Apple Inc.
Instantiation and management of physical and virtualized network functions of a radio access network node

Abstract:

A network management function (NMF) is configured to instantiate a network service (NS), update a NS, and/or establish a relation between a virtualized network function (VNF) instance and a physical network function (PNF) instance. The NMF may instantiate, for example, a NS including a new VNF that is part of a base station or a g Node B (gNB), a NS including a PNF that is part of the gNB, or a NS that includes a PNF and a new VNF that form a gNB. The NMF may also, for example, update a NS to add a VNF instance to a NS that already includes a PNF instance to form a gNB, or update a NS to add a PNF instance to a NS that already includes a VNF instance to form a gNB.