阅读说明：本技术 竞争者选择 (Competitor selection ) 是由 R·布朗 J·哈特 M·奎瓦斯·拉米雷斯 S·米尔特切夫 于 2020-03-09 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种为通过电信网络执行的多用户竞争活动选择竞争者的方法,其中,第一UE和第二UE与所述电信网络通信,并且所述电信网络提供至少一个网络切片,其中,所述方法包括以下步骤：识别所述第一UE被分配到的网络切片；识别所述第二UE被分配到的网络切片；确定所述第一UE和所述第二UE计划参与所述多用户竞争活动；以及根据所述第一UE和所述第二UE被分配到的所识别的网络切片来选择所述第一UE和所述第二UE参与所述多用户竞争活动。(A method of selecting competitors for a multi-user contention activity performed over a telecommunications network, wherein a first UE and a second UE are in communication with the telecommunications network and the telecommunications network provides at least one network slice, wherein the method comprises the steps of: identifying a network slice to which the first UE is assigned; identifying a network slice to which the second UE is assigned; determining that the first UE and the second UE are scheduled to participate in the multi-user contention activity; and selecting the first UE and the second UE to participate in the multi-user contention activity according to the identified network slice to which the first UE and the second UE are assigned.)

1. A method of selecting competitors for a multi-user contention activity performed over a telecommunications network, wherein a first UE and a second UE are in communication with the telecommunications network and the telecommunications network provides at least one network slice, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

identifying a network slice to which the first UE is assigned;

identifying a network slice to which the second UE is assigned;

determining that the first UE and the second UE are scheduled to participate in the multi-user contention activity; and

selecting the first UE and the second UE to participate in the multi-user contention activity according to the identified network slice to which the first UE and the second UE are allocated.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first UE and the second UE are identified as being assigned to different network slices.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first UE and the second UE are identified as being assigned to different types of network slices.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first UE and the second UE are identified as being allocated to a same network slice.

5. The method of claim 1, 2, or 4, wherein the first UE and the second UE are identified as being assigned to a same type of network slice.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of: comparing a first characteristic of the network slice to which the first UE is assigned with a second characteristic of the network slice to which the second UE is assigned, and performing the selecting according to a result of the comparison.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of: identifying network capabilities of the first UE and/or the second UE, wherein the selecting is performed in accordance with the identified network capabilities.

8. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the competitive activity includes at least two teams.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of: assigning the first UE and the second UE to teams according to the identified network slice to which the first UE and/or the second UE are assigned.

10. The method of claim 8 or 9 when dependent on claim 4, wherein the first and second UEs are assigned to different teams in dependence on identifying that the first and second UEs are assigned to the same network slice.

11. The method of claim 8 or 9 when dependent on claim 2, wherein the first UE and the second UE are assigned to the same team in dependence on identifying that the first UE and the second UE are assigned to different network slices.

12. The method of any of claims 8 to 11, wherein the allocating is performed during a competitive activity.

13. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of: adjusting a network configuration of a network connection of the first UE and/or the second UE according to the identified network slice of the first UE and/or the second UE.

14. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of: the competing activity is identified.

15. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of: identifying when both the first UE and the second UE are engaged in the multi-user contention activity and performing the method in response to the identifying.

16. A telecommunications network for selecting competitors for a multi-user contention activity performed over the telecommunications network, wherein a first UE and a second UE communicate with the telecommunications network, the telecommunications network comprising:

at least one network slice;

a processor configured to:

identifying at least one network slice to which the first UE and the second UE are assigned; and

determining that the first UE and the second UE are scheduled to participate in the multi-user contention activity; and

a controller configured to:

selecting the first UE and the second UE to participate in the multi-user contention activity according to the identified at least one network slice to which the first UE and the second UE are allocated.

17. A telecommunications system for selecting competitors for a multi-user contention activity, the competitors comprising a first UE and a second UE, and wherein the telecommunications system comprises:

a telecommunications network, said telecommunications network comprising:

at least one network slice, and the first UE and the second UE are assigned to the at least one network slice;

a processor configured to identify at least one network slice to which the first UE and the second UE are allocated; and

a transceiver that communicates with the first UE and the second UE and that communicates an identification of the at least one network slice to a network location; and

a remote server configured to host the multi-user competition activity, the remote server comprising:

a receiver to receive the identification of the at least one network slice from the transceiver;

a processor configured to determine that the first UE and the second UE are scheduled to participate in the multi-user contention activity; and

a controller configured to select the first UE and the second UE to participate in the multi-user contention activity according to the received identified at least one network slice to which the first UE and the second UE are allocated.

18. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor associated with a telecommunications network, cause the telecommunications network to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 15.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method for selecting competitors for a multi-user competition activity performed over a telecommunications network, in particular in order to improve fairness; the invention also relates to a telecommunication network for this purpose.

Background

Network performance (e.g., bandwidth, latency, jitter, etc.) may vary widely among network users; this may (and other conditions are the same) result in unfairness between users who participate in competitive activities (such as games, auctions, votes, financial transactions, etc.) over the network or who use the network to support competitive activities (such as sporting events).

Such unfairness may affect the outcome of the competitive activity and/or negatively affect the user's interactive enjoyment of the competitive activity. For example, in a competitive activity performed over a network, it may be considered unfair to have a user with a better network connection compete with another user with a worse network connection, since the former may receive information before the latter, thereby gaining a competitive advantage, in particular being able to react faster to new information. It is therefore an object of the present invention to at least alleviate the above problems.

Disclosure of Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of selecting competitors for a multi-user competition activity performed over a telecommunications network, wherein a first UE and a second UE communicate with the telecommunications network and the telecommunications network provides at least one network slice, wherein the method comprises the steps of: identifying a network slice to which the first UE is assigned; determining that the first UE and the second UE will participate (optionally, plan to participate or are currently participating) in the multi-user contention activity; and selecting the first UE and the second UE to participate in the multi-user contention activity according to the identified network slice to which the first UE and the second UE are allocated. Preferably, the selection is performed based on a comparison of the identified network slices.

As used herein, the term "allocated" with respect to allocating UEs to network slices preferably means: identifying or selecting a network slice to which the UE is connected, but to which the UE is not yet connected but will be connected; the UE is connecting to the network slice; and/or the UE has connected to the first network slice.

As used herein, in the context of a multi-user competitive activity, the term "participating" means to expect or continue to participate in the multi-user competitive activity.

As used herein, the term "selecting" with respect to selecting a first UE and a second UE to participate in a multi-user contention activity preferably means identifying the first UE and the second UE and/or permitting the first UE and the second UE to participate in the contention activity together.

As used herein, the term "user" preferably means a human user (and/or a subscriber/user account or profile associated with the human user) and/or a UE used by (or associated with) the human user, and thus, the terms UE and user may be effectively interchanged, as appropriate. Optionally, the second UE is not assigned to the network slice.

Optionally, identifying the network slice comprises identifying: a unique identifier associated with the network slice; the type of network slice; the guaranteed network performance of the network slice; the computational load of the network slice; a predetermined ranking or rating of the web slices; an upcoming or ongoing reconfiguration of a network slice.

Optionally, the identifying, determining and/or selecting is performed by: a telecommunications network, in particular a core of a telecommunications network; a first UE; a second UE; and/or a remote network and/or server hosting multi-user competition activities.

Optionally, the identity of the network slice to which the first UE is assigned is transmitted to a remote network and/or server hosting the multi-user contention activity for subsequent selection. Optionally, the telecommunications network is a local area network or a wide area network. Optionally, the network is a wired (fixed) network and/or a wireless network. Optionally, the telecommunications network is a mobile cellular network or a satellite enabled network.

Optionally, the first UE and the second UE compete simultaneously through the network. Optionally, the first UE and the second UE contend through the network at different times. Optionally, network performance of the second UE is measured, the network performance is compared to the network slice of the first UE, and the selection is performed according to the comparison.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of assigning competitors to teams of a multi-user competitive activity, the competitive activity comprising at least two teams, and wherein a first UE and a second UE are in communication with a telecommunications network, wherein the method comprises the steps of: identifying a network slice to which the first UE is assigned; determining that the first UE and the second UE are to participate in the multi-user contention activity; and assigning the first UE and the second UE to the at least two teams according to the identified network slice to which the first UE is assigned.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of identifying the network slice to which the second UE is allocated. Alternatively, the first UE and the second UE may be prevented from participating in the multi-user contention activity according to the identified network slice to which the first UE and the second UE are assigned. Preferably, the selecting is performed according to the network slice to which the identified second UE is assigned.

Preferably, the first UE and the second UE are identified as being allocated to different network slices. Preferably, the first UE and the second UE are identified as being assigned to different types of network slices. As used herein, a "type" of network slice preferably means a network slice that can be classified according to a service configured to be delivered, such as URLLC and eMMB. Preferably, the first UE and the second UE are identified as being allocated to the same network slice. Preferably, the first UE and the second UE are identified as being assigned to the same type of network slice.

Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of: comparing a first characteristic of the network slice to which the first UE is assigned with a second characteristic of the network slice to which the second UE is assigned, and performing the selecting according to a result of the comparison. Optionally, the first characteristic and the second characteristic are identified during the step of identifying the network slice to which the first UE and the second UE are assigned. Optionally, the selection is performed in dependence of the comparison result meeting a predetermined rule and/or exceeding a predetermined threshold.

Preferably, the competitive activity includes at least two teams. Optionally, the at least two teams comprise the first UE and/or the second UE. Optionally, at least two teams are competing with each other or in cooperation, e.g., with another team or with an AI. Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of: assigning the first UE and the second UE to teams according to the identified network slice to which the first UE is assigned. Optionally, the first UE and the second UE are assigned to the same or different teams. Optionally, the assigning is performed according to a comparison of characteristics of the first network slice and the second network slice.

Optionally, the assigning is performed by: a telecommunications network, in particular a core of a telecommunications network; a first UE; a second UE; and/or a remote network and/or server hosting multi-user competition activities. Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of: assigning the first UE and the second UE to teams according to the identified network slice to which the second UE is assigned.

Preferably, the first UE and the second UE are assigned to different teams in accordance with the recognition that the first UE and the second UE are assigned to the same network slice. Preferably, the first UE and the second UE are assigned to the same team in accordance with the identification that the first UE and the second UE are assigned to different network slices. Optionally, the method further comprises the steps of: UEs that are assigned to a given network slice and are to participate in a multi-user contention activity are distributed evenly across respective ones of at least two teams. Preferably, the allocation is performed during a contention activity. Optionally, the allocating is performed before the first UE and the second UE engage in contention activity. Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of: adjusting a network configuration of a network connection of the first UE and/or the second UE according to the identified network slice of the first UE and/or the second UE.

Optionally, the adjusting is performed according to the identified network slice of the second UE and/or according to a comparison result of the network slice. Optionally, the adjusting is performed prior to selecting the first UE and the second UE to participate in the multi-user contention activity and/or prior to assigning the first UE and the second UE to the team. Optionally, the adjusting is performed to select the first UE and the second UE to participate in a multi-user contention activity and/or to assign the first UE and the second UE to a team. Optionally, the adjusting further comprises adjusting a network configuration of the network connection of the second UE.

Optionally, the adjusting comprises: reassigned to another network slice; processing to preferentially perform and/or block network communications; changing the bandwidth quota; reallocating network resources to and/or from the network slice; changing a path of the network communication through the telecommunications network; changing a location of a network resource to be accessed within the telecommunications network to facilitate multi-user contention activity; and/or disrupt network communications.

Optionally, the adjusting is performed to make the network performance of the first UE and the second UE more equal. Optionally, the degree and/or frequency of the adjustment is limited and optionally depends on the comparison result of the network slices. Preferably, the method further comprises the step of identifying a competitive activity. Optionally, identifying the competitive activity is performed by a remote network and/or server. Optionally, the adjusting is performed in accordance with the identified activity and/or the identified network slice. Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of: identifying when both the first UE and the second UE are engaged in the multi-user contention activity and performing the method in response to the identifying. Optionally, identifying when both the first UE and the second UE are engaged in the multi-user contention activity is performed by a remote network and/or a server.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a telecommunications network for selecting competitors for a multi-user competition activity performed over the telecommunications network, wherein a first UE and a second UE communicate with the telecommunications network, the telecommunications network comprising: at least one network slice to which the first UE is assigned; a processor configured to: identifying that the first UE is assigned to a network slice; and determining that the first UE and the second UE are to participate in the multi-user contention activity; and a controller configured to: selecting the first UE and the second UE to participate in the multi-user contention activity according to the identified network slice to which the first UE is assigned. Optionally, the telecommunications network is further configured to perform a method as described above.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a telecommunications network for selecting competitors for a multi-user competition activity performed over the telecommunications network, wherein a first UE and a second UE communicate with the telecommunications network, the telecommunications network comprising: at least one network slice; a processor configured to: identifying at least one network slice to which the first UE and the second UE are assigned; and determining that the first UE and the second UE are scheduled to participate in the multi-user contention activity; and a controller configured to: selecting the first UE and the second UE to participate in the multi-user contention activity according to the identified at least one network slice to which the first UE and the second UE are allocated.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a telecommunications system for selecting competitors for a multi-user contention activity, the competitors comprising a first UE and a second UE, and wherein the telecommunications system comprises: a telecommunications network, said telecommunications network comprising: at least one network slice, and the first UE and the second UE are assigned to the at least one network slice; a processor configured to identify at least one network slice to which the first UE and the second UE are allocated; and a transceiver that communicates with the first UE and the second UE and communicates an identification of the at least one network slice to a network location; and a remote server configured to host a multi-user competition activity, the remote server comprising: a receiver to receive the identification of the at least one network slice from the transceiver; a processor configured to determine that the first UE and the second UE are scheduled to participate in the multi-user contention activity; and a controller configured to select the first UE and the second UE to participate in the multi-user contention activity according to the received identified at least one network slice to which the first UE and the second UE are allocated.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium containing instructions which, when executed by a processor associated with a telecommunications network, cause the telecommunications network to perform the above-described method.

The invention extends to any novel aspect or feature described and/or exemplified herein. The invention extends to a method and/or apparatus substantially as described herein and/or illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention also provides computer programs and computer program products for performing any of the methods described herein and/or for embodying any of the apparatus features described herein, as well as computer readable media having stored thereon instructions for performing any of the methods described herein and/or for tangibly embodying any of the apparatus features described herein.

The present invention also provides a signal embodying a computer program for performing any of the methods described herein and/or for embodying any of the apparatus features described herein, a method of transmitting such a signal, and a computer product having an operating system supporting a computer program for performing any of the methods described herein and/or for embodying any of the apparatus features described herein. Any device feature as described herein may also be provided as a method feature, and any method feature as described herein may also be provided as a device feature. As used herein, means-plus-function features may alternatively be expressed in terms of their corresponding structure, such as a suitably programmed processor and associated memory.

Any feature in one aspect of the invention may be applied to other aspects of the invention in any suitable combination. In particular, method aspects may apply to apparatus aspects, and apparatus aspects may apply to method aspects. Furthermore, any, some, and/or all features of one aspect may be applied to any, some, and/or all features of any other aspect in any suitable combination. It is also to be understood that particular combinations of the various features described and defined in any aspect of the invention may be implemented and/or provided and/or used independently.

In this specification, unless stated otherwise, the word "or" may be construed as either exclusive or inclusive. Furthermore, features implemented in hardware may typically be implemented in software, and features implemented in software may typically be implemented in hardware. Any reference herein to software features and hardware features should be construed accordingly.

The present invention extends to a method of selecting competitors for a multi-user competition activity, a telecommunications network and a computer program as herein described and/or substantially illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings. The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network; and

fig. 2a and 2b illustrate a process of improving fairness in a network.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows an example telecommunications network 100. The network 100 is a mobile cellular network comprising a plurality of User Equipments (UEs) 110, for example in the form of mobile cellular devices, desktop PCs, game consoles, laptops or tablets. Various UEs 110 are configured to utilize the telecommunications network 100 by accessing a Radio Access Network (RAN)115 as provided by a RAN access point 120 (e.g., in the form of a macrocell site, microcell site, picocell site, or femtocell site). In turn, the RAN access point 120 is connected to the core of the network 125.

The core network 125 may be used to connect to remote services/networks 170, for example in the form of remote servers, other telecommunications networks, and/or the internet. As a result, multiple UEs 110-1 through 110-4 may also be able to communicate with UE 110-5 via remote service/network 170.

The core network 125 in turn comprises the following functional components:

access and mobility management function (AMF) 130;

a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) 135;

a network performance determination function (NPAF) 137;

authentication server function (AUSF) 140;

unified Data Management (UDM) 145;

a Session Management Function (SMF) 150;

policy Control Function (PCF) 155;

user Plane Function (UPF) 160; and

a Data Network (DN) 165.

With the above functional components, the network 100 provides and manages multiple network slices. A network slice provides a virtualized network that includes multiple logical networks in a single physical network- "network slice". This is typically used to provide a differentiated service model, which may include different network performance (including stability) within the network. NSSF 135 is configured to identify and select an appropriate network slice for the UE.

In summary, UEs 110 that are scheduled to participate in a contention activity through the network 100 are selected together to participate in the contention activity based on the network slice to which they have been allocated (thus, in effect, taking into account the expected network performance that may be delivered to the UEs) to help improve the fairness of the contention activity; fig. 2 illustrates a process 200 for implementing such a selection.

In particular, fig. 2a outlines a process 200-1 for operating the network 100 in order to improve fairness to both the first UE110-1 and the second UE 110-2 (planned or already) participating in contention activities through the network 100. In a first step 210, NSSF 135 identifies (via an interface with, inter alia, UPF 160) the network slice to which first UE110-1 and second UE 110-2 have been assigned.

In a next step 220, the identified network slices are compared to identify differences in the characteristics of the network slices, and then 230 analyzes the results of the comparison to identify whether any such differences can (substantially) result in a network performance imbalance between the first UE and the second UE, thereby providing a competitive advantage. This is possible without having to analyze the actual network performance experienced by the UE, since the configuration of the network slice is a proxy to evaluate the expected network performance. Step 220 is performed by the telecommunications network 100, in particular by NSSF 135, UPF 160 and/or NPAF 137.

At step 230, the analysis as to whether the differences in the network slices can (substantially) result in an imbalance in network performance includes again comparing the degree of difference in the network slices to predetermined values, such as thresholds and/or rules (e.g., certain network slices or pairs of network slice types are not allowed).

The differences between the network slices of the first UE and the second UE that may be identified in step 220 include the following characteristics:

identification of the network slice (i.e., a different network slice);

type of network slice, in terms of the type of service the network slice is intended to provide (e.g., an ultra-reliable low latency connection (URLLC) network slice or an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) network slice (it will be understood that the two network slices may be different but of the same type));

guaranteed network performance (e.g., minimum or maximum degree of guaranteed network performance, i.e., service level) for a network slice, such as predefined thresholds of network performance (e.g., related to jitter, latency, bandwidth (download and/or upload), Round Trip Time (RTT) delay, and error rate);

the computational load of the network slice and/or the expected variation of such load over time (e.g., time of day);

a predetermined ranking or score of a network slice indicating expected network performance; and/or

I.e., reconfiguration (e.g., up or down scaling) of the network slice that is going to or is in progress.

Thus, if it is determined in step 230 that the difference can (substantially) result in an imbalance in network performance, then in a next step 240 it is evaluated whether it is permissible to perform a network reconfiguration in order to affect the network performance of the first UE and/or the second UE to improve fairness, thereby making the network performance of the first UE and the second UE more equal. The permission to perform network reconfiguration is based on, for example: the first UE and/or the second UE selected such reconfiguration (e.g., as indicated by a flag transmitted by the UE to the network 100 and/or stored within the network 100); and/or current network performance of a given UE and service obligations to the UE, e.g., as specified in a service level agreement (e.g., a reconfiguration that improves fairness but also violates such service level agreement would be deemed impermissible). At step 240, it is also evaluated whether there is a network reconfiguration available to improve fairness (e.g., if the correction requires the network to increase processing resources, but no further resources are available, then no such reconfiguration is available). If both conditions are met, the network reconfiguration is applied 250 and the first UE and the second UE (having sufficiently equalized their network performance) are selected as competitors 260. Network performance may be obtained by NPAF 137 making measurements via UPF 160, SMF 150, PCF 155, and/or AMF 130, with which the NPAF communicates (directly or indirectly) via an appropriate interface.

However, if no network reconfiguration is permitted or available, process 200 proceeds to step 270, where it is concluded in step 270 that the first UE and the second UE are not suitable competitors and are prevented from participating together in the contention activity. In order not to deny the first UE and the second UE to participate in the contention activity, such alternative UE is instead treated as a selection of a possible competitor for the first UE and/or the second UE by replacing the first UE or the second UE with an available alternative UE and then repeating process 200-1 by using this replacement (in which case two repetitions of process 200-1 may be performed separately-one for the first UE and the alternative UE and one for the second UE and another alternative UE).

However, if it is determined in step 230 that the difference between the network slices is unlikely (substantially) to result in an imbalance in network performance (thus indicating that the first UE and the second UE are substantially equally situated in terms of network performance), then processing proceeds directly to step 260 such that the first UE and the second UE are selected as competitors. If it is determined in step 220 that there is no difference in network slices, and therefore the first UE and the second UE are assigned to the same or the same network slice, processing proceeds directly (not shown) to step 260 such that the first UE and the second UE are selected as competitors 260.

The step 260 of selecting the UE as a competitor is performed by the DN 165 and/or the remote service/network 170 facilitating the competition activity. Accordingly, the results of steps 220, 230, 240, 250, and/or 270 are communicated to DN 165 and/or remote service/network 170 for subsequent selection.

Network reconfiguration

In more detail, referring to step 250, the network 100 is reconfigured to affect the network performance of the first UE and/or the second UE, for example in the following manner:

reduce network performance (e.g., for the first UE 110-1) to reduce the impact of differences between the identified network slices (i.e., where the second UE 110-2 is identified as being assigned to a network slice expected to have worse network performance than the first UE 110-1); and/or

Improve network performance (e.g., for second UE 110-2) to reduce the impact of differences between the identified network slices (i.e., where second UE 110-2 is identified as being assigned to a network slice expected to have worse network performance than first UE 110-1).

Performing network reconfiguration to reduce the impact of differences between identified network slices is performed, for example, by:

changing the network or part thereof (e.g. wireless wide area cellular network, fixed line network or wireless local area network) through which the first UE110-1 and/or the second UE 110-2 interact, and in particular changing the slice of the network to which the first UE110-1 and/or the second UE 110-2 are associated, which includes moving:

first UE110-1 and/or second UE 110-2 to:

the same network 100, in particular to the same network slice; and

different networks, in particular different network slices.

Changing the path of network communications from and/or to a given UE110, including establishing network paths for multiple UEs:

omicron is the same (as far as possible), including:

registering individual UEs with the same Mobile Network Operator (MNO) or Internet Service Provider (ISP);

having each UE use the same RAN access point 120; and

access to resources from the same location within the network, such as the same server or node.

O different (except for inherent necessity), including performing the reverse of the operations described above with respect to making the network paths the same.

Changing the location of resources within the network 100 that are being accessed by both the first UE110-1 and the second UE 110-2, e.g., moving the resources closer to the edge of the network, particularly to the RAN access point 120 used by the respective UEs;

increasing or decreasing the priority of network communications associated with a given UE being handled by the network;

reducing or causing delays (and thus varying latency and/or jitter) in processing network communications associated with a given UE, such as by buffering such network communications;

increasing or decreasing the bandwidth and/or transmission speed (i.e., throttling) of a given UE; and/or

Cause errors (e.g., corrupt data packets) in processing network communications associated with a given UE (thereby increasing the error rate).

Any combination of the above listed methods is used to improve or reduce network performance for a given UE, thereby helping to balance network performance among UEs in an effort to improve fairness.

The network configuration of a given UE, and in particular the configuration of the network slice associated or to be associated with the UE, is adjusted by the network core 125. In particular, the network configuration is suitably adjusted by the AMF 130, the SMF 150, and/or the UPF 160, as appropriate.

It should be understood that process 200-1 may alternatively be performed with at least three UEs such that the network slice to which each of the at least three UEs is assigned is identified and each of the network slices is compared to then select whether the at least three UEs are suitable to participate in the contention activity (or to replace and/or perform a network reconfiguration for at least one of the UEs).

Team assignment

In one example, a multi-user competitive activity may involve all participating UEs competing cooperatively (e.g., in a game against an AI-controlled opponent).

In another example, a multi-user competitive activity may involve at least two teams of UEs competing against each other (such as multiplayer online gaming). In such an example, selecting UEs to participate in the competitive activity and then assigning those UEs to teams are all factors that may impact fairness.

Fig. 2b illustrates a process performed by network 100 to improve fairness in multi-user team based competitive activities.

Process 200-2 includes the steps of process 200-1 and provides for a step 280 of continuing from step 260 (in step 260, selecting a UE to participate in a contention activity).

In step 280, the network 100 then assigns UEs (e.g., a first UE and a second UE) selected to participate in the competitive activity to the team based on the differences in the network slices identified in step 220 and the analysis of the identified differences in step 230. Step 280 is performed by the part of the telecommunications network 100 that facilitates competitive activities (and thus understands team requirements), which is typically the remote service/network 170 (although the core network 125 may be used to perform this function).

Assigning UEs to teams includes identifying an arrangement of UEs that fairly distributes UEs across teams based on the network slice to which the UEs have been assigned, indicating the arrangement, and/or then implementing the arrangement.

To help illustrate the process of assigning UEs to teams, in one example, four UEs are provided that have been selected to engage in a competitive activity (i.e., a first UE110-1 and a second UE 110-2, and a third UE 110-3 and a fourth UE 110-4). The competitive activity is a fast paced online game requiring two teams of equal numbers and the game is provided by a remote service/network 170 in the form of an application server.

In a corresponding manner to process 200-1, the network slice to which four UEs 110 have been assigned is identified (by NSSF 137) and then compared. Table 1 below shows an example of tabular data identifying UEs 110 and associating, for each UE, the network slice to which they are allocated.

UE	UE IMSI	Network slicing	Network slicing feature
				110-1	23476123456789	Section A	URLLC
110-2	23476123456799	Section B	eMBB
				110-3	23400123456666	Section A	URLLC
110-4	23476123456777	Section D	eMBB

TABLE 1

In table 1, for each of the four UEs 110, there is provided:

a unique UE identifier in the form of an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI);

a unique identifier of the network slice to which each UE is assigned (e.g., "slice a"); and

a network slice characteristic (or "type") indicating an expected performance of the network slice performance, wherein:

omicronlc means an ultra-reliable low-latency connection; and

omicron eMBB means enhancing the mobile broadband connection.

It should be appreciated that URLLC connections are generally expected to facilitate higher performance network connections for fast-paced online gaming compared to eMBB connections. Thus, based on the information in table 1, the first UE110-1 and the third UE 110-3 (allocated to URLLC network slice) may be expected to have advantages over the second UE 110-2 and the fourth UE 110-4 (allocated to eMBB network slice), at least in terms of network performance.

Thus, at step 280, the application server (to which the identity of the network slice to which each of the four UEs is assigned has been communicated from NSSF 137) assigns first UE110-1 and third UE 110-3 to different teams and second UE 110-2 and fourth UE 110-4 to different teams. Thus, in one example, a first UE110-1 and a second UE 110-2 are assigned to the same team, while a third UE 110-3 and a fourth UE 110-4 are assigned together to another team.

In one example, step 280 may be used to repeat back to step 210 of process 200-1; in this way, the UE may move between teams in response to changes in the UE-to-network slice assignment.

In one example, when the UEs are assigned to the same network slice (or the same type of network slice), the UEs are assigned to different teams, which may thus balance the distribution of UEs assigned to that network slice (and thus be expected to have substantially similar network performance). Additionally or alternatively, UEs are assigned to the same team where they are assigned to different network slices (or different types of network slices), which may thus balance the distribution of UEs assigned to these different network slices. In this manner, the team may be balanced in terms of the expected network performance of its constituent members.

The above-described process 200 of selecting competing UEs and/or assigning UEs to teams may be performed according to the network slice to which the UE is assigned, and thus does not require direct measurement of the UE's network performance, as the UE's network performance may be inferred from known characteristics of the network slice to which the UE has been assigned.

In one example, table 1 also includes the following data:

current activities in which a given UE participates (or will participate), such as multiplayer games, auctions, financial transactions, and votes; and/or

The team (or "opponent group") to which a given UE is assigned for a particular competitive activity.

Contention activity and contention UEs

Some networks, and in particular the applications they facilitate, allow a UE to engage in activities that do not involve contention among multiple UEs. Therefore, it may not be appropriate to attempt to improve the fairness outlined herein for all active or all UEs.

In this case, the contention-facilitated portion of the network (e.g., remote service/network 170) is configured to distinguish between activities that suitably improve fairness ("contention activities") and activities that are not possible and/or suitable for improving fairness ("non-contention activities"). Thus, the network 100 will only improve fairness as outlined herein for such competitive activities (e.g., where the particular remote service/network 170 instructs it to do so) or for the particular remote service/network 170 that only once hosts the competitive activity.

Examples of competitive activities include: a multiplayer game; a financial transaction; auction; voting; data communication supporting athletic activities and/or "real life" games (e.g., professional sporting events such as racing cars).

Non-competitive activities are those that are: there is no inherent competition; only with respect to the communication of information that cannot affect the competitive activity and/or the "real life" competitive outcome; serving only a single UE; and/or the result is driven entirely accidentally. Thus, examples of non-competing activities generally include: media on demand; a single player game; and pure games of chance.

It will be appreciated that where the network (or application) restricts access only to competing activities, such as a dedicated network-or network slice dedicated to multiplayer online gaming, it is not necessary to distinguish between competing and non-competing activities as described above.

In certain networks (and/or certain applications), competing and non-competing UEs may be distinguished, where the competing UEs are together and simultaneously engaged in the same competing activity (whether or not against each other).

The identification of the set of competing UEs is performed by a portion of the network that facilitates the competing activity (e.g., remote service/network 170), and thus the identities of these UEs are communicated to network 100 to facilitate process 200. The entire described process 200 is performed when there are at least two competing UEs.

Alternatives and modifications

In the foregoing, the telecommunications network 100 is shown and described generally as a cellular wide area network in accordance with 5G technology. However, in an alternative, the telecommunications network 100 is any kind of telecommunications network, including a wired network, a local area network, or a combination of network types.

In fig. 1, UE110 is shown accessing the same core network. However, it should be understood that the UEs may access different core networks (and connect to each other via remote network 170).

Referring to fig. 1, in an alternative example, at step 210, only the network slice to which the first 110-1UE has been allocated is determined. For example, only the first UE110-1 may have been allocated to the network slice, while the second UE has not (yet) been allocated. To perform process a, inferences or (probabilistic) inferences are then made regarding measurements of expected or actual network performance of second UE 110-2 in order to then select whether the first UE and the second UE are suitable for contention and/or whether to assign the first UE and the second UE to teams. For example, if a first UE is assigned to a network slice that is expected to provide the best network performance level so far, and the first UE is the only member of the network slice and/or a second UE cannot be a member of the network slice (due to network rules), it is inferred that the network performance of the first UE is likely to be much better than the network performance of the second UE, and thus the first UE and the second UE may not be suitable competitors and/or balancing of teams may need to be performed in view of such expected network performance differences.

Referring to fig. 1, the step of evaluating whether to permit performance of the network reconfiguration 230 and then the network reconfiguration 250 is optional; in an alternative, process 200 continues without these steps. Instead, a positive determination of step 230 (i.e., there is a difference in network slice that can cause network performance imbalance between the first UE and the second UE) directly results in step 270.

In one example, instead of (or prior to) adjusting the network configuration in response to identifying a network performance difference between competing UEs, the network informs the competing UEs (or at least one of the competing UEs) that there is an unfairness in terms of network performance. The UE-or at least one of the UEs (such as a UE with lower/lowest network performance) -is then provided an option for the network to take action to improve fairness.

In yet another alternative, the above-described fairness improvement process is performed when competing UE110 is configured to support competing activities (rather than directly participating in competing activities). In one example, the UE is associated with a competitor who is participating in the sport, and the UE is used-over the network-to communicate with other competitors, broader teams and/or officials. In certain examples, the UE is a voice, text, or data (including telematics) communication device, and fairness can be sought to be improved by the above-described processes, for example, by: ensuring that competitors are selected and/or assigned to teams based on the network slice to which the UE is assigned ensures that new information related to the outcome of the sport (e.g., team member communications, rule changes, conditions, race routes, participants, etc.) may successfully arrive at the respective UEs and/or the respective teams substantially simultaneously.

In an alternative, referring to step 220 of fig. 2, the process of comparing network slices to identify differences that may lead to network performance imbalances is performed remotely for the network core 125, and in particular by the remote service/network 170 and/or the UE110 associated with the network slice. This is facilitated by the telecommunication network 100 forwarding the identity of the network slice and its characteristics to the remote service/network 170 and/or the UE.

In an alternative, the process of selecting and/or assigning competing UEs to teams is performed by the telecommunications network 100 (in particular the network core 125) and/or the UEs 110. Thus, to facilitate this process, network 100 and/or UE110 are provided with information regarding the number of teams and the number of UEs per team from the portion of the network that facilitates the competitive activity.

In an alternative, to distinguish between competing and non-competing activities, the network 100 identifies (or infers) an activity (either explicitly or simply whether it is a competing activity), such as by examining network communications across the network 100, such as by evaluating:

network, transport and/or application layer types and/or values;

payload data type, format, and/or content (e.g., whether video, sound, voice, text, image, etc.);

an encryption protocol;

whether traffic has been allocated to an active specific network slice (such as a low latency gaming network slice); and/or

UE type (e.g., hardware type and/or operating software version) that receives or sends network communications.

In another example, the network also identifies competing UEs by examining network communications across the network 100.

In yet another alternative, the process of assigning UEs to teams 200-2 (according to fig. 2b) is performed without selecting competing UEs independent of the network slice to which the UE has been assigned. Instead, the default simply accepts the selection of UEs that are scheduled to participate in the competitive activity.

The various features disclosed in the description and (where appropriate) the claims and drawings may be provided independently or in any appropriate combination. Reference signs in the claims are provided merely as an illustration and do not limit the scope of the claims.