Voice over long term evolution (VoLTE) network performance

• US 10,244,575 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2016
• Issued: 03/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Rahman, Muhammad Tawhidur
• Primary Examiner(s): Kamara, Mohamed A
• Application Number:
  US15/389,339
• Publication Number:
  US 20180184466A1
• Time in Patent Office: 824 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1407 Policy-and-charging control [PCC] architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1016 IP multimedia subsystem [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1066 Session management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/65 Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/143 Termination or inactivation of sessions, e.g. event-controlled end of session
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/66 Policy and charging system
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/19 Connection re-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/32 Release of transport tunnels

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for managing performance of communications over a Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) network. A packet flow associated with a VoLTE call may be monitored, and an interruption in the packet flow that exceeds a threshold duration may be determined to be an abnormal termination of the VoLTE call. Information regarding the abnormal VoLTE call termination may be propagated through various network platforms to an enhanced Node B (eNB), where an abnormal VoLTE call termination event may be logged. The abnormal VoLTE call termination event may be utilized when analyzing the performance of the VoLTE network.

Claims

1. A system for managing performance of a network that implements a Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) standard, the system comprising:

an IMS application level gateway (IMS-ALG) configured to;

receive, from an IMS access gateway (IMS-AGW), an indication that a Real-time Transfer Protocol (RTP) packet flow associated with a VoLTE call has stopped;

determine, based at least in part on the indication, that the VoLTE call has terminated abnormally; and

transmit, to a policy charging and rules function (PCRF), an indication that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally;

the PCRF, wherein the PCRF is configured to;

receive, from the IMS-ALG, the indication that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally; and

transmit, to a packet data network gateway (PGW), a re-auth request indicating that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally;

the PGW, wherein the PGW is configured to;

receive, from the PCRF, the re-auth request;

release one or more PGW resources dedicated to the VoLTE call; and

transmit, to a serving gateway (SGW), a delete bearer request having a cause code indicating that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally;

the SGW, wherein the SGW is configured to;

receive, from the PGW, the delete bearer request;

release one or more SGW resources dedicated to the VoLTE call; and

transmit, to a mobility management entity (MME), the delete bearer request;

the MME, wherein the MME is configured to;

receive, from the SGW, the delete bearer request;

release one or more MME resources dedicated to the VoLTE call; and

transmit, to an enhanced Node B (eNB), a release command indicating that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally; and

the eNB, wherein the eNB is configured to;

receive, from the MME, the release command;

release one or more eNB resources dedicated to the VoLTE call; and

log an abnormal VoLTE call termination event in an event log.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

the IMS-AGW, wherein the IMS-AGW is configured to;

monitor the RTP packet flow associated with the VoLTE call, the RTP packet flow comprising upload packets received from a user device and download packets sent to the user device;

determine an elapsed time since at least one of receipt of an upload packet or receipt of a download packet;

determine, based at least in part on the elapsed time, that the RTP packet flow has stopped; and

transmit, to the IMS-ALG, the indication that the RTP packet flow has stopped.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the indication that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally comprises a Session Termination Request (STR) command.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the eNB is further configured to transmit information regarding the event log to a network performance monitoring function.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the STR command comprises a Termination-Cause attribute-value pair.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the STR command comprises an Experimental-Result-Code attribute-value pair.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the information regarding the event log comprises a number of abnormal VoLTE call termination events logged within a specified time period.

8. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by an IMS application level gateway (IMS-ALG), a first indication from an IMS access gateway (IMS-AGW), the first indication indicating that a packet flow associated with a Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) call has stopped;

determining, by the IMS-ALG, based at least in part on the first indication, that the VoLTE call has terminated abnormally;

transmitting, by the IMS-ALG, a second indication to a policy charging and rules function (PCRF); and

transmitting, by the PCRF and at least one other network element, further indications that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the second indication comprises a Session Termination Request (STR) command.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 8, wherein transmitting by the PCRF and the at least one other network element, further indications that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally comprises:

transmitting, by the PCRF, a third indication to a packet data network gateway (PGW),

transmitting, by the PGW, a fourth indication to a serving gateway (SGW),

transmitting, by the SGW, a fifth indication to a mobility management entity (MME),

transmitting, by the MME, a sixth indication to an enhanced Node B (eNB), and

storing, by the eNB, information regarding the VoLTE call in a data store,

wherein the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth indications indicate that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the packet flow is associated with a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) session.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the information regarding the VoLTE call that is stored in the data store by the eNB includes information indicating that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the third indication comprises a Re-Auth Request (RAR) command.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the fourth indication comprises a Delete Bearer request.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the fifth indication comprises a Delete Bearer request.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the sixth indication comprises an E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) Release Command.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving a first indication regarding a packet flow associated with a Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) call;

determining, based at least in part on the first indication, that the VoLTE call has terminated abnormally; and

causing a plurality of network elements to transmit indications that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally, wherein causing the plurality of network elements to transmit indications that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally causes an enhanced Node B (eNB) to associate an abnormal call termination event with the VoLTE call.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the first indication is received from an IMS access gateway (IMS-AGW).

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein determining that the VoLTE call has terminated abnormally comprises determining that the packet flow has stopped for a duration exceeding a predetermined threshold.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the indications that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally include an E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) Release Command having a cause code indicating an abnormal call termination.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein causing the plurality of network elements to transmit indications that the VoLTE call terminated abnormally further causes the eNB to release a resource associated with the VoLTE call.