# US 10,772,005 B2 · Systems and methods for tracking and calculating network usage in a network with multiple user plane functions

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- Number: US 10,772,005 B2
- Document ID: US10772005B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/526,420
- Filed: 2019-07-30
- Published: 2020-01-16
- Granted: 2020-09-08
- Earliest claimed: 2018-04-24
- Assignees: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc.
- Applicants: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc.
- Inventors: Lixia Yan; Marc Chiaverini; Barry F. Hoffner; Ho Yin Cheuk
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10772005B2

## CPC

- H04W 24/10: Scheduling measurement reports {; Arrangements for measurement reports}
- H04L 12/14: Charging, metering or billing arrangements specially adapted for data communications, e.g. authentication, authorisation and accounting [AAA] framework
- H04L 12/1403: {Architecture for metering, charging or billing}
- H04L 12/141: {Indication of costs}
- H04L 47/125: by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
- H04L 47/20: Traffic policing
- H04L 47/22: Traffic shaping
- H04L 47/28: in relation to timing considerations
- H04L 47/32: by discarding or delaying data units, e.g. packets or frames
- H04M 15/58: {based on statistics of usage or network monitoring}
- H04W 4/24: Accounting or billing
- H04W 28/0242: {Determining whether packet losses are due to overload or to deterioration of radio communication conditions}
- H04W 36/22: for handling the traffic
- H04W 48/06: based on traffic conditions
- H04W 76/11: Allocation or use of connection identifiers
- H04W 8/18: Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
- H04W 24/08: Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic
- H04W 76/12: Setup of transport tunnels
- H04W 88/06: adapted for operation in multiple networks {or having at least two operational modes}, e.g. multi-mode terminals
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08)

## Abstract

A system described herein may provide a mechanism for accurately tracking data usage across multiple User Plane Function (“UPF”) devices in a telecommunications network. For example, different types of traffic may be handled by UPFs (e.g., may be dropped or forwarded), and the UPFs may be able to report the dropping of specific types of traffic, without needing to perform deep packet inspection (“DPI”). Header information may be passed from an upstream UPF to a downstream UPF with the traffic, where the header information indicates rules and/or policies that were applied by the upstream UPF. The downstream UPF may identify the rules and/or policies from the upstream UPF, and may use this information when reporting usage to a Session Management Function (“SMF”).

## Claims

### Claim 1

A network device, comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of processor-executable instructions; and
one or more processors configured to execute the set of processor-executable instructions, wherein executing the set of processor-executable instructions causes the one or more processors to:
receive, by the network device, traffic via a General Packet Radio Service (“GPRS”) Tunneling Protocol (“GTP”) tunnel;
identify, by the network device, without performing deep packet inspection (“DPI”), that:
a first set of traffic, included in the traffic received via the GTP tunnel, is a first type of traffic, and
a second set of traffic, included in the traffic received via the GTP tunnel, is a second type of traffic;
forward, by the network device, to one or more other devices, and in accordance with a particular rule, only a first subset of the first type of traffic and only a second subset of the second type of traffic; and
report, by the network device and to a second network device of the wireless telecommunications network:
a first amount of the first type of traffic, in the first subset, that was forwarded by the network device,
a second amount of the second type of traffic, in the second subset, that was forwarded by the network device, and
an indication of the particular rule that was used to forward only the first subset of the first type of traffic and only the second subset of the second type of traffic.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The network device of claim 1, wherein the network device is a first User Plane Function (“UPF”) of a wireless telecommunications network, and wherein the traffic is received via the GTP tunnel from a second UPF of the telecommunications network.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The network device of claim 2, wherein the second UPF drops at least some traffic of the first type of traffic before providing the traffic to the first UPF.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The network device of claim 2,
wherein at least some of the first type of traffic has been dropped by the second UPF, in accordance with a first set of rules, before providing the traffic to the first UPF, and
wherein at least some of the second type of traffic has been dropped by the second UPF, in accordance with a second set of rules, before providing the traffic to the first UPF,
wherein the report by the first UPF allows the other network device to determine:
a first usage amount, of the first type of traffic, that was used across the first and second UPFs, and
a second usage amount, of the second type of traffic, that was used across the first and second UPFs.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The network device of claim 1, wherein the GTP tunnel is a first GTP tunnel, wherein executing the processor-executable instructions, to forward the first and second subsets of the first and second types of traffic, respectively, further causes the one or more processors to:
forward the first and second subsets of the first and second types of traffic, respectively, via a second GTP tunnel, in conjunction with GTP header information identifying the particular rule.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The network device of claim 1, wherein the particular rule is a first rule, wherein the network device is a first User Plane Function (“UPF”) of a wireless telecommunications network,
wherein executing the processor-executable instructions, to identify that the first set of traffic is the first type of traffic, further causes the one or more processors to identify that the first type of traffic is associated with a second rule that has been applied by a second UPF of the wireless telecommunications network before the first UPF receives the first set of traffic, and
wherein executing the processor-executable instructions, to identify that the first set of traffic is the first type of traffic, further causes the one or more processors to identify that the first type of traffic is associated with a second rule that has been applied by a second UPF before the first UPF receives the first set of traffic.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The network device of claim 1, wherein the network device is a first User Plane Function (“UPF”) of a wireless telecommunications network,
wherein executing the processor-executable instructions, to identify that the first set of traffic is the first type of traffic, further causes the one or more processors to identify that the first type of traffic is associated with a second rule that has been applied by a second UPF of the wireless telecommunications network before the first UPF receives the first set of traffic, and
wherein executing the processor-executable instructions, to identify that the first set of traffic is the first type of traffic, further causes the one or more processors to identify that the first type of traffic is associated with a second rule that has been applied by the second UPF before the first UPF receives the first set of traffic.

### Claim 8

A non-transitory computer-readable medium, storing a set of processor-executable instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors of a network device, cause the one or more processors to:
receive traffic via a General Packet Radio Service (“GPRS”) Tunneling Protocol (“GTP”) tunnel;
identify, without performing deep packet inspection (“DPI”), that:
a first set of traffic, included in the traffic received via the GTP tunnel, is a first type of traffic, and
a second set of traffic, included in the traffic received via the GTP tunnel, is a second type of traffic;
forward, to one or more other devices and in accordance with a particular rule, only a first subset of the first type of traffic and only a second subset of the second type of traffic; and
report, to a second network device of the wireless telecommunications network:
a first amount of the first type of traffic, in the first subset, that was forwarded by the network device,
a second amount of the second type of traffic, in the second subset, that was forwarded by the network device, and
an indication of the particular rule that was used to forward only the first subset of the first type of traffic and only the second subset of the second type of traffic.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the traffic is received via the GTP tunnel from a User Plane Function (“UPF”) of the telecommunications network.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the UPF drops at least some traffic of the first type of traffic before providing the traffic to the network device.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9,
wherein at least some of the first type of traffic has been dropped by the UPF, in accordance with a first set of rules, before providing the traffic to the network device, and
wherein at least some of the second type of traffic has been dropped by the UPF, in accordance with a second set of rules, before providing the traffic to the network device,
wherein the report by the network device allows the other network device to determine:
a first usage amount, of the first type of traffic, that was used across the network device and the UPF, and
a second usage amount, of the second type of traffic, that was used across the network device and the UPF.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the GTP tunnel is a first GTP tunnel, wherein executing the processor-executable instructions, to forward the first and second subsets of the first and second types of traffic, respectively, further causes the one or more processors to:
forward the first and second subsets of the first and second types of traffic, respectively, via a second GTP tunnel, in conjunction with GTP header information identifying the particular rule.

### Claim 13 (depends on 8)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the particular rule is a first rule,
wherein executing the processor-executable instructions, to identify that the first set of traffic is the first type of traffic, further causes the one or more processors to identify that the first type of traffic is associated with a second rule that has been applied by a User Plane Function (“UPF”) of the wireless telecommunications network before the network device receives the first set of traffic, and
wherein executing the processor-executable instructions, to identify that the first set of traffic is the first type of traffic, further causes the one or more processors to identify that the first type of traffic is associated with a second rule that has been applied by the UPF before the network device receives the first set of traffic.

### Claim 14 (depends on 8)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8,
wherein executing the processor-executable instructions, to identify that the first set of traffic is the first type of traffic, further causes the one or more processors to identify that the first type of traffic is associated with a second rule that has been applied by a User Plane Function (“UPF”) of the wireless telecommunications network before the network device receives the first set of traffic, and
wherein executing the processor-executable instructions, to identify that the first set of traffic is the first type of traffic, further causes the one or more processors to identify that the first type of traffic is associated with a second rule that has been applied by the UPF before the network device receives the first set of traffic.

### Claim 15

A method, comprising:
receiving, by a network device, traffic via a General Packet Radio Service (“GPRS”) Tunneling Protocol (“GTP”) tunnel;
identifying, by the network device, and without performing deep packet inspection (“DPI”), that:
a first set of traffic, included in the traffic received via the GTP tunnel, is a first type of traffic, and
a second set of traffic, included in the traffic received via the GTP tunnel, is a second type of traffic;
forwarding, by the network device, to one or more other devices, and in accordance with a particular rule, only a first subset of the first type of traffic and only a second subset of the second type of traffic; and
reporting, by the network device and to a second network device of the wireless telecommunications network:
a first amount of the first type of traffic, in the first subset, that was forwarded by the network device,
a second amount of the second type of traffic, in the second subset, that was forwarded by the network device, and
an indication of the particular rule that was used to forward only the first subset of the first type of traffic and only the second subset of the second type of traffic.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the traffic is received via the GTP tunnel from a User Plane Function (“UPF”) of the telecommunications network.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16,
wherein at least some of the first type of traffic has been dropped by the UPF, in accordance with a first set of rules, before providing the traffic to the network device, and
wherein at least some of the second type of traffic has been dropped by the UPF, in accordance with a second set of rules, before providing the traffic to the network device,
wherein the report by the network device allows the other network device to determine:
a first usage amount, of the first type of traffic, that was used across the network device and the UPF, and
a second usage amount, of the second type of traffic, that was used across the network device and the UPF.

### Claim 18 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the GTP tunnel is a first GTP tunnel, wherein forwarding the first and second subsets of the first and second types of traffic, respectively, includes:
forwarding the first and second subsets of the first and second types of traffic, respectively, via a second GTP tunnel, in conjunction with GTP header information identifying the particular rule.

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the particular rule is a first rule,
wherein identifying that the first set of traffic is the first type of traffic includes identifying that the first type of traffic is associated with a second rule that has been applied by a User Plane Function (“UPF”) of the wireless telecommunications network before the network device receives the first set of traffic, and
wherein identifying that the first set of traffic is the first type of traffic includes identifying that the first type of traffic is associated with a second rule that has been applied by the UPF before the network device receives the first set of traffic.

### Claim 20 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15,
wherein identifying that the first set of traffic is the first type of traffic includes identifying that the first type of traffic is associated with a second rule that has been applied by a User Plane Function (“UPF”) of the wireless telecommunications network before the network device receives the first set of traffic, and
wherein identifying that the first set of traffic is the first type of traffic includes identifying that the first type of traffic is associated with a second rule that has been applied by the UPF before the network device receives the first set of traffic.