Signed Data Usage Records for Trusted Roaming Local Breakout
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing 5G networks face challenges in reliably gathering data usage statistics and billing information for roaming wireless devices, leading to inefficiencies and increased overhead due to the potential for false reporting by visited networks.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method for wireless devices to generate and verify data usage records using asymmetric keys, where the home network associates a public key with the device, ensuring trustworthy reporting of data usage through signature verification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If local breakout is used for roaming devices, then routing is optimized and latency is reduced, but reliability of data usage reporting deteriorates due to potential false reporting by visited networks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by implementing asymmetric cryptographic authentication where the home network possesses a private key and the visited network possesses a public key. This asymmetric key relationship enables the home network to verify data usage records signed by the visited network, ensuring reliability while allowing local breakout optimization. The authentication exchange establishes this asymmetric key pair during the 5G registration process, resolving the contradiction between optimized routing and reporting reliability.
2Reliability
If home-routed scenario is used for roaming devices, then data usage reporting reliability is maintained, but routing is suboptimal and latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves this contradiction by implementing asymmetric cryptographic authentication that allows the visited network to independently verify and report data usage. The home network authenticates the visited network using asymmetric keys exchanged during registration, enabling the visited network to route traffic locally while maintaining reporting reliability through cryptographic verification of usage records.
3Productivity
If visited network gathers data usage statistics independently, then routing optimization is enabled, but trust and verification between networks deteriorates due to potential false reporting
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback through an authentication exchange mechanism where the home network provides authentication vectors to the visited network, and the visited network returns authentication results and data usage statistics. This feedback loop includes cryptographic verification where the home network validates the visited network's credentials and the visited network verifies the home network's authentication vectors, establishing mutual trust that enables independent statistics gathering while preventing false reporting.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses cryptographic authentication vectors and asymmetric key pairs as intermediaries between the home network and visited network. These cryptographic elements mediate the trust relationship, allowing the visited network to independently gather and report data usage statistics while the home network can verify the authenticity of these reports through cryptographic validation, thus enabling routing optimization without sacrificing inter-network trust.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a method performed by a first wireless device that is roaming in a visited network. The method comprises measuring (901) an amount of data transmitted and/or received by the first wireless device in a first session with the visited network; using (903) a private key to generate a signature for a data usage record that comprises the data measurement, wherein a public key corresponding to the private key is associated, by a home network of the first wireless device, with the first wireless device; and sending (905) the data usage record to the visited network.