Triggering a signaling event from the data plane
Some examples of triggering a signaling event in a control plane of a mobile network from a user plane of the mobile network. After it is determined in accordance with a predefined criterion that an error indication should be sent, an error indication may be sent in the user plane, from a location external to a radio access network of the mobile network and external to a core network of the mobile network, to at least one element in the radio access network or the core network, thereby triggering a signaling event. The predefined criterion may include no accessible association between a user identifier or cell identifier and an identifier of a tunnel for tunneling user data packets between the radio access network and the core network. The lack of an accessible association may have negative implications, e.g. for traffic management. The triggered signaling event may include releasing this tunnel.
1. A signaling event triggering system, comprising:
an association data structure matching tunnel identifiers of monitored transmissions and respective user or cell identifiers;
a determiner configured to monitor transmissions passing in tunnels between a first element in a radio access network and a second element in a core network of a mobile network, from an intermediary point between the first and second elements, to determine a tunnel identifier of the transmissions from the monitored transmissions, and to search the association data structure for a user or cell identifier corresponding to the tunnel identifier determined from the monitored transmissions; and
an error indication sender, external to the radio access network and to the core network of the mobile network, the sender configured, responsive to a determination that the corresponding user or cell identifier is not available in the association data structure, to send an error indication in a user plane of the mobile network from the intermediary point, between the first element in the radio access network and the second element in the core network, to at least one of the first and second elements, wherein the error indication triggers the first or second element that receives the error indication to initiate a signaling event in a control plane of the mobile network,
wherein the error indication is handled by the first or second element receiving the error indication as if the error indication was transmitted by the second or first element, respectively.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein said determiner includes:
a header inspector configured to inspect a General Packet Radio System Tunneling Protocol User Plane header to determine the tunnel identifier.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein said tunnel identifier includes at least one General Packet Radio System Protocol Tunnel Endpoint Identifier.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein said error indication is formulated in accordance with a General Packet Radio System Tunneling Protocol User Plane.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein said error indication includes a tunnel identifier.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein said signaling event includes release of a tunnel.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein said signaling event includes establishment of a tunnel.
8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising: a signaling inspector configured to inspect signaling, to determine based on said inspected signaling, an association between a tunnel identifier and a cell identifier or user identifier, and to store the determined association in the association data structure.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least one operatively connected element is selected from a group comprising: Radio Network Controller, Serving General Packet Radio Service Node, Gateway General Packet Radio Service Support Node, eNodeB, NodeB, Base Station Controller, and Serving Gateway.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is integrated with a network tap.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the error indication sender is configured to send the error indication, only if an additional condition is met, in addition to the determination that the corresponding user or cell identifier is not available in the association data structure.
12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the additional condition comprises that the tunnel whose tunnel identifier lacks an accessible association is consuming a significant amount of bandwidth.
13. A method, comprising:
monitoring transmissions passing in tunnels between a first element in a radio access network and a second element in a core network of a mobile network, by a signaling unit at an intermediary point between the first and second elements;
determining a tunnel identifier of the transmissions between the first and second elements from the monitored transmissions;
searching an association data structure for a user or cell identifier corresponding to the tunnel identifier determined from the monitored transmissions;
determining that the corresponding user or cell identifier is not available in the association data structure; and
sending, by the signaling unit, an error indication in a user plane of the mobile network from the intermediary point between the first element in the radio access network and the second element in the core network, to the first or second element, responsively to determining that the corresponding user or cell identifier is not available, wherein the error indication triggers the first or second element receiving the error indication to initiate a signaling event in a control plane of the mobile network,
wherein the error indication is identified by the first or second element receiving the error indication as being sent by the second or first element, respectively.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said determining the transmission identifier of the transmissions, includes:
inspecting a General Packet Radio System Tunneling Protocol User Plane header to determine the tunnel identifier.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein said signaling event includes release of a tunnel.
16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
inspecting signaling; and
determining based on said inspected signaling, an association between a tunnel identifier and a cell identifier or user identifier.
17. The method of claim 13 , wherein said error indication is formulated in accordance with a General Packet Radio System Tunneling Protocol User Plane.
18. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer program code, when executed by a computer executes a method, comprising:
monitoring transmissions passing in tunnels between a first element in a radio access network and a second element in a core network of a mobile network, by a unit at an intermediary point between the first and second elements, to determine a tunnel identifier of the transmissions from the monitored transmissions, to search an association data structure for a user or cell identifier corresponding to the tunnel identifier determined from the monitored transmissions and to determine that the corresponding user or cell identifier is not available in the association data structure; and
sending an error indication in a user plane of the mobile network from the intermediary point between the first element in the radio access network and the second element in the core network, to the first or second element in said radio access network or said core network, responsively to determining that the corresponding user or cell identifier is not available, wherein the error indication triggers the first or second element receiving the error indication to initiate a signaling event in a control plane of the mobile network,
wherein the error indication is identified by the first or second element receiving the error indication as being sent by the second or first element, respectively.
19. The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein said computer readable code for causing the computer to determine the transmission identifier of the transmissions includes:
computer readable program code for causing the computer to inspect a General Packet Radio System Tunneling Protocol User Plane header to determine the tunnel identifier.
20. The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein said signaling event includes release of a tunnel.
21. The computer program product of claim 18 , further comprising:
computer readable program code for causing the computer to inspect signaling; and
computer readable program code for causing the computer to determine based on said inspected signaling, an association between a tunnel identifier and a cell identifier or user identifier.
22. The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein said error indication is formulated in accordance with a General Packet Radio System Tunneling Protocol User Plane.