APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING OFFLOADING TO AN ALTERNATE NETWORK

• US 20140241153A1
• Filed: 05/02/2014
• Published: 08/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Jasper Technologies, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: CHOWDHURY, Kuntal
• Granted Patent: US 10,165,487 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/04 Interdomain routing, e.g. hierarchical routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• 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. This disclosure provides systems and methods for offloading data to the Internet or another IP network to relieve congestion on the mobile operator'"'"'s network.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a radio base station, the packet from a mobile device over a radio network;

determining, at the radio base station, whether the packet is eligible to be sent to a gateway via an offload network instead of a mobile backhaul network; and

upon a determination that the packet is eligible to be sent to the gateway via the offload network, providing, by the radio base station, the packet to a router that is configured to add routing information to the packet to cause the packet to be routed over the offload network to the gateway.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the packet is eligible to be sent to the gateway via the offload network includes determining a radio bearer identification associated with the packet.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the packet is eligible to be sent to the gateway via the offload network includes determining a radio bearer type associated with the packet.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein when the radio bearer type is a default bearer type, determining that the packet is not eligible to be sent to the gateway via the offload network.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the default bearer type includes a Iu type.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the default bearer type includes a S1 type.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the router includes a label edge router (LER) and the offload network includes a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) virtual link between the gateway and the radio base station.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising performing label stacking to send the packet to the gateway using MPLS.

9. A radio access network comprising:

a radio base station configured to receive a packet from a mobile device over a radio network, and determine whether the packet is eligible to be sent to a gateway via an offload network instead of a mobile backhaul network; and

a router configured to add routing information to the packet to cause the packet to be routed over the offload network to the gateway.

10. The radio access network of claim 9, wherein the radio base station is configured to determine whether the packet is eligible to be sent to the gateway via the offload network based on a radio bearer identification associated with the packet.

11. The radio access network of claim 9, wherein the radio base station is configured to determine whether the packet is eligible to be sent to the gateway via the offload network based on a radio bearer type associated with the packet.

12. The radio access network of claim 11, wherein the radio base station is configured to determine that the packet is not eligible to be sent to the gateway via the offload network when the radio bearer type is a default bearer type.

13. The radio access network of claim 9, wherein the router includes a label edge router (LER) and the offload network includes a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) virtual link between the gateway and the radio base station.

14. The radio access network of claim 13, wherein the router is further configured to perform label stacking to send the packet to the gateway using MPLS.

15. A radio base station configured to receive a packet from a mobile device over a radio network, determine whether the packet is eligible to be sent to a gateway via an offload network instead of a mobile backhaul network, and upon a determination that the packet is eligible to be sent to the gateway via the offload network, provide the packet to a router that is configured to add routing information to the packet to cause the packet to be routed over the offload network to the gateway.

16. The radio base station of claim 15, wherein the base station is configured to determine whether the packet is eligible to be sent to the gateway via the offload network based on a radio bearer identification associated with the packet.

17. The radio base station of claim 15, wherein the base station is configured to determine whether the packet is eligible to be sent to the gateway via the offload network based on a radio bearer type associated with the packet.

18. The radio base station of claim 17, wherein when the radio bearer type is a default bearer type, the radio base station is configured to determine that the packet is not eligible to be sent to the gateway via the offload network.

19. The radio base station of claim 18, wherein the default bearer type includes a S1 type.

20. The radio base station of claim 15, wherein the router includes a label edge router (LER) and the offload network includes a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) virtual link between the gateway and the radio base station.