Application-Aware Serving Gateway Deep Packet Inspection
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Solution Overview
Problem
The Long Term Evolution (LTE) Serving Gateway and Packet Data Network Gateway lack the capability for application-dependent policy enforcement and deep packet inspection, leading to difficulties in managing and optimizing traffic, especially during hand-offs and roaming, which limits their ability to perform application-level dependent processing and accurate billing.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an application-aware mobile protocol gateway with deep packet inspection capabilities that performs header and payload inspection to identify user and application information, enabling application-based management, prioritization, and billing before packet data network propagation, and maintaining application-awareness during hand-offs without relying on the Packet Data Network Gateway.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If deep packet inspection and application-aware processing are implemented at the Serving Gateway, then application-based traffic management and policy enforcement capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the gateway functionality by introducing a separate application-aware processing module that can be independently deployed and managed. This module extracts application information from packets and works in conjunction with the existing Serving Gateway, allowing deep packet inspection capabilities to be added without completely redesigning the gateway architecture. The segmentation enables gradual implementation and reduces overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary application information extraction mechanism that sits between the packet flow and the policy enforcement functions. This intermediary component extracts application-level information from packets and makes it available to policy enforcement modules, enabling application-aware processing without requiring the entire gateway to become application-aware. The intermediary approach isolates complexity to specific components.
2Measurement precision
If application-aware processing is performed before packet data network propagation, then billing accuracy and traffic optimization are improved, but processing time and system resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by extracting application information from packets as early as possible in the processing chain, before packets are propagated to the packet data network. This early extraction enables subsequent billing and policy enforcement operations to proceed with complete information, improving accuracy without requiring re-processing later. The application information is cached and made available for subsequent operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent ensures continuity of useful action by maintaining application information extraction and processing as a continuous operation rather than a batch process. The application-aware processing module operates continuously on the packet flow, extracting information in real-time and making it immediately available for billing and policy enforcement. This continuous processing eliminates idle time and ensures that billing accuracy is maintained without periodic delays.
3Reliability
If application information is propagated during hand-off between serving gateways, then application-awareness continuity is improved, but network signaling overhead and hand-off complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements copying by creating and propagating application information copies during hand-off events. When a user equipment moves from one serving gateway to another, the application information extracted at the source gateway is copied and transmitted to the target gateway. This copying mechanism ensures that the target gateway receives complete application context without requiring complex state synchronization or verification procedures, maintaining application-awareness continuity while simplifying hand-off management.
4Measurement precision
If deep packet inspection is implemented to identify application information, then application identification accuracy is improved, but processing speed and throughput are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by implementing selective deep packet inspection only for packets that require application-level processing. Rather than performing full deep packet inspection on every packet in the network, the system identifies packets that need application-aware handling and applies inspection only to those. This selective approach maintains high identification accuracy for relevant packets while minimizing the impact on overall network throughput by leaving routine packets to be processed by standard fast-path mechanisms.
Data Source
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AI summary
Mobile protocol packets, with a header field and a payload field, are communicated from a user mobile equipment to an application-aware serving gateway. The application-aware mobile protocol serving gateway detects header information in the header field and application information in the payload field to manage the mobile protocol packets based on a policy.