Policy as a network service in a mobile core network

• US 8,874,729 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2011
• Issued: 10/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hu, Qingmin, Eng, Douglas, McKnight, Jie
• Primary Examiner(s): Hamza, Faruk
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zaman, Shah R
• Application Number:
  US13/081,273
• Publication Number:
  US 20120259970A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,301 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 709/220, 709/218, 709/232, 370/310, 370/331, 370/230
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/16 Central resource management; Negotiation of resources or communication parameters, e.g. negotiating bandwidth or QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel

Abstract

Aspects describe using a network element to facilitate scalability within a communication network and to provide policy as a network service in a mobile core network. The network element can be scalable and can be a primary policy access gateway for a first geographic region and can be a secondary policy access gateway for at least a second geographic region. The first geographic region and the second geographic region can have portions that overlap. Further, the network element can hide topology of the home network from roaming partners.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory to store executable instructions; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, that facilitates execution of the executable instructions to perform operations, comprising;

monitoring a first state of a first user service activity and a second state of a second user service activity determined to be executing on a mobile device, wherein the first user service activity is a voice service and the second user service activity is a data service;

initiating storage of the first state of the first user service activity and the second state of the second user service activity to a network device of a network;

communicating, to other network devices of the network, location data representing a location of policy record information of the network device, wherein the first state of the first user service activity and the second state of the second user service activity are stored at the location; and

communicating the first state of the first user service activity and the second state of the second user service activity to mobile services managed by the other network devices based on respective requests for information of the policy record information at the location, wherein the communicating the first state and the second state comprises reducing an amount of signaling between the apparatus and the other network devices.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise receiving information related to the second state of the second user service activity determined to be executing on the mobile device, and wherein the mobile device is located in a first geographic area.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise providing direct support for the mobile device in the first geographic area and indirect support for other mobile devices located in a second geographic area, and wherein a first portion of the first geographic area and a second portion of the second geographic area comprise a common area.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise preventing access to topology data representing a topology of home network devices of a home network by roaming network devices of a roaming network.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first user service activity comprises a first activity and a second activity for the mobile device.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first user service activity comprises a set of services provided to the mobile device.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first user service activity is performed by different network devices of the network.

8. A method, comprising:

tracking, by a system comprising a processor, a first set of first user session data associated with a first session for a device and a second set of second user session data associated with a second session for the device, wherein the first session is a voice session and the second session is a data session;

temporarily caching, by the system, the first set of first user session data and the second set of second user session data;

sending, by the system, the first set of first user session data and the second set of second user session data to a data store associated with a network device of a network;

generating, by the system, data that references a location of the first set of first user session data and the second set of second user session data within the data store associated with the network device; and

communicating, by the system, the first set of first user session data and the second set of second user session data to other network devices of the network based on a request, from the other network devices, that comprises the location, wherein the communicating comprises decreasing policy signaling related traffic among the other network devices.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, by the system, an indication of a third session for the device;

obtaining, by the system, the first set of first user session data and the second set of second user session data from the data store; and

applying, by the system, the first set of first user session data to the third session for the device, wherein the third session is determined to be executing on the device.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

pushing, by the system, session record information of the first set of first user session data to a gateway device for authorized access.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the pushing comprises providing the session record information to at least one of a network element, an application, a resource, or another gateway device.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising associating, by the system, the first set of first user session data with policy record information.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising communicating, by the system, with a roaming device of a roaming network, wherein the communicating blocks access to topology data representing a home network topology by the roaming device.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising generating, by the system, a session record for the first set of first user session data, wherein the session record comprises an identification of the device and associated network elements.

15. The method of claim 8, further comprising facilitating by the system, routing between network devices and devices of at least five service zones.

16. A computer-readable storage device comprising executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system comprising a processor to perform operations, comprising:

monitoring a first set of first user service activities of a device determined to be occurring within a first geographic region, wherein the first set of first user service activities are related to a voice service;

monitoring a second set of second user service activities of the device determined to be occurring within the first geographic region, wherein the second set of second user services activities are related to a data service;

initiating storage of the first set of first user service activities and the second set of second user service activities to an identifiable location of a network data store; and

applying a user service activity of the first set of first user service activities and the second set of second user service activities to a subsequent user session in response to determining the device is within a second geographic region and based on a request to access information stored at the identifiable location of the network data store, wherein the applying comprises mitigating an amount of signaling used to provide the subsequent user session.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise providing backup support for a network device of a network, wherein the network device monitors a third set of third user service activities associated with the second geographic region, and wherein a portion of the first geographic region and another portion of the second geographic region overlap.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17, wherein the backup support provides geographic redundancy for the use of a policy as a network service.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise generating a reference to active policy record information stored by a network device of a network.

20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise communicating the first set of first user service activities and the second set of second user service activities to a network device of a network, and wherein the network device performs a function related to policy and charging functions.