METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING MOBILE CDN REQUEST ROUTING

• US 20150207872A1
• Filed: 08/21/2012
• Published: 07/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: NEC Europe Ltd (NEC Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NEC Europe Ltd (NEC Corporation)
• Inventors: Stiemerling, Martin, Seedorf, Jan
• Application Number:
  US14/421,164
• Publication Number:
  US 20150207872A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/742 Route cache; Operation thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1014 based on the content of a request
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/66 Policy and charging system
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals

Abstract

A method for performing mobile CDN request routing includes receiving, from a user terminal attached or subscribed to a communication network, a content request initiated by the user terminal towards a mobile content delivery network (mCDN). The content request is processed within the mCDN by selecting a cache at which the requested content is available. Internal mCDN request routing decisions are determined based on control plane information from the network core of the communication network.

Claims

1. :

A method for performing mobile CDN request routing, comprising;

receiving, from a user terminal attached or subscribed to a communication network, a content request initiated by the user terminal towards a mobile content delivery network (mCDN),

processing the content request within the mCDN by selecting a cache at which the requested content is available, and

making internal mCDN request routing decisions based on control plane information from the network core of the communication network.

2. :

The method according to claim 1, wherein the user terminal, upon initiating an initial content request towards the mCDN, gets assigned a delivery function as an entry point into the mCDN.

3. :

The method according to claim 2, wherein the delivery function queries the control plane information from the network core through proprietary or standard interfaces.

4. :

The method according to claim 1, wherein the control plane information includes information related to the user terminal.

5. :

The method according to claim 1, wherein the control plane information includes information related to granted or negotiated QoS of the user terminal.

6. :

The method according to claim 1, wherein the control plane information includes information related to subscribed QoS of the user terminal.

7. :

The Method according to claim 1, wherein the control plane information includes information related to subscribed charging characteristics of the user terminal.

8. :

The method according to claim 1, wherein subscriber information about the user terminal is employed by the mCDN to retrieve policy or charging information about the user terminal.

9. :

The method according to claim 8, wherein the subscriber information about the user terminal is obtained by an application function residing within the mCDN based on the user terminal'"'"'s IP address.

10. :

The method according to claim 1, wherein a cache selection function of the mCDN combines or aggregates information related to the user terminal with internal mCDN specific information.

11. :

The method according to claim 10, wherein an algorithm is applied for best cache selection which takes into consideration the combined or aggregated information.

19. :

The method according to claim 8, wherein the mCDN retrieves policy or charging information about the user terminal via a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) of a mobile core network of the communication network.

12. :

A system for performing mobile CDN request routing, comprising

a communication network including a network core,

a mobile content delivery network (mCDN), and

a user terminal attached or subscribed to the communication network and configured to initiate a content request towards the mCDN,

wherein the mCDN is configured to process the content request by selecting a cache at which the requested content is available,

and wherein the mCDN includes a control function configured to collect control plane information from the network core and to take into consideration the control plane information for making internal mCDN request routing decisions.

13. :

The system according to claim 12, wherein the communication network is a mobile communication network comprising a mobile core network.

14. :

The system according to claim 12, wherein the mCDN includes a delivery function configured to solicit information related to a content requesting user terminal.

15. :

The system according to claim 12, wherein the control function includes a cache selection function and a content lookup function.

16. :

The system according to claim 15, wherein the content lookup function is configured to receive, from a central content database, information about which caches store requested content and to forward the information to the cache selection function.

17. :

The system according to claim 16, wherein the cache selection function is configured to fetch information about a status of the caches which store the requested content.

18. :

The system according to claim 17, wherein the cache selection function is configured to fetch topology or policy information about the caches which store requested content.

20. :

The system according to claim 18, wherein the cache selection function is configured to fetch the topology or policy information about the caches which store requested content by contacting an Application-Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO) server.