DNS-based discovery of MMES in an MME pool
Described herein is a serving gateway (SGW) of a telecommunications network that is configured to receive from a first mobility management entity (MME) of an MME pool of the telecommunications network a request associated with a user equipment (UE). Subsequent to the receiving, the SGW determines the first MME or a link between first MME and SGW has failed. The SGW then queries a domain name service of the telecommunications network for a list of MMEs in the MME pool and selects a second MME from list of MMEs in the MME pool for a session with UE.
1 . A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
a plurality of programming instructions implementing at least a first mobility management entity (MME) of a telecommunications network and a serving gateway (SGW) of the telecommunications network, the plurality of programming instructions, when executed by the one or more processors performing operations including:
receiving, by the first MME, a request associated with a user equipment (UE) and a tracking area code (TAC) of a base station connected to the UE;
querying, by the first MME, a domain name service (DNS) of the telecommunications network for an identification of the SGW, wherein the querying includes providing the TAC to the DNS;
receiving, by the first MME, the identification of the SGW based on the querying;
providing, by the first MME, the request to the SGW;
determining, by the SGW, that the first MME or a link between first MME and SGW has failed;
querying, by the SGW, the DNS for a list of MMEs in an MME pool that includes the first MME; and
selecting, by the SGW, a second MME from list of MMEs in the MME pool for a session with UE.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the querying by the SGW occurs as part of a bootup procedure of the SGW.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the querying by the SGW is responsive to a session setup or S11 link setup associated with the request.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the querying by the SGW is responsive to the determining that the first MME or the link has failed.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving or retrieving all or part of the list of MMEs in the MME pool from the DNS.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise retrieving the list of MMEs in the MME pool from a DNS database shared among multiple DNSs of the telecommunications network.
7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein a change to the list of MMEs in the MME pool is made to a copy stored in the DNS database.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise storing, by the SGW, the list of MMEs in local cache of the SGW for a time-to-live (TTL) period associated with the list of MMEs.
9 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving from a first mobility management entity (MME) of an MME pool of a telecommunications network, by a serving gateway (SGW) of the telecommunications network, a request associated with a user equipment (UE);
subsequent to the receiving, determining, by the SGW, that the first MME or a link between first MME and SGW has failed;
querying, by the SGW, a domain name service (DNS) of the telecommunications network for a list of MMEs in the MME pool; and
selecting, by the SGW, a second MME from list of MMEs in the MME pool for a session with UE.
10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the querying by the SGW occurs as part of a bootup procedure of the SGW.
11 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the querying by the SGW is responsive to a session setup or S11 link setup associated with the request.
12 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the querying by the SGW is responsive to the determining that the first MME or the link has failed.
13 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the querying by the SGW receives or retrieves all or part of the list of MMEs in the MME pool from the DNS.
14 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising retrieving the list of MMEs in the MME pool from a DNS database shared among multiple DNSs of the telecommunications network.
15 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising storing, by the SGW, the list of MMEs in local cache of the SGW for a time-to-live (TTL) period associated with the list of MMEs.
16 . A non-transitory computer storage medium having a plurality of programming instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a serving gateway (SGW) of a telecommunications network cause the SGW to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a first mobility management entity (MME) of an MME pool of a telecommunications network, a request associated with a user equipment (UE);
subsequent to the receiving, determining that the first MME or a link between first MME and SGW has failed;
querying a domain name service (DNS) of the telecommunications network for a list of MMEs in the MME pool; and
selecting a second MME from list of MMEs in the MME pool for a session with UE.
17 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the querying occurs as part of a bootup procedure of the SGW.
18 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the querying is responsive to a session setup or S11 link setup associated with the request.
19 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the querying is responsive to the determining that the first MME or the link has failed.
20 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the querying receives or retrieves all or part of the list of MMEs in the MME pool from the DNS.