Data breakout at the edge of a mobile data network

• US 8,971,192 B2
• Filed: 11/16/2011
• Issued: 03/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Anthony, Bruce O. Jr., Billau, Ronald L., Cillis, Canio, Di Luoffo, Vincenzo V., Grady, Philip E., Sabhikhi, Ravinder K., Singh, Raj K., Van Leeuwen, George W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ton, Dang
• Assistant Examiner(s): AMBAYE, MEWALE A
• Application Number:
  US13/297,770
• Publication Number:
  US 20130121159A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,203 Days
• Field of Search: 370/241
• US Class Current: 370/241
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0831 Core entity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0942 based on measured or predicted load of entities- or links
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/20 Manipulation of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]

Abstract

Mobile network services are performed in a mobile data network in a way that is transparent to most of the existing equipment in the mobile data network. The mobile data network includes a radio access network and a core network. A first service mechanism in the radio access network breaks out data coming from a basestation, and performs one or more mobile network services at the edge of the mobile data network based on the broken out data. These services may include caching of data, data or video compression techniques, push-based services, charging, application serving, analytics, security, data filtering, and new revenue-producing services, as well as others. This architecture allows performing new mobile network services at the edge of a mobile data network within the infrastructure of an existing mobile data network.

Claims

1. A mobile data network comprising:

a plurality of basestations, each basestation communicating with a corresponding antenna that transmits and receives radio signals to and from user equipment, wherein the plurality of basestations are part of a radio access network that communicates with a core network in the mobile data network, at least one of the plurality of basestations comprising;

a nodeB that communicates via a corresponding antenna with first user equipment; and

a breakout component in the radio access network that intercepts and monitors network traffic from the nodeB to a Radio Network Controller (RNC) and from the RNC to the nodeB and provides a first service mechanism that defines an existing first data path in the radio access network for non-broken out data from the first user equipment, defines a second data path for broken out data from the first user equipment, identifies first data corresponding to the first user equipment received from the nodeB as data to be broken out, sends the first data on the second data path, and forwards other data from the nodeB that is not broken out on the first data path, wherein the first service mechanism provides a first service with respect to internet protocol (IP) data sent to the first user equipment by the nodeB in response to an IP data request in the first data from the first user equipment to the nodeB.

2. The mobile data network of claim 1 wherein the first service comprises caching of the IP data.

3. The mobile data network of claim 1 wherein the first service comprises push-based services with respect to the IP data.

4. The mobile data network of claim 1 wherein the first service comprises application serving in response to the IP data request.

5. The mobile data network of claim 1 wherein the first service comprises analytics that analyze the IP data.

6. The mobile data network of claim 1 wherein the first service comprises filtering of the IP data.

7. The mobile data network of claim 1 wherein the first service comprises at least one revenue-producing service for a provider of the mobile data network with respect to the IP data.

8. The mobile data network of claim 1 wherein the first service comprises caching of the IP data and the first service mechanism provides a second service that comprises application serving in response to the IP data.

9. The mobile data network of claim 1 wherein the first service mechanism is implemented in a telco breakout system in the breakout component in the basestation, the breakout component further comprising:

a system controller that controls function of the breakout component;

a service processor that monitors the breakout component and provides control functions for the breakout component; and

a security subsystem that provides secure access to keys stored in a non-volatile memory.

10. A mobile data network comprising:

a plurality of basestations, each basestation communicating with a corresponding antenna that transmits and receives radio signals to and from user equipment, wherein the plurality of basestations are part of a radio access network that communicates with a core network in the mobile data network, each basestation comprising;

a breakout component connected to a NodeB in the basestation and connected to an upstream computer system, the breakout component comprising;

a system controller that controls function of the breakout component;

a service processor that monitors the breakout component and provides control functions for the breakout component;

a security subsystem that provides secure access to keys stored in a non-volatile memory; and

a telco breakout system that comprises;

a first service mechanism that defines an existing first data path in the radio access network for non-broken out data, defines a second data path for broken out data, identifies first data corresponding to first user equipment received from a corresponding basestation as data to be broken out, sends the first data on the second data path, and forwards other data that is not broken out on the first data path, wherein the first service mechanism provides a plurality of services with respect to internet protocol (IP) data sent to the first user equipment in response to an IP data request in the first data from the first user equipment, wherein the plurality of services comprises;

caching of the IP data;

application serving in response to the IP data request; and

analytics that analyze the IP data.

11. The mobile data network of claim 10 wherein the plurality of services provided by the first service mechanism further comprise:

push-based services with respect to the IP data;

filtering of the IP data; and

at least one revenue-producing service for a provider of the mobile data network with respect to the IP data.