Forwarding Plane Session Offload for Scalable 5G Traffic
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current session managers (SMGRs) face challenges in balancing performance and functionality, particularly with increasing network traffic demands, leading to slow response times and insufficient scalability for higher throughput, especially with the advent of 5G technology.
Innovation Solution
Offload processing from session managers to a forwarding plane, utilizing a session manager offloading system that intercepts and processes subscriber traffic within the forwarding plane, thereby reducing the computational burden on the session manager and enhancing throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If session manager processes all subscriber traffic using traditional monolithic single-threaded architecture, then functionality is maintained, but processing speed and throughput are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The session manager is segmented into multiple independent threads, each capable of processing subscriber traffic independently. This segmentation allows parallel processing of multiple subscriber sessions simultaneously, dramatically improving throughput while maintaining the functional capabilities of the traditional monolithic architecture through a modular thread-based design.
2Productivity
If session manager uses traditional single-threaded architecture, then system simplicity is maintained, but network throughput cannot scale with 5G traffic rates
Solution Approach 1:
The architecture transitions from a static single-threaded model to a dynamic multi-threaded model where the session manager can dynamically create, destroy, and schedule threads based on traffic conditions. This dynamic threading enables the system to scale throughput with 5G traffic rates while managing complexity through on-demand thread creation rather than fixed architectural complexity.
3Speed
If session manager processes all subscriber data, then complete functionality is maintained, but response time becomes slow
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the session manager into multiple threads, each thread can process subscriber data independently without blocking others. This segmentation enables parallel processing that reduces response time for individual subscriber requests while collectively maintaining high processing capacity across all subscribers through concurrent operations.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for offloading session management processing into a forwarding plane are described. In some examples, a subscriber is coupled to a network endpoint through a session manager during a network session of the subscriber in a network environment. A session manager offloading system of the session manager can be maintained in a vector packet processing system in a forwarding plane of the network environment. The session manager offloading system can be configured to offload processing from the session manager into the forwarding plane. Further, at least a portion of subscriber traffic in a stream between the subscriber and the network endpoint through the session manager can be intercepted. Subsequently, the at least the portion of the subscribed traffic that is intercepted can be processed at the session manager offloading system as part of offloading the processing from the session manager into the forwarding plane.