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US 9,319,242 B2Granted
Handling traffic flows in a mobile communications network
AssigneeNokia Technologies Oy
InventorsTuija Hurtta, Ralitsa Gateva
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method includes receiving a request for establishing a communication pathway end-to-end over a network. The communication pathway includes a radio communication channel and a packet communication channel. The request identifies a plurality of traffic flows to be carried by the communication pathway and quality-of-service attributes associated with the traffic flows. At least one traffic flow is associated with at least one quality-of-service attribute determining the quality-of-service requirement for the at least one traffic flow. A quality-of-service is negotiated, based on the quality-of-service attribute, and the negotiated quality-of-service is reported.
Claims26
A method comprising:
- receiving, at a gateway node, a request for establishing a communication pathway end-to-end over a network, wherein the communication pathway includes a radio communication channel and a packet communication channel, wherein the request comprises a secondary packet data protocol context request including a plurality of flow information identifying a plurality of traffic flows to be carried by the communication pathway, wherein the request further includes quality-of-service attributes associated with the plurality of traffic flows, wherein at least one of the plurality of traffic flows is associated with at least one of the plurality of quality-of-service attributes determining a quality-of-service requirement for the at least one of the plurality of traffic flows;
- negotiating, based on the received request comprising the secondary packet data protocol context request and the at least one of the plurality of quality-of-service attributes, between the gateway node and a policy decision function node, a first quality-of-service;
- reporting, by the gateway node, to at least one of the policy decision function node, an application server, and an application proxy, the negotiated first quality-of-service;
- receiving, at the gateway node, a decision sent by the policy decision function node, wherein the decision drops a first traffic flow from the plurality of traffic flows, when the negotiated first quality-of-service accommodates a subset of the plurality of traffic flows, wherein the decision includes information about the dropped first traffic flow;
- and
- sending, from the gateway node, a modified secondary packet data protocol context request based on the decision.
3 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- a receiver, at a gateway node, configured to receive a request for establishing a communication pathway end-to-end over a network, wherein the communication pathway includes a radio communication channel and a packet communication channel, wherein the request includes a plurality of flow information identifying a plurality of traffic flows to be carried by the communication pathway, wherein the request further includes quality-of-service attributes associated with the plurality of traffic flows, wherein at least one of the plurality of traffic flows is associated with at least one of the plurality of quality-of-service attributes determining a quality-of-service requirement for the at least one of the plurality of traffic flows, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive, at the gateway node, a decision sent by a policy decision function node, wherein the decision drops a first traffic flow from the plurality of traffic flows, when a negotiated first quality-of-service ice accommodates a subset of the plurality of traffic flows, wherein the decision includes information about the dropped first traffic flow;
- a negotiator configured to negotiate, based on the at least one of the plurality of quality-of-service attributes, the first quality-of-service for the at least one of the plurality of traffic flows;
- a reporter, at the gateway node, configured to report, to at least one of the policy decision function node, an application server, and an application proxy, the negotiated first quality-of-service for the at least one of the plurality of traffic flows;
- and
- a transmitter, at the gateway node, configured to send a modified secondary packet data protocol context request based on the decision.
2 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- a receiver, at a policy decision function node, configured to receive, from a gateway, negotiated quality-of-service attributes for a plurality of traffic flows to be carried by an end-to-end communication pathway over a network, the plurality of traffic flows identified by a plurality of flow information;
- and
- a processor, at the policy decision function node, configured to determine, based on the received negotiated quality-of-service attributes, a quality-of-service treatment of the plurality of traffic flows, wherein the quality-of-service treatment includes a decision to drop a first traffic flow from the plurality of traffic flows, when the negotiated quality-of-service attributes accommodate a subset of the plurality of traffic flows, wherein the decision includes information about the dropped first traffic flow, and wherein the decision causes the gateway node to send a modified secondary packet data protocol context request based on the decision.
A method, comprising:
- receiving, from a policy decision function node, a negotiated quality-of-service at an application proxy or an application server for a plurality of traffic flows to be carried by an end-to-end communication pathway over a network, the plurality of traffic flows identified by a plurality of flow information, wherein the receiving includes a decision by the policy decision function node to drop a first traffic flow from the plurality of traffic flows, when the negotiated quality-of-service accommodates a subset of the plurality of traffic flows, and wherein the decision includes information about the dropped first traffic flow;
- adjusting, based on the received negotiated quality-of-service, a configuration of an application proxy or an application server for sending and receiving the plurality of traffic flows;
- and
- sending a modified secondary packet data protocol context request based on the decision.
1 more element
An apparatus, comprising:
- a receiver configured to receive, from a policy decision function node, a negotiated quality-of-service for a plurality of traffic flows to be carried by an end-to-end communication pathway over a network, the plurality of traffic flows identified by a plurality of flow information, wherein the receiving includes receiving a decision to drop a first traffic flow from the plurality of traffic flows, when the negotiated quality-of-service accommodates a subset of the plurality of traffic flows, and wherein the decision includes information about the dropped first traffic flow;
- an adjuster configured to adjust, based on the received negotiated quality-of-service, a configuration of the apparatus for sending and receiving the plurality of traffic flows;
- and
- a transmitter configured to send a modified secondary packet data protocol context request based on the decision.
1 more element
A method comprising:
- receiving, at a policy decision function node from a gateway, negotiated quality-of-service attributes for a plurality of traffic flows to be carried by an end-to-end communication pathway over a network, the plurality of traffic flows identified by a plurality of flow information;
- determining, based on the received negotiated quality-of-service attributes, at the policy decision function node, a quality-of-service treatment of the plurality of traffic flows, wherein the quality-of-service treatment includes a decision to drop a first traffic flow from the plurality of traffic flows, when the negotiated quality-of-service attributes accommodate a subset of the plurality of traffic flows, wherein the decision includes information about the dropped first traffic flow, and wherein the decision causes the gateway node to send a modified secondary packet data protocol context request based on the decision.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.