Cloudified mac scheduler

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a method for performing radio access network (RAN) functions in a cloud at a medium access control (MAC) scheduler application that executes on a machine deployed on a host computer in the cloud. The method receives data, via a RAN intelligent controller (RIC), from a first RAN component. The method uses the received data to generate a MAC scheduling output. The method provides the MAC scheduling output to a second RAN component via the RIC.

1 - 24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . A method for performing radio access network (RAN) functions in a cloud, the method comprising:
 at an application that executes on a machine deployed on a host computer in the cloud, the application operating on top of a distributed RAN intelligent controller (dRIC) that executes across the host computer as well as a plurality of additional host computers in the cloud:
 receiving data, via the dRIC, from a RAN component; 
 using the received data to generate information related to at least one user device, thereby offloading the generation of said information from the RAN component; and 
 providing the generated information to the dRIC for distribution to a consumer of the generated information. 
   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein:
 the application is a first application that executes on a first machine deployed on a first host computer in the cloud; and   providing the generated information to the dRIC comprises storing the information in a database of the dRIC for later use by a second application that executes on top of the dRIC on a second machine deployed on a second host computer in the cloud.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the second host computer and second machine are the same as the first host computer and first machine such that the second application that is the consumer of the stored information executes on top of the dRIC on the same machine as the first application. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein:
 the first and second machines are different machines; and   the information is stored in the database of the dRIC by the first application via a shared data layer (SDL) and later retrieved by the different application via the SDL.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein providing the generated information to the dRIC comprises providing the generated information to a different application via a messaging infrastructure of the dRIC. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the consumer of the generated information is the RAN component from which the data is received. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the RAN component is an Open RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU). 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 25  further comprising, prior to receiving the data:
 sending a subscription request for the data to the RAN component via the dRIC; and 
 receiving a subscription acknowledgment from the RAN component via the dRIC. 
 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein:
 the dRIC receives the subscription request from the application through a set of APIs of the dRIC; and   the dRIC converts the subscription request received from the application into a subscription request in a format recognized by the RAN component.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein using the received data to generate information related to at least one user device comprises applying a machine learning algorithm to the received data. 
     
     
         35 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing an application which when executed by at least one processing unit of a host computer performs radio access network (RAN) functions in a cloud, the application executing on a machine deployed on the host computer, the application operating on top of a distributed RAN intelligent controller (dRIC) that executes across the host computer as well as a plurality of additional host computers in the cloud, the user-level tracing application comprising sets of instructions for:
 receiving data, via the dRIC, from a RAN component;   using the received data to generate information related to at least one user device, thereby offloading the generation of said information from the RAN component; and   providing the generated information to the dRIC for distribution to a consumer of the generated information.   
     
     
         36 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 35 , wherein:
 the application is a first application that executes on a first machine deployed on a first host computer in the cloud; and   the set of instructions for providing the generated information to the dRIC comprises a set of instructions for storing the information in a database of the dRIC for later use by a second application that executes on top of the dRIC on a second machine deployed on a second host computer in the cloud.   
     
     
         37 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 36 , wherein the second host computer and second machine are the same as the first host computer and first machine such that the second application that is the consumer of the stored information executes on top of the dRIC on the same machine as the first application. 
     
     
         38 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 36 , wherein:
 the first and second machines are different machines; and   the information is stored in the database of the dRIC by the first application via a shared data layer (SDL) and later retrieved by the different application via the SDL.   
     
     
         39 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 35 , wherein the set of instructions for providing the generated information to the dRIC comprises a set of instructions for providing the generated information to a different application via a messaging infrastructure of the dRIC. 
     
     
         40 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 35 , wherein the consumer of the generated information is the RAN component from which the data is received. 
     
     
         41 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 40 , wherein the RAN component is an Open RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU). 
     
     
         42 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 35 , wherein the application further comprises sets of instructions for, prior to receiving the data:
 sending a subscription request for the data to the RAN component via the dRIC; and   receiving a subscription acknowledgment from the RAN component via the dRIC.   
     
     
         43 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 42 , wherein:
 the dRIC receives the subscription request from the application through a set of APIs of the dRIC; and   the dRIC converts the subscription request received from the application into a subscription request in a format recognized by the RAN component.   
     
     
         44 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 35 , wherein the set of instructions for using the received data to generate information related to at least one user device comprises a set of instructions for applying a machine learning algorithm to the received data.