Cisco Technology, Inc.

Raghavendra Suryanarayanarao Vidyashankar

Om Prakash Suthar

Vivek Agarwal

Arun Gunasekaran

Aeneas Sean Dodd-Noble

Rajaneesh Sudhakar Shetty

Padmaraj Ramanoudjam

Bincy Baburaj Narath

Ryo Watanabe

Santhosh Shenoy Panambur

Filipe Alexandre Da Silva Rodrigues

In one example, a first connectivity request for a first network connection between a user equipment and a first network is obtained. A control plane serving gateway node for the first network connection is selected. The control plane serving gateway node is co-located with a control plane packet data network gateway node configured to support a second network connection between the user equipment and a second network that is different from the first network. A second connectivity request for the second network connection is obtained. The second network connection is established with the control plane serving gateway node and the control plane packet data network gateway node.

Optimized serving gateway node selection for interworking networks

Techniques are provided to inform a mobile packet core of the access network/radio access technology (AN/RAT) change with the use of in-band signaling along the user plane and hence reduce signaling between radio access network and mobile packet core network. A new extension header content is defined to signal the AN/RAT change information, Cell Group changes and acknowledging the same. Further still, a method is provided to handle AN change notification for split bearer scenarios by introducing a split bearer flag for the mobile packet core to be notified of the predominant access type serving the subscriber data session in 5G Non-Stand Alone (NSA) Option-3, Option-3A and Option-3X, so that static or dynamic configurations can be applied by the mobile core network accordingly.

In-band signaling of access network information along the user-plane for differentiated charging

Techniques and mechanisms for Fifth Generation (5G) system (5GS) failure detection monitoring of an application or control function in a network for efficient restoration of service are described. The network may be an Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network, and the voice or data service may be an IMS service that utilizes Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling. The application or control function may be a Proxy-Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF) of the IMS network. In some implementations, the procedure may involve a session management function (SMF) programming of a user plane function (UPF) for UPF monitoring of the P-CSCF, using a ping procedure or health check procedure (e.g. for 3GPP Pre-Release 16). In other implementations, the procedure may involve the SMF monitoring of a P-CSCF via a Network Function (NF) Repository Function (NRF) (e.g. for 3GPP Release 16).

5G system (5GS) failure detection monitoring of Proxy-Call session control function (P-CSCF) of an internet protocol (IP) multimedia system (IMS) for efficient restoration of IMS service

When a packet data session is established for a user equipment (UE), a comparative assessment of load information factors from different sets of load information factors associated with a plurality of user plane function (UPF) instances may be performed. Each set of load information factors of a UPF instance may include predicted load information factors indicative of a predicted load at the UPF instance. A UPF instance may be selected for the packet data session of the UE based on the comparative assessment. The comparative assessment may additionally consider a predicted load contribution of the packet data session to be established for the UE. A data analytics function may utilize a model (e.g. a multiple linear regression model) to calculate predicted load contribution factors, where the model is derived based on historical usage data from previous sessions of one or more UEs, for example, data from charging data records (CDRs).

User plane function (UPF) selection based on predicted load information

Techniques are provided to communicate the serving Radio Access Network (RAN) element information to the packet core network to enable operators to provide differential treatment for fifth generation (5G) subscribers. The techniques presented herein fill these gaps and help drive faster adoption of Dual Connectivity New Radio (DCNR) subscribers by service operator to offer customized policy and quota management to address different business requirements in the 5G Non-Stand Alone (NSA) architecture.

Secondary node status change indication to enable dynamic policy and quota management

In one example, a User Plane Function (UPF) in a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (V-PLMN) that includes a first network and a second network obtains network traffic from user equipment via the first network. The UPF provides the network traffic obtained via the first network to a data network with an Internet Protocol (IP) address allocated to the network traffic obtained from the user equipment. In response to a handover of the user equipment from the first network to the second network, the UPF obtains the network traffic from the user equipment via the second network. The UPF provides the network traffic obtained via the second network to the data network with the IP address.

Maintaining internet protocol address for network traffic during handover procedure

In one example, an indication that a user equipment participating in a Packet Data Network (PDN) session hosted by a Serving Gateway (SGW) and a PDN Gateway (PGW) is transitioning from a first Mobility Management Entity (MME) to a second MME is obtained. An indication that the SGW is co-located with the PGW and an identification of the SGW are obtained. Based on the indication that the SGW is co-located with the PGW and the identification of the SGW, it is determined that the SGW is reachable from the second MME. In response to determining that the SGW is reachable from the second MME, the SGW is selected to host the PDN session after the user equipment transitions from the first MME to the second MME.

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Bengaluru, India

Raghavendra Suryanarayanarao Vidyashankar