UP Proxy Lease Management for Broadband Session Continuity

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Solution Overview

Problem

In conventional broadband network gateways, the decoupling of control and user planes results in inefficient lease management, requiring the user plane device to rely on the control plane for IP address lease renewals, which can be disrupted by link faults, leading to suboptimal network resource utilization and management.

Innovation Solution

The user plane device is empowered to perform online management independently by determining proxy leases, allowing it to handle lease renewals and offline detection without relying on the control plane, using extended packet forwarding control protocol messages to manage terminal devices flexibly and maintain network connectivity even during link faults.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the user plane device relies on the control plane for IP address lease renewals, then centralized control is maintained, but network management efficiency deteriorates and service continuity is compromised during link faults

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveservice continuityVSAvoidnetwork management efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the lease management function by introducing a proxy lease mechanism that separates the user plane device's local lease tracking from the control plane's authoritative lease management. The user plane device maintains a proxy lease locally to handle renewals autonomously, while the control plane retains ultimate authority through periodic synchronization. This segmentation enables the user plane to operate independently during link faults, improving service continuity while maintaining centralized control for overall efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Productivity

If the control plane and user plane are decoupled, then resource utilization improves, but lease management complexity increases due to coordination requirements

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveresource utilizationVSAvoidlease management complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a proxy lease as an intermediary mechanism between the control plane and user plane device. The proxy lease acts as a local representation of the authoritative lease, enabling the user plane device to perform lease operations autonomously without direct control plane involvement for each operation. This intermediary approach maintains the benefits of decoupling for resource utilization while simplifying coordination complexity by providing a clear interface protocol for lease synchronization.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Speed

If the user plane device performs autonomous lease management, then response speed improves, but control plane authority may be compromised

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvelease renewal response speedVSAvoidcontrol plane authority
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary action by having the control plane pre-configure the user plane device with a proxy lease before autonomous operations are needed. The proxy lease is pre-established with valid lease parameters, enabling the user plane device to immediately perform lease renewals and offline detections without real-time control plane approval. This preliminary configuration maintains control plane authority through initial authorization while enabling fast autonomous response when needed.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4358476B1Message processing method, apparatus and system, and computer-readable storage medium
Publication Date: 2026.03.25 HUAWEI TECH CO LTD
  • EP4358476B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4358476B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4358476B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

This application relates to the field of communication technologies, and provides a packet processing method, apparatus, and system, and a computer-readable storage medium. The method is applied to a UP device of a virtual broadband network gateway, and includes: The UP device receives a first packet sent by a CP device, where the first packet carries first indication information, and the first indication information indicates the UP device to perform online management on a terminal device that accesses a network through a virtual broadband network gateway; determines a proxy lease of a first terminal device based on the first packet, where the first terminal device is the terminal device that accesses the network through the virtual broadband network gateway; and performs online management on the first terminal device based on the first indication information and the proxy lease of the first terminal device. According to the method, the UP device can perform online management on the first terminal device without using the CP device.