A post-action verification approach for automatic configuration parameter changes in self-organizing networks

In a mobile Self-Organizing Network (SON) a SON coordinator is required to prevent the execution of conflicting SON function instances. Usually, such a coordinator is responsible for conflict prevention and resolution and does not consider the fact that the activity of SON function instances may induce an undesired network behavior, like a performance degradation. In this paper, we propose an approach for the verification of Configuration Management (CM) changes induced by the activity of function instances. We have developed the SON verification function which is triggered when CM change requests get acknowledged by a SON coordinator. It analyses the resulting Performance Management (PM) data and in the case it detects an undesired network behavior it sends a request to the coordinator to revert the changes responsible for that to happen. Furthermore, our function takes the impact area of a SON function instance into account to determine the scope of verification. It also takes the impact time of function instances that have been active into consideration as it tries to identify the CM changes that have possibly caused an undesired network behavior. Simulations have shown that the tight integration of our function with a SON coordinator provides a solution for overcoming such problems and improving the overall network performance.