Cloud-Based Telecommunications Infrastructure Resilience
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing telecommunications networks, such as LTE networks, face challenges in resilience and flexibility due to physical equipment failures, particularly in geographic areas prone to localized events like hurricanes, which can lead to network disruptions.
Innovation Solution
Implementing cloud-based network infrastructure using commoditized and networked computing resources, allowing for dynamic allocation and management of network devices like MME, SGW, and PGW, and enabling failover to geographically distant cloud instances, thereby increasing resilience and flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If physical network equipment is deployed in geographic service areas, then network coverage and local connectivity are improved, but network resilience deteriorates due to vulnerability to localized events like hurricanes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements cloud-based network instances that replicate critical network functions (MME, SGW, PGW) across multiple geographically distributed data centers. When a localized event disables physical equipment in one area, the system can failover to identical functional copies in other locations, maintaining network resilience without requiring redundant physical infrastructure in every geographic area.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a purely geographic distribution model to a hybrid model that adds a cloud computing dimension. Network functions are instantiated as software components that can be deployed in virtual data centers anywhere in the world, not just at fixed physical locations. This dimensional shift from physical to virtual space enables resilience against localized physical disruptions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If cloud-based network infrastructure is implemented, then network resilience and flexibility are improved, but device complexity increases due to dynamic resource allocation and management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a universal cloud management platform that handles multiple network functions (MME, SGW, PGW) and multiple service types through a single integrated system. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise require separate complex management systems for each network function, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The cloud-based infrastructure implements self-service capabilities where the system automatically monitors resource usage, dynamically allocates computing resources, and performs failover operations without requiring manual intervention. This automation reduces the operational complexity of managing flexible, dynamically allocated resources while preserving adaptability.
3Productivity
If dynamic allocation of cloud resources is enabled, then resource efficiency and flexibility are improved, but network response time may worsen due to dynamic provisioning overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-provisions cloud resources and maintains ready-to-deploy network instances in multiple geographic locations before failures occur. This preliminary preparation allows the system to quickly activate backup resources without undergoing full dynamic provisioning from scratch, reducing the time loss associated with resource allocation while maintaining efficiency through on-demand scaling.
Data Source
AI summary
A cloud-based telecommunications infrastructure may include one or more cloud-based network instances that each provide telecommunications services to mobile devices. A proxy may be used to select, based on initial communications from the mobile devices, one of the cloud-based network instances to service the mobile devices. Communications to the mobile devices may then be routed to the selected cloud-based network instances.