User plane function (UPF) load balancing based on special considerations for low latency traffic
This invention flexibly controls the number of user planes in a communication system. In a communication system, a base station is in a local area network and at least one user plane function arranged in a cloud are connected. A determination is made as to whether or not a new user plane function should be added, taking into consideration: the traffic amount, from the maximum traffic amount using the local area network, of user data transferred by the at least one user plane function using the local area network; and an anticipated traffic amount of a new user plane function.
1. 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; and
anchoring the PDU session of the new UE to the selected UPF.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the maintaining plurality of load thresholds includes:
reducing the plurality of load thresholds by a percentage amount of capacity dedicated for low-latency network traffic.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the percentage amount of capacity dedicated for low-latency network traffic is X %, where an instance of X % is 10%.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the selecting a UPF based on the location of the new UE and load-regions includes:
if traffic of the PDU session is not identified as low latency, then selecting a UPF based on weights for selecting the UPF generated based on the load-regions, wherein each load-region corresponds to a different range of current load of the UPF defined by one or more of lower and upper threshold percentages of load capacity of the UPF.
5. 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; and
electronically anchoring the PDU session of the new UE to the selected UPF.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the maintaining a plurality of load thresholds includes:
reducing the plurality of load thresholds by a percentage amount of capacity dedicated for low-latency network traffic.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the percentage amount of capacity dedicated for low-latency network traffic is X %, wherein where an instance of X % is 10%.
8. The method of claim 5 , 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.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the selecting a UPF based on the location of the new UE and load-regions includes:
if traffic of the PDU session is not identified as low latency, then selecting a UPF based on weights for selecting the UPF generated based on the load-regions, wherein each load-region corresponds to a different range of current load of the UPF defined by one or more of lower and upper threshold percentages of load capacity of the UPF.
10. 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; and
anchoring the PDU session of the new UE to the selected UPF.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the maintaining a plurality of load thresholds includes:
reducing the plurality of load thresholds by a percentage amount of capacity dedicated for low-latency network traffic.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein percentage amount of capacity dedicated for low-latency network traffic is X %, where an instance of X % is 10%.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , 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.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the selecting a UPF based on the location of the new UE and load-regions includes:
if traffic of the PDU session is not identified as low latency, then selecting a UPF based on weights for selecting the UPF generated based on the load-regions, wherein each load-region corresponds to a different range of current load of the UPF defined by one or more of lower and upper threshold percentages of load capacity of the UPF.