Method and apparatus for managing communication flow in an inter-network system
First Claim
1. A method of managing a data packet flow at a user-plane at an inter-network system for a data session between a user equipment (UE) roaming in a visited communications network and a home communications network, the method comprising:
- obtaining, by an inter-network device, a) an identification of the data packet flow at the user-plane, the identification of the data packet flow being determined based on one or more transport protocol, or session protocol, fields extracted from control-plane data packets filtered based on information identifying the UE or a corresponding user of the UE, and b) an instruction for managing the data packet flow, the instruction including one or more indications of one or more roaming and/or service management actions to be applied to the data packet flow at the user-plane;
identifying data packets associated with the data packet flow, exchanged between the visited communications network and the home communications network, based on the identification of the data packet flow obtained; and
managing the data packet flow based on the identified data packets and the one or more indications of one or more roaming and/or service management actions.
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Abstract
According to at least one example embodiment, a method and corresponding apparatus for managing a data packet flow at an inter-network system include obtaining, by an inter-network device, an identification of the data packet flow, the identification of the data packet flow being determined based on one or more transport protocol fields extracted from control-plane data associated with the data packet flow. Using the obtained identification of the data packet flow, the inter-network device identifies data packets associated with the data packet flow by checking transport layer data of intercepted user-plane data packets for potential match with the one or more transport protocol fields extracted from the control-plane data. If a match is found, the corresponding data packet is then managed by the inter-network device based on one or more management actions associated with the data packet flow.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method of managing a data packet flow at a user-plane at an inter-network system for a data session between a user equipment (UE) roaming in a visited communications network and a home communications network, the method comprising:
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obtaining, by an inter-network device, a) an identification of the data packet flow at the user-plane, the identification of the data packet flow being determined based on one or more transport protocol, or session protocol, fields extracted from control-plane data packets filtered based on information identifying the UE or a corresponding user of the UE, and b) an instruction for managing the data packet flow, the instruction including one or more indications of one or more roaming and/or service management actions to be applied to the data packet flow at the user-plane; identifying data packets associated with the data packet flow, exchanged between the visited communications network and the home communications network, based on the identification of the data packet flow obtained; and managing the data packet flow based on the identified data packets and the one or more indications of one or more roaming and/or service management actions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An inter-network device for managing a data packet flow at a user-plane at an inter-network system for a data session between a user equipment (UE) roaming in a visited communications network and a home communications network, the inter-network device comprising:
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a processor; and a memory with computer code instructions stored thereon, the processor and the memory, with the computer code instructions stored thereon, configured to cause the inter-network device to; obtain a) an identification of the data packet flow at the user-plane, the identification of the data packet flow being determined based on one or more transport protocol, or session protocol, fields extracted from control-plane data packets filtered based on information identifying the UE or a corresponding user of the UE, and b) an instruction for managing the data packet flow, the instruction including one or more indications of one or more roaming and/or service management actions to be applied to the data packet flow at the user-plane; identify data packets associated with the data packet flow, exchanged between the roaming communications network and the home communications network, based on the identification of the data packet flow obtained; and manage the data packet flow based on the identified data packets and the one or more indications of one or more roaming and/or service management actions. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification