System and method for provisioning flows in a mobile network environment

• US 9,331,948 B2
• Filed: 10/16/2013
• Issued: 05/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Subramanian, Kowsalya, Subramanian, Jegan Kumar Somi Ramasamy, Dhayalan, Manikandan, Andhavaram, Rajesh Kumar, Sivasubramanian, Girish, Venekataswami, Balaji Venkat
• Primary Examiner(s): Taha, Shaq
• Application Number:
  US14/055,427
• Publication Number:
  US 20140043971A1
• Time in Patent Office: 930 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/24 Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 Setup of transport tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections

Abstract

An example method is provided and includes receiving a request from a mobile node for an Internet protocol (IP) address and establishing a point-to-point (PPP) link for the mobile node. The method also includes provisioning a first tunnel associated with a first communication flow for the mobile node, and provisioning a sub-tunnel with the first tunnel for a second communication flow. The second communication flow is associated with a high priority type of data to be transported on the sub-tunnel. In more specific embodiments, a call admission control (CAC) mechanism is used to establish the sub-tunnel with the first tunnel for the second communication flow. Additionally, an inner label is installed in a header of a packet associated with the second communication flow in order to identify the sub-tunnel.

Claims

1. A method for provisioning communication flows in a network environment, comprising:

maintaining, at a access gateway, an array of guaranteed-bandwidth traffic-engineered (GBTE) tunnels;

deducing quality of service parameters for a communication flow associated with a mobile device;

applying, using a call admission control (CAC) mechanism, the quality of service parameters deduced for the communication flow against the array of GBTE tunnels to gain admittance into a particular GBTE tunnel in the array of GBTE tunnels; and

provisioning a sub-tunnel to transport the communication flow within the particular GBTE tunnel, wherein the particular GBTE tunnel has the capacity to carry the communication flow.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the CAC mechanism is applied in a round robin fashion against the array of GBTE tunnels.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein applying the quality of service parameters against the array of GBTE tunnels comprises:

applying the quality of service parameters against a first indexed GBTE tunnel in the array of GBTE tunnels;

when the first indexed GBTE tunnel is unable to provide the capacity to carry the communication flow; and

applying the quality of service parameters against a second indexed GBTE tunnel in the array of GBTE tunnels, wherein the second indexed GBTE tunnel is under-occupied.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein an inner label is installed in a header of a packet associated with the communication flow in order to identify the sub-tunnel within the particular GBTE tunnel.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular GBTE tunnel is an aggregated GBTE tunnel shared by multiple sub-tunnels.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the sub-tunnel can consume part of the bandwidth of the particular GBTE tunnel.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sub-tunnel has a designated quality of service requirement for carrying a specific sub-flow derived from the particular GBTE tunnel.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein an outer label is installed in a header of a packet associated with the communication flow to signify the deduced traffic parameters.

9. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media that includes code for execution and when executed by a processor operable to perform operations for provisioning communication flows in a network environment comprising:

maintaining, at a access gateway, an array of guaranteed-bandwidth traffic-engineered (GBTE) tunnels;

deducing quality of service parameters for a communication flow associated with a mobile device;

applying, using a call admission control (CAC) mechanism, the quality of service parameters deduced for the communication flow against the array of GBTE tunnels to gain admittance into a particular GBTE tunnel in the array of GBTE tunnels; and

provisioning a sub-tunnel to transport the communication flow within the particular GBTE tunnel, wherein the particular GBTE tunnel has the capacity to carry the communication flow.

10. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the CAC mechanism is applied in a round robin fashion against the array of GBTE tunnels.

11. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein applying the quality of service parameters against the array of GBTE tunnels comprises:

applying the quality of service parameters against a first indexed GBTE tunnel in the array of GBTE tunnels;

when the first indexed GBTE tunnel is unable to provide the capacity to carry the communication flow; and

applying the quality of service parameters against a second indexed GBTE tunnel in the array of GBTE tunnels, wherein the second indexed GBTE tunnel is under-occupied.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein an inner label is installed in a header of a packet associated with the communication flow to identify the sub-tunnel within the particular GBTE tunnel.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the particular GBTE tunnel is an aggregated GBTE tunnel shared by multiple sub-tunnels.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the sub-tunnel can consume part of the bandwidth of the particular GBTE tunnel.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the sub-tunnel has a designated quality of service requirement for carrying a specific sub-flow derived from the particular GBTE tunnel.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein an outer label is installed in a header of a packet associated with the communication flow to signify the deduced traffic parameters.

17. An apparatus for provisioning communication flows in a network environment, comprising:

a memory element configured to store electronic code;

a processor operable to execute instructions associated with the electronic code; and

a quality of service module configured to interface with the processor and the memory element such that the apparatus can;

maintain, at a access gateway, an array of guaranteed-bandwidth traffic-engineered (GBTE) tunnels;

deduce quality of service parameters for a communication flow associated with a mobile device;

apply, using a call admission control (CAC) mechanism, the quality of service parameters deduced for the communication flow against the array of GBTE tunnels to gain admittance into a particular GBTE tunnel in the array of GBTE tunnels; and

provision a sub-tunnel to transport the communication flow within the particular GBTE tunnel, wherein the particular GBTE tunnel has the capacity to carry the communication flow.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the CAC mechanism is applied in a round robin fashion against the array of GBTE tunnels.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein applying the quality of service parameters against the array of GBTE tunnels comprises:

applying the quality of service parameters against a first indexed GBTE tunnel in the array of GBTE tunnels;

when the first indexed GBTE tunnel is unable to provide the capacity to carry the communication flow; and

applying the quality of service parameters against a second indexed GBTE tunnel in the array of GBTE tunnels, wherein the second indexed GBTE tunnel is under-occupied.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein an inner label is installed in a header of a packet associated with the communication flow in order to identify the sub-tunnel within the particular GBTE tunnel.