Method and system for coordinating network resources for blended services

A method of coordinating network resources for blended services in a network, the method comprising the following steps:

• at a network entity, receiving, in a sequence, a plurality of service requests from a user to initiate a corresponding plurality of services for the user, each respective service request of the plurality of service requests being associated with a respective service of the corresponding plurality of services;
• prior to initiating at least one of the corresponding plurality of services, responsive to receipt of each respective service request, determining, at the network entity, a respective network resource requirement for the associated service;
• at the network entity, responsive to determining the respective network resource requirement, adding the respective network resource requirement into a running a total network resource requirement for the services associated with all service requests of the plurality of service requests so far received;
• and
• following the step of adding, sending a resource request from the network entity to a resource management element in the network for reservation of the respective network resource requirement prior to initiating at least one of the corresponding plurality of services,
• wherein the steps of determining and adding are both carried out for each of a plurality of types of network resource, thereby yielding a respective total network requirement for each of the plurality of types of network resource, and
• wherein sending the resource request from the network entity comprises one of:
• sending for each of the plurality of types of network resource a separate resource request for reservation of the respective total network requirement, or sending a single resource request for reservation of all of the respective total network requirements.

A system for coordinating network resources for blended services in a network, the system comprising:

• a processor;
• a network interface;
• data storage;
• and
• machine language instructions stored in the data storage and executable by the processor to:
• (a) receive, via the network interface, a plurality of service requests from a user to initiate a corresponding plurality of services for the user, each respective service request of the plurality of service requests being associated with a respective service of the corresponding plurality of services;
• and
• (b) responsive to receipt of each respective service request:
• (b.i) prior to initiating at least one of the corresponding plurality of services, determine a respective network resource requirement for the associated service from a plurality of types of network resource;
• (b.ii) add the respective network resource requirement into a running a total network resource requirement for the services associated with all service requests of the plurality of service requests so far received, and thereby yield a respective total network requirement for each of the plurality of types of network resource;
• and
• (b.iii) via the network interface, send a resource request to a resource management element in the network for reservation of the respective network resource requirement prior to initiating at least one of the corresponding plurality of services, wherein sending the resource request comprises one of:
• sending for each of the plurality of types of network resource a separate resource request for reservation of the respective total network requirement, or sending a single resource request for reservation of all of the respective total network requirements.