IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,556,482
Granted Patent B2
US 12,556,482 · App. 17/725,670 · Granted Feb 17, 2026

User plane congestion control service

Inventors: Yousef Abdelmalek (New Providence, NJ); Jerry Steben (Fort Worth, TX); Violeta Cakulev (Millburn, NJ); Parry Cornell Booker (Sunnyvale, TX)
Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc.
H04L47/24H04L47/11
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,556,482
App. No.
17/725,670
Granted
Feb 17, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method, a device, and a non-transitory storage medium are described in which a user plane congestion control service is provided. The service may analyze congestion information of user plane traffic in data sessions associated with a plurality of end devices. The service may include selecting, based on the analyzing, configuration parameters for uplink/downlink traffic mapped to one or more user class values of the end devices. The service may include generating a data session update indicating a modification to the configuration parameters for a user class value.

Claims (52)

1 . A method comprising:

storing, by a network device, user class values associated with a plurality of end devices;

analyzing, by the network device, congestion information of a user plane function (UPF) included in a core network for data sessions associated with the plurality of end devices, wherein the congestion information is based on congestion in the core network associated with the UPF;

selecting, by the network device based on the analyzing, service configuration parameters for first UPF traffic mapped to one or more of the user class values;

generating, by the network device, a first data session update indicating a first modification to first service configuration parameters for a first one of the user class values; and

transmitting, by the network device, the first data session update to at least a first end device associated with the first user class value.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more user class values comprises multiple user class values, the method further comprising:

generating a second data session update indicating a second modification to second service configuration parameters for a second user class value, wherein the first service configuration parameters and the second service configuration parameters differ; and

transmitting the second data session update to at least a second end device associated with the second user class value.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more user class values comprises multiple user class values, the method further comprising:

determining, based on the analyzing, not to throttle second UPF traffic of at least one user class value of the end devices.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least one user class value comprises at least one of a premium tier of service.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the second UPF traffic comprises at least one of Internet protocol multimedia systems (IMS) traffic or guaranteed bit rate (GBR) traffic.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the user class values via a message that contains an instance of a user class value information element (IE).

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

receiving the message from a unified data management (UDM) device or a unified data repository (UDR) device in the core network.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first modification is performed without altering any traffic policy applicable to the at least first end device.

9 . A network device comprising:

a processor configured to:

store user class values associated with a plurality of end devices;

analyze congestion information of a user plane function (UPF) included in a core network for data sessions associated with the plurality of end devices, wherein the congestion information is based on congestion in the core network associated with the UPF;

select, based on the analyzing, service configuration parameters for first UPF traffic mapped to one or more of the user class values;

generate a first data session update indicating a first modification to first service configuration parameters for a first one of the user class values; and

transmit the first data session update to at least a first end device associated with the first user class value.

10 . The network device of claim 9 , wherein the one or more user class values comprises multiple user class values, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate a second data session update indicating a second modification to second service configuration parameters for a second user class value, wherein the first service configuration parameters and the second service configuration parameters differ; and

transmit the second data session update to at least a second end device associated with the second user class value.

11 . The network device of claim 9 , wherein the one or more user class values comprises multiple user class values, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine, based on the analyzing, not to throttle second UPF traffic of at least one user class value of the end devices.

12 . The network device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one user class value comprises at least one of a premium tier of service.

13 . The network device of claim 11 , wherein the second UPF traffic comprises at least one of Internet protocol multimedia systems (IMS) traffic or guaranteed bit rate (GBR) traffic.

14 . The network device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive the user class values via a message that contains an instance of a user class value information element (IE).

15 . The network device of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive the message from a unified data management (UDM) device or a unified data repository (UDR) device in the core network.

16 . The network device of claim 9 , wherein the first modification is performed without altering any traffic policy applicable to the at least first end device.

17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions executable by a processor of a network device, which when executed cause the network device to:

store user class values associate with a plurality of end devices;

analyze congestion information of a user plane function (UPF) included in a core network for data sessions associated with the plurality of end devices, wherein the congestion information is based on congestion in the core network associated with the UPF;

select, based on the analyzing, service configuration parameters for first UPF traffic mapped to one or more of the user class values;

generate a first data session update indicating a first modification to a first service configuration parameters for a first one of the user class values; and

transmit the first data session update to at least a first end device associated with the first user class value.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 ,

wherein the one or more user class values comprises multiple user class values, and wherein the instructions further comprise instructions, which when executed cause the network device to:

generate a second data session update indicating a second modification to second service configuration parameters for a second user class value, wherein the first service configuration parameters and the second service configuration parameters differ; and

transmit the second data session update to at least a second end device associated with the second user class value.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the one or more user class values comprises multiple user class values, and wherein the instructions further comprise instructions, which when executed cause the network device to:

determine, based on the analyzing, not to throttle second UPF traffic of at least one user class value of the end devices.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions for further comprise instructions, which when executed cause the network device to:

receive the user class values via a message that contains an extension field including a user class value information element (IE), and

receive the message from a unified data management (UDM) device or a unified data repository (UDR) device in the core network.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 21, 2022
From: ABDELMALEK, YOUSEF; STEBEN, JERRY; CAKULEV, VIOLETA; BOOKER, PARRY CORNELL
To: VERIZON PATENT AND LICENSING INC.
Reel/Frame 059661/0881 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230344774A1 · Oct 26, 2023
References Cited (26)
US 20010033581A1 · Kawarai · 2001 [cited by examiner]
US 20060218302A1 · Chia · 2006 [cited by examiner]
US 20070124306A1 · Nelson · 2007 [cited by examiner]
US 20110182176A1 · Kenesi · 2011 [cited by examiner]
US 20120281530A1 · Sambhwani · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 20130051228A1 · Kim · 2013 [cited by examiner]
US 20130083806A1 · Suarez Fuentes · 2013 [cited by examiner]
US 20160192239A1 · Salvador · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20160295543A1 · Adams · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20160337239A1 · Nasielski · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20160359750A1 · Miklós · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20170118672A1 · Zhang · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20200068430A1 · Chan · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20200146054A1 · Jeon · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20200252837A1 · Kim · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20200389835A1 · Talebi Fard · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20210112436A1 · Hoffner · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20210267012A1 · Huang · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20220021624A1 · Sachs · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20220182872A1 · John · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20230010519A1 · Rao Kota · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20230179437A1 · Muñoz de la Torre Alonso · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20230199902A1 · Vogedes · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20240129794A1 · Talebi Fard · 2024 [cited by examiner]
US 20240275887A1 · Guo · 2024 [cited by examiner]
WO WO2016091298A1 · 2016 [cited by examiner]