METHOD FOR TRAFFIC STEERING AND NETWORK ELEMENT

• US 20160021588A1
• Filed: 12/05/2013
• Published: 01/21/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Solutions and Networks OY (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Solutions and Networks OY (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: KAMDAR, Kashyap, MOORE, Brian, AVASARALA, Sadhana, RANJAN, Rakesh
• Granted Patent: US 10,390,276 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0925 using policies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/1443 between licensed networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/22 for handling the traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/38 by fixed network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

The present invention relates a method for traffic steering in a communication network comprising at least two technology layers. The method comprising utilizing one or more policies for traffic steering, selecting one or more users in a first technology layer according to the selected policies and preparing a movement of one or more selected users to a second technology layer. Moreover, the present invention relates to an apparatus and computer program product.

Claims

1. A method for traffic steering in a communication network comprising at least two technology layers, the method comprising:

utilizing one or more policies for traffic steering;

selecting one or more users in a first technology layer according to the selected policies; and

preparing a movement of one or more selected users to a second technology layer.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the policy is at least one policy of the group consisting of a subscription prioritization policy, an application mapping policy, a session characterization policy and a load distribution policy.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising

providing information of a user to elements in the network in order to prepare a steering of traffic.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising

providing a list comprising a plurality of users for traffic steering.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein

utilizing scalable weighted merge of independently prepared user lists to prepare a final user list.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising

utilizing network load as a trigger to start and/or stop a user list generation.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising

performing the user list generation on periodic basis.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising

generating a list of users on a real-time, near real-time, online or offline basis.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising

utilizing policy thresholds in order to constrain the number of simultaneous traffic steering requests from various policies to avoid an oscillation of traffic.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising

applying a configurable scalable weight factor to emphasize different policies under different network conditions.

11. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories including computer program code, the one or more memories and the computer program code configured, with the one or more processors, to cause the apparatus to perform;

utilizing one or more policies for traffic steering;

selecting one or more users in a first technology layer according to the selected policies; and

preparing a movement of one or more selected users to a second technology layer.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the apparatus is a network element or a terminal.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the network element is a traffic steering element, a network node, a server or a policy server.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the terminal is a mobile phone or a tablet device.

15. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the apparatus is configured for receiving trigger information triggering a traffic steering mechanism.

16. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium bearing computer program code embodied therein for use with an apparatus, the computer program code comprising:

code for utilizing one or more policies for traffic steering;

code for selecting one or more users in a first technology layer according to the selected policies; and

code for preparing a movement of one or more selected users to a second technology layer.