Mobile Gateway Control and Forwarding Plane Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The capacity of the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network cannot be expanded flexibly due to the lack of separation between the control plane and the forwarding plane in the mobile gateway, leading to inefficiencies in resource allocation and potential waste of address or computing resources.
Innovation Solution
The method involves separating the control plane and the forwarding plane of the mobile gateway, dividing the forwarding plane into a processing network and a routing function entity. The processing network handles packet processing with computing resources, while the routing function entity acts as an anchor point for user IP addresses with address resources, allowing for dynamic addition of resources as needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the control plane and forwarding plane are integrated in the mobile gateway, then the network architecture is simple, but the network capacity cannot be expanded flexibly and resources are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the mobile gateway into separate control plane and forwarding plane entities. The control plane handles signaling and routing decisions, while the forwarding plane handles actual data packet forwarding. This segmentation allows independent scaling and optimization of each plane, enabling flexible network capacity expansion without increasing overall architectural complexity.
2Productivity
If forwarding plane resources are increased to handle more packets, then packet processing capacity improves, but address resources are wasted when user quantity remains unchanged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic resource allocation in the forwarding plane where computing resources and address resources can be independently scaled based on actual network conditions. The system can dynamically adjust the number of forwarding instances and allocate address pools flexibly, ensuring that address resources are only consumed when users are actively connected, thus avoiding waste while maintaining high packet processing capacity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If address resources are increased to serve more users, then user service capability improves, but computing resources are wasted when packet quantity remains unchanged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables independent scaling of address resources and computing resources through the separated architecture. The control plane can allocate address pools to users without immediately provisioning full computing resources in the forwarding plane. Computing resources are dynamically activated based on actual packet forwarding needs, allowing the network to support more users with address resources while avoiding waste of computing resources when traffic volume is low.
4Quantity of substance
If the mobile gateway handles both control and forwarding functions, then device quantity is reduced, but resource allocation efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent separates control plane functions from forwarding plane functions into different network entities. This allows specialized optimization of each function type and enables independent resource allocation. The control plane can be replicated across multiple controllers for efficient signaling handling, while the forwarding plane can be scaled horizontally with multiple forwarding instances for efficient packet processing, thereby improving overall resource allocation efficiency despite increasing the number of network devices.
Data Source
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AI summary
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a service processing method, an apparatus, and a system that relate to the field of communications technologies and are used to reduce resource waste. The method includes: controlling, by a controller, a first node to send a received packet to a processing network; and controlling, by the controller, the processing network to process the packet and then send a processed packet to a second node. The first node is a base station or a network element connected to the base station, and the second node is a routing function entity; or the first node is the routing function entity, and the second node is the base station or a network element connected to the base station. The routing function entity is an anchor point of an Internet Protocol IP address of a user.