User plane congestion control service

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12556482-B2
Application number	US-202217725670-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 21, 2022
Priority date	Apr 21, 2022
Publication date	Feb 17, 2026
Grant date	Feb 17, 2026

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.

First claim

What is claimed is:

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.

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Abdelmalek Yousef
• Steben Jerry
• Cakulev Violeta
• Booker Parry Cornell

Classifications

• H04L47/11

  Identifying congestion · CPC title

• H04L47/24 Primary

  Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS · CPC title