Patent Document ID: 9729396
Application ID: 14852210
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for a communication network comprising: monitoring, by a radio access network (RAN) orchestration function, impairments between a plurality of candidate locations interconnected by a transport network that comprises a fronthaul network and a backhaul network, wherein one or more network elements capable of performing one or more operations associated with a RAN are located at the plurality of candidate locations interconnected by the fronthaul network; determining a decomposition of one or more operations associated with the RAN into a plurality of sets of virtualized network functions (VNFs) to execute the operations based, at least in part, on the monitored impairments, wherein the plurality of sets comprise a first set of VNFs capable of performing Layer 2 (L2) RAN operations and a second set of VNFs capable of performing Layer 1 (L1) RAN operations associated with Radio Frequency (RF) termination points; determining a distribution of the plurality of sets of VNFs among the one or more network elements associated with the RAN for one or more optimal locations of the plurality of candidate locations based, at least in part, on the monitored impairments; and instantiating the plurality of sets of VNFs at each of the one or more optimal locations, wherein the first set of VNFs and the second set of VNFs are instantiated at different locations within the RAN.