Subscriber sampling congestion control

Abstract

To provide an apparatus to perform subscriber sampled congestion monitoring and congestion control in communication systems.SOLUTION: Various example embodiments for supporting subscriber sampled congestion control in a communication network are configured to support subscriber sampled congestion control by triggering monitoring of a subset of subscriber devices of an access network area for detecting congestion in the access network area and triggering application of a congestion control policy for the access network area based on detection of congestion in the access network area.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Various exemplary embodiments generally relate to communication systems, and more specifically, but not limited to, relate to congestion control in communication systems.

Background Art

[0002] In communication networks, various communication technologies may be used to support various types of communications.

Summary of the Invention

[0003] In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device includes at least one processor and at least one memory containing instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the device to transmit instructions for at least a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area, to receive instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area, and to transmit instructions for a congestion management policy to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion is determined based on at least one of the number of subscriber devices to be monitored or the amount of traffic to be monitored. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area include an identifier for the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, when executed by at least one processor, the instructions cause the device to identify a subscriber device in a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area based on the identifier for the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area include an identifier for one of the subscriber devices in a subset of subscriber devices where congestion has been detected. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instruction, when executed by at least one processor, causes the device to identify an access network area based on at least one identifier of a subscriber device in a subset of subscriber devices where congestion has been detected. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for a congestion management policy applied to a set of subscriber devices associated with an access location include an instruction for an access network area.In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for a congestion management policy applied to a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area include, for each subscriber device in the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area, the respective identifier of each subscriber device in the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area.

[0004] In at least some exemplary embodiments, the non-transient computer-readable medium includes computer program instructions, which, when executed by the device, cause the device to transmit instructions for at least a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area, to receive instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area, and to transmit instructions for a congestion management policy to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion is determined based on at least one of the number of subscriber devices being monitored or the amount of traffic being monitored. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area include an identifier for the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, when executed by the device, the computer program instructions cause the device to identify a subscriber device in a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area based on the identifier for the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area include an identifier for one of the subscriber devices in a subset of subscriber devices where congestion has been detected. In at least some exemplary embodiments, a computer program instruction, when executed by a device, causes the device to identify an access network area based on at least one identifier of a subscriber device in a subset of subscriber devices where congestion has been detected. In at least some exemplary embodiments, instructions for a congestion management policy applied to a set of subscriber devices associated with an access location include an instruction for an access network area.In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for a congestion management policy applied to a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area include, for each subscriber device in the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area, the respective identifier of each subscriber device in the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area.

[0005] In at least some exemplary embodiments, the method includes transmitting instructions for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area; receiving instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area; and transmitting instructions for a congestion management policy to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion is determined based on at least one of the number of subscriber devices being monitored or the amount of traffic being monitored. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area include an identifier for the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the method includes identifying subscriber devices in the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area based on the identifier for the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area include an identifier for one of the subscriber devices in the subset of subscriber devices where congestion has been detected. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the method includes identifying an access network area based on an identifier for one of the subscriber devices in the subset of subscriber devices where congestion has been detected. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for a congestion management policy to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with an access location include an instruction for the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for a congestion management policy applied to a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area include, for each subscriber device in the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area, the respective identifier of each subscriber device in the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area.

[0006] In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device includes means for transmitting instructions for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area; means for receiving instructions for changes in the congestion state of the access network area; and means for transmitting instructions for a congestion management policy to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion is determined based on at least one of the number of subscriber devices being monitored or the amount of traffic being monitored. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for changes in the congestion state of the access network area include an identifier for the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device includes means for identifying subscriber devices in a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area based on the identifier for the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for changes in the congestion state of the access network area include an identifier for one of the subscriber devices in a subset of subscriber devices where congestion has been detected. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device includes means for identifying the access network area based on an identifier for one of the subscriber devices in a subset of subscriber devices where congestion has been detected. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the congestion management policy instructions applied to a set of subscriber devices associated with an access location include instructions for an access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the congestion management policy instructions applied to a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area include, for each subscriber device in the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area, the respective identifier for each subscriber device in the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area.

[0007] In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device includes at least one processor and at least one memory containing instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the device to receive instructions for at least a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area, to initiate congestion monitoring for the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion, to send instructions for changes in congestion status to the access network area, and to receive instructions for congestion management policies to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, in order to initiate congestion monitoring for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion, when executed by at least one processor, the instruction causes the device to reroute at least a set of traffic flows of the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion toward a congestion monitoring element. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device includes a network device, and the congestion monitoring element is located on the network device. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device includes a network device, and the congestion monitoring element includes an extended services appliance associated with the network device. In at least some exemplary embodiments, instructions for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion are received from a policy manager, instructions for changes in the congestion state of an access network area are sent to the policy manager, and instructions for congestion management policies to be applied to a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area are received from the policy manager. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the policy manager comprises at least one of the following: policy and billing rule functions, authentication, authorization, and accounting servers, or a policy decision engine of the network management layer or subscriber management platform.In at least some exemplary embodiments, an instruction, when executed by at least one processor, causes the device to perform at least one congestion control function for at least one subscriber device in a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the congestion management policy includes at least one of the following: a traffic management policy, a bearer management policy, a flow-aware management policy, or an application-aware management policy.

[0008] In at least some exemplary embodiments, the non-transient computer-readable medium includes a computer program instruction, which, when executed by the device, causes the device to receive instructions for at least a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area, to initiate congestion monitoring for the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion, to transmit instructions for changes in the congestion state of the access network area, and to receive instructions for congestion management policies to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, in order to initiate congestion monitoring for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion, when executed by the device, the computer program instruction causes the device to at least divert a set of traffic flows of the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion toward a congestion monitoring element. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device comprises a network device, and the congestion monitoring element is located on the network device. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device comprises a network device, and the congestion monitoring element includes an extended services appliance associated with the network device. In at least some exemplary embodiments, instructions for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion are received from a policy manager, instructions for changes in the congestion state of an access network area are sent to the policy manager, and instructions for congestion management policies to be applied to a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area are received from the policy manager. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the policy manager comprises at least one of the following: policy and billing rule functions, authentication, authorization, and accounting servers, or a policy decision engine of the network management layer or subscriber management platform.In at least some exemplary embodiments, a computer program instruction, when executed by the device, causes the device to perform at least one congestion control function for at least one subscriber device in a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the congestion management policy includes at least one of the following: a traffic management policy, a bearer management policy, a flow-aware management policy, or an application-aware management policy.

[0009] In at least some exemplary embodiments, the method includes receiving instructions from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion; initiating congestion monitoring for the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion; transmitting instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area; and receiving instructions for a congestion management policy to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, initiating congestion monitoring for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion includes diverting a set of traffic flows for the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion toward a congestion monitoring element. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the method is performed by a network device, and the congestion monitoring element is located on the network device. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the method is performed by a network device, and the congestion monitoring element includes an extended services appliance associated with the network device. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the instructions for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion are received from a policy manager, instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area are transmitted toward the policy manager, and instructions for a congestion management policy to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area are received from the policy manager. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the policy manager comprises at least one of the following: policy and billing rule functions, authentication, authorization, and accounting servers, or a policy decision engine of a network management layer or subscriber management platform. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the method includes performing at least one congestion control function for at least one subscriber device in a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area.In at least some exemplary embodiments, the congestion management policy includes at least one of the following: a traffic management policy, a bearer management policy, a flow-aware management policy, or an application-aware management policy.

[0010] In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device includes means for receiving instructions for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area; means for initiating congestion monitoring for the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion; means for transmitting instructions for changes in the congestion state of the access network area; and means for receiving instructions for congestion management policies to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the means for initiating congestion monitoring for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion include means for a set of traffic flows of the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion, directed toward the congestion monitoring element. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device comprises a network device, and the congestion monitoring element is located on the network device. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device comprises a network device, and the congestion monitoring element includes an extended services appliance associated with the network device. In at least some exemplary embodiments, instructions for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion are received from a policy manager, instructions for changes in the congestion state of the access network area are transmitted toward the policy manager, and instructions for congestion management policies to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area are received from the policy manager. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the policy manager comprises at least one of the following: policy and billing rule functions, authentication, authorization, and accounting servers, or a policy decision engine of a network management layer or subscriber management platform. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device causes at least one congestion control function to perform for at least one subscriber device in a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area.In at least some exemplary embodiments, the congestion management policy includes at least one of the following: a traffic management policy, a bearer management policy, a flow-aware management policy, or an application-aware management policy.

[0011] In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device includes at least one processor and at least one memory containing instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the device to at least cause an extended service appliance to receive a set of traffic flows for a subset of subscriber devices from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area, cause the extended service appliance to perform congestion monitoring for the subset of subscriber devices based on traffic flows, and cause the extended service appliance to transmit an indication that the access network area is experiencing congestion based on the detection of congestion associated with at least one subscriber device in the subset of subscriber devices. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the non-temporary computer-readable medium includes computer program instructions, which, when executed by the device, cause an extended service appliance to receive a set of traffic flows for a subset of subscriber devices from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area, cause the extended service appliance to perform congestion monitoring for the subset of subscriber devices based on traffic flows, and cause the extended service appliance to transmit an indication that the access network area is experiencing congestion based on the detection of congestion associated with at least one subscriber device in the subset of subscriber devices. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the method includes the Extended Services Appliance receiving a set of traffic flows for a subset of subscriber devices from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area; the Extended Services Appliance performing congestion monitoring for the subset of subscriber devices based on the traffic flows; and the Extended Services Appliance sending a signal that the access network area is experiencing congestion based on the detection of congestion associated with at least one subscriber device in the subset of subscriber devices.In at least some exemplary embodiments, the device includes means for the extended service appliance to receive a set of traffic flows for a subset of subscriber devices from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area; means for the extended service appliance to perform congestion monitoring for the subset of subscriber devices based on the traffic flows; and means for the extended service appliance to send an indication that the access network area is experiencing congestion based on the detection of congestion associated with at least one subscriber device in the subset of subscriber devices.

[0012] The teachings in this specification can be easily understood by considering the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] [Figure 1] This document illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a communications system configured to support an embodiment of subscriber sampling congestion control. [Figure 2] Figure 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of subscriber sampling congestion control within the context of the communication system. [Figure 3] This document illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method for use by a policy manager to support subscriber sampling congestion control. [Figure 4] This document illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method for use by network devices to support subscriber sampling congestion control. [Figure 5] This document illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method for use with an extended service appliance to support subscriber sampling congestion control. [Figure 6] This specification shows exemplary embodiments of a computer suitable for use in performing the various functions presented herein.

[0014] To facilitate understanding, the same reference numbers are used in this specification whenever possible to indicate identical elements common to various figures. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0015] Various exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control are presented herein. These exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control are configured to support cost-effective traffic management based on support for cost-effective congestion control, which includes cost-effective congestion detection and cost-effective congestion mitigation (for example, enabling a network operator to cost-effectively manage network congestion in the context of a business model where it is not justifiable to incur generally increasing traffic management costs as a result of continuously increasing traffic volumes, despite a rapid increase in access bandwidth and associated traffic volume). Congestion control based on subscriber sampling congestion control may use a subset of subscriber devices and total traffic from the shared area of ​​the access network that may experience congestion to measure the performance of the shared area of ​​the access network, and thus the congestion state of the shared access resources in the shared area of ​​the access network. This allows congestion detection to be provided within the shared network area in a way that the amount of traffic processed may be independent of the amount of traffic in the shared network area, and therefore the cost of supporting congestion detection may also be independent of the amount of traffic in the shared network area. Furthermore, congestion mitigation for identified congestion resources can be provided using various congestion mitigation techniques (e.g., cost-effective Layer 2 (L2)-Layer (L4) subscriber / bearer traffic management policies, Layer 7 (L7) flow-aware and / or application-aware policies, or a combination of the two techniques depending on the preference for traffic management policies or the operator's needs), thereby enabling control over the cost of the mitigation aspect of traffic management and thus further improving the cost-effectiveness of subscriber sampling congestion control compared to solutions that rely solely on flow-based processing for all traffic to support congestion detection and mitigation.

[0016] Various exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control may be configured to support subscriber sampling congestion control by triggering monitoring of a subset of subscriber devices in an access network area to detect congestion within the access network area, and by triggering the application of a congestion control policy for the access network area based on the detection of congestion within the access network area. For example, various exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control may be configured to support subscriber sampling congestion control by determining a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area, sending instructions for the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion, receiving instructions for changes in congestion status for the access network area, and sending instructions for a congestion management policy to be applied to subscriber devices in the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area. For example, various exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control may be configured to support subscriber sampling congestion control by receiving instructions for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area, initiating congestion monitoring for the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion, sending instructions for changes in congestion status for the access network area, and receiving instructions for congestion management policies to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area.For example, various exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control may be configured to support subscriber sampling congestion control by having an enhanced service appliance or other suitable element receive a set of traffic flows for a subset of subscriber devices from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area, perform congestion monitoring for the subset of subscriber devices based on the traffic flows, and send an indication that the access network area is experiencing congestion based on the detection of congestion associated with at least one subscriber device in the subset of subscriber devices.

[0017] It will be understood that these and various other exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control, as well as the advantages or potential advantages of exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control, can be further understood by referring to the various figures described below.

[0018] Figure 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a communication system configured to support an embodiment of subscriber sampling congestion control.

[0019] The communication system 100 includes an access network area 110 supported by a communication network 120. The communication network 120 is configured to support communication by various subscriber devices of subscribers associated with the access network area 110.

[0020] The access network area 110 can be defined in various ways. The access network area 110 can be defined based on subscriber and traffic segmentation. The access network area 110 may be a geographical area where communication coverage is provided (e.g., a geographical location serviced by a wired set from access points to a set of subscribers), a geographical area where cellular coverage is supported (usually called a cell), or a geographical area where WiFi coverage is provided. The access network area 110 can be defined based on access devices that provide services to the access network area 110 (e.g., cellular base stations, WiFi access points, etc.). The access network area 110 can be defined based on access location identification (e.g., 3GPP User Location Information (ULI), or other methods by which access locations can be identified or defined). It will be understood that the access network area 110 can be defined based on a combination of such bases for definition and / or in various other ways. Note that the access network area may also be referred to as the access network location (ANL) in this specification.

[0021] The access network area 110 covers a set of subscriber locations 111-1 to 111-N (collectively subscriber locations 111), each having an associated set of subscriber devices 112-1 to 112-N (collectively subscriber devices 112). Subscriber locations 111 can include the customer premises where the associated subscriber devices 112 are located (e.g., in the case of a wired subscriber device in a wired network), the customer's customer location where the subscriber device is carried (e.g., in the case of a wireless subscriber device in a wireless network), and various combinations thereof. Subscriber devices 112 can include wired subscriber devices, wireless subscriber devices, and various combinations thereof. For example, subscriber devices 112 can include smartphones, mobile phones, laptop computers, desktop computers, smart TVs, set-top boxes, game systems, customer premises routers, and various combinations thereof.

[0022] The communication network 120 is configured to support the communication of subscriber devices 112 associated with subscriber locations 111 located within the access network area 110. The communication network 120 can include wired communication networks, wireless communication networks, and combinations thereof. The communication network 120 can support various communication technologies. For example, the communication network 120 can support various wired communication technologies such as Ethernet (registered trademark) network capabilities, optical network capabilities, and various combinations thereof. For example, the communication network 120 can support various wireless communication technologies such as cellular network capabilities (e.g., 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), 5th generation (5G), etc., and various combinations thereof), WiFi network capabilities, satellite network capabilities, and various combinations thereof. It will be understood that the communication network 120 can support various other communication technologies or combinations of communication technologies.

[0023] The communication network 120 includes an access device 121, a network device 122, an extended services appliance 123, and a policy manager 125. Although shown as standalone devices, it will be understood that at least some of these devices can be combined in various ways (for example, the access device 121 and network device 122 may be combined into a single device, and the network device 122 and the extended services appliance 123 may be combined into a single device, etc.), and may even be combined as elements or functions of a single network element. It will be understood that these elements of the communication network 120 can be implemented in various ways, such as the use of physical devices to provide the elements, the use of virtualized elements configured to perform the functions of the elements (for example, based on network function virtualization (NFV) and / or other virtualization techniques), and various combinations thereof. Although omitted for clarity, it will be understood that the communication network 120 may include various other elements that can be configured to support communication of subscriber devices 112 associated with subscriber locations 111 located within the access network area 110.

[0024] Access device 121 is configured to operate as an access point to the communication network 120 for the access network area 110. Access device 121 is configured to support communications to and from the access network area 110. Access device 121 is configured to serve subscriber devices 112 associated with subscriber locations 111 located within the access network area 110. Access device 121 may support access resources that can be shared by supported subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 (e.g., bearers, bandwidth, and various combinations thereof). Access device 121 may experience congestion depending on the consumption of access resources by subscriber devices 112 associated with subscriber locations 111 located within the access network area 110.

[0025] The access device 121 can be implemented in various ways depending on the type of communication network in which the access device 121 is deployed. The access device 121 can be a wired access device or a wireless access device. The access device 121 can be implemented as various node types, incorporate various node types, incorporate functions supported by various node types, etc., as well as various combinations thereof. It will be appreciated that such node types and related functions can vary for different types of communication networks in which the network device is deployed. For example, the access device 121 can be implemented as one or more functions of an optical network device (e.g., an optical network terminal (ONT) or other optical network device), a cellular access device (e.g., a base station such as a NodeB in a 3G network, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB) in a 4G network, a gNodeB in a 5G network, etc.), a WiFi access device (e.g., a WiFi access point (AP) or other WiFi access device), etc., as well as various combinations thereof, and / or incorporate such functions.

[0026] The network device 122 may be configured to provide subscriber and traffic management functions for fixed and / or wireless networks. For example, such subscriber and traffic management functions may include features for having subscriber identification, subscriber policy context, subscriber and traffic policy enforcement options, and various combinations thereof. For example, such subscriber and traffic management functions may include traffic management based on traffic management policies, and such traffic management policies may include Layer 2 (L2)-Layer 4 (L4) traffic management policies (e.g., subscriber traffic management policies, bearer traffic management policies, and various combinations thereof), Layer 4 (L4)-Layer 7 (L7) traffic management policies (e.g., flow-aware traffic management policies, application-aware traffic management policies, and various combinations thereof) based on deep packet inspection (DPI) (e.g., using DPI with stateful flow awareness), and / or other traffic analysis using ML techniques, and various combinations thereof. The network device 122 may be configured to support congestion management functions, including subscriber sampling congestion control.

[0027] The network device 122 can be implemented in various ways depending on the type of communication network in which it is deployed. The network device 122 may be a service router. The network device 122 may be implemented as various node types, incorporate various node types, incorporate functions supported by various node types, and various combinations thereof. It will be understood that such node types and associated functions may vary for different types of communication networks in which the network device is deployed. For example, the network device 122 may be implemented as one or more functions from among a broadband network gateway (BNG), a wireless local area network (LAN) gateway (WLGW), a packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW) in a 4G network, a 3G Partnership Project (3GPP) user plane function (UPF) in a 5G network, and various combinations thereof, and / or incorporate such functions.

[0028] The extended service appliance 123 may be configured to provide various services to the network device 122 and, therefore, to the traffic flow for subscriber device 112 of subscriber 111 traversing the network device 122. For example, the extended service appliance 123 may be configured to provide flow-aware services, application-aware services, and various combinations thereof. For example, the extended service appliance 123 may support services such as firewall services, encryption / decryption services, congestion detection and mitigation services, and various combinations thereof. It will be understood that the extended service appliance 123 may support various other services that can be provided to the network device 122 and, therefore, to the traffic flow for subscriber device 112 of subscriber 111 traversing the network device 122.

[0029] The extended service appliance 123 may provide services to the network device 122 in various ways, depending on the type of traffic flow supported, the type of service provided, and various combinations thereof, for the traffic flow of subscriber device 112 of subscriber 111 traversing the network device 122. For example, the extended service appliance 123 may provide at least some such services by receiving the traffic flow of subscriber device 112 that is redirected to the extended service appliance 123 by the network device 122, operating on the traffic flow of subscriber device 112, and then returning the traffic flow of subscriber device 112 to the network device 122 for further processing. For example, the extended service appliance 123 may provide at least some such services by receiving information about the traffic flow of subscriber device 112 from network device 122, determining service-related information for the traffic flow of subscriber device 112 based on the information about the traffic flow of subscriber device 112, and providing the network device 122 with service-related information for the traffic flow of subscriber device 112 for use by the network device to support further processing of the traffic flow of subscriber device 112. It will be understood that the extended service appliance 123 may also provide services to network device 122 in various other ways and provide traffic flow to subscriber device 112 of subscribers 111 traversing network device 122.

[0030] Although the extended service appliance 123 is presented as a standalone, centralized element, it will be understood that it can be implemented in various other ways, such as centralized as part of a different element (e.g., as a separate element or subsystem of network device 122), or distributed (e.g., as part of one or more other network devices that may be deployed within access device 121, network device 122, and / or extended service appliance 123, and / or communication network 120).

[0031] The policy manager 125 is configured to support the management of policies that can be used to provide various management functions for a communication network. The policy manager 125 may be configured to determine policies to be deployed within the communication network 120 to support the management of the communication network 120, deploy policies to elements of the communication network 120 to support the management of the communication network 120, and perform various combinations thereof. The policy manager 125 may be configured to support the determination and deployment of management policies based on various inputs, such as feedback from elements of the communication network 120, information from one or more management systems associated with the management of the communication network 120, and various combinations thereof. The policy manager 125 may be configured to support the management of various types of management policies, such as traffic management policies, congestion management policies, and various combinations thereof. The policy manager 125 may be configured to support congestion management functions, including subscriber sampling congestion control.

[0032] The policy manager 125 can be implemented in various ways depending on the type of communication network in which it is deployed. The policy manager 125 may be implemented as various node types, incorporate various node types, incorporate functions supported by various node types, and various combinations thereof. It will be understood that such node types and associated functions may vary for different types of communication networks in which network devices are deployed. For example, the policy manager 125 may be implemented and / or incorporate one or more functions such as a Radius Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) server, a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) in a 4G network, a Policy Control Function (PCF) in a 5G network, an embedded policy decision manager integrated within the network management layer, and various combinations thereof.

[0033] Although the policy manager 125 is presented as a standalone, centralized element, it will be understood that it can be implemented in various other ways, such as centralized as part of a different element (e.g., as a separate element or subsystem of network device 122 or extended service appliance 123), or distributed (e.g., as part of one or more other network devices that may be deployed within access device 121, network device 122, and / or extended service appliance 123, and / or communication network 120).

[0034] Although presented herein primarily as standalone elements, it will be understood that elements of one or more communication networks 120 can be implemented in various other ways, such as by dividing the functionality of an element across multiple elements (e.g., distributing the functionality of an element across subsystems of other elements), by combining multiple functionalities of multiple elements into a common element (e.g., implementing the functionalities of multiple elements as subsystems of a common element), and by various combinations thereof. Therefore, it will be understood that the various elements presented herein can be implemented such that any of the functionalities presented herein as being performed by a particular element can be implemented by any of the other elements, depending on how the functionalities are distributed and / or centralized across the various elements and systems.

[0035] It will be understood that various exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control within the context of the communication system in Figure 1 can be further understood by referring to Figure 2.

[0036] Figure 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of subscriber sampling congestion control within the context of the communication system shown in Figure 1.

[0037] Communication system 200 is identical to communication system 100 in Figure 1, and has further instructions for messages exchanged between elements to support subscriber sampling congestion control within the context of communication system 100 in Figure 1.

[0038] The policy manager 125 selects a subset of subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 as subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion. The subscriber devices 112 monitored for congestion are monitored for congestion as a basis for determining whether to activate congestion control for the access network area 110. In at least some exemplary embodiments, the subscriber devices 112 monitored for congestion may include only a relatively small subset of the full set of subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 and / or represent only a relatively small subset of the traffic associated with the full set of subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110, in order to limit the relatively expensive monitoring applied by the network device 122 and the extended services appliance 123 to control the activation of congestion control for the access network area 110. In other words, the subscriber devices 112 monitored for congestion are essentially used as a relatively inexpensive barometer for the congestion state of the access network area 110 and, therefore, for determining whether to activate congestion control for the access network area 110. The policy manager 125 may select a subset of subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 as subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion in various ways, as will be further described below.

[0039] The policy manager 125 may select a subset of subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 to be monitored for congestion in various ways. The policy manager 125 may select subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion in ways such as ensuring that a certain number of subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 are monitored for congestion, ensuring that a certain percentage of subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 are monitored for congestion, ensuring that a certain amount of traffic within the access network area 110 is monitored for congestion, ensuring that a certain percentage of traffic within the access network area 110 is monitored for congestion, and combinations thereof. The policy manager 125 may randomly select subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion from among the subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 based on the amount of traffic associated with the subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110, based on one or more application characteristics of the applications used by the subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110, based on one or more device characteristics of the subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110, based on one or more subscriber characteristics of the subscribers 111 associated with the subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110, and in various combinations thereof. As will be further explained below, it will be understood that various combinations of such factors may be applied to determine the number of subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion and to select subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion from among the subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 based on the number of subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion.

[0040] The policy manager 125 determines the number of subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion and, based on that number, can select subscriber devices 112 from the subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 to be monitored for congestion. For example, the policy manager 125 may determine a certain number of subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 (e.g., three out of subscriber devices 112, eight out of subscriber devices 112, etc.) as subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion, and then can select specific subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 that satisfy that number (e.g., selecting specific subscriber devices 112, selecting subscriber devices 112 that fit a specific profile, selecting subscriber devices 112 that minimize the traffic being monitored, and various combinations thereof). For example, the policy manager 125 may select a certain percentage of subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 (e.g., 2% of subscriber devices 112, 5% of subscriber devices 112, etc.) as subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion, and then select specific subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 that satisfy that percentage (e.g., selecting specific subscriber devices 112, selecting subscriber devices 112 that fit a specific profile, selecting subscriber devices 112 that minimize the traffic being monitored, etc., and various combinations thereof). It will be understood that various combinations of such factors may be applied to determine the number of subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion and to select subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion from the subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 based on the number of subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion.

[0041] The policy manager 125 provides the network device 122 with instructions regarding subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion. The policy manager 125 may provide instructions regarding subscriber devices 112 to be monitored for congestion by sending a message (exemplary, a monitoring message 210) that includes identification information that identifies the subscriber device 112 to be monitored for congestion and instructions that the identified subscriber device 112 should be monitored for congestion. For example, the identification information that identifies the subscriber device 112 to be monitored for congestion may include the device identifier of the subscriber device 112 to be monitored for congestion, the subscriber identifier of the subscriber 111 associated with the subscriber device 112 to be monitored for congestion, and various combinations thereof. For example, the instruction that an identified subscriber device 112 is monitored for congestion may include a policy applied by the network device 122 to trigger monitoring of subscriber device 112 for congestion, an instruction for a policy applied by the network device 122 to trigger monitoring of subscriber device 112 for congestion (for example, if the policy is preloaded on the network device 122), and various combinations thereof.

[0042] Network device 122 receives instructions from subscriber device 112 to be monitored for congestion (exemplary, monitoring message 210). Based on the instructions from subscriber device 112 to be monitored for congestion, network device 122 triggers monitoring of subscriber device 112 by a congestion monitoring element configured to support congestion monitoring of subscriber device 112. The congestion monitoring element may be remote from network device 122 (exemplary, extended service appliance 123) or local to the network device (e.g., a congestion monitoring element located within network device 122, omitted from Figure 2 for clarity). In the example in Figure 2, network device 122 triggers monitoring of subscriber device 112 by providing the traffic flow of subscriber device 112 to the extended service appliance 123. Network device 122 may provide traffic flow to the extended service appliance 123 by (1) diverting the traffic flow to the extended service appliance 123 for processing, and then receiving the diverted traffic flow from the extended service appliance 123 to further forward the traffic flow toward its intended destination, or (2) duplicating the traffic flow to create a duplicated copy of the traffic flow, and sending the duplicated copy of the traffic to the extended service appliance 123 while forwarding the traffic flow toward its intended destination. This provision of traffic flow from subscriber device 112, which is monitored for congestion to the extended service appliance 123, is indicated by traffic flow 220.

[0043] The extended service appliance 123 performs congestion monitoring of the access network area 110 by receiving traffic flows from subscriber devices 112 that are monitored for congestion and performing congestion monitoring of subscriber devices 112 based on monitoring of the received traffic flows from subscriber devices 112 that are monitored for congestion. The extended service appliance 123 may perform congestion monitoring of subscriber devices 112 that are monitored for congestion using various types of congestion monitoring that may be applied to the received traffic flows of subscriber devices 112 that are monitored for congestion (e.g., L2-L4 based congestion monitoring, L7 based flow-aware and / or application-aware congestion monitoring, and various combinations thereof). The extended service appliance 123 may detect congestion within the access network area 110 based on the detection of congestion for one or more subscriber devices 112 that are monitored for congestion (e.g., based on the determination that at least one monitored subscriber device 112 is experiencing congestion, based on the determination that a threshold number of monitored subscriber devices 112 are experiencing congestion, etc.). When the extended service appliance 123 detects congestion in the access network area 110 based on monitoring of the traffic flow received by subscriber devices 112 that are monitored for congestion, it sends a congestion notification in the access network area 110 to the network device 122 (exemplified by a congestion status notification 230). The congestion notification in the access network area 110 includes a notification of the access network area 110 to which the area congestion notification is associated (e.g., the area identifier of the access network area 110, an identifier associated with one of the subscriber devices 112 that has been found to be congested, and various combinations thereof), a notification of the congestion state of the access network area 110 (e.g., a notification of the congestion state itself, a notification of the state transition from a non-congested state to a congested state, and various combinations thereof), and various combinations thereof.

[0044] Network device 122 receives a congestion instruction in access network area 110 from the extended service appliance 123 (exemplified by a congestion status notification 230). Based on the received congestion instruction in access network area 110, network device 122 sends an area congestion notification to policy manager 125 (exemplified by an area congestion notification 240). The area congestion notification may include an instruction for the access network area 110 to which the area congestion notification is associated (e.g., the area identifier of access network area 110), an instruction for the congestion state of access network area 110 (e.g., an instruction for the congestion state itself, an instruction for a state transition from a non-congested state to a congested state, and various combinations thereof), and various combinations thereof. If the congestion instruction in access network area 110 from the extended service appliance 123 includes the area identifier of access network area 110, network device 122 may include the area identifier of access network area 110 in the area congestion notification. If the Extended Service Appliance 123 issues a congestion alert within the access network area 110 that includes an identifier associated with one of the subscriber devices 112 that detected congestion (e.g., subscriber identifier, subscriber device identifier), the network device 122 may use the identifier associated with one of the subscriber devices 112 that detected congestion to determine the area identifier of the access network area 110 and include the area identifier of the access network area 110 in the area congestion alert. It will be understood that the network device 122 may determine that the access network area 110 is experiencing congestion in various other ways, and may indicate that the access network area 110 is experiencing congestion in various other ways within the area congestion alert, as well as various combinations thereof.

[0045] The policy manager 125 receives an area congestion notification from the network device 122 (exemplary area congestion notification 240). Based on the area congestion notification from the network device 122, the policy manager 125 determines the set of affected subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 that may be affected by congestion within the access network area 110, selects a congestion management policy for the affected subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110, and sends the congestion management policy for the affected subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 to the network device 122 (exemplary congestion management policy 250).

[0046] The policy manager 125 can determine the affected subscriber devices 112 in an access network area 110 in various ways. The affected subscriber devices 112 in an access network area 110 may include all subscriber devices 112 that are currently active in the access network area 110, or a subset of subscriber devices 112 that are currently active in the access network area 110. If the affected subscriber devices 112 in an access network area 110 include all subscriber devices 112 that are currently active within the access network area 110, the policy manager 125 may use the area identifier of the access network area 110 to identify all subscriber devices 112 that are currently active within the access network area 110. If the affected subscriber devices 112 in an access network area 110 include a subset of subscriber devices 112 that are currently active within the access network area 110, the policy manager 125 can use the area identifier of the access network area 110 to identify all of the subscriber devices 112 that are currently active within the access network area 110, and then identify one of the subscriber devices 112 that are currently active within the access network area 110 that is currently experiencing congestion. It will be understood that the policy manager 125 may determine the affected subscriber devices 112 in an access network area 110 in various other ways.

[0047] The policy manager 125 can select a congestion management policy for the affected subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 in various ways. For example, the policy manager 125 may select a congestion management policy for the affected subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 based on one or more detected congestion levels with respect to the access network area 110, one or more characteristics of one or more affected subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 (e.g., device type of the affected subscriber device 112, communication technology used by the affected subscriber device 112, and various combinations thereof), one or more characteristics of one or more traffic flows of the affected subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 (e.g., most common types of applications used, priority level of traffic flows, and various combinations thereof), one or more characteristics of the access network area 110, one or more characteristics of the communication network 120, one or more congestion control selections of the service provider of the communication network 120, and various combinations thereof. It will be understood that the policy manager 125 may select a congestion management policy for the affected subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 in various other ways.

[0048] The policy manager 125 can send congestion management policies to the network device 122 in various ways. For example, if a congestion management policy that may need to be applied by the network device 122 is not pre-stored on the network device 122 by the policy manager 125, the policy manager 125 can send the congestion management policy to the network device 122 by including the congestion management policy in a message sent to the network device 122. For example, if a congestion management policy that may need to be applied by the network device 122 is pre-stored on the network device 122 by the policy manager 125, the policy manager 125 can send the congestion management policy to the network device 122 by including instructions for the congestion management policy in a message sent to the network device 122. It will be understood that the policy manager 125 can send congestion management policies to the network device 122 in various other ways.

[0049] Network device 122 receives a congestion management policy from policy manager 125 (exemplary, congestion management policy 250). Based on the congestion management policy from policy manager 125, network device 122 performs congestion management for affected subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110. Network device 122 may perform congestion management for affected subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 for each subscriber device based on the congestion management policy. Congestion management may include L2-L4 congestion management (e.g., L2-L4 shaping, L2-L4 queuing, etc., and various combinations thereof). Congestion management may include L7 congestion management (e.g., flow-aware-based congestion control, application-aware congestion control, etc.), and various combinations thereof. L7 congestion management may be performed by diverting the traffic flow of affected subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110 to application assurance elements configured to apply L7 congestion control. The network device 122 may be configured to perform various other congestion control functions for affected subscriber devices 112 in the access network area 110, based on congestion management policies from the policy manager 125.

[0050] Although omitted for clarity, it should be understood that the reverse process can be implemented to deactivate congestion control for access network area 110.

[0051] In at least some exemplary embodiments, the aforementioned process for providing subscriber sampling congestion control may be implemented as follows: The policy manager 125 selects a subset of subscribers 111 per area / ULI and has an enhanced services appliance virtual machine configured to support application assurance by assigning application profiles to those subscribers divert all or part of their traffic. Here, it is recommended that at least a small number of subscribers 111 be selected per unique ULI; however, it will be understood that subscriber selection may be performed such that only a small subset of the overall traffic volume of the access network area 110 is diverted for congestion monitoring. The application assurance dynamic experience management access network location mode monitors the 3GPP ULIs passed to the application assurance element and detects the congestion state of each unique ULI / area. When the congestion state changes, the application assurance element notifies the policy manager of the ULI congestion state (e.g., via a PCRF through a Gx event). The policy manager examines the set of affected subscribers on that area / ULI and pushes congestion control policy changes to the BNG for each affected subscriber. Different subscriber policy hierarchies may exist during congestion. The BNG can then implement congestion management traffic policies for each subscriber (e.g., using QoS policies (e.g., L2-L4 shaping / queuing), redirecting ULI-congested subscribers to application assurance elements, and using application assurance AQP for application-aware policies, as well as various combinations thereof). The same process can then be used to revert the policies to normal when each ULI congestion state is alleviated.

[0052] Figure 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of a method for use by a policy manager to support subscriber sampling congestion control. Although presented herein primarily as being performed sequentially, it will be understood that at least some of the functions of method 300 may be performed simultaneously or in a different order than that presented in Figure 3. In block 301, method 300 is initiated. In block 310, instructions are sent for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area. In block 320, instructions are received for a change in the congestion state of the access network area. In block 330, instructions are sent for a congestion management policy to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area. In block 399, method 300 is terminated. It will be understood that various other functions presented herein as being supported by a policy manager (e.g., policy manager 125) may be provided within the context of method 300 in Figure 3.

[0053] Figure 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of a method for use by a network device to support subscriber sampling congestion control. Although presented herein primarily as being performed sequentially, it will be understood that at least some of the functions of Method 400 may be performed simultaneously or in a different order than that presented in Figure 4. In block 401, Method 400 is initiated. In block 410, instructions are received for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area. In block 420, congestion monitoring is initiated for the subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion. In block 430, instructions for changes in congestion status for the access network area are sent. In block 440, instructions for a congestion management policy to be applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area are received. In block 499, Method 400 is terminated. It will be understood that various other functions presented herein as being supported by a network device (e.g., network device 122) may be provided within the context of Method 400 in Figure 4.

[0054] Figure 5 shows an exemplary embodiment of a method for use by an enhanced service appliance to support subscriber sampling congestion control. Although presented herein primarily as being performed sequentially, it will be understood that at least some of the functions of Method 500 may be performed simultaneously or in a different order than that presented in Figure 5. In block 501, Method 500 begins. In block 510, the enhanced service appliance receives a set of traffic flows for a subset of subscriber devices from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area. In block 520, the enhanced service appliance performs congestion monitoring for the subset of subscriber devices based on the traffic flows. In block 530, the enhanced service appliance sends a signal that the access network area is experiencing congestion, based on the detection of congestion associated with at least one subscriber device within the subset of subscriber devices. In block 599, Method 500 ends. It will be understood that various other functions presented herein as being supported by an enhanced service appliance (e.g., enhanced service appliance 123) may be provided within the context of Method 500 in Figure 5.

[0055] Various exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control may offer various advantages or potential advantages.

[0056] For example, various exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control can be configured to provide more cost-effective congestion control in a communication network. Congestion control based on subscriber sampling congestion control may use a subset of subscriber devices and total traffic from a shared area of ​​the access network that may experience congestion, and may measure the performance of the shared area of ​​the access network, and therefore the congestion state of the shared access resources in the shared area of ​​the access network. This makes it possible to provide congestion detection within a shared network area in such a way that the amount of traffic to be processed is not necessarily related to the amount of traffic in the shared network area, and therefore the cost of supporting congestion detection is not linearly related to the amount of traffic in the shared network area. Furthermore, congestion mitigation for identified congested resources can be provided using various congestion mitigation techniques (e.g., cost-effective L2-L4 subscriber / bearer traffic management policies, L7 flow-aware and / or application-aware policies, or a combination of the two depending on the preference for traffic management policies or the operator's needs), thereby enabling control over the cost of the mitigation aspect of traffic management and thus further improving the cost-effectiveness of subscriber sampling congestion control compared to solutions that rely solely on flow-based processing for all traffic to support congestion detection and mitigation.

[0057] For example, various exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control may be configured to avoid the use of various mechanisms traditionally used for congestion control in communication networks, although it will be understood that some or all such congestion control mechanisms may still be applicable within communication networks employing subscriber sampling congestion control. For example, various exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control may be configured to achieve such complex and granular traffic management by avoiding the use of DPI / flow-aware processing, which is relatively expensive (e.g., due to traffic processing costs) compared to traffic policies that do not rely on DPI / flow-aware processing. For example, various exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control may be configured to avoid the use of smart / dynamic congestion management solutions that often rely on centralized flow-aware traffic processing of all access traffic, and to identify which traffic (and optionally, subscribers) are experiencing congestion, and to implement flow-aware traffic control policies on all traffic, or in some cases only on a subset of traffic that requires control to mitigate congestion, because the solution cost of such techniques is generally roughly proportional to the amount of traffic processed. For example, various exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control may be configured to avoid the use of network probes to detect congestion, since such solutions generally incur enormous costs with respect to input / output connectivity and external equipment.

[0058] Various exemplary embodiments for supporting subscriber sampling congestion control can offer a variety of other advantages or potential benefits.

[0059] Figure 6 shows an exemplary embodiment of a computer suitable for use in performing the various functions presented herein.

[0060] The computer 600 includes a processor 602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a processor, a processor having a set of processor cores, a processor core of a processor, etc.) and memory 604 (e.g., RAM (random access memory) or ROM (read-only memory), etc.). In at least some exemplary embodiments, the computer 600 includes at least one processor and at least one memory for storing instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the computer to perform various functions presented herein.

[0061] The computer 600 may also include a cooperative element 605. The cooperative element 605 may be a hardware device. The cooperative element 605 may be a process that is loaded into memory 604 and executed by the processor 602 to implement the various functions presented herein (in this case, for example, the cooperative element 605 (including associated data structures) may be stored on a non-temporary computer-readable medium such as a storage device or other suitable type of storage element (e.g., a magnetic drive, an optical drive, etc.)).

[0062] The computer 600 may also include one or more input / output devices 606. The input / output devices 606 may include one or more user input devices (e.g., keyboard, keypad, mouse, microphone, camera, etc.), user output devices (e.g., display, speaker, etc.), one or more network communication devices or elements (e.g., input port, output port, receiver, transmitter, transceiver, etc.), one or more storage devices (e.g., tape drive, floppy drive, hard disk drive, compact disk drive, etc.), and various combinations thereof.

[0063] It will be understood that computer 600 may represent a general architecture and functionality suitable for implementing the functional elements described herein, parts of the functional elements described herein, and various combinations thereof. For example, computer 600 may provide a general architecture and functionality suitable for implementing one or more of the elements presented herein, such as subscriber device 112 or a part thereof, access device 121 or a part thereof, network device 122 or a part thereof, extended service appliance 123 or a part thereof, policy manager 125 or a part thereof.

[0064] It will be understood that at least some of the functions presented herein may be implemented in software (e.g., through an implementation of software on one or more processors to run on a general-purpose computer (e.g., via execution by one or more processors) to provide a dedicated computer, etc.), and / or in hardware (e.g., using a general-purpose computer, one or more application-specific integrated circuits, and / or any other hardware equivalents).

[0065] It will be understood that at least some of the functions presented herein can be implemented in hardware, for example, as circuits that work with a processor to perform various functions. Parts of the functions / elements described herein may be implemented as computer program products, and computer instructions adapt the operation of the computer such that, when processed by the computer, the methods and / or techniques described herein are invoked or otherwise provided. Instructions for invoking various methods may be stored in fixed or removable media (e.g., non-temporary computer-readable media), transmitted via data streams in broadcast or other signal-holding media, and / or stored in memory within a computing device operating according to the instructions.

[0066] As used herein, the term “non-transient” should be understood to refer to limitations of the medium itself (i.e., tangible rather than signal-based), as opposed to limitations of data storage persistence (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0067] Where used herein, “at least one of the <list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of the following <list of two or more elements>” are equivalent expressions, and where the lists of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or,” it will be understood that this means at least one of the elements, or at least two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements.

[0068] As used herein, the term “or” will be understood to mean a non-exclusive “or” (for example, the use of “or other” or “or alternative”) unless otherwise indicated.

[0069] Although various embodiments incorporating the teachings presented herein are shown and described in detail herein, those skilled in the art will find that many other various embodiments incorporating these teachings can still be readily devised.

Claims

1. At least one processor, The device comprises at least one memory for storing instructions, and when an instruction is executed by the at least one processor, the device provides at least one A step of transmitting instructions for a subset of subscriber devices selected from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area and monitored for congestion, as representative instructions for detecting congestion conditions within the access network area, wherein the subset of subscriber devices is selected based on at least one of a predetermined number or proportion of subscriber devices within the access network area, a predetermined proportion or amount of total traffic within the access network area, or subscriber-specific characteristics. The steps include receiving instructions for changes in the congestion state of the access network area based on the monitored traffic flow from the selected subset of subscriber devices, The apparatus is characterized by performing the steps of: transmitting instructions for a congestion management policy to be applied to a set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area, based on the instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the subset of subscriber devices monitored for congestion is determined based on at least one of the number of subscriber devices being monitored or the amount of traffic being monitored.

3. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that the instruction for the change in the congestion state of the access network area includes an identifier for the access network area.

4. When the instruction is executed by the at least one processor, the device will have at least: The apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that it performs the step of identifying a subscriber device in a set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area based on the identifier of the access network area.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instruction for the change in the congestion state of the access network area includes one identifier of the subscriber device in a subset of the subscriber devices in which congestion has been detected.

6. When the instruction is executed by the at least one processor, the device will have at least: The apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that it performs the step of identifying the access network area based on one of the identifiers of the subscriber devices in a subset of the subscriber devices in which congestion has been detected.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instructions of the congestion management policy applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with an access location include instructions for the access network area.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instructions of the congestion management policy applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area include, for each of the subscriber devices in the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area, the respective identifier of each subscriber device in the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area.

9. A step of transmitting instructions for a subset of subscriber devices to be monitored for congestion from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area as representative instructions for detecting congestion conditions within the access network area, wherein the subset of subscriber devices is selected based on at least one of a predetermined number or proportion of subscriber devices in the access network area, a predetermined proportion or amount of total traffic volume in the access network area, or subscriber-specific characteristics. The steps include receiving instructions for changes in the congestion state of the access network area based on the monitored traffic flow from the selected subset of subscriber devices, A method comprising the step of transmitting instructions for a congestion management policy to be applied to a set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area, based on the instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area.

10. At least one processor, The device comprises at least one memory for storing instructions, and when an instruction is executed by the at least one processor, the device provides at least one memory for storing instructions. A step of receiving instructions for a subset of subscriber devices selected from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area and monitored for congestion, as representative instructions for detecting congestion conditions within the access network area, wherein the subset of subscriber devices is selected based on at least one of a predetermined number or proportion of subscriber devices within the access network area, a predetermined proportion or amount of total traffic within the access network area, or subscriber-specific characteristics. The steps include: starting congestion monitoring for a subset of subscriber devices whose congestion is being monitored; The steps include sending instructions for changes in the congestion state of the access network area based on the monitored traffic flow from the selected subset of subscriber devices, The apparatus is characterized by performing the steps of: receiving instructions for a congestion management policy to be applied to a set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area, based on the instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area.

11. To initiate congestion monitoring for a subset of subscriber devices that are monitored for congestion, the instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the device to, The apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that it causes a congestion monitoring element to perform the step of rerouting a set of traffic flows of a subset of subscriber devices that are monitored for congestion.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the apparatus comprises a network device, and the congestion monitoring element is arranged on the network device.

13. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the apparatus comprises a network device, and the congestion monitoring element includes an extended service appliance associated with the network device.

14. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the instructions for a subset of subscriber devices monitored for congestion are received from a policy manager, the instructions for a change in the congestion state of the access network area are transmitted to the policy manager, and the instructions for the congestion management policy applied to the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area are received from the policy manager.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the policy manager comprises at least one of the following: a policy and billing rule function, an authentication, authorization, and accounting server, or a policy decision engine for a network management layer or subscriber management platform.

16. When the instruction is executed by the at least one processor, the device will have at least: The apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that it performs the step of performing at least one congestion control function for at least one subscriber device in the set of subscriber devices associated with the access network area.

17. The apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that the congestion management policy includes at least one of a traffic management policy, a bearer management policy, a flow-aware management policy, or an application-aware management policy.

18. At least one processor, The device comprises at least one memory for storing instructions, and when an instruction is executed by the at least one processor, the device provides at least one memory for storing instructions. The steps include: receiving a set of traffic flows for a subset of subscriber devices selected from a set of subscriber devices associated with an access network area as a representative indicator for detecting congestion in the access network area, wherein the subset of subscriber devices is selected based on at least one of a predetermined number or proportion of subscriber devices in the access network area, a predetermined proportion or amount of total traffic volume in the access network area, or subscriber-specific characteristics; The steps include: performing congestion monitoring on a subset of subscriber devices using the extended service appliance based on the traffic flow described above; The apparatus is characterized by causing the extended service appliance to transmit an instruction that an access network area is experiencing congestion, based on the detection of congestion associated with at least one of the subscriber devices in a subset of the subscriber devices.

19. The apparatus according to claim 18, characterized in that the congestion monitoring includes at least one of L2-L4 based monitoring or L7 based monitoring.

20. The apparatus according to any one of claims 18 to 19, wherein the indication that the access network area is experiencing congestion includes an identifier for the access network area and a congestion detection indicator configured to indicate that the access network area is experiencing congestion.

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