APN Total Bandwidth Limits via UPF Consumption Sharing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing telecommunications systems face challenges in implementing flexible bandwidth limits across multiple User Plane Functions (UPFs) serving a group, as each UPF is unaware of the total bandwidth consumption across other UPFs, leading to inflexible deployment scenarios.
Innovation Solution
A method for sharing bandwidth occupancy information among all UPFs serving a specific group, enabling each UPF to be aware of the total bandwidth consumption across all UPFs, allowing for coordinated actions like packet dropping or prioritization to enforce the maximum bandwidth limit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple UPFs are deployed to serve a group (APN/DNN) to enhance flexibility and coverage, then the adaptability and coverage of the network is improved, but each UPF becomes unaware of the total bandwidth consumption across other UPFs, making it difficult to enforce group-level bandwidth limits
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where each UPF periodically sends bandwidth consumption information to a collector, which then distributes this information to other UPFs. This closed-loop feedback system enables all UPFs to become aware of the total bandwidth consumption across the group, allowing them to collectively enforce bandwidth limits while maintaining the flexibility of multiple UPF deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a collector as an intermediary component that mediates between UPFs. The collector receives bandwidth information from each UPF, aggregates the total consumption data, and distributes this information back to the UPFs. This intermediary enables information sharing without requiring direct peer-to-peer communication between all UPFs, simplifying the system architecture while achieving the desired bandwidth awareness.
2Device complexity
If a single UPF is used for a group to simplify bandwidth management, then the complexity of enforcing bandwidth limits is reduced, but the flexibility and coverage of the network is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
By implementing feedback mechanisms where UPFs share their bandwidth consumption information, the system enables distributed bandwidth management across multiple UPFs. Each UPF receives feedback about total group consumption and can locally enforce limits, achieving complex bandwidth control without requiring a single centralized UPF, thus maintaining deployment flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables UPFs to perform self-management of bandwidth limits by equipping them with the information needed to make local decisions. Each UPF uses the bandwidth consumption information received from the network to autonomously enforce group-level limits, eliminating the need for complex centralized control while maintaining the ability to manage bandwidth effectively across multiple UPFs.
3Reliability
If bandwidth limit enforcement is implemented at each UPF to ensure compliance, then the reliability of bandwidth limits is improved, but the signaling overhead and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The collector acts as an intermediary that centralizes the aggregation and distribution of bandwidth information. Instead of each UPF independently monitoring and enforcing limits without coordination, the collector mediates by collecting data from all UPFs and distributing summarized information back to them. This reduces the complexity at individual UPFs while maintaining reliable enforcement through coordinated action.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than requiring each UPF to perform complete bandwidth monitoring and enforcement independently (excessive action), the system uses partial action by having UPFs report only their local consumption data to the collector, which then provides the necessary aggregate information back. This partial information sharing approach reduces the processing burden on each UPF while still enabling reliable bandwidth limit compliance.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
There is provided a method for sharing bandwidth consumption information in a communication system having a first user plane function (UPF), a second UPF and a third UPF, each of which serves an access point name (APN). The method includes (a) receiving by the first UPF from the second UPF, information indicating a bandwidth being consumed by the second UPF, (b) receiving by the first UPF from the third UPF, information indicating a bandwidth being consumed by the third UPF, (c) sending from the first UPF to the second UPF, information indicating a bandwidth being consumed by the first UPF and the third UPF, and (d) sending from the first UPF to the third UPF, information indicating the bandwidth being consumed by the first UPF and the second UPF. Thus, each of the first, second and third UPFs is aware of a total bandwidth being consumed for the APN.