Flexible network sharing
AssigneeInterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc.
InventorsSaad Ahmad, Kai Liu, Guanzhou Wang, Pascal M. Adjakple
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Flexible sharing of common radio access network (RAN) resources may pool unallocated resources. For example, sharing of the network resources may be static, e.g., the sharing contract may define a fixed percentage allocation of network resources that may not be modified without change in contract. The sharing of the network resource may also be dynamic and may accommodate the capacity needs of hosted operators on a real-time basis.
Claims14
A method for managing a radio access network (RAN) capacity with a plurality of operators, the method comprising:
- receiving, via a first brokerage control unit, a capacity query request from a participating operator of the plurality of operators requesting shared RAN resources;
- determining available shared RAN resources;
- sending a capacity query result granting the requested shared RAN resources from the available shared RAN resources to the participating operator;
- and
- conducting an accounting of usage of shared RAN resources by the participating operator.
A system for managing a radio access network (RAN) capacity with a plurality of operators, the system comprising:
- a first brokerage control unit configured to receive a capacity query request from a participating operator of the plurality of operators requesting shared RAN resources;
- a second brokerage control unit in communication with the first brokerage control unit and configured to send the capacity query request to the first brokerage control unit;
- a first charging system in communication with the first brokerage control unit;
- and
- a second charging system in communication with the second brokerage control unit,
- the first brokerage control unit configured to determine available shared RAN resources, to send a capacity query result granting the requested shared RAN resources from the available shared RAN resources to the participating operator, and to conduct an accounting of usage of shared RAN resources by the participating operator,
- the first charging system configured to generate charging information as a function of the accounting of the usage of the shared RAN resources by the participating operator and to send the charging information to the second charging system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.