US 11,582,641 B1Granted

User plane function (UPF) load balancing based on current UPF load and thresholds that depend on UPF capacity

AssigneeDISH Wireless L.L.C.

InventorsMehdi Alasti, Kazi Bashir, Ash Khamas, Ashish Bansal, Siddhartha Chenumolu

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Abstract

Embodiments are directed towards systems and methods for user plane function (UPF) and network slice load balancing within a 5G network. Example embodiments include systems and methods for load balancing based on current UPF load and thresholds that depend on UPF capacity; UPF load balancing using predicted throughput of new UE on the network based on network data analytics; UPF load balancing based on special considerations for low latency traffic; UPF load balancing supporting multiple slices, maintaining several load-thresholds for each UPF and each slice depending on the UPF and network slice capacity; and UPF load balancing using predicted central processing unit (CPU) utilization and/or predicted memory utilization of new UE on the network based on network data analytics.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A system, comprising:

a memory that stores computer instructions;
and
a processor that executes the computer instructions to perform actions, the actions including:
maintaining a plurality of load thresholds for each user plane function (UPF) of a plurality of UPFs in a cellular telecommunication network, wherein:
the plurality of UPFs serve as anchor points between user equipment (UE) in the cellular telecommunication network and a data network (DN);
each UPF of the plurality of UPFs is a virtual network function responsible for interconnecting packet data unit (PDU) sessions between the user equipment (UE) and the DN by anchoring the PDU sessions on individual UPFs;
the plurality of load thresholds for each UPF depend on a respective capacity of each UPF to have PDU sessions anchored thereon;
and
an amount of load put on a UPF by a UE appearing in the cellular telecommunication network is assumed to be identical for all UEs appearing in the cellular telecommunication network;
receiving a request to anchor on a UPF a PDU session of a new UE newly appearing on the cellular telecommunication network;
selecting a UPF of the plurality of UPFs on which to anchor the PDU session based on a location of the new UE and determined load-regions for each UPF of the plurality of UPFs defined by the plurality of load thresholds;
and
anchoring the PDU session of the new UE to the selected UPF.

10 more elements

A method, comprising:

electronically maintaining a plurality of load thresholds for each user plane function (UPF) of a plurality of UPFs in a cellular telecommunication network, wherein:
the plurality of UPFs serve as anchor points between user equipment (UE) in the cellular telecommunication network and a data network (DN);
each UPF of the plurality of UPFs is a virtual network function responsible for interconnecting packet data unit (PDU) sessions between the user equipment (UE) and the DN by anchoring the PDU sessions on individual UPFs;
the plurality of load thresholds for each UPF depend on a respective capacity of each UPF to have PDU sessions anchored thereon;
and
an amount of load put on a UPF by a UE appearing in the cellular telecommunication network is assumed to be identical for all UEs appearing in the cellular telecommunication network;
electronically receiving a request to anchor on a UPF a PDU session of a new UE newly appearing on the cellular telecommunication network;
electronically selecting a UPF of the plurality of UPFs on which to anchor the PDU session based on a location of the new UE and determined load-regions for each UPF of the plurality of UPFs defined by the plurality of load thresholds;
and
electronically anchoring the PDU session of the new UE to the selected UPF.

7 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one computer processor, cause actions to be performed including:

maintaining a plurality of load thresholds for each user plane function (UPF) of a plurality of UPFs in a cellular telecommunication network, wherein:
the plurality of UPFs serve as anchor points between user equipment (UE) in the cellular telecommunication network and a data network (DN);
each UPF of the plurality of UPFs is a virtual network function responsible for interconnecting packet data unit (PDU) sessions between the user equipment (UE) and the DN by anchoring the PDU sessions on individual UPFs;
the plurality of load thresholds for each UPF depend on a respective capacity of each UPF to have PDU sessions anchored thereon;
and
an amount of load put on a UPF by a UE appearing in the cellular telecommunication network is assumed to be identical for all UEs appearing in the cellular telecommunication network;
receiving a request to anchor on a UPF a PDU session of a new UE newly appearing on the cellular telecommunication network;
selecting a UPF of the plurality of UPFs on which to anchor the PDU session based on a location of the new UE and determined load-regions for each UPF of the plurality of UPFs defined by the plurality of load thresholds;
and
anchoring the PDU session of the new UE to the selected UPF.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/400,943Filed 12 Aug 2021
Published: US 2023/0046764 A116 Feb 2023
Granted: 14 Feb 2023
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification16 codes

H04W 40/246
Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update: connectivity information discovery
H04W 72/52
Allocation or scheduling criteria for wireless resources: based on load
H04L 67/1008
Server selection for load balancing: based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload
H04L 67/1021
Server selection for load balancing: based on client or server locations