Mobile Access Gateway Data Transfer Statistics Offload
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mobile networks face challenges in accurately collecting and managing data transfer statistics for millions of subscribers, leading to potential inaccuracies in billing and service management.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a mobile access gateway with a distributed control plane and forwarding plane, utilizing packet forwarding engines (PFEs) to update and offload data transfer statistics from internal to external memory, ensuring accurate tracking and aggregation of data transfer statistics for thousands or millions of subscribers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If data transfer statistics are collected and stored in high-speed internal memory within PFEs for millions of concurrent subscribers, then measurement precision and reliability are improved, but device complexity and memory resource requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the gateway into distributed forwarding units, each containing PFEs that independently collect and store data transfer statistics in their own high-speed internal memory. This segmentation allows each PFE to maintain accurate statistics for its subset of subscribers without requiring the entire gateway to have centralized memory resources, thus improving measurement precision while managing device complexity through distributed architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements an asynchronous push mechanism where PFEs proactively transfer statistics to service units when thresholds are met, adding a temporal dimension to the data flow. This transforms the traditional pull-based statistics collection into a push-based model, reducing the burden on central controllers and allowing PFEs to maintain accurate local statistics without overwhelming system-wide complexity
2Measurement precision
If PFEs maintain accurate byte-level data transfer statistics in high-speed internal memory, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of information worsens due to potential statistic loss during subscriber session termination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements threshold-based triggering where PFEs proactively push data transfer statistics to service units before subscriber sessions terminate or when predefined thresholds are reached. This preliminary action ensures that statistics are transferred while still accurate and complete, preventing information loss that would occur if statistics were only collected after session termination
Solution Approach 2:
The patent establishes a feedback mechanism where service units receive pushed statistics from PFEs, aggregate them, and can send control messages back to PFEs to adjust threshold values or request additional statistics. This feedback loop ensures continuous monitoring and prevents statistic loss by allowing dynamic adjustment of collection parameters based on network conditions and billing requirements
3Productivity
If data transfer statistics are pushed asynchronously from PFEs to service units, then productivity is improved by reducing processing delays, but device complexity worsens due to additional push mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic threshold-based pushing where PFEs monitor data transfer volumes and automatically push statistics to service units when predefined thresholds are reached. This periodic action transforms continuous statistics collection into discrete, event-driven transfers, improving productivity by reducing unnecessary data transmissions while maintaining accurate billing information, and managing complexity through simple threshold-based logic
Solution Approach 2:
The patent allows dynamic adjustment of push thresholds and parameters based on network conditions, subscriber types, and billing requirements. Service units can modify PFE behavior by changing threshold values, push frequencies, or aggregation parameters, enabling the system to optimize productivity for different scenarios without requiring fundamental architectural changes, thus managing device complexity through parameter flexibility
Data Source
AI summary
In general, techniques are described for offloading data transfer statistics from a mobile access gateway. The mobile access gateway comprises a forwarding unit. The forwarding unit comprises a packet forwarding engine (PFE). When the PFE receives a packet, the PFE updates a data transfer statistic based on a quantity of data in the packet. The data transfer statistic is initially stored in a memory of the PFE. The PFE is configured to push the data transfer statistic from the memory of the PFE to a memory of the forwarding unit.