Edge Breakout Component for Mobile Session Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile data networks face challenges in upgrading their infrastructure to handle increasing data demands without incurring significant economic costs, as replacing existing hardware is expensive and upgrading microwave links to fiber optic cables is costly.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a breakout component in the radio access network that breaks out data and hosts edge applications, allowing mobile network services to be performed at the edge of the network, thereby offloading traffic and improving service quality without requiring extensive hardware changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing hardware is replaced with new equipment to upgrade network capability, then network performance is improved, but capital expenditure increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a breakout component as an intermediary element deployed at the edge of the radio access network. This component enables new network services and capabilities without requiring replacement of the core existing hardware. The breakout component acts as a mediator that allows legacy equipment to support advanced functions through software-based edge applications, thereby improving network performance while avoiding significant capital expenditure on hardware replacement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the network into core network elements and edge breakout components. By separating the breakout function from the core network and placing it at the edge, the system allows incremental deployment of new capabilities without replacing existing core infrastructure. This segmentation enables selective deployment of edge applications only where needed, reducing overall capital expenditure while maintaining network performance improvements.
2Productivity
If microwave links are replaced with fiber optic cable to boost bandwidth, then data throughput is improved, but implementation cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The breakout component serves as an intermediary that processes and breaks out data at the edge of the radio access network, before data traverses the microwave link backhaul. This allows the microwave link to maintain its existing capacity while the breakout component handles the bandwidth-intensive operations locally, thereby improving effective data throughput without the costly replacement of microwave links with fiber optic cables.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimensional approach by deploying breakout components at the network edge, creating an additional processing layer between the user equipment and the core network. This edge-based dimension allows data to be processed and services to be delivered locally, reducing the bandwidth burden on the backhaul microwave links and eliminating the need for expensive fiber optic deployment.
3Reliability
If breakout component is deployed to host edge applications, then service quality is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The breakout component is designed as a universal platform capable of hosting multiple edge applications simultaneously. Rather than requiring separate dedicated hardware for each service, the breakout component provides a multi-functional environment where various applications can be deployed and managed. This universality improves service quality by enabling diverse services while avoiding the complexity of multiple specialized devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs virtualization techniques that allow the breakout component to create virtual instances of network functions. Instead of deploying physical copies of each service function, the system uses virtual machine instances that can be replicated and managed software-defined. This approach improves service quality through flexible service deployment while significantly reducing device complexity compared to physical replication of hardware functions.
4Reliability
If session is transferred to neighboring basestation running needed edge application, then service availability is improved, but network complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the breakout component monitors which edge applications are needed by user equipment and automatically selects appropriate neighboring basestations that have the required applications running. This feedback-driven approach ensures high service availability by dynamically routing sessions to the most suitable node, while the automated decision-making process prevents manual configuration complexity from increasing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic session routing capabilities where the network can flexibly transfer sessions between basestations based on real-time conditions. Rather than static configuration, the system dynamically adapts to changing network states, application availability, and user requirements. This dynamic approach improves service availability by ensuring sessions are always routed to available services, while the automation of dynamic decisions prevents manual complexity from increasing.
Data Source
AI summary
Mobile network services are performed in a mobile data network in a way that is transparent to most of the existing equipment in the mobile data network. The mobile data network includes a radio access network and a core network. A breakout component in the radio access network breaks out data coming from a basestation connected to user equipment, and hosts edge applications that perform one or more mobile network services at the edge of the mobile data network based on the broken out data. When a breakout component is not running a needed edge application, the session for the user equipment may be transferred to a neighboring basestation that is running the needed edge application.