US 10,856,158 B2Granted

Network resource function supporting multi-region querying

AssigneeT-Mobile USA, Inc.

InventorsSalvador Mendoza, Muhammad Waqar Afzal, Muhammad Adnan Farooq, Suresh Thanneeru, Suliman Albasheir, Rahul Pal

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Abstract

A system, e.g., associated with a telecommunications network, includes first and second registry devices. In some examples, the first registry device receives a registration message. The second registry device receives a query specifying a type (NFType) of a network function and forwards the query to the first registry device based at least in part on the NFType. The first registry device responds, and the second registry device forwards the response. In some examples, the query specifies a service class and the second registry device forwards the query based at least in part on the service class. In some examples, the first registry device sends an indication of the registration to the second registry device, and the second registry device responds to the query based at least in part on the received indication and on at least one of an NFType or a service class of the query.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A system, wherein:

the system comprises:
a first registry device comprising:
a first communications interface;
a first computer-readable medium configured to hold a first registration datastore;
and
a first control unit configured to perform first operations;
and
a second registry device comprising:
a second communications interface;
a second computer-readable medium configured to hold a forwarding criterion;
and
a second control unit configured to perform second operations;
the first operations comprise:
receiving, via the first communications interface, a registration message from a first network function (NF), the registration message specifying a first network address associated with the first NF and a first network function type (NFType) associated with the first NF;
and
adding a registration to the first registration datastore in response to the registration message, the registration associating the first NFType with the first network address;
the second operations comprise:
receiving, via the second communications interface, a first request for a network address associated with an NF, the first request specifying the first NFType;
determining that the first NFType meets the forwarding criterion;
and
in response, sending, via the second communications interface, a second request for the network address associated with the NF to the first registry device, the second request specifying the first NFType;
the first operations comprise:
receiving, via the first communications interface, the second request;
retrieving the first network address from the registration based at least in part on the first NFType in the second request;
and
sending, via the first communications interface, the first network address to the second registry device;
the second operations comprise:
receiving, via the second communications interface, the first network address;
and
sending, via the second communications interface, a reply to the first request, the reply comprising the first network address;
and
the first operations comprising:
receiving, via the first communications interface from the first NF, a third request for a second network address associated with a second NF, the third request specifying a second NFType;
retrieving the second network address from the registration datastore based at least in part on the second NFType;
and
sending, via the first communications interface, the second network address to the first NF.

33 more elements

A system, wherein:

the system comprises:
a first registry device comprising:
a first communications interface;
a first computer-readable medium configured to hold a first registration datastore;
and
a first control unit configured to perform first operations;
and
a second registry device comprising:
a second communications interface;
a second computer-readable medium configured to hold a forwarding criterion, wherein the forwarding criterion specifies a predetermined set of service classes;
and
a second control unit configured to perform second operations;
the first operations comprise:
receiving, via the first communications interface, a registration message from a first network function (NF), the registration message specifying a first network address associated with the first NF and a first network function type (NFType) associated with the first NF;
and
adding a registration to the first registration datastore in response to the registration message, the registration associating the first NFType with the first network address;
the second operations comprise:
receiving, via the second communications interface, a first request for a network address associated with an NF, the first request specifying the first NFType and associated with a first service class;
determining that the first service class meets the forwarding criterion at least partly by determining that the first service class is included in the set of service classes;
and
in response, sending, via the second communications interface, a second request for the network address associated with the NF to the first registry device, the second request specifying the first NFType;
the first operations comprise:
receiving, via the first communications interface, the second request;
retrieving the first network address from the registration based at least in part on the first NFType in the second request;
and
sending, via the first communications interface, the first network address to the second registry device;
and
the second operations comprise:
receiving, via the second communications interface, the first network address;
and
sending, via the second communications interface, a reply to the first request, the reply comprising the first network address.

28 more elements

A system, wherein:

the system comprises:
a first registry device comprising:
a first communications interface;
a first computer-readable medium configured to hold a first registration datastore;
and
a first control unit configured to perform first operations;
and
a second registry device comprising:
a second communications interface;
a second computer-readable medium configured to hold a second registration datastore;
and
a second control unit configured to perform second operations;
a third registry device comprising:
a third communications interface;
a third computer-readable medium configured to hold a forwarding criterion;
and
a third control unit configured to perform third operations;
the first operations comprise:
receiving, via the first communications interface, a registration message, the registration message specifying a first network address associated with a first network function (NF) and a first network function type (NFType) associated with the first NF;
and
adding a registration to the first registration datastore in response to the registration message, the registration associating the first NFType with the first network address;
and
sending an indication of the registration to the second registry device;
the second operations comprise:
receiving the indication of the registration from the first registry device;
adding the registration to the second registration datastore in response to the indication;
subsequently, receiving, via the second communications interface from the third registry device, a first request for a network address associated with an NF, the first request specifying the first NFType;
retrieving the first network address from the second registration datastore based at least in part on the first NFType in the first request;
and
sending, via the second communications interface, the first network address to the third registry device;
and
the third operations comprise:
receiving, via the third communications interface, a second request for a network address associated with an NF, the second request specifying the first NFType;
determining that the first NFType meets the forwarding criterion;
and
in response, sending, via the second communications interface, the first request for the network address associated with the NF to the second registry device.

33 more elements

A system, wherein:

the system comprises:
a first registry device comprising:
a first communications interface;
a first computer-readable medium configured to hold a first registration datastore;
and
a first control unit configured to perform first operations;
a second registry device comprising:
a second communications interface;
a second computer-readable medium configured to hold a second registration datastore;
and
a second control unit configured to perform second operations;
and
a third registry device comprising:
a third communications interface;
a third computer-readable medium configured to hold a forwarding criterion;
and
a third control unit configured to perform third operations;
the first operations comprise:
receiving, via the first communications interface, a registration message, the registration message specifying a first network address associated with a first network function (NF) and a first network function type (NFType) associated with the first NF;
and
adding a registration to the first registration datastore in response to the registration message, the registration associating the first NFType with the first network address;
and
sending an indication of the registration to the second registry device;
and
the second operations comprise:
receiving the indication of the registration from the first registry device;
adding the registration to the second registration datastore in response to the indication;
subsequently, receiving, via the second communications interface from the third registry device, a first request for a network address associated with an NF, the first request specifying the first NFType;
retrieving the first network address from the second registration datastore based at least in part on the first NFType in the first request;
and
sending, via the second communications interface, the first network address to the third registry device;
and
the third operations comprise:
receiving, via the third communications interface, a second request for a network address associated with an NF, the second request specifying the first NFType and associated with a first service class;
determining that the first service class meets the forwarding criterion;
and
in response, sending, via the third communications interface, the first request for the network address associated with the NF to the second registry device.

34 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/453,383Filed 26 Jun 2019 · us provisional application
Priority: 12 Mar 2019
Published: US 2020/0296606 A117 Sep 2020
Granted: 1 Dec 2020
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification9 codes

H04W 24/04
Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements: arrangements for maintaining operational condition
H04L 41/12
Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks: discovery or management…
H04L 67/1095
In which an application is distributed across nodes in the network: replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data…
H04L 41/0663
Using network fault recovery: performing the actions predefined by failover planning, e.g. switching to standby network elements