SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING INTERNET PROTOCOL FLOW MOBILITY IN A NETWORK ENVIRONMENT

• US 20160135222A1
• Filed: 11/13/2014
• Published: 05/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jain, Paras, Chitta, Nithin, Srivastava, Vimal
• Granted Patent: US 9,635,686 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1407 Policy-and-charging control [PCC] architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/66 Policy and charging system
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0033 with transfer of context information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0083 Determination of parameters used for hand-off, e.g. generation or modification of neighbour cell lists
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/14 Reselecting a network or an air interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/24 Reselection being triggered by specific parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/06 based on characteristics of available antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/002 Transmission of channel access control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/04 Scheduled access hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

An example method is provided in one example embodiment and may include receiving an indication of a radio access technology (RAT) change for a user equipment (UE); determining availability of a preferred RAT type for a policy related rule associated with the UE, wherein the policy related rule includes, at least in part, the preferred RAT type for one or more service data flows for the UE; and configuring the one or more service data flows for the UE based, at least in part, on a change in availability of the preferred RAT type following the RAT change. In at least one case, the method can include routing downlink packets to the UE using the one or more service data flows for the preferred RAT type if the preferred RAT type is available.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a policy related rule for a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE is accessing an access point name (APN) using a first radio access technology (RAT) type associated with a first default bearer for the UE and wherein the policy related rule is associated with the UE accessing the APN using a second RAT type; and

binding the policy related rule to a second default bearer for the UE to access the APN, wherein the second default bearer for the UE is associated with the second RAT type.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second RAT type is associated with one of an evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or a wireless local access network (WLAN) and wherein the second RAT type is different than the first RAT type.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

identifying a preferred RAT type for the UE; and

routing one or more downlink packets to the UE using the first default bearer or the second default bearer according to the preferred RAT type.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

accepting one or more uplink packets for the UE using either the first default bearer or the second default bearer, wherein the accepting is performed independent of the preferred RAT type.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

updating a mobility context for the UE to include the second default bearer and its associated RAT type.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the policy related rule matches an existing bearer for the UE based, at least in part, on the second RAT type associated with the policy related rule;

creating a new bearer for the UE if the policy related rule does not match an existing bearer for the UE; and

modifying an existing bearer for the UE if the policy related rule does match the existing bearer for the UE.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining includes determining whether a set of policy related rule parameters matches a corresponding set of parameters for an existing bearer.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the set of policy related rule parameters include, at least in part, a quality of service (QoS) class identifier (QCI), an allocation and retention policy (ARP) or an evolved ARP (eARP) and the second RAT type.

9. One or more non-transitory tangible media encoding logic that includes instructions for execution that when executed by a processor, is operable to perform operations comprising:

receiving a policy related rule for a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE is accessing an access point name (APN) using a first radio access technology (RAT) type associated with a first default bearer for the UE and wherein the policy related rule is associated with the UE accessing the APN using a second RAT type; and

binding the policy related rule to a second default bearer for the UE to access the APN, wherein the second default bearer for the UE is associated with the second RAT type.

10. The media of claim 9, wherein the second RAT type is associated with one of an evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or a wireless local access network (WLAN) and wherein the second RAT type is different than the first RAT type.

11. The media of claim 10, the operations further comprising:

identifying a preferred RAT type for the UE; and

routing one or more downlink packets to the UE using the first default bearer or the second default bearer according to the preferred RAT type.

12. The media of claim 11, the operations further comprising:

accepting one or more uplink packets for the UE using either the first default bearer or the second default bearer, wherein the accepting is performed independent of the preferred RAT type.

13. The media of claim 11, the operations further comprising:

updating a mobility context for the UE to include the second default bearer and its associated RAT type.

14. The media of claim 9, the operations further comprising:

determining whether the policy related rule matches an existing bearer for the UE based, at least in part, on the second RAT type associated with the policy related rule;

creating a new bearer for the UE if the policy related rule does not match an existing bearer for the UE; and

modifying an existing bearer for the UE if the policy related rule does match the existing bearer for the UE.

15. The media of claim 14, wherein the determining includes determining whether a set of policy related rule parameters matches a corresponding set of parameters for an existing bearer.

16. The media of claim 15, wherein the set of policy related rule parameters include, at least in part, a quality of service (QoS) class identifier (QCI), an allocation and retention policy (ARP) or an evolved ARP (eARP) and the second RAT type.

17. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory element for storing data; and

a processor that executes instructions associated with the data, wherein the processor and the memory element cooperate such that the apparatus is configured for;

receiving a policy related rule for a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE is accessing an access point name (APN) using a first radio access technology (RAT) type associated with a first default bearer for the UE and wherein the policy related rule is associated with the UE accessing the APN using a second RAT type; and

binding the policy related rule to a second default bearer for the UE to access the APN, wherein the second default bearer for the UE is associated with the second RAT type.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the second RAT type is associated with one of an evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or a wireless local access network (WLAN) and wherein the second RAT type is different than the first RAT type.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the apparatus is further configured for:

identifying a preferred RAT type for the UE; and

routing one or more downlink packets to the UE using the first default bearer or the second default bearer according to the preferred RAT type.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the apparatus is further configured for:

accepting one or more uplink packets for the UE using either the first default bearer or the second default bearer, wherein the accepting is performed independent of the preferred RAT type.