Method and system for facilitating service level continuity

• US 9,210,621 B1
• Filed: 09/23/2013
• Issued: 12/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Bertz, Lyle T., Hirschman, C. Brent, Shipley, Trevor D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chou, Albert T
• Application Number:
  US14/033,951
• Time in Patent Office: 806 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0022 for transferring data sessions between adjacent core network technologies

Abstract

A method and corresponding system to help maintain continuity of service level for a client device, such as where the client device is being served by an access network in accordance with a set of policy rules and the client device is going to stop being served by that access network and may then be served by another network. To help provide service continuity, the serving access network may detect that the client device is going to stop being served by the access network, and, responsively but before the client device stops being served by the access network, the access network or another entity may provision the client device with one or more service policy rules that the client device itself may then apply when the client device is no longer being served by the access network, such as when the client device is being served by another network instead.

Claims

1. A method to facilitate service level continuity for a client device, the method comprising:

serving the client device with telecommunication service, by an access network, wherein the access network maintains and applies for the client device a set of service policy rules defining a service level for the client device;

detecting by the access network that the client device is going to stop being served by the access network; and

responsive to the detecting but before the client device stops being served by the access network, provisioning the client device with a subset of the service policy rules for application by the client device when the client device is no longer being served by the access network,

wherein provisioning the client device with the subset of the service policy rules comprises transmitting by the access network to the client device the subset of the service policy rules, for storage of the subset of the service policy rules at the client device and application of the subset of the service policy rules by the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the client device comprises a wireless communication device, and wherein transmitting the subset of the service policy rules to the client device comprises transmitting to the client device a trigger that causes the client device to download the subset of service policy rules from a network server.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of service policy rules includes (i) one or more service policy rules specific to the access network and (ii) one or more service policy rules not specific to the access network, and wherein the subset of the service policy rules is the one or more service policy rules not specific to the access network.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising selecting the subset of the service policy rules from the set of service policy rules.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the access network comprises a base station wirelessly serving the client device, and wherein detecting that the client device is going to stop being served by the access network comprises detecting that the base station is threshold loaded, the method further comprising:

after provisioning the client device with the subset of the service policy rules, signaling to the client device to cause the client device to stop being served by the access network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting that the client device is going to stop being served by the access network comprises receiving a deregistration message indicating that the client device is leaving service of the access network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting that the client device is going to stop being served by the access network comprises detecting by the network that the client device is going to hand off from being served by the access network to being served by a target network.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after provisioning the client device with the subset of the service policy rules, signaling to the client device to cause the client device to stop being served by the access network.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after the client device stops being served by the access network, (i) detecting by the access network resumption of the client device being served by the access network and (ii) receiving by the access network from the client device at least one service policy rule of the subset of the service policy rules with which the client device was provisioned; and

then serving the client device with telecommunication service, by the access network, based on the received service policy rule.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein serving the client device with telecommunication service based on the received service policy rule comprises:

comparing the received service policy rule with a service policy rule currently maintained by the access network for the client device; and

based on the comparing, selecting by the access network either the at least one service policy rule or the currently maintained service policy rule; and

applying the selected service policy rule for the client device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the comparing comprises determining whether the currently maintained service policy rule is a newer version than the received service policy rule, and wherein selecting based on the comparing comprises selecting based on whether the currently maintained service policy rule is a newer version that the received service policy rule.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the comparing comprises determining whether the currently maintained service policy rule is more permissive than the received service policy rule, and wherein selecting based on the comparing comprises selecting based on whether the currently maintained service policy rule is more permissive than the received service policy rule.

13. An access network comprising:

one or more wireless base stations;

a gateway being configured to serve a wireless client device with telecommunication service in accordance with a set of service policy rules for the wireless client device, wherein the set of service policy rules define a service level for the wireless client device;

a processing unit;

data storage; and

program instructions stored in the data storage and executable by the processing unit to carry out functions comprising;

detecting, when the client device is being served by the access network, that the client device is going to stop being served by the access network, and

responsive to detecting that the client device is going to stop being served by the access network but before the client device stops being served by the access network, provisioning the client device with a subset of the service policy rules, for application by the client device when the client device is no longer being served by the access network,

wherein provisioning the wireless client device with the subset of the service policy rules comprises transmitting the subset of the service policy rules to the wireless client device for storage at and application by the wireless client device.

14. The access network of claim 13, wherein the access network is a Long Term Evolution (LTE) access network, wherein the wireless client device is an LTE-capable client device, wherein the gateway comprises a packet gateway (PGW) that provides the wireless client device with connectivity to a packet-switched network when the wireless client device is served by at least one of the one or more base stations, wherein the processing unit and data storage are elements of a policy charging and rules function (PCRF), and wherein the PCRF supplies the PGW with the set of service policy rules defining the service level for the wireless client device.

15. The access network of claim 14,

wherein the set of service policy rules includes (i) one or more service policy rules specific to the LTE access network and (ii) one or more service policy rules not specific to the LTE access network, and

wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processing unit to select as the subset of the service policy rules with which to provision the wireless client device the one or more service policy rules not specific to the LTE access network.

16. The access network of claim 14, whether the functions further comprise:

detecting, after the wireless client device stops being served by the access network, that the wireless client device is resuming being served by the access network,

receiving from the wireless client device resuming being served by the access network at least one service policy rule of the subset of the service policy rules with which the access network had provisioned the client device,

comparing the received service policy rule with a service policy rule currently maintained by the access network for the wireless client device,

based on the comparing, selecting either the received service policy rule or the currently maintained service policy rule, and

causing the access network to serve the wireless client device in accordance with the selected service policy rule rather than in accordance with the other of the received service policy rule and currently maintained service policy rule.

17. The access network of claim 14, wherein the functions further comprise:

after provisioning the wireless client device with the subset of the service policy rules, signaling to the wireless client device to cause the wireless client device to stop being served by the access network.