Netscout Systems, Inc.

Abhishek Saraswati

Tauras Liubinskas

Rajeev Nadkarni

Bruce A Kelley, Jr

Anil K Singhal

Narendra Byrapuram

Sandeep Prasad

John Peter Curtin

Ashwani Singhal

Daniel Andrew Hill

Yashovan B Neelakantamurthy

Brandon Wayne Bass

Shilpa Bansod

Vijayalakshmi Seshadri

Pritish Vijay Aherrao

Antoni Banach

Subappriya Muthuchamy

Loreto Di Resta

Ming Tong Entlinger

Domenico Aldrovandi

Alessandro Pinelli

Linda Nasi

Massimiliano Frigieri

Erdem Uysal

Apurva Prakash

Claudio Guerrini

Loreto DiResta

Ted Thompson

Sudhir Appana

A system having a network monitor communicating with U and C probes monitoring SGW-U and SGW-Cs. The U probes buffer captured user plane packets from which they determine new sessions and send new session data to the network monitor, the new session data including an IP address pair of the corresponding U probe and SGW-U. The C probes inspect captured control plane packets, determine control plane packets having a same IP address as an SGW-U in the new session data, and send associated control data to a particular U probe having the IP address paired with the IP address of the SGW-U, wherein the particular U probe correlates the control data with buffered user plane packets and generates associated monitoring data.

Matching user and control plane data in a network system using control and user plane separation

A method is disclosed. A control plane signaling data packet transmitted from a first node to a second node may be collected via a probe. An identifier of the second node may be identified. A determination as to whether the message is a notification message is made. A key performance indicator type for the control plane signaling data packet may be determined. A key performance indicator of the key performance indicator type may be generate from content of the control plane signaling data packet.

Systems and methods for handling notification messages in a 5G network

A system and method for monitoring one or more Mobility Management Entities (MMEs) with a plurality of scalable network probe devices arranged in a cluster format. A ciphered packet is received from one or more MMEs at a packet switching device. The packet switching device in turn sends all the ciphered packets to each of the plurality of clustered probes. Each of the network probes then in turn deciphers the packets received from the MME and extracts metadata from the deciphered packet to identify subscriber session information contained in the received packet. Each of the network probes then selectively retains deciphered packet information relating to a subscriber session and/or other prescribed criteria designated for that particular network probe and discards the remaining deciphered packet or portions of the packet so as to balance the load amongst the plurality of probes based upon prescribed load balancing criteria. KPI and other session related data is generated in a network probe associated with a subscriber session from the retained deciphered packet information. Subscriber session related data from each clustered network probe is then aggregated with at least one monitoring device operably coupled to the clustered probes such that a user of the monitoring device is provided with the perception that the monitoring device is coupled to a single probe.

System and method for load balancing of network packets received from a MME with smart filtering

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium is disclosed. In some embodiments, the medium includes instructions for providing a mobile user monitoring solution that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to capture a first message transmitted over an Ninterface, extract at least one type of session ID and a first Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) tunnel endpoint identifier (TEID) from the first message, store the at least one type of session ID and the first NGAP TEID in a first Nprotocol data unit (PDU) session record, capture a second message transmitted over an Ninterface, extract a general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP)-user plane (U) TEID from the second message, wherein the GTP-U TEID matches the first NGAP TIED, and retrieve information associated with session details record using the GTP-U TEID.

5G N3 data plane enrichment using N11 interface in a monitoring system

Method for monitoring network performance in a telecommunication network coupled with a plurality of Virtual Machines (VM) arranged in a cluster format is disclosed. A packet is received at a VM smart cluster device. Metadata is extracted from the packet. The packet can be distributed to one of the plurality of VMs. Key performance indicator (KPI) session related data associated with a subscriber in one of the plurality of VMs that receives the distributed packet can be generated.

System and method for monitoring network performance

An illustrative embodiment disclosed herein is a non-transitory computer readable medium. The medium includes instructions for providing a mobile user monitoring solution that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to identify a user database record associated with a user equipment (UE) using a mobile identity (ID), associate a Next Generation application protocol (NGAP) session with the user database record using an NGAP ID, capture a ciphered message associated with the NGAP session, decipher the ciphered message associated with the NGAP session, extract, from the deciphered message, session details associated with the UE, and store the session details in a session detail record.

5G N1/N2 interface monitoring system

An illustrative embodiment disclosed herein is a non-transitory computer readable medium. In some embodiments, the medium includes instructions for providing a mobile user monitoring solution that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to capture a first message transmitted over a packet forwarding control protocol (PFCP) interface, extract a permanent ID and a first user plane tunnel endpoint identifier (TEID) from the first message, store the permanent ID and the first user plane TEID in a PFCP protocol data unit (PDU) session record, store the permanent ID in a session details record, capture a second message transmitted over a user plane interface after the first message is transmitted, extract a second user plane TEID from the second message, wherein the second user plane TEID matches the first user plane TEID, and retrieve the session details record using the second user plane TEID.

Enrichment of monitoring user plane data using PFCP monitoring

A method for restoring an HPACK table is disclosed. A static table is maintained. Control plane signaling data packets are collected via a probe. A dynamic table is generated from the control plane signaling data packets. An event affecting operation of the probe may be detected. A first control plane signaling data packet may be collected by the probe subsequent to detection of the event. The dynamic table may be reorganized. The reorganized dynamic table may be stored in memory.

Systems and methods for HPACK table restoration

An illustrative embodiment disclosed herein is a non-transitory computer readable medium. In some aspects, the non-transitory computer readable medium includes instructions for providing a mobile user monitoring solution that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to capture a transaction transmitted over an N12 interface, extract, from the transaction, one of an expected response (XRES) or an authentication token (AUTN), a user identifier (ID), and a cipher key, capture a first message transmitted over an N1 interface, and determine that the first message is associated with the user ID and the cipher key extracted from the transaction.

5G NAS deciphering enhance rate of convergence mechanism

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium is disclosed. In some embodiments, the medium includes instructions for providing a mobile user monitoring solution that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to capture a first message transmitted over an N11 interface, extract at least one type of session ID and a first Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) tunnel endpoint identifier (TEID) from the first message, store the at least one type of session ID and the first NGAP TEID in a first N11 protocol data unit (PDU) session record, capture a second message transmitted over an N3 interface, extract a general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP)-user plane (U) TEID from the second message, wherein the GTP-U TEID matches the first NGAP TIED, and retrieve information associated with session details record using the GTP-U TEID.

A system and method for monitoring one or more Mobility Management Entities (MMEs) with a plurality of scalable Virtual Machines (VM)/probes arranged in a cluster format. A ciphered packet is received from a MME at a smart cluster device/probe whereby data is aggregated from the individual clustered VMs/probes for distribution to a monitoring device. The smart cluster device/probe is preferably configured to decipher the ciphered packet received from the MME and extract metadata from the deciphered packet to identify subscriber information for the received packet. The deciphered packet is then distributed to one of the plurality of clustered probes to balance the load amongst the plurality of clustered probes. The balancing of loads is based upon prescribed load balancing criteria such that each packet received for an identified subscriber is sent to a same probe such that load balancing is performed on a per subscriber basis and/or with other state-based criteria. KPI session related data associated with a subscriber is generated in a clustered probe that receives the distributed packet from the smart cluster device/probe. Subscriber related data from each clustered probe is then aggregated with at least one monitoring device operably coupled to the clustered probes such that a user of the monitoring device is provided with the perception that the monitoring device is coupled to a single probe.

System and method for load balancing of network packets received from a MME with smart clustering

A network monitoring system that summarizes a plurality of data packets of a session into a compact session record for storage and processing. Each session record may be produced in real-time and made available during the session and/or after the termination of the session. Depending on protocols, a network monitoring system extracts different sets of information, removes redundant information from the plurality of data packets, and adds performance information to produce the session record. The network monitoring system may retrieve and process a single session record or multiple session records for the same or different protocols to determine cause of events, resolve issues in a network or evaluate network performance or conditions. The session record enables analysis in the units of session instead of individual packets. Hence, the network monitoring system can analyze events, issues or performance of the network more efficiently and effectively.

Real-time adaptive processing of network data packets for analysis

A system and method is provided for calculating session initiation protocol (SIP) key performance indicators (KPIs) for multimedia communication in a network accessing network packets monitored over time. The method includes accessing network packets monitored over time, detecting a SIP response message of the monitored network packets, and accounting for the detected SIP response message in a time window of a series of consecutive time windows that includes the SIP response message's associated observed time. The SIP response message has an associated observed time at which the monitored SIP message was observed during monitoring. The method further includes pairing a SIP request message expected to be paired with the detected SIP response message with the detected SIP response message and accounting for the paired SIP request message in the time window with which the detected SIP response message is accounted. The method further includes calculating a KPI for the time window using the detected SIP response message and its paired SIP request message that are accounted for in the time window.

Growing community of inventors

Santa Clara, CA, United States of America

Abhishek Saraswati