Per-Tenant URSP Envelopes for Shared 5G CPE Route Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing 3GPP standards lack mechanisms for providing tenant-specific user equipment (UE) route selection policies (URSPs) in multi-tenant environments, particularly for devices connected to WLAN access points behind a 5G/nG CPE/gateway, which are crucial for seamless wireless connectivity and differentiated service delivery.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for providing per-tenant URSP envelopes to shared wireless wide area access network equipment, enabling tenant-specific URSP rules for each tenant, allowing establishment of protocol data unit (PDU) sessions through secondary authentication and tunneling, and facilitating both wired and wireless connectivity to a mobile core network.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If shared wireless wide area access network equipment is deployed in multi-tenant environments, then cost and device complexity are reduced, but tenant-specific service differentiation and route selection control are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the network control by introducing per-tenant URSP (User Equipment Route Selection Policy) envelopes that contain tenant-specific routing rules. This allows a single shared CPE device to maintain multiple independent policy sets for different tenants, enabling service differentiation without requiring separate physical network infrastructure for each tenant.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by associating different URSP policies with different tenants accessing the shared CPE device. Each tenant receives customized routing policies (e.g., different DNN selections, network slice assignments) tailored to their specific service requirements, while sharing the same physical hardware infrastructure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If per-tenant URSP policies are implemented in shared networks, then tenant-specific route selection is enabled, but network configuration and authentication complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-configuring and storing multiple URSP policy envelopes in the shared CPE device before tenants connect. Each policy envelope is pre-prepared with specific routing rules, allowing the network to quickly assign appropriate policies to tenants upon authentication without requiring real-time complex configuration for each tenant's routing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by creating multiple URSP policy envelopes that can be copied and assigned to different tenants. These policy envelopes are templates containing routing instructions that can be replicated and distributed to multiple tenants, simplifying the configuration process compared to manually configuring each tenant's routing parameters individually.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple PDU sessions are established for different tenants, then differentiated service delivery is achieved, but session management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments session management by creating separate PDU sessions for different tenants, each governed by its own URSP policy envelope. This segmentation allows independent control over each tenant's data sessions (e.g., different DNNs, network slices) while maintaining a unified management architecture in the shared CPE device that handles multiple sessions through standardized procedures.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided herein are techniques to facilitate on-premise wireless wide area access network equipment sharing in a multi-tenant environment. In one example, a method may include obtaining, by a device, a first route selection policy envelope for a first tenant of the plurality of tenants in which the first route selection policy envelope includes a plurality of route selection rules associated with the first tenant. The method may further include upon obtaining a first data packet from a first wireless local area network access point of the first tenant, identifying, based on first data packet, a particular route selection rule of the first route selection policy envelope for the first tenant and establishing a protocol data unit (PDU) session for the first tenant with the mobile core network.