Software defined network lifecycle tracking and management

Abstract

A device in an evolved packet core (EPC) which includes a processor and a memory. The processor effectuates operations including receiving from one or more devices residing within a customer premise equipment (CPE) portion of a telecommunications network, sensor data associated with one or more customers and in response to receiving the sensor data, generating a data request for an ecosystem status for the CPE portion of the telecommunications network. The processor further effectuates operations including obtaining customer information for the one or more customers and creating an analytics environment, using the customer information, for the one or more customers. The processor further effectuates operations including performing, within the analytics environment, analytics on the sensor data to determine a state of the CPE portion of the telecommunications network for the one or more customers and in response to performing analytics on the sensor data, optimizing the telecommunications network.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory coupled with the processor, the memory storing executable instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising:   deploying a core simulation tool (CST) at a designated location within a telecommunications network, wherein the CST receives network data from a network carrier radio access network (RAN) and additional network data from other network devices, wherein the CST performs a long-term evolution (LTE) simulation using the network data and the additional network data and determines whether network performance issues exist based on the network data and the additional network data; and   generating an alert indicating an existence of the network performance issues responsive to the CST determine the existence of the network performance issues.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the other network devices comprise one or more customer premises equipment (CPE) devices. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the CPE devices comprise one or more Internet-of-things (IoT) devices. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more IoT devices comprise smart meters. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more IoT devices comprise weather monitoring system sensors. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 3 , wherein the additional network data comprises location data for each of the one or more IoT devices. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the operations further comprise performing an action to improve the network performance issues. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein the action to improve the network performance issues. comprises reducing collection of sensor data in a CPE portion of the telecommunications network. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein the action to improve the network performance issues is based on usage pattern changes for the one or more CPE devices. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the LTE simulation detects network coverage gaps at locations within the telecommunications network. 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the action to improve the network performance issues comprises adjusting network performance parameters of a core network of the telecommunications network. 
     
     
         12 . A method comprising:
 implementing, by a processing system comprising a processor, a core simulation tool (CST) at a designated location within a telecommunications network, wherein the CST receives network data from a network carrier radio access network (RAN) and additional network data from other network devices, wherein the CST performs a long-term evolution (LTE) simulation using the network data and the additional network data and determines whether network performance issues exist based on the network data and the additional network data; and   based on a state of the telecommunications network, performing, by the CST, an action to improve performance of the telecommunications network.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the other network devices comprise one or more eNodeBs, mobility management entities (MMEs) or customer premises equipment (CPE). 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the CPE comprises one or more IoT devices. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more IoT devices comprise smart meters. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more IoT devices comprise weather monitoring system sensors. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the action to improve the performance of the telecommunications network comprises reducing collection of sensor data from CPE in the telecommunications network. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the action to improve the performance of the telecommunications network is based on usage pattern changes for one or more CPE. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the CST detects network coverage gaps at the designated location within the telecommunications network. 
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions that when executed by a computing device cause said computing device to effectuate operations comprising:
 communicating with a core simulation tool (CST) at a designated location within a telecommunications network, wherein the CST receives network data from a network carrier radio access network (RAN) and additional network data from other network devices, wherein the CST performs a long-term evolution (LTE) simulation using the network data and the additional network data and determines whether network performance issues exist based on the network data and the additional network data; and   based on a state of the telecommunications network, the CST performing an action to improve performance of the telecommunications network.