Method and system for optimized handling of context using hierarchical grouping (for machine type communications)
View Patent ↗A hierarchical data structure for signaling and data handling at a packet core network is defined. A hierarchical data structure is applied to both persistent and dynamic information to support a type of devices that share the same characteristics. Subscription database, context information, and policy rule information is comprised of group level information and device level information. Group level information contains the information the devices that belong to the group share. Device level information contains the device specific information that is different from group level information. When a device belonging to a group requests access to a packet network or performs a procedure that changes the mobility or session state of the device, context management unit works with authentication unit, subscription database unit, and policy decision unit to construct a right information for the device to handle the control and user data traffic.
1. A machine-implemented method performed within a network element for processing network signaling of a packet core network, the method comprising:
configuring a hierarchical subscription information in such a way there are group level subscription data and an user device level subscription data, and a logic to link the user device level subscription data to a group level subscription data;
configuring a hierarchical policy information in such a way there are group level policy information and an user device level policy information, and a logic to link the user device level policy information to a group level policy information;
providing access, by a first hierarchical subscription information, to the network to one or more remote nodes via access network interface logic;
creating a hierarchical context information in such a way there are group level context information and a user device level context information, and a logic to link the user device level context information to a group level context information;
updating a hierarchical context information for the whole group or one or more remote nodes upon change of remote node's status such as establishing a new session or changing the location;
referring to a first hierarchical context information to handle control data and user data for the remote nodes that are given access by a first access logic;
routing a network traffic to and from a remote node by a first hierarchical policy information and a first hierarchical context information.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the components of the packet core network are one of a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN) or Mobility Management Entity (MME) or serving gateway (S-GW), one of gateway general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (GGSN) or packet data network gateway (PDN-GW), home location register (HLR), and policy and charging rule function (PCRF) of the packet core network.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising routing a network traffic to and from a remote node if the packet is received from a UMTS access network and destined to the packet data network wherein the access interface logic is configured to handle Iu-PS signaling protocol.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising routing a network traffic to and from a remote node if the packet is received from a long term evolution (LTE) access network and destined to the packet data network wherein the access interface logic is configured to handle S1 signaling protocol.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising routing a network traffic to and from a remote node if the packet is received from a Wi-Fi access network and destined to the packet data network wherein the access interface logic is configured to handle 802.1x signaling protocol and 802.11 signaling protocol.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: in response to a request for accessing the network from a remote node to the network, determining whether a remote node is associated with a group that has an access to the network; and in response to a request for establishing a network communication between a remote node and the network element, determining which group the remote node is associated with; constructing a context for the remote node from group level and device level context information; and applying a context information to a remote node.
7. A network element for processing network traffic of a packet network, the network element comprising:
an access network interface unit to interface with a remote node via a various access network;
a subscription database unit with a hierarchical structure to store the subscription information in a group level and device level entries where the group level entry stores a common information for all the devices that belong to this group;
an authentication unit to grant access to the network to the remote node by referring a first subscription database unit to determine whether a remote node has a right to access network using group level and device level subscription information;
a context management unit to create, maintain, and delete a dynamic context for a remote node with a hierarchical structure in a group level and device level where a group level context information contains a common context information for all the devices that belong to this group;
a policy rule database unit with a hierarchical structure to store the policy information in a group level and device level information where a group level policy information stores a common policy information for all the devices that belong to this group;
a policy decision unit to determine how to handle the signaling and user traffic for a remote node by referring a first policy rule database unit; and
an IP interface unit to route the packet to a destination to enable the packet to reach the destination on a packet data network.
8. The network element of claim 7 , wherein the access network is further comprised of a 3G radio access network, high speed packet access (HSPA), long term evolution (LTE) access network or Wi-Fi access network.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the access network interface unit is configured to handle an Iu-ps signaling protocol, S1 signaling protocol, and 802.1x signaling protocol and 802.11 signaling protocol.
10. The network element of claim 7 , wherein the authentication unit is further configured to in response to a request for accessing the network from a remote node to the network, determining whether a remote node is associated with a group that has an access to the network; and in response to a request for establishing a network communication for a service between a remote node and the server in the network, determining which group the remote node is associated with and determining whether a remote node has a right to access the requested service.
11. The network element of claim 7 , wherein the context management unit is further configured to
in response to a request for creating, updating, or deleting a network communication for a service between a remote node and the server in the network, constructing a context for the remote node from group level and device level context information.
12. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method within a network element for processing network traffic of a packet network, the method comprising: configuring a hierarchical subscription information in such a way there are group level subscription data and an user device level subscription data, and a logic to link the user device level subscription data to a group level subscription data; configuring a hierarchical policy information in such a way there are group level policy information and an user device level policy information, and a logic to link the user device level policy information to a group level policy information; providing access, by the hierarchical subscription information, to the network to one or more remote nodes via access network interface logic; creating a hierarchical context information in such a way there are group level context information and a user device level context information, and a logic to link the user device level context information to a group level context information; updating a hierarchical context information for the whole group or one or more remote nodes upon change of remote node's status such as establishing a new session or changing the location; referring to a first hierarchical context information to handle control data and user data for the remote nodes that are given access by a first access logic; routing a network traffic to and from a remote node by a first hierarchical policy information and a first hierarchical context information.
13. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the access network interface logic is further configured to include support of a 3G radio access network, high speed packet access (HSPA), long term evolution (LTE) access network or Wi-Fi access network.
14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the access network interface logic is further configured to handle an Iu-ps signaling protocol, S1 signaling protocol, 802.1x signaling protocol and 802.11 signaling protocol.
15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises, in response to a request for accessing the network from a remote node to the network, determining whether a remote node is associated with a group that has an access to the network; and in response to a request for establishing a network communication between a remote node and the network element, determining which group the remote node is associated with; constructing a context for the remote node from group level and device level context information; and applying a context information to a remote node.