Virtual IP Failover for Subscriber Group Service Continuity
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The current subscriber group resiliency model (SGRP) is unsupported in the disaggregated Access and User Plane Separation (AGF CUPS) architecture, leading to excessive signaling, dropped packets, and resource consumption during failover, hindering the migration from DBNG to AGF CUPS and preventing advancements in Wireless and Wireline Convergence (WWC).
Innovation Solution
Implementing virtual IP addresses associated with subscriber groups (SGRPs) to manage failover, reducing signaling by enabling seamless transitions between active and backup AGF-UP devices, and minimizing IP prefix management demands.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the current subscriber group resiliency model is implemented in disaggregated AGF CUPS architecture, then service continuity during failover is maintained, but excessive signaling and resource consumption occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a virtual IP address as an intermediary between the UPF and the physical AGF-UP devices. This virtual address decouples the tunnel endpoint identification from specific physical devices, allowing failover without requiring signaling updates to the UPF. The virtual IP acts as a stable anchor point that abstracts the underlying physical device changes, thereby maintaining service continuity while eliminating excessive signaling bandwidth consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the failover process into two independent layers: the control plane (virtual IP address management) and the data plane (actual traffic forwarding). By separating these functions, the system can perform rapid failover at the data plane level without triggering control plane signaling updates. This segmentation allows the backup AGF-UP device to immediately take over traffic forwarding using the existing virtual IP address, preventing both excessive signaling and packet drops.
2Ease of operation
If physical IP addresses are used for AGF-UP devices, then device identification is straightforward, but failover causes dropped packets and service interruption
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual IP address serves as an intermediary layer between the UPF and physical AGF-UP devices. Instead of the UPF directly using physical IP addresses that change during failover, it communicates with the stable virtual IP address. This intermediary approach maintains straightforward device identification from the UPF perspective while ensuring packet delivery continuity, as the virtual IP remains constant regardless of which physical device is active.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the IP address functionality that is decoupled from physical devices. The virtual IP address is a logical representation that can be rapidly reassigned between physical devices without changing the UPF's configuration. This copying approach allows the system to maintain simple device identification while achieving seamless failover, as the virtual copy absorbs the changes rather than propagating them to the data plane.
3Reliability
If seamless failover is implemented, then service continuity is maintained, but IP prefix management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the IP address management function at the virtual level rather than requiring separate management for each physical device. By consolidating the tunnel endpoint identification into a single virtual IP address that serves multiple physical devices, the system achieves seamless failover while simplifying IP prefix management. The aggregation of device-specific addresses into a unified virtual address reduces the management overhead and complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
In some implementations, a network device may transmit an indication that a first access gateway function user plane (AGF-UP) device is associated with an active state for a subscriber group, an indication that a second AGF-UP device is associated with a backup state for the subscriber group, and an indication of a virtual internet protocol (IP) address associated with the subscriber group. The network device may transmit a failover indication that the second AGF-UP device is associated with the active state for the subscriber group.