US 11,916,734 B2
Third party network and network slice management
Lucia D'Acunto, Delft (NL); Toni Dimitrovski, The Hague (NL); Wieger IJntema, Hannover (DE); and Wiltfried Pathuis, Veendam (NL)
Assigned to KONINKLIJKE KPN N.V., Rotterdam (NL); and NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST-NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK TNO, 'S-Gravenhage (NL)
Appl. No. 17/441,229
Filed by Koninklijke KPN N.V., Rotterdam (NL); and Nederlandse Organisatie Voor Toegepast-Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO, 's-Gravenhage (NL)
PCT Filed Mar. 20, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/057740
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 20, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/193394, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 1, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 19164616 (EP), filed on Mar. 22, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0158903 A1, May 19, 2022
Int. Cl. H04L 41/12 (2022.01); H04L 9/40 (2022.01); H04L 41/0816 (2022.01); H04L 41/083 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 41/0816 (2013.01) [H04L 41/083 (2013.01); H04L 41/12 (2013.01); H04L 63/0876 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A network node or a distributed system of network nodes configured as a network function for a communication network, wherein the communication network is configured to enable instantiation of network slices which represent virtual networks, wherein the communication network comprises one or more slice management network functions for management of the network slices, wherein the network node or the distributed system comprises:
a network interface configured to communicate with the communication network;
a processor system for enabling a content application server (CAS), which is configured to provide an application service via a network slice to at least one user equipment (UE), to at least in part manage the network slice, wherein the processor system is configured to:
generate an abstraction of properties of the network slice in the form of a data structure representing a slice object;
expose the properties of the network slice to the content application server by providing access to the slice object;
wherein the slice object comprises at least one modifiable object property representing one or more properties of the network slice which are modifiable by at least one slice management network function,
wherein the processor system is further configured to:
enable the content application server to modify the modifiable object property to obtain a modified object property; and
based on the modified object property, send a request to the at least one slice management network function to request a corresponding modification of the one or more properties of the network slice.