Providing offloads in a communication network

• US 8,693,367 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2010
• Issued: 04/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chowdhury, Kuntal, Rangan, Mohan, Koodli, Rajeev, Oyedele, Taiwo, Digiorgio, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): JAIN, RAJ K
• Application Number:
  US12/891,535
• Publication Number:
  US 20110075557A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,289 Days
• Field of Search: 709/239, 370/253, 370/331, 455/436, 455/439
• US Class Current: 370/253
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1403 Architecture for metering, charging or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1485 Tariff-related aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2528 Translation at a proxy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/306 intercepting packet switched data communications, e.g. Web, Internet or IMS communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/41 Billing record details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure of call data record [CDR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/22 for handling the traffic

Abstract

This disclosure relates to a system and method for offloading selected data to an alternate communication network. The offloading provides another route for selected packet traffic that can relieve the burden on a mobile operator'"'"'s network, such as the backhaul and core networks. As the proliferation of data rich content and increasingly more capable mobile devices has continued, the amount of data communicated over mobile operator'"'"'s networks has exponentially increased. Upgrading the existing network that was designed for voice calls is not desirable or practical for many mobile operators. A offload gateway is provided that inspects packets and determines those packets to offload to an alternate network as well as providing mobility management to allow for seamless handoffs and gateway relocations.

Claims

1. An offload gateway comprising:

one or more interfaces configured to communicate with a gateway in a packet core network, with the Internet without passing through the packet core network, and with user equipment (UE) via one or more access networks;

the offload gateway configured to inspect a received control plane packet and obtain information from the received control plane packet that is used to determine offload eligibility for data packets corresponding to the received control plane packet, wherein the received control plane packet comprises information used to configure a session for the data packets corresponding to the received control plane packet;

offload logic configured to determine the offload eligibility of the data packets corresponding to the received control plane packet based on criteria and, in response to the criteria being met, to offload the data packets corresponding to the received control plane packet onto the Internet such that the gateway in the packet core network is bypassed; and

a network address translation functionality that is configured to modify data packets selected for offload by the offload logic such that the data packets selected for offload are routed through the Internet at the offload gateway.

2. The offload gateway of claim 1, wherein the offload logic determines whether to direct the received control plane packet to a service LAN.

3. The offload gateway of claim 1, further comprising a proxy that is configured to capture subscriber and session information during connection setup with the offload gateway.

4. The offload gateway of claim 1, further comprising a control plane interface that is configured to provide mobility for offloaded data packets and allow for relocation to a second offload gateway.

5. The offload gateway of claim 1, wherein the offload logic evaluates information such as application type and access point name (APN) to determine whether to offload data packets.

6. The offload gateway of claim 1, further comprising a charging function that generates a call detail record (CDR) when data packets are offloaded.

7. The offload gateway of claim 1, further comprising an IuPS interface for communicating with a radio network controller and an Iuh interface for communicating with a home nodeB (HNB) and wherein the first interface is a Gn interface and the second interface is a Gi interface.

8. The offload gateway of claim 1, further comprising an S1-U interface for communicating with an evolved nodeB (eNB) and wherein the first interface is an S5 interface and the second interface is a SGi interface.

9. A method comprising:

establishing a session on an offload gateway to communicate with a user equipment (UE), wherein the session is configured by receiving a control plane packet on an interface at the offload gateway;

inspecting the control plane packet to obtain information regarding the session to make an offload determination;

determining if the session meets offload criteria by comparing information obtained from inspection with offload logic criteria; and

upon determining that the session is offload eligible, modifying the control plane packet at a network address translation functionality to route data packets corresponding to the session onto the Internet to bypass a packet core network.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a second packet bound for the user equipment at the offload gateway from the Internet; and

modifying the packet at a network address translation functionality to route the packet onto the radio access network to the user equipment.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a relocation request at the offload gateway to receive a transfer session from a second offload gateway;

receiving information regarding the session from the second offload gateway including information regarding offload criteria and network address functionality information;

receiving data packets that are offload eligible and determining whether to offload the offload eligible data packets using information received from the second offload gateway; and

offloading eligible data packets using network address translation information received from the second offload gateway.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining at the offload logic whether to direct the control plane packet to a service LAN.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising capturing subscriber and session information during connection setup at the offload gateway.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising evaluating information at the offload logic such as application type and access point name (APN) to determine whether to offload data packets.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising generating a call detail record (CDR) when data packets are offloaded.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising communicating with a radio network controller on an IuPS interface, communicating with gateway GRPS support node (GGSN) on a Gn interface, and communicating with the Internet on a Gi interface.

17. The method of claim 9, further comprising communicating with an evolved nodeB (eNB) on an S1-U interface, communicating with a PDN gateway on an S5 interface, and communicating with the Internet on an SGi interface.

18. Logic encoded on one or more non-transitory tangible media for execution and when executed operable to:

establish a session on an offload gateway to communicate with a user equipment (UE), wherein the session is configured by receiving a control plane packet on an interface at the offload gateway;

inspect the control plane packet to obtain information regarding the session to make an offload determination;

determine if the session meets offload criteria by comparing information obtained from inspection with offload logic criteria; and

upon determining that the session is offload eligible, modify the control plane packet at a network address translation functionality to route data packets corresponding to the session onto the Internet to bypass a packet core network.

19. The logic of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving a second packet bound for the user equipment at the offload gateway from the Internet; and

modifying the packet at a network address translation functionality to route the packet onto the radio access network to the user equipment.

20. The logic of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving a relocation request at the offload gateway to receive a transfer session from a second offload gateway;

receiving information regarding the session from the second offload gateway including information regarding offload criteria and network address functionality information;

receiving data packets that are offload eligible and determining whether to offload the offload eligible data packets using information received from the second offload gateway; and

offloading eligible data packets using network address translation information received from the second offload gateway.