User-Plane Congestion Management via GTP Priority Indicators
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication networks face challenges in efficiently managing and transporting various types of media across advanced wireless communication networks, particularly due to user plane congestion, which affects the quality of service and user experience.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a communications system that employs hierarchical traffic differentiation and congestion management techniques, including the use of default and dedicated bearers, policy and charging control, and traffic flow management to prioritize and schedule traffic effectively across multiple access technologies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hierarchical traffic differentiation and congestion management techniques are implemented, then quality of service and user experience are improved, but device complexity and network management complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments traffic into different bearers (default and dedicated) with distinct QoS parameters. Default bearers handle general traffic with best-effort service, while dedicated bearers handle specific traffic types with guaranteed QoS. This segmentation allows the network to manage different traffic types independently, improving overall service reliability without requiring complete reconfiguration of the entire network for each traffic type.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different QoS characteristics to different bearers and traffic flows. Each bearer is configured with specific QoS parameters (priority, guaranteed bit rate, maximum bit rate, packet delay budget, packet error rate) tailored to its intended traffic type. This allows localized optimization of service quality for specific traffic types without affecting other traffic, resolving the contradiction between improved QoS and reduced management complexity.
2Reliability
If policy and charging control mechanisms are implemented to prioritize and schedule traffic, then media transmission reliability is improved, but processing overhead and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-configuring QoS parameters and policies for different bearers before traffic arrives. The network establishes default and dedicated bearers with predefined QoS characteristics in advance, so when media traffic needs to be transmitted, the appropriate bearer is already prepared and configured. This eliminates the need for complex real-time QoS negotiation and configuration during media transmission, reducing processing overhead while maintaining high reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, apparatuses and systems for user-plane congestion management are provided. Among these method, apparatuses and systems is a method, implementable by a base station (and/or a serving gateway), for mitigating user plane congestion. The method may include sending a congestion indication to a core network; receiving a general packet radio system (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) packet including an first internet protocol (IP) packet associated with a first flow within a bearer; obtaining, from a header of the GTP packet, an indicator indicative of a priority of the IP packet, wherein the indicator was inserted into the header of the GTP packet by the core network responsive to the congestion indication; and dropping any of the GTP packet and the first IP packet on condition that a priority of a second IP packet associated with second flow within the bearer takes precedence over the priority of the first IP packet.