US 11,627,492 B2Granted

User plane function (UPF) load balancing based on special considerations for low latency traffic

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.

Claims15

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 whether traffic of the PDU session is identified as low latency and a location of the new UE, wherein the selecting a UPF of the plurality of UPFs on which to anchor the PDU session includes:
determining whether the traffic of the PDU session is identified as low latency;
if traffic of the PDU session is identified as low latency, then selecting a UPF having a closet associated location to a current location of the new UE;
and
if traffic of the PDU session is not identified as low latency, then selecting a UPF based on the location of the new UE and 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.

14 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 whether traffic of the PDU session is identified as low latency and a location of the new UE, wherein the selection of the UPF is based on dedicating a percentage of capacity of each UPF of the plurality of UPFs to a low-latency traffic of PDU sessions;
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 whether traffic of the PDU session is identified as low latency and a location of the new UE, wherein the selecting a UPF of the plurality of UPFs on which to anchor the PDU session includes:
if each UPF of the plurality of UPFs is identified as currently having a current load falling within a low load-region defined by a current load below a particular threshold, the selecting a UPF having a closet associated location to a current location of the new UE;
and
anchoring the PDU session of the new UE to the selected UPF.

8 more elements

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

maintaining a plurality of load threshold 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 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 on 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 whether traffic of the PDU session is identified as low latency and a location of the new UE, wherein the selecting a UPF of the plurality of UPFs on which to anchor the PDU session includes:
determining whether the traffic of the PDU session is identified as low latency;
if traffic of the PDU session is identified as low latency, then selecting a UPF having a closest associated location to a current location of the new UE;
and
if traffic of the PDU session is not identified as low latency, then selecting a UPF based on the location of the new UE and 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.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/458,120Filed 26 Aug 2021
Published: US 2023/0067535 A12 Mar 2023
Granted: 11 Apr 2023
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

H04W 28/088
Load balancing or load distribution: among core entities
H04W 28/0975
Quality of Service [QoS] parameters: for reducing delays
H04W 28/084
Load balancing or load distribution: among network function virtualisation [NFV] entities; among edge computing entities, e.g. multi-access edge…
H04W 28/0908
Management thereof: based on time, e.g. for a critical period only