System and method for a distributed ledger for base station slicing using blockchain
US10972942B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 20, 2018 |
| Grant date | Apr 6, 2021 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 22, 2038 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04W24/02
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method for reliable and secure record keeping for Radio Access Network (RAN) capacity sharing amongst a plurality of operators using slicing methods according to 3GPP 5G specifications, wherein slicing is controlled by a RAN controller is disclosed. The record keeping system is a distributed Blockchain ledger in which a block specifies information pertaining to available, leased or purchased base station slice(s). The ledger is immutable and available to all operators through a distributed database hosted by each participant wherein each base station owner advertises its leased as well as unused base station capacity at a specific time using blocks in the Blockchain. In an embodiment, the RAN controller directly feeds the information needed to form a new block into the ledger whenever the slicing profile of a RAN changes, thereby making the ledger in complete synchronicity with the network. The information in the ledger is easily viewable by each participant using a special ledger browser interfacing the ledger, which can also be used to lease slices.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.