Back to results
US 11,115,274 B2Granted
Upgrading of a mobile network function
AssigneeHuawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
InventorsShaoji Ni, Francis Pak Kwan Tam
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A traffic handling decision method, a network entity, a computer readable medium, and a traffic handling decision apparatus relate to upgrading a network service function within a mobile communication network. In this context the traffic handling decision apparatus distributes incoming request of the control plane to instances implementing the mobile network function either according to the current software version or an upgraded software version.
Claims20
A traffic handling decision apparatus for use in a network entity of a mobile communication system, wherein the traffic handling decision apparatus comprises:
- a receiver configured to receive control plane traffic, wherein the control plane traffic comprises requests to a mobile network function, and wherein the traffic handling decision apparatus is provided within an instance implementing the mobile network function according to a current software version;
- and
- a processor coupled to the receiver and configured to:
- create at least one first instance implementing the mobile network function according to an upgraded software version;
- provide at least one second instance implementing the mobile network function according to the current software version, wherein the first instance and the second instance each comprise an application implementing the mobile network function, platform software for a service, and an operating system running on the traffic handling decision apparatus;
- decide, based on one or more policies, whether each of the requests to the mobile network function is to be processed by at least one of the second instances or by at least one of the first instances, and wherein the one or more policies define a set of rules and comprise:
- a first policy according to which requests of the control plane traffic related to a new bearer or session are to be routed to at least one of the first instances;
- and
- a second policy according to which requests of the control plane traffic related to an established bearer or session are to be routed to at least one of the second instances;
- route one or more of the requests to either at least one of the first instances or at least one of the second instances based on a decision whether each of the requests is to be processed by at least one of the second instances or by at least one of the first instances;
- add at least one additional first instance to increase a serving capacity of the upgraded software version;
- and
- decrease at least one of the second instances to reduce a serving capacity of the current software version.
10 more elements
A method for upgrading a current software version implementing a mobile network function without disrupting on-going bearers or sessions, comprising:
- providing the mobile network function at a network entity by executing one or more instances implementing the mobile network function according to the current software version;
- adding at least one instance implementing the mobile network function at the network entity according to an upgraded software version;
- receiving, at the one or more instances implementing the mobile network function according to the current software version, control plane traffic comprising requests to the mobile network function;
- routing one or more of the requests within the control plane traffic from at least one second instance of the one or more instances of the current software version to at least one first instance of the at least one instance implementing the mobile network function according to the upgraded software version according to one or more policies, and wherein the one or more policies define a set of rules and comprise:
- a first policy according to which requests of the control plane traffic related to a new bearer or session are to be routed to at least one of the first instances;
- and
- a second policy according to which requests of the control plane traffic related to an established bearer or session are to be routed to at least one of the second instances;
- processing, at each of the instances implementing the mobile network function according to the upgraded software version and at each of the instances implementing the mobile network function according to the current software version, the requests received at the respective instances;
- adding at least one additional first instance to increase a serving capacity of the upgraded software version;
- and
- decreasing at least one of the second instances to reduce a serving capacity of the current software version.
8 more elements
A network entity capable of upgrading a current software version implementing a mobile network function without disrupting on-going bearers or sessions, comprising:
- a processor configured to:
- execute at least one first instance implementing the mobile network function according to the current software version;
- and
- execute at least one second instance implementing the mobile network function at the network entity according to an upgraded software version;
- and
- a transceiver coupled to the processor and configured to receive, at the at least one of the first instances implementing the mobile network function according to the current software version, control plane traffic comprising requests to the mobile network function, wherein the processor is further configured to:
- route one or more of the requests within the control plane traffic from at least one of the second instances to the at least one of the first instances according to one or more policies, and wherein the one or more policies define a set of rules and comprise:
- a first policy according to which requests of the control plane traffic related to a new bearer or session that is to be established after activation of the first policy are to be routed to at least one of the first instances;
- and
- a second policy according to which requests of the control plane traffic related to an established bearer or session established prior to activation of the second policy are to be routed to at least one of the second instances;
- process, at each of the instances implementing the upgraded software version and at each of the instances implementing the current software version, the requests received at the respective instances;
- add at least one additional first instance to increase a serving capacity of the upgraded software version;
- and
- decrease at least one of the second instances to reduce a serving capacity of the current software version.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.