) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may send the data request to the SON system (106). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends the data request (e.g., delete request) to the SON system (106)
[00144] At step (242) of the flow diagram (200), if the SON system (106) receives unexpected data, then the SON system (106) may notify the UDSF system (104) about reception of the unexpected data. In an aspect, on receiving unexpected data, the SON system (106) sends a “400 error message” to the UDSF system (104). The “400 error message” indicates reception of the unexpected data.
[00145] At step (244) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may notify the CP system (102) about the bad request and the operation is aborted. In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends “400 error message” to the CP system (102). The error message to the CP system indicates bad request (e.g., reception of unexpected data).
[00146] At step (246) of the flow diagram (200), the CP system (102) may send the data request to the UDSF system (104). In an aspect, the CP system (102) sends the data request (e.g., delete request) to the UDSF system (104).
[00147] At step (248) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may send an acknowledgement (i.e., ACK) to the CP system (102). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends an acknowledgement of reception of the data request (e.g., delete request) to the CP system (102).
[00148] At step (250) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may send the data request to the SON system (106). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends the received data request (e.g., delete request) to the SON system (106)>
[00149] At step (252) of the flow diagram (200), if the SON system (106) receives duplicate data, then the SON system (106) may notify the UDSF System (104) about reception of the duplicate data. In an aspect, on receiving the duplicate data, the SON system (106) sends a “409 error message” to the UDSF system (104). The “409 error message” indicates the reception of the duplicate data.
[00150] At step (254) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may overwrite data on receiving the response from the SON system (106). Further, the UDSF system (104) may notify the CP system (102) about the operation being successful. In an aspect, on receiving the “409 error message”, the UDSF system (104) overwrites the data. The UDSF system (104) sends a “200 response message” to the CP system (102). The “200 response message” indicates that the operation was successful.
[00151] At step (256) of the flow diagram (200), the CP system (102) may send the data request to the UDSF system (104). In an aspect, the CP system (102) sends the data request (e.g., create request) to the UDSF system (104).
[00152] At step (258) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may send an acknowledgement to the CP system (102). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends an acknowledgement of reception of the data request (e.g., create request) to the CP system (102).
[00153] At step (260) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may send the data request to the SON system (106). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends the received data request (e.g., create request) to the SON system (106).
[00154] At step (262) of the flow diagram (200), the SON system (106) may notify the UDSF system (104) about the operation being successful. In an aspect, on performing operation corresponding to the data request (e.g., create request), the SON system (106) sends a “200 response message” to the UDSF system (104). The “200 response message” indicates the operation was successful.
[00155] At step (264) of the flow diagram (200), the UDSF system (104) may further notify the CP system (102) about the operation being successful. In an aspect, on receiving “200 response message” from the SON system (106), the UDSF system (104) sends the “200 response message” to the CP system (102) to notify that the operation was successful.
[00156] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram (300) illustrating an update flow in cell management, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[00157] At step (302) of the flow diagram (300), the SON system (106) may send a data request to the UDSF system (104). In an aspect, the SON system (106) may send a data request corresponding to update to the UDSF system (104).
[00158] At step (304) of the flow diagram (300), if there is a timeout at the UDSF system (104), then negative acknowledgement (NACK) may be sent to the SON system (106). In an aspect, if the timeout occurs at the UDSF system (104), the UDSF system (104) sends a “504 error message” to the SON system (106). The “504 error message” indicates timeout occurred at the UDSF system (104).
[00159] At step (306) of the flow diagram (300), the SON system (106) may send the data request to the UDSF system (104). In an aspect, the SON system (106) sends the data request (e.g., update request) to the UDSF system (104).
[00160] At step (308) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may send an acknowledgement (i.e., ACK) of the received data request to the SON system (106). In an aspect, on successfully receiving the data request, the UDSF system (104) may send the acknowledgement of the received data request to the SON system (106).
[00161] At step (310) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may send the data request to the CP system (102). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends the received data request (e.g., update request) to the CP system (102).
[00162] At step (312) of the flow diagram (300), the CP system (102) may notify the UDSF system (104) about the operation being successful. In an aspect, on successfully performing update operation corresponding to the data request (e.g., update request), the CP system (102) sends a “200 response message” to the UDSF system (104). The “200 response message” indicates the operation was successful at the CP system (102).
[00163] At step (314) of the flow diagram (300), if the UDSF system (104) is unable to write data in a database (for example, the UDSF database servers (120)), then a negative acknowledgment (i.e., NACK) may be sent to the SON system (106). In an aspect, if the UDSF system (104) is unable to write data corresponding operation of the data request (e.g., update request. The UDSF system (104) sends a “503 error message” to the SON system (106). The “503 error message” indicates the UDSF system (104) was unable to write in the database.
[00164] At step (316) of the flow diagram (300), the SON system (106) may send the data request to the UDSF system (104). In an aspect, the SON system (106) sends the data request (e.g., update request) to the UDSF system.
[00165] At step (318) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may send an acknowledgement (i.e., ACK) of the received data request to the SON system (106). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends the acknowledgement of reception of the data request (e.g., update request) to the SON system (106).
[00166] At step (320) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may send the data request to the CP system (102). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends the received data request (e.g., update request) to the CP system (102).
[00167] At step (322) of the flow diagram (300), if there is a timeout at the CP system (102), the CP system (102) may not send any response to the UDSF system (104). In an aspect, the CP system (102) does not send any response to the UDSF system (104) due to timeout.
[00168] At step (324) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may notify the SON system (106) that no response is received from the CP system (102). The UDSF system (104) may send a negative acknowledgment (i.e., NACK) to the SON system (106). In an aspect, when the UDSF system (104) does not receive response from the CP system (102), the UDSF system (104) sends a “504 error message” to the SON system (106). The “504 error message” indicates the UDSF did not receive response from the CP system (102).
[00169] At step (326) of the flow diagram (300), the SON system (106) may send the data request to the UDSF system (104). In an aspect, the SON system (106) sends the data request (e.g., update request) to the UDSF system (104).
[00170] At step (328) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may send an acknowledgement (i.e., ACK) of the received data request to the SON system (106). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) send the acknowledgement of the received data request (e.g., update request) to the SON system.
[00171] At step (330) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may send the data request to the CP system (102). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends the received data request (e.g., update request) to the CP system (102).
[00172] At step (332) of the flow diagram (300), if the CP system (102) is unable to write data in a database (for example, the CP database servers (114)), then the CP system (102) may notify the UDSF system (104) that the CP system (102) is unable to write data in the database. In an aspect, if the CP system (102) is unable to write data corresponding to the received data request (e.g., update request), the CP system (102) sends a “502 error message” to the UDSF system (104). The “502 error message” indicates the CP system (102) was unable to write in the database.
[00173] At step (334) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may notify the SON system (106) that the CP system (102) is unable to write data in the database. In an implementation, the UDSF system (104) may send a negative acknowledgment (i.e., NACK) to the SON system (106). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends the “502 error message” to the SON system (106) to indicate that the CP system (102) was failed to write in the database.
[00174] At step (336) of the flow diagram (300), the SON system (106) may send the data request to the UDSF system (104). The SON system (106) sends the data request (e.g., update request) to the UDSF system (104).
[00175] At step (338) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may send an acknowledgement of the received data request to the SON system (106). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends an acknowledgement of the received data request (e.g., update request) to the SON system (106).
[00176] At step (340) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may send the data request to the CP system (102). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends the received data request (e.g., update request) to the CP system (102).
[00177] At step (342) of the flow diagram (300), if the CP system (102) receives unexpected data, then the CP system (102) may notify the UDSF system (104) about the reception of the unexpected data. In an aspect, on receiving unexpected data, the CP system (102) sends a “400 error message” to the UDSF system to indicate that unexpected data received. In an aspect, the unexpected data refers to data that is not in the format, structure. The reception of unexpected data occurs due to, but not limited to, data format mismatch, data corruption, unauthorized or malicious data, incorrect configuration, etc.
[00178] At step (344) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may notify the SON system (106) about the bad request and send a negative acknowledgment (i.e., NACK) to the SON system (106). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends the “400 error message” to the SON system (106) to indicate the bad request. In an aspect, the bad request refers to a situation where the request related to cell plan data is malformed, invalid, or contains errors.
[00179] At step (346) of the flow diagram (300), the SON system (106) may send the data request to the UDSF system (104). In an aspect, the SON system (106) sends the data request (e.g., update request) to the UDSF system (104).
[00180] At step (348) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may send an acknowledgement of the received data request to the SON system (106). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends an acknowledgement of the received data request (e.g., update request) to the SON system (106).
[00181] At step (350) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may send the received data request to the CP system (102). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) send the received data request (e.g., update request) to the CP system.
[00182] At step (352) of the flow diagram (300), if the CP system (102) receives duplicate data, then the CP system (102) may notify the UDSF system (104) about the reception of the duplicate data. In an aspect, if the CP system (102) receives duplicate data, the CP system (102) sends a “409 error message” to the UDSF system (104) to indicate that duplicate data was received.
[00183] At step (354) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may overwrite data in a database, for example, the UDSF database servers (120), and may send an acknowledgement of overwriting of data to the SON system (106). In an aspect, on receiving the “409 error message” from the CP system (102), the UDSF system (104) overwrites the data and sends a “200 response message” to the SON system (106).
[00184] At step (356) of the flow diagram (300), the SON system (106) may send the data request to the UDSF system (104). In an aspect, the SON system (106) sends the data request (e.g., update request) to the UDSF system (104).
[00185] At step (358) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may send an acknowledgement of the received data request to the SON system (106). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) sends an acknowledgement of the received data request (e.g., update request) to the SON system (106).
[00186] At step (360) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may send the data request to the CP system (102). In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) may send the received data request (e.g., update request) to the CP system (102).
[00187] At step (362) of the flow diagram (300), the CP system (102) may notify the UDSF system (104) about the operation being successful. In an aspect, on performing the operation corresponding to the data request (e.g., update request), the CP system (102) sends a “200 response message” to the UDSF system (104). The “200 response message” indicates the update operation is successful.
[00188] At step (364) of the flow diagram (300), the UDSF system (104) may send an acknowledgement of the successful operation to the SON system (106). In an aspect, on receiving the “200 response message” from the CP system (102), the UDSF system (104) sends an acknowledgement (i.e., 200 response message) of the successful operation to the SON system (106).
[00189] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram (400) illustrating a method for cell management, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[00190] At step 402, the method (400) includes receiving, by a cognitive platform (CP) system (102), cell plan data from a web service (108). The CP system (102) is configured to perform data validation based on data type and duplicate values. In an aspect, the cell plan data includes information about the network's cell configurations and parameters that is accessed or managed via web-based APIs or interfaces. The cell plan data includes, but is not limited to, cell identifiers, physical cell identifiers (PCIs), frequency allocations, transmission power, coverage area, cell type, sector information, neighboring cell information, etc. In an aspect, the data validation is performed on the received cell plan data to find any redundant or duplicate data. Further, the data validation based on data type includes the process of verifying that the data being input, processed, or stored adheres to the expected data type (e.g., integer, string, date) and format specified for each field in the cell plan data.
[00191] At step 404, the method (400) includes storing, by the cognitive platform (CP) system (102), the cell plan data in the one or more CP database servers (114). The CP system (102) stores the cell plan data in the CP database servers. The cell plan data is stored to ensure that the up-to-date information is available for decision-making.
[00192] At step 406, the method (400) includes transmitting, by the cognitive platform (CP) system (102), the cell plan data to an unstructured data storage function (UDSF) system (104). The cell plan data is transmitted to an unstructured data storage function (UDSF) system (104) for processing.
[00193] At step 408, the method (400) includes in response to receiving the cell plan data, processing, by the UDSF system (104), the cell plan data. In an aspect, the UDSF system (104) processes the cell plan data into an appropriate format. In an aspect, the cell plan data is processed to convert cell-related information into a standardized, structured, and usable format suitable for analysis, reporting, or integration. This ensures that the data is consistently formatted and compatible with the system.
[00194] At step 410, the method (400) includes storing, by the UDSF system (104), the processed cell plan data in UDSF database servers (120). Further, the UDSF system (104) is configured to store data from all cells across different network vendors/operators. In an aspect, data from all cells across different network vendors/operators includes information and configurations provided by different network vendors/operators that are required for the effective operation and management of the network. The data from the cell across different vendors/operators includes, but not limited to, equipment specifications, cell configuration parameters (e.g., cell ID, PCI), network topology, performance metrics. The UDSF system (104) is configured to support neighbor management and physical cell identity (PCI) allocation. In an aspect, the neighbor management includes, but is not limited to, neighbor cell configuration (e.g., neighbor cell IDs, neighbor cell selection for handovers), handover management (e.g., detecting handover conditions, threshold values), interference (e.g., frequency band allocation to reduce interference, power control), neighbor cell scanning (e.g., neighboring cell signal measurements, neighbor cell search).
[00195] At step 412, the method (400) includes transmitting, by the UDSF system (104), the processed cell plan data to a self-organizing network (SON) system (106). The UDSF system (104) sends the processed data to the SON system (106) to ensure that the SON system (106) operates with the accurate and current data.
[00196] At step 414, the method (400) includes in response to receiving the processed cell plan data, automatically executing, by the SON system (106), at least one cell management functions based on the processed cell plan data while maintaining a continuous feedback loop with the CP system (102) and the UDSF system (104). The cell management function includes at least one of cell addition, cell removal, cell planning, cell adjustment, and cell modification. In an aspect, the SON system (106) is the automation and intelligence platform that executes cell management functions while maintaining a continuous feedback loop with the CP system (102) and the UDSF system (104). The SON system automatically executes the at least one of cell management functions by using the cell plan data provides by the UDSF system (104). The SON system (106) autonomously manages the cell management functions (e.g. cell addition, cell removal, cell planning, cell adjustment, cell modification. The SON system (106) dynamically adjusts cell parameters as per cell plan data. The SON system (106) dynamically performs at least one of updates and adjustments to network parameters. After performing at least one of updates or adjustments to network parameters, the SON system (106) is configured to communicate the at least one of updates or adjustments to network parameters to the CP system (102) through the UDSF system (104) in order to keep the CP system (102), the UDSF system (104) and the SON system (106) in sync with defined network configurations. In this way, the SON system (106) maintains the continuous feedback loop with the CP system (102) and the UDSF system (104).
[00197] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary computer system (500) in which or with which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.
[00198] As shown in FIG. 5, the computer system (500) may include an external storage device (510), a bus (520), a main memory (530), a read-only memory (540), a mass storage device (550), communication port(s) (560), and a processor (570). A person skilled in the art will appreciate that the computer system may include more than one processor and communication ports. The processor (570) may include various modules associated with embodiments of the present disclosure. The communication port(s) (560) may be any of an RS-232 port for use with a modem-based dialup connection, a 10/100 Ethernet port, a Gigabit or 10 Gigabit port using copper or fiber, a serial port, a parallel port, or other existing or future ports. The communication port(s) (560) may be chosen depending on a network, such a Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or any network to which the computer system connects.
[00199] The main memory (530) may be random access memory (RAM), or any other dynamic storage device commonly known in the art. The read-only memory (540) may be any static storage device(s) e.g., but not limited to, a Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM) chips for storing static information e.g., start-up or Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) instructions for the processor (570). The mass storage device (550) may be any current or future mass storage solution, which can be used to store information and/or instructions. Exemplary mass storage device (550) includes, but is not limited to, Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disk drives or solid-state drives (internal or external, e.g., having Universal Serial Bus (USB) and/or Firewire interfaces), one or more optical discs, Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) storage, e.g., an array of disks.
[00200] The bus (520) communicatively couples the processor (570) with the other memory, storage, and communication blocks. The bus (520) may be, e.g., a Peripheral Component Interconnect / Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended bus, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), Universal Serial Bus (USB), or the like, for connecting expansion cards, drives, and other subsystems as well as other buses, such a front side bus (FSB), which connects the processor (570) to the computer system.
[00201] Optionally, operator and administrative interfaces, e.g., a display, keyboard, joystick, and a cursor control device, may also be coupled to the bus (520) to support direct operator interaction with the computer system. Other operator and administrative interfaces can be provided through network connections connected through the communication port(s) (560). Components described above are meant only to exemplify various possibilities. In no way should the aforementioned exemplary computer system limit the scope of the present disclosure.
[00202] The exemplary computer system (500) is configured to execute a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method for performing cell management in a network is described. The method comprises receiving, by a cognitive platform (CP) system, cell plan data from a web service. The method further comprises storing, by the cognitive platform (CP) system, the cell plan data in CP database servers and transmitting, by the cognitive platform (CP) system, the cell plan data to an unstructured data storage function (UDSF) system. The method comprises in response to receiving the cell plan data, processing, by the UDSF system, the cell plan data and storing, by the UDSF system, the processed cell plan data in UDSF database servers. The method further comprises transmitting, by the UDSF system, the processed cell plan data to a self-organizing network (SON) system and in response to receiving the processed cell plan data, executing, by the SON system, at least one cell management functions based on the processed cell plan data, while maintaining a continuous feedback loop with the CP system and the UDSF system.
[00203] While the foregoing describes various embodiments of the invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. The scope of the invention is determined by the claims that follow. The invention is not limited to the described embodiments, versions or examples, which are included to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention when combined with information and knowledge available to the person having ordinary skill in the art.
[00204] The present disclosure provides technical advancement related to cell management function. The present disclosure provides a technically advanced solution by automating the process of cell addition and/or cell removal of cellular network cells by directly using the cell plan data as input in order to serve the required cells which are required to meet increasing/decreasing customer requirements in real-time without no or minimal human intervention. By implementing the bidirectional data flow between the CP system, the UDSF system, and the SON system ensures that all entities are in sync with the latest network configuration, thereby facilitating collaborative network management.
ADVANTGES OF THE INVENTION
[00205] As is evident from the above, the present disclosure described herein above has several technical advantages including:
- automating the process of cell management of cellular network cells by directly using cell plan data as input in order to serve the required cells which are required to meet increasing/decreasing customer requirements in real-time without no or minimal human intervention.
- providing better resource utilization and data reliability in cell management process with real-time synchronization.
- reducing the need for manual intervention, thereby allowing telecom operators to allocate resources more effectively. This leads to improved resource utilization and better overall performance.
- simplifying and improving the operation of cellular infrastructure by the automation feature for cell addition and/or cell removal.
- the UDSF system acts as a central repository, thereby ensuring data consistency and accuracy, which is crucial for making informed decisions.
- the SON system performs cell addition and/or cell removal functions in real-time. As a result, network performance is improved, and the user experience is enhanced.
- the bidirectional data flow between the CP system, the UDSF system, and the SON system ensures that all entities are in sync with the latest network configuration, thereby facilitating collaborative network management.
- the requirements of 5G and other emerging technologies, ensuring that network growth and degrowth remain effective in the face of evolving technology landscapes.
,CLAIMS:CLAIMS
We Claim:
1. A system (107) for performing cell management in a network (105), the system (107) comprising a cognitive platform (CP) system (102), an unstructured data storage function (UDSF) system (104) and a self-organizing network (SON) system (106), the CP system (102) configured to:
receive cell plan data from a web service (108);
store the cell plan data in one or more CP database servers (114); and
transmit the cell plan data to the UDSF system (104), wherein in response to receiving the cell plan data, the UDSF system (104) is configured to:
process the cell plan data;
store the processed cell plan data in one or more UDSF database servers (120); and
transmit the processed cell plan data to the SON system (106); and
in response to receiving the processed cell plan data, the SON system (106), while maintaining a continuous feedback loop with the CP system (102) and the UDSF system (104), is configured to automatically execute at least one cell management function based on the processed cell plan data.

2. The system (107) according to the claim 1, wherein the cell management function includes at least one of cell addition, cell removal, cell planning, cell adjustment, and cell modification.

3. The system (107) according to the claim 1, wherein the CP system (102) is configured to perform data validation based on data type and duplicate values.

4. The system (107) according to the claim 1, wherein the UDSF system (104) is configured to store data from one or more cells across one or more network operators.

5. The system (107) according to the claim 1, wherein the SON system (106) is configured to dynamically perform at least one of updates and adjustments to network parameters.

6. The system (107) according to the claim 4, wherein after performing the at least one of updates or adjustments to the network parameters, the SON system (106) is configured to communicate the at least one of updates or adjustments to the network parameters to the CP system (102) through the UDSF system (104) in order to keep the CP system (102), the UDSF system (104) and the SON system (106) in sync with defined network configurations.

7. The system (107) according to the claim 1, wherein the UDSF system (104) is configured to perform neighbor management and physical cell identity (PCI) allocation.

8. A method (400) for performing cell management in a network (105), the method (400) comprising:
receiving (402), by a cognitive platform (CP) system (102), cell plan data from a web service (108);
storing (404), by the cognitive platform (CP) system (102), the cell plan data in one or more CP database servers (114);
transmitting (406), by the cognitive platform (CP) system (102), the cell plan data to an unstructured data storage function (UDSF) system (104);
in response to receiving the cell plan data, processing (408), by the UDSF system (104), the cell plan data;
storing (410), by the UDSF system (104), the processed cell plan data in one or more UDSF database servers (120);
transmitting (412), by the UDSF system (104), the processed cell plan data to a self-organizing network (SON) system (106); and
in response to receiving the processed cell plan data, automatically executing (414), by the SON system (106), at least one cell management function based on the processed cell plan data, while maintaining a continuous feedback loop with the CP system (102) and the UDSF system (104).

9. The method (400) according to the claim 8, wherein the cell management function includes at least one of cell addition, cell removal, cell planning, cell adjustment, and cell modification.

10. The method (400) according to the claim 8 further comprising: performing, by the CP system (102), data validation based on data type and duplicate values.

11. The method (400) according to the claim 8 further comprising: storing, by the UDSF system, data from one or more cells across one or more network operators.

12. The method (400) according to the claim 8 further comprising: dynamically performing, by the SON system (106), at least one of updates and adjustments to network parameters.

13. The method (400) according to the claim 12 further comprising: after performing the at least one of updates or adjustments to the network parameters, communicating, by the SON system (106), the at least one of updates or adjustments to the network parameters to the CP system (102) through the UDSF system (104) in order to keep the CP system (102), the UDSF system (104) and the SON system (106) in sync with defined network configurations.

14. The method (400) according to the claim 8, wherein the UDSF system (104) is configured to perform neighbor management and physical cell identity (PCI) allocation.

15. A user equipment (UE) (101) communicatively coupled with a system (107) in a network (105), the coupling comprises steps of:
receiving, by the system (107), a connection request;
sending, by the system (107), an acknowledgment of the connection request to the user equipment (101); and
transmitting a plurality of signals in response to the connection request, wherein the system (107) is configured for performing cell management in the network (105) as claimed in claim 1.