Abstract: A method provides location information within a mobile network with beamforming characteristics. The mobile network includes at least one access point or base station that includes a beamforming module. The method includes tracing and maintaining user terminals' location information in a location service deployed in the mobile network, providing the location information of a user's terminal from the location service to the beamforming module of the at least one access point or base station in order to assist beamforming and association between the user's terminal and the at least one access point or base station, and providing the location information of the user's terminal from the at least one access point or base station to the location service in order to populate, update, and/or refine a location information base of the location service.

Abstract: A method of allocating network slices of a network infrastructure includes receiving a network slice request for network resources of the network infrastructure in a form of a network slice. The network slice request includes a service level agreement (SLA) and an associated payoff. It is determined whether to accept the network slice based on whether it is expected that a utility function will be better served by accepting the network slice request or waiting for a further network slice request. It is determined whether the SLA would be fulfilled prior to allocating the network slice. The network slice is allocated and installed in the network infrastructure. Whether the utility function is better served can be determined using a value iteration algorithm or an adaptive algorithm.

Abstract: A method for operating a wireless network, which includes a management entity for managing the use of network resources, includes, by the management entity: performing a network traffic forecast for a time period, the network traffic forecast estimating expected traffic demands with a predefined or tunable confidence degree; dividing forecasted available network resources into one or more classes of traffic corresponding to different service qualities within the classes of traffic using the confidence degree; and defining and allocating at least one network resource slice of at least one of the one or more classes of traffic to operators and/or third parties for the time period considering a service level agreement (SLA) of incoming service requests.

Abstract: A method for operating a multi-access edge computing (MEC) system includes establishing, between two or more MEC providers, an agreement that defines mutual access policies that specify which MEC platforms and which MEC applications and/or services running on the MEC platforms are allowed to be exposed among each other and/or to other tenants. The MEC platforms are provisioned with appropriate configurations in accordance with the access policies of the agreement. A discovery process is executed for discovering a MEC platform within a MEC stack of another tenant and a communication link is established with the other tenant's MEC platform.

Abstract: A method for operating a multi-access edge computing (MEC) system in which tenant applications are provided by MEC tenants for deployment on MEC hosts of the MEC system. The method includes receiving, from each of a plurality of MEC tenants, an application package, the application package including application software be installed at one or more of the MEC hosts of the MEC system, the application software corresponding to a tenant application of the tenant applications. The method further includes assigning, to each of the plurality of MEC tenants, a set of at least one application management privilege, and receiving application operation requests issued by MEC tenants. The application operation requests specify operations to be performed for the tenant applications. The method additionally includes pre-validating, using the sets of at least one application management privilege assigned to the plurality of MEC tenants, the application operation requests.

Abstract: A method for operating, by an MEC operator, a multi-access edge computing (MEC) system in which applications are provided by MEC tenants for deployment on MEC hosts of the MEC system and in which various levels of privileges are provided by the MEC operator to the MEC tenants. The method includes assigning, by an MEC broker, privileges to the MEC tenants; initiating, by the MEC broker via interactions with one or more of an MEC Orchestrator, an MEC platform manager, and a user app LCM proxy, operations. The operations can include one or more of application package on-boarding, application instance installation on selected MEC hosts, application provisioning, through configuration of appropriate parameters, and application life-cycle management operations including one or more of bootstrapping, termination, migration, scaling. The method further includes pre-validating, using the privileges provided to the MEC tenants, operation requests issued by the MEC tenants.

Abstract: A method for Internet of Things (IoT) traffic management in a communication network supporting a plurality of network slices, in particular a 5th generation wireless communication network, includes dynamically assigning, by a network slice management component, network resources to a number of network slices. One or more of the network slices are dedicated IoT network slices being adapted to enable IoT-related communications between an IoT platform and IoT devices or IoT gateways. The method also includes the network slice management component, interacting with an IoT broker associated with the IoT platform and, based on the interaction, performing actions with respect to an allocation of network resources to the number of network slices and/or triggering actions on the IoT broker with respect to a configuration of IoT data traffic.

Abstract: A method for Internet of Things (IoT) traffic management in a communication network supporting a plurality of network slices, in particular a 5th generation wireless communication network, includes dynamically assigning, by a network slice management component, network resources to a number of network slices. One or more of the network slices are dedicated IoT network slices being adapted to enable IoT-related communications between an IoT platform and IoT devices or IoT gateways. The method also includes the network slice management component, interacting with an IoT broker associated with the IoT platform and, based on the interaction, performing actions with respect to an allocation of network resources to the number of network slices and/or triggering actions on the IoT broker with respect to a configuration of IoT data traffic.

Abstract: A system for localizing user devices includes an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The UAV includes a transceiver configured to establish a communicative connection with a user device, and retrieve information pertaining to the user device at each of a plurality of different points in time. The UAV further includes a satellite-localization system configured to ascertain a geographic location of the UAV at each of the plurality of different points in time, and a processor. The processor is configured to, based on the information pertaining to the user device retrieved at each of the plurality of different points in time and on the geographic location of the UAV at each of the plurality of different points in time, determine a location of the user device.

Abstract: According to an embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for reducing the monitored-data load and the processing load/delay on a cloud management system (CMS). The method includes applying a prediction process to provide predicted key performance indicator (KPI) values for a plurality of VMs managed by the CMS during a first monitoring epoch; collecting, during the first monitoring epoch, observed KPI values for the plurality of VMs managed by the CMS; assessing the accuracy of the prediction process by way of calculating, according to a reward function, reward values for the plurality of VMs based on a deviation between the observed KPI values and the predicted KPI values; calculating a monitoring frequency for collecting monitoring information during a second monitoring epoch based on the reward values; and collecting the monitoring information during the second monitoring epoch according to the calculated monitoring frequency.

Abstract: According to an embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for reducing the monitored-data load and the processing load/delay on a cloud management system (CMS). The method includes applying a prediction process to provide predicted key performance indicator (KPI) values for a plurality of VMs managed by the CMS during a first monitoring epoch; collecting, during the first monitoring epoch, observed KPI values for the plurality of VMs managed by the CMS; assessing the accuracy of the prediction process by way of calculating, according to a reward function, reward values for the plurality of VMs based on a deviation between the observed KPI values and the predicted KPI values; calculating a monitoring frequency for collecting monitoring information during a second monitoring epoch based on the reward values; and collecting the monitoring information during the second monitoring epoch according to the calculated monitoring frequency.

Abstract: A method for operating, by an MEC operator, a multi-access edge computing (MEC) system in which applications are provided by MEC tenants for deployment on MEC hosts of the MEC system and in which various levels of privileges are provided by the MEC operator to the MEC tenants. The method includes assigning, by an MEC broker, privileges to the MEC tenants; initiating, by the MEC broker via interactions with one or more of an MEC Orchestrator, an MEC platform manager, and a user app LCM proxy, operations. The operations can include one or more of application package on-boarding, application instance installation on selected MEC hosts, application provisioning, through configuration of appropriate parameters, and application life-cycle management operations including one or more of bootstrapping, termination, migration, scaling. The method further includes pre-validating, using the privileges provided to the MEC tenants, operation requests issued by the MEC tenants.

Abstract: A method of allocating network slices of a network infrastructure includes receiving a network slice request for network resources of the network infrastructure in a form of a network slice. The network slice request includes a service level agreement (SLA) and an associated payoff. It is determined whether to accept the network slice based on whether it is expected that a utility function will be better served by accepting the network slice request or waiting for a further network slice request. It is determined whether the SLA would be fulfilled prior to allocating the network slice. The network slice is allocated and installed in the network infrastructure. Whether the utility function is better served can be determined using a value iteration algorithm or an adaptive algorithm.