Subscriber Sampling for Network Packet Forwarding
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Solution Overview
Problem
In mobile network systems using GTP packets, existing methods for monitoring subscriber sessions face challenges with latency, data integrity, and scaling issues due to high traffic volumes and concurrent memory access contention, especially when multiple monitoring tools are required to correlate user data across multiple network interfaces.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for subscriber sampling that uses unique subscriber identifiers, such as IMSI, to dynamically select and forward packets based on hash functions or dynamic functions, allowing for high-speed selective sampling and correlation of traffic across multiple interfaces, with packets being forwarded to common egress ports for monitoring tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional session table tracking is used to forward subscriber traffic to monitoring tools, then all packets associated with subscriber sessions can be forwarded to a single monitoring tool, but latency increases and data integrity degrades due to latencies when subscriber packets are being detected at multiple monitoring interfaces and processed by independent GSCs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-processing control packets (GTP-C) to extract and store subscriber identifiers (IMSI) and session identifiers (TEID) in a tracking table before user data packets arrive. This allows user packets to be quickly matched against pre-computed subscriber-session mappings, eliminating the need for real-time correlation logic and reducing processing latency while maintaining data integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary tracking table that acts as a mediator between control packet processing and user packet forwarding. This tracking table stores pre-extracted subscriber-session mappings and serves as an intermediate data structure that enables fast lookup and correlation without requiring complex real-time processing at multiple GSCs, thereby reducing latency and improving data integrity.
2Quantity of substance
If multiple network monitoring tools are used to monitor increasing traffic volumes, then monitoring coverage is improved, but resource consumption increases as monitoring tools spend valuable resources correlating user data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by removing the complex correlation logic from multiple monitoring tools and concentrating it in a single GSC that maintains the tracking table. User packets are extracted and matched against pre-computed subscriber identifiers in the tracking table, allowing monitoring tools to receive already-correlated data without needing to perform resource-intensive correlation operations themselves.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of data organization by transforming raw user packets into correlated subscriber-session data using the tracking table. By pre-processing control packets to extract subscriber identifiers and storing them in an optimized tracking table structure, the system enables monitoring tools to work with pre-correlated data, reducing their resource consumption while maintaining comprehensive monitoring coverage.
3Stability of the object's composition
If session tables are shared across multiple GSCs to improve correlation accuracy, then data consistency is improved, but concurrent memory access contention arises causing update latency and scaling issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the correlation functionality into two separate components: (1) a tracking table maintenance function performed by a single GSC that processes control packets and updates subscriber-session mappings, and (2) a packet forwarding function performed by all GSCs that use the tracking table for lookup. This segmentation eliminates concurrent write conflicts while maintaining data consistency, as only one GSC writes to the tracking table while others perform read-only operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the subscriber identifier extraction and session tracking functionality into a centralized tracking table maintained by one GSC, while all GSCs share access to this unified data structure for packet correlation. This merging approach ensures data consistency across the network without requiring each GSC to maintain separate session tables, eliminating synchronization overhead and improving update speed.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed for subscriber sampling for network packet forwarding based upon unique subscriber identifiers. Control packets within input packets are processed to identify unique subscriber identifiers and related session identifiers, which are stored in records within a tracking table. Each input packet is analyzed to extract a session identifier and a unique subscriber identifier if present within the input packet. When a unique subscriber identifier is not present, the tracking table is accessed to determine a unique subscriber identifier associated with the session identifier extracted from the packet. The input packet is sampled based upon the unique subscriber identifier to determine whether or not to output the input packet as a sampled packet. The subscriber sampling can include hash-based sampling, dynamic function based sampling, and/or other subscriber/call based sampling methods. Sampled packets are forwarded to egress port(s) for further processing.