System and method associated with a service flow router

• US 9,661,522 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2012
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Koodli, Rajeev, Kavunder, Arun
• Primary Examiner(s): Yao, Kwang B
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHOWDHURY, HARUN UR R
• Application Number:
  US13/690,990
• Publication Number:
  US 20140010085A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,635 Days
• Field of Search: 370230, 370329, 370338, 370401, 370235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0215 based on user or device properties, e.g. MTC-capable devices services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] H04W4/70; wireless resource selection or allocation plan definition based on terminal or device properties H04W72/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/088 among core entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/00 Reducing energy consumption in communication networks

Abstract

A method is provided in one example embodiment and includes configuring a network element for subscriber-specific service chaining and traffic steering, where the configuring includes programming a selected service flow router user plane element with a subscriber context corresponding to a subscriber'"'"'s session at a subscriber termination function. The subscriber context comprises instructions to steer subscriber traffic through a plurality of services in a network environment.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

programming a selected service flow router user plane element corresponding to a subscriber'"'"'s session at a subscriber termination function;

steering subscriber traffic to a first service element of an ordered list of a plurality of services;

receiving an IP packet from the first service element;

forwarding the IP packet to a next service element in the ordered list, wherein the first service element and the next service element provide services at a layer between L4 to L7;

sending a message to the selected service flow router user plane element, after a termination of the subscriber'"'"'s session at the subscriber termination function; and

receiving from the selected service flow router user plane element accounting records in acknowledgement, wherein the accounting records are for the plurality of services.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected service flow router user plane element determines an Internet protocol (IP) address for a plurality of service elements for steering the subscriber traffic based on load conditions at the plurality of service elements.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected service flow router user plane element forwards packets for the subscriber'"'"'s session to a specific next-hop service element such that the subscriber traffic is not forwarded to an Internet or to another service network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected service flow router user plane element applies bandwidth limiting for the plurality of services in the ordered list.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected service flow router user plane element exports accounting records for steered services with a timestamp.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected service flow router user plane element applies bandwidth limiting for the plurality of services in the ordered list, based on a radio access type or an International Mobile Station Equipment Identity type.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected service flow router user plane element removes a subscriber state after the termination of the subscriber'"'"'s session.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the selected service flow router user plane element stops forwarding packets for an identified IP address for the subscriber'"'"'s session after removal of the subscriber state.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

discovering and registering services using a link layer discovery protocol or a Cisco discovery protocol, wherein the selected service flow router user plane element is programmed in response to receiving an indication of an establishment of the subscriber'"'"'s session at the subscriber termination function.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein upstream subscriber traffic is steered through a first ordered list of a first plurality of services and downstream subscriber traffic is steered through a second ordered list of a second plurality of services, the second ordered list being different from the first ordered list.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the programming the selected service flow router user plane element comprises specifying the ordered list of the plurality of services in a flow table of the selected service flow router user plane element.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining information indicating availability of services in a network environment from respective commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) servers and/or proprietary appliances that provide the plurality of services as the plurality of services become available, wherein each service of the plurality of services is provided by a respective COTS server or a proprietary appliance.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a message to a subscriber service proxy to delete an L4 to L7 flow state.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a Radio Access Type, if a subscriber changes an access network.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving registration information of an application from a subscriber service proxy, the registration information describing a service and including an IP address.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

providing the Radio Access Type to a subscriber service proxy.

17. Logic encoded in non-transitory media that includes code for execution and, when executed by a processor, operable to perform operations comprising:

programming a selected service flow router user plane element corresponding to a subscriber'"'"'s session at a subscriber termination function;

steering subscriber traffic to a first service element of an ordered list of a plurality of services;

receiving an IP packet from the first service element;

forwarding the IP packet to a next service element in the ordered list, wherein the first service element and the next service element provide services at a layer between L4 to L7;

sending a message to the selected service flow router user plane element, after a termination of the subscriber'"'"'s session at the subscriber termination function; and

receiving from the selected service flow router user plane element accounting records in acknowledgement, wherein the accounting records are for the plurality of services.

18. The logic of claim 17, wherein the selected service flow router user plane element determines an Internet protocol (IP) address for a plurality of service elements for steering the subscriber traffic based on load conditions at the plurality of service elements.

19. The logic of claim 17, wherein the selected service flow router user plane element forwards incoming IP packets to the first service element in the ordered list using a layer-2 (L2) or a layer-3 (L3) technology.

20. A network element, comprising:

a memory element; and

a processor operable to execute instructions such that

the network element is configured to

program a selected service flow router user plane element corresponding to a subscriber'"'"'s session at a subscriber termination function,

steer subscriber traffic to a first service element of an ordered list of a plurality of services,

receive an IP packet from the first service element,

forward the IP packet to a next service element in the ordered list, wherein the first service element and the next service element provide services at a layer between L4 to L7;

send a message to the selected service flow router user plane element, after a termination of the subscriber'"'"'s session at the subscriber termination function; and

receive from the selected service flow router user plane element accounting records in acknowledgement, wherein the accounting records are for the plurality of services.

21. The network element of claim 20, wherein the selected service flow router user plane element determines an Internet protocol (IP) address for a plurality of service elements for steering the subscriber traffic based on load conditions at the plurality of service elements.