Apparatuses, methods and non-transitory computer-readable storage mediums for network access
A network element for network access by a subscriber in a control and user plane separation architecture includes at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network element to establish a PFCP session to program a set of packet forwarding rules for forwarding data traffic and facilitate network access by the subscriber according to a first set of QoS parameters. The set of packet forwarding rules associate the subscriber with at least a first subscriber group. The first subscriber group includes the first set of QoS parameters that are shared between the subscriber and one or more additional subscribers.
1 . A method for network access by a subscriber in a control and user plane separation architecture, the method comprising:
establishing, at an aggregate gateway function, a packet forwarding control protocol (PFCP) session to program a set of packet forwarding rules for forwarding data traffic, wherein the set of packet forwarding rules associates the subscriber with at least a first subscriber group, the subscriber and at least one additional subscriber being associated with the first subscriber group and the first subscriber group including a first set of quality of service (QOS) parameters that are shared between the subscriber and the at least one additional subscriber; and
facilitating network access by the subscriber according to the first set of QoS parameters,
wherein the first set of QoS parameters are defined by a first quality of service enforcement rule (QER), the first QER references a parent QER to achieve hierarchical QoS, and the parent QER is defined for a congestion point upstream of the first subscriber group and defines a second set of QoS parameters for a second subscriber group at the congestion point.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the parent QER modifies the first QER.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first QER defines the first set of QoS parameters for an access node (AN) of a network and the parent QER defines the second set of QoS parameters for a broadband network gateway (BNG) of the network.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the subscriber is associated with the first subscriber group and with the second subscriber group that includes the second set of QoS parameters defined by the parent QER.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of QoS parameters includes at least one of rates or schedulers.
6 . A network element for network access by a subscriber in a control and user plane separation architecture, the network element comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network element to:
establish a packet forwarding control protocol (PFCP) session to program a set of packet forwarding rules for forwarding data traffic, wherein the set of packet forwarding rules associates the subscriber with at least a first subscriber group, the subscriber and at least one additional subscriber being associated with the first subscriber group and the first subscriber group including a first set of quality of service (QOS) parameters that are shared between the subscriber and the at least one additional subscriber; and
facilitate network access by the subscriber according to the first set of QoS parameters,
wherein the first set of QoS parameters are defined by a first quality of service enforcement rule (QER), the first QER references a parent QER to achieve hierarchical QoS, and the parent QER is defined for a congestion point upstream of the first subscriber group and defines a second set of QoS parameters for a second subscriber group at the congestion point.
7 . The network element of claim 6 , wherein modifying the parent QER modifies the first QER.
8 . The network element of claim 6 , wherein the first QER defines the first set of QoS parameters for an access node (AN) of a network and the parent QER defines the second set of QoS parameters for a broadband network gateway (BNG) of the network.
9 . The network element of claim 8 , wherein the subscriber is associated with the first subscriber group and with the second subscriber group that include the second set of QoS parameters defined by the parent QER.
10 . The network element of claim 6 , wherein the first set of QoS parameters include at least one of rates or schedulers.
11 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor at a network element in a control and user plane separation architecture, cause the network element to perform a method of network access by a subscriber, the method comprising:
establishing, at an aggregate gateway function, a packet forwarding control protocol (PFCP) session to program a set of packet forwarding rules for forwarding data traffic, wherein the set of packet forwarding rules associates the subscriber with at least a first subscriber group, the subscriber and at least one additional subscriber being associated with the first subscriber group and the first subscriber group including a first set of quality of service (QOS) parameters that are shared between the subscriber and the at least one additional subscriber; and
facilitating network access by the subscriber according to the first set of QoS parameters,
wherein the first set of QoS parameters are defined by a first quality of service enforcement rule (QER), the first QER references a parent QER to achieve hierarchical QoS, and the parent QER is defined for a congestion point upstream of the first subscriber group and defines a second set of QoS parameters for a second subscriber group at the congestion point.
12 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein modifying the parent QER modifies the first QER.
13 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the first QER defines the first set of QoS parameters for an access node (AN) of a network and the parent QER defines the second set of QoS parameters for a broadband network gateway (BNG) of the network.
14 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the subscriber is associated with the first subscriber group and with the second subscriber group that include the second set of QoS parameters defined by the parent QER.
15 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the first set of QoS parameters include at least one of rates or schedulers.