CN118449839A - Control plane initiated handover for subscriber group - Google Patents

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to control plane initiated handover for a subscriber group. In some implementations, a split broadband network gateway (DBNG) control plane device may send a first message to a first DBNG user plane device that is an active DBNG user plane device for a Subscriber Group (SGRP), the first message indicating that the first DBNG user plane device is to be for a backup DBNG user plane device that is an SGRP. DBNG may send a second message to a second DBNG user plane device that is a standby DBNG user plane device for SGRP, the second message indicating that the second DBNG user plane device is to be an active DBNG user plane device for SGRP.

Description

Control plane initiated handover for subscriber group

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This patent application claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 63/483,172, filed on 3/2/3 of 2023, and entitled "CONTROL PLANE INITIATED SWITCHOVER FOR TRACK-LOGICAL-PORT SUBSCRIBER GROUP". The disclosure of the prior application is considered to be part of the present patent application and is incorporated by reference into the present patent application.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of computer networks, and more particularly, to control plane initiated handoffs for a subscriber group.

Background

Broadband Network Gateways (BNGs) route traffic to and from broadband remote access devices, such as Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs), over Internet Service Provider (ISP) networks. BNGs enable subscribers to connect to broadband networks and authenticate, authorize, and bill; assigning an Internet Protocol (IP) address; and enforcing quality of service (QoS) policies, etc.

Disclosure of Invention

In some implementations, a method includes: transmitting, by a split broadband network gateway (DBNG) control plane device, a first message to a first DBNG user plane device that is an active DBNG user plane device of a Subscriber Group (SGRP), the first message indicating that the first DBNG user plane device is to be a standby DBNG user plane device of the SGRP; and sending, by DBNG the control plane device, a second message to a second DBNG user plane device that is a standby DBNG user plane device of the SGRP, the second message indicating that the second DBNG user plane device is to be an active DBNG user plane device of the SGRP.

In some implementations, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions comprising one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a DBNG user-plane device, cause the DBNG user-plane device to: receiving a message from DBNG control plane device indicating DBNG that the user plane device's role for SGRP is to be changed; and based on the message, causing DBNG the user plane device to change roles for the SGRP.

In some implementations, a DBNG control plane device includes one or more memories; and one or more processors to: transmitting a first message to the first DBNG user plane device, the first message indicating that the first DBNG user plane device is to cease active roles with SGRP and is to have standby roles with SGRP; and sending a second message to the second DBNG user plane device, the second message indicating that the second DBNG user plane device is to cease the standby role with SGRP and is to have an active role with SGRP.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides a method comprising: transmitting, by a split broadband network gateway DBNG control plane device, a first message to a first DBNG user plane device that is an active DBNG user plane device for a subscriber group SGRP, the first message indicating that the first DBNG user plane device is to be a backup DBNG user plane device for the SGRP; and sending, by the DBNG control plane device, a second message to a second DBNG user plane device that is the backup DBNG user plane device for the SGRP, the second message indicating that the second DBNG user plane device is to be the active DBNG user plane device for the SGRP.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein: sending the first message to the first DBNG user plane device to cause a first logical port of the first DBNG user plane device associated with the SGRP to have a backup status; and sending the second message to the second DBNG user plane device to cause a second logical port of the second DBNG user plane device associated with the SGRP to have an active state.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the SGRP is a trace logical port TLP SGRP.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the first message and the second message is an SGRP modification message.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, further comprising: receiving a first acknowledgement message associated with the first message from the first DBNG user plane device; receiving a second acknowledgement message associated with the second message from the second DBNG user plane device; and taking the first DBNG user plane device offline based on receiving the first acknowledgement message and receiving the second acknowledgement message.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, further comprising: after sending the first message and the second message, sending a third message to the first DBNG user plane device, the third message indicating that the first DBNG user plane device is to be offline.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein: sending the third message to the first DBNG user plane device takes the first DBNG user plane device offline.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a set of instructions comprising: one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a split broadband network gateway DBNG user plane device, cause the DBNG user plane device to: receiving a message from DBNG control plane device indicating DBNG that the role of the user plane device for the subscriber group SGRP is to be changed; and based on the message, causing the role of the DBNG user plane device for the SGRP to change.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the one or more instructions that cause the DBNG user plane device to cause the role change for the SGRP for the DBNG user plane device: the role of the DBNG user plane device for the SGRP is changed from an active role to a backup role.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the one or more instructions that cause the DBNG user plane device to cause the role change for the SGRP for the DBNG user plane device: and enabling a logical port associated with the SGRP of the DBNG user plane device to have a backup state.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the one or more instructions that cause the DBNG user plane device to cause the role change for the SGRP for the DBNG user plane device: the role of the DBNG user plane device for the SGRP is changed from a backup role to an active role.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the one or more instructions that cause the DBNG user plane device to cause the role change for the SGRP for the DBNG user plane device: and enabling a logical port of the DBNG user plane device associated with the SGRP to have an active state.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the SGRP is a trace logical port TLP SGRP.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the message is an SGRP modification message.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the one or more instructions further cause the DBNG user plane device to: an acknowledgement message is sent based on causing the role of the DBNG user plane device for the SGRP to change.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the one or more instructions further cause the DBNG user plane device to: receiving another message from the DBNG control plane device, the another message indicating that the DBNG user plane device is offline; and taking the DBNG user plane device offline based on the other message.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure provides a split broadband network gateway DBNG control plane device, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors to: transmitting a first message to a first DBNG user plane device, the first message indicating that the first DBNG user plane device is to cease to have an active role for a subscriber group SGRP and is to have a backup role for the SGRP; and sending a second message to a second DBNG user plane device, the second message indicating that the second DBNG user plane device is to cease to have a backup role for the SGRP and is to have an active role for the SGRP.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein: sending the first message to the first DBNG user plane device to cause a first logical port of the first DBNG user plane device associated with the SGRP to have a backup status; and sending the second message to the second DBNG user plane device to cause a second logical port of the second DBNG user plane device associated with the SGRP to have an active state.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the SGRP is a trace logical port TLP SGRP.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the one or more processors are further to: after sending the first message and the second message, sending a third message to the first DBNG user plane device to take the first DBNG user plane device offline.

Drawings

1A-1D are schematic diagrams of example implementations associated with control plane initiated subscriber group handoffs.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an example environment in which the systems and/or methods described herein may be implemented.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of example components of a device associated with control plane initiated subscriber group switching.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of example components of a device associated with control plane initiated subscriber group switching.

Fig. 5 is a flow diagram of an example process associated with control plane initiated subscriber group switching.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart of an example process associated with control plane initiated subscriber group handover.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description of example implementations refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

To accommodate the number of subscribers, the number and types of services offered by the BNG, and the increase in traffic handled by the BNG, the service provider can deploy a split BNG (DISAGGREGATED BNG, DBNG). DBNG physically and logically separate the control plane and the user plane (also referred to as the "data plane"). For example, software for performing control plane functions may be distributed to be executed by servers that are virtualized BNG functions. The device for implementing the user plane (which may comprise a physical network device or a virtual user plane device) remains in the forwarding path between the access network and the data network to process the data packet stream according to the subscriber forwarding state rules programmed by the control plane.

The Subscriber Group (SGRP) in DBNG is a group of subscriber devices belonging to the same service level or policy group of DBNG. SGRP may be created to provide a particular type of traffic, such as high priority traffic (e.g., for critical traffic applications) or low priority traffic (e.g., less critical applications), to a group of subscriber devices.

DBNG may establish an SGRP served by the active user plane device and the standby user plane device. Thus, the SGRP may be associated with a logical port of each user plane device (e.g., a logical port of a user plane device hosting the SGRP) that includes one or more physical links, link Aggregation Group (LAG) interfaces, multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) pseudowires, and/or virtual Local Area Network (LAN) interfaces, etc.). In some cases, the SGRP may be created in a "trace logical port" (TLP) mode that allows the active user plane device to detect a failure associated with a logical port of the active user plane device, thereby disabling the logical port. This may result in a handover which then allows the SGRP to be served by the standby user plane device (e.g., through a logical port of the standby user plane device).

Although an active user plane device may cause a handover for a TLP SGRP, in some cases, the control plane device is required to initiate a handover for a TLP SGRP. For example, the control plane device may determine (e.g., by communicating with the active user plane device and/or another device) that the active user plane device is associated with one or more issues affecting performance. The one or more performance-affecting issues may include, for example, a need to update the active user plane device (e.g., via a software upgrade), a failure of the active user plane device, a failure of a component of the active user plane device associated with the serving SGRP, a failure associated with an access network or aggregation network associated with the active user plane device, and/or an isolation of the active user plane device from the data network. Thus, allowing the control plane device to cause a handoff to the TLP SGRP (rather than waiting for the active user plane device to detect one or more performance-affecting issues) may prevent service interruption to the TLP SGRP that would otherwise occur, and allow one or more performance-affecting issues to be resolved in time, which improves performance of the active user plane device.

In some implementations described herein, DBNG control plane devices facilitate establishment of an SGRP (e.g., TLP SGRP) such that the SGRP is associated with a first DBNG user plane device (e.g., having an active role for SGRP) and a second DBNG user plane device (e.g., having a standby role for SGRP). Thus, the first logical port of the first DBNG user plane device has an active state for SGRP and the second logical port of the second DBNG user plane device has a standby state for SGRP.

Further, DBNG the control plane device determines that a handoff for SGRP is to occur, such as to address a defect, failure, error, or other problem associated with a physical component of the first DBNG user plane device (e.g., affecting the active set of subscriber sessions served by the first DBNG user plane device); to address defects, faults, errors, or other issues associated with the entirety of the first DBNG user plane device; to address isolation of the first DBNG user plane device (e.g., from the network of DBNG); and/or to address defects, faults, errors, or other problems associated with DBNG networks; etc. Accordingly, DBNG the control plane device sends a first message to the first DBNG user plane device indicating that the role of the first DBNG user plane device for SGRP is to be changed (e.g., from active role to standby role). DBNG the control plane device also sends a second message to the second DBNG user plane device indicating that the role of the second DBNG user plane device for SGRP is to be changed (e.g., from standby role to active role).

The first DBNG user plane device changes the role of the first DBNG user plane device for SGRP from an active role to a standby role based on the first message, including causing the first logical port of the first DBNG user plane device to have a standby state for SGRP. The first DBNG user plane device causes the role for SGRP of the second DBNG user plane device to change from the standby role to the active role based on the second message, including causing the second logical port of the second DBNG user plane device to have an active state for SGRP.

DBNG control the plane device such that the first DBNG user plane device is taken offline (e.g., not available for SGRP). For example, DBNG the control plane device may send a control message to the first DBNG user plane device that causes the first DBNG user plane device to adjust one or more settings of the first DBNG user plane device to take the first DBNG user plane device (e.g., relative to the SGRP) offline. Thus, the subscriber device associated with the SGRP sends the traffic to the second DBNG user plane device (e.g., to the second logical port of the second DBNG user plane device) instead of the first DBNG user plane device, and then the second DBNG user plane device serves the traffic (e.g., forwards the traffic to a destination associated with the traffic).

In this way, some implementations described herein enable DBNG control plane devices to initiate a handoff for an SGRP (e.g., TLP SGRP), which is not currently available in the DBNG environment. Further, when the active DBNG user plane device does not otherwise determine that a handoff for SGRP is to occur, such as when the active DBNG user plane device is affected by one or more performance-affecting problems (e.g., defects, faults, errors, or other problems), the DBNG control plane device can determine that a handoff for SGRP should occur. Thus, DBNG control plane devices allow one or more performance-affecting issues to be addressed in time, which improves the performance of the active user plane devices and prevents service interruption to the SGRP that would otherwise occur (e.g., if one or more performance-affecting issues were not addressed).

Fig. 1A-1D are schematic diagrams of an example implementation 100 associated with control plane initiated group switching for subscribers. As shown in fig. 1A-1D, an example implementation 100 includes: DBNG a control plane device, a first DBNG user plane device, a second DBNG user plane device, and one or more subscriber devices associated with DBNG. These devices are described in more detail below in connection with fig. 2-4.

As shown in fig. 1A, and with reference numeral 102, the dbng control plane device may determine that an SGRP is to be created. For example, DBNG control plane devices may identify a set of subscriber devices, which may include one or more of the subscriber devices shown in fig. 1A, to be included in the SGRP (e.g., because the set of subscriber devices are associated with the same or similar service level or policy group of DBNG). Thus, DBNG the control plane device may perform one or more operations to cause the SGRP to be created.

As an example, as shown by reference numerals 104 and 106, when the SGRP is (or will be) a Trace Logical Port (TLP) SGRP, the DBNG control plane device may send first SGRP information to the first DBNG user plane and may send second SGRP information to the second DBNG user plane device. The first SGRP information may indicate that the first DBNG user plane device will be an active DBNG user plane device for SGRP and/or a logical port of the first DBNG user plane device (hereinafter referred to as a "first" logical port of the first DBNG user plane device) will be associated with SGRP and will have an active state. The first logical port may include one or more physical links, one or more LAG interfaces, one or more MPLS pseudowires, and/or one or more Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) interfaces, etc., of the first DBNG user plane device. The second SGRP information may indicate that the second DBNG user plane device will be a standby DBNG user plane device for SGRP and/or that a logical port of the second DBNG user plane device (hereinafter referred to as a "second" logical port of the second DBNG user plane device) will be associated with SGRP and will have a standby state. The second logical port may include one or more physical links, one or more LAG interfaces, one or more MPLS pseudowires, and/or one or more VLAN interfaces, etc., of the second DBNG user plane device.

Accordingly, as indicated by reference numeral 108, the first DBNG user plane device may cause the first DBNG user plane device to have an active role for SGRP (e.g., cause the first DBNG user plane device to be an active DBNG user plane device for SGRP) based on the first SGRP information, which may include causing the first logical port to be generated and/or to have an active state (e.g., for SGRP). In addition, as indicated by reference numeral 110, the second DBNG user plane device may cause the second DBNG user plane device to have a standby role for SGRP based on the second SGRP information (e.g., cause the second DBNG user plane device to be a standby DBNG user plane device for SGRP), which may include causing the second logical port to be generated and/or to have a standby state (e.g., for SGRP).

As such, since the SGRP is a TLP SGRP, the first DBNG user plane device may be configured to detect one or more problems associated with the first logical port, thereby initiating (e.g., based on detecting the one or more problems) a handoff to the SGRP such that the respective roles of the first DBNG user plane device and the second DBNG user plane device are interchanged (e.g., from active to standby, and from standby to active) and/or the states of the first logical port and the second logical port are interchanged (e.g., from active to standby, and from standby to active).

As shown in fig. 1B, and with reference numeral 112, the dbng control plane device can determine that a handover for SGRP will occur. For example, DBNG control plane device may obtain handover information, such as for maintenance and/or resolution of one or more problems, indicating that the first DBNG user plane device is to be offline (e.g., taken offline, such as to disable the first DBNG user plane device from serving the SGRP). In some implementations, the handover information may indicate one or more reasons that the first DBNG user plane device is to be offline, such as to update the software of the first DBNG user plane device; to address deficiencies, faults, errors, or other problems associated with the physical components of the first DBNG user plane device (e.g., affecting the active set of subscriber sessions served by the first DBNG user plane device); to address defects, faults, errors, or other problems associated with the entire first DBNG user plane device; to address isolation of the first DBNG user plane device (e.g., from the network of DBNG); and/or to address deficiencies, faults, errors, or other problems associated with DBNG networks, etc. DBNG the control plane device may obtain handover information based on monitoring of the network of the first DBNG user plane device and/or DBNG, based on communication with the first DBNG user plane device and/or the second DBNG user plane device; and/or communicate with another device (e.g., another device of DBNG).

As shown at reference numeral 114, DBNG the control plane device may send a first message (e.g., based on determining that a handover of the SGRP is to occur) to a first DBNG user plane device (e.g., an active DBNG user plane device for the SGRP). The first message may indicate that the role of the first DBNG user plane device for SGRP is to be changed. For example, the first message may indicate that the first DBNG user plane device will cease to have an active role for SGRP (e.g., the first DBNG user plane device will no longer be an active DBNG user plane device for SGRP) and/or will have a standby role for SGRP (e.g., the first DBNG user plane device will be a standby DBNG user plane device for SGRP). The first message may be, for example, an SGRP modification message (e.g., as described in wideband forum (BBF) working text 459 (WT-459) phase 2 and 3).

As shown at reference numeral 116, DBNG the control plane device may send a second message (e.g., based on determining that a handover of the SGRP is to occur) to a second DBNG user plane device (e.g., a standby DBNG user plane device for the SGRP). The second message may indicate that the role of the second DBNG user plane device for SGRP is to be changed. For example, the second message may indicate that the second DBNG user plane device will cease to have a standby role for SGRP (e.g., the second DBNG user plane device will no longer be a standby DBNG user plane device for SGRP) and/or will have an active role for SGRP (e.g., the second DBNG user plane device will be an active DBNG user plane device for SGRP). The second message may be, for example, an SGRP modified message (e.g., as described in BBF WT-459 questions 2 and 3).

As shown at reference numeral 118, the first DBNG user plane device may cause (e.g., based on the first message) the role of the first DBNG user plane device for SGRP to change. For example, the first DBNG user plane device may cause the role for SGRP of the first DBNG user plane device to change from an active role to a standby role. This may include causing a first logical port (e.g., having an active state) of the first DBNG user plane device to have a standby state (e.g., for SGRP).

As shown at reference numeral 120, the second DBNG user plane device may cause a role of the second DBNG user plane device for SGRP to change (e.g., based on the second message). For example, the first DBNG user plane device may cause the role for SGRP of the second DBNG user plane device to change from the standby role to the active role. This may include causing the second logical port (e.g., having a standby state) of the second DBNG user plane device to have an active state (e.g., for SGRP).

As shown in fig. 1C, and with reference numeral 122, the first DBNG user plane device may send a first acknowledgement message (e.g., based on causing a role change for the SGRP of the first DBNG user plane device) to the DBNG control plane device. The first acknowledgement message may indicate that the role of the first DBNG user-plane device for the SGRP has changed (e.g., from active role to standby role) and/or that the first logical port of the first DBNG user-plane device has a standby state (e.g., for the SGRP). Additionally or alternatively, with reference numeral 124 shown, the second DBNG user plane device may send a second acknowledgement message to the DBNG control plane device (e.g., based on causing a role change for the SGRP for the second DBNG user plane device). The second acknowledgement message may indicate that the role of the second DBNG user-plane device for SGRP has changed (e.g., from the standby role to the active role) and/or that the second logical port of the second DBNG user-plane device has an active state (e.g., for SGRP).

Accordingly, as indicated by reference numeral 126, DBNG the control plane device may take the first DBNG user plane device offline (e.g., based on receiving the first acknowledgement message and/or receiving the second acknowledgement message). For example, DBNG control plane device may send a control message to the first DBNG user plane device. The control message may indicate that the first DBNG user plane device is to be offline (e.g., for maintenance and/or to address one or more issues). Accordingly, the first DBNG user plane device may take the first DBNG user plane device offline (e.g., based on the control message). For example, the first DBNG user plane device may adjust one or more settings of the first DBNG user plane device to take the first DBNG user plane device (e.g., relative to the SGRP) offline.

As shown in fig. 1D, and with reference numeral 128, a subscriber device of the one or more subscriber devices may send traffic associated with the SGRP (e.g., traffic destined for the DBNG data network). Accordingly, the second DBNG user plane device may receive traffic (as opposed to the first DBNG user plane device) because the second DBNG user plane device has an active role for SGRP and/or the second logical port of the second DBNG user plane device has an active state (e.g., for SGRP). As shown at reference numeral 130, the second DBNG user plane device may forward traffic (e.g., because the second DBNG user plane device has an active role for SGRP and/or the second logical port of the second DBNG user plane device has an active state) to a data network such as DBNG.

As described above, fig. 1A-1D are provided as examples. Other examples may be different from those described with respect to fig. 1A to 1D. The number and arrangement of devices as shown in fig. 1A-1D are provided as examples. In practice, there may be additional devices, fewer devices, different devices, or different arrangements of devices than those shown in FIGS. 1A-1D. Furthermore, two or more of the devices shown in fig. 1A-1D may be implemented within a single device, or a single device shown in fig. 1A-1D may be implemented as multiple distributed devices. Additionally or alternatively, a group of devices (e.g., one or more devices) shown in fig. 1A-1D may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another group of devices shown in fig. 1A-1D.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an example environment 200 in which the systems and/or methods described herein may be implemented. As shown in fig. 2, the example environment 200 may include one or more subscriber devices 205, a Radio Access Network (RAN) 210, AN Access Network (AN) 215, a plurality DBNG of user plane devices 220, data networks 225, DBNG of control plane devices 230, and/or a service provider network 235. The devices and/or networks of the example environment 200 may be interconnected via wired connections, wireless connections, or a combination of wired and wireless connections.

Subscriber device 205 comprises one or more devices capable of receiving, generating, storing, processing, and/or providing information, such as the information described herein. For example, the subscriber device 205 may include a mobile phone (e.g., a smart phone or wireless phone), a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, a handheld computer, a gaming device, a wearable communication device (e.g., a smart watch or smart glasses), a mobile hotspot device, a fixed wireless access device, a customer premise device, or similar type of device. In some implementations, the subscriber device 205 may provide network traffic to DBNG user plane devices 220 and/or receive network traffic from DBNG user plane devices 220 via RAN 210 or AN 215.

RAN 210 may support, for example, cellular Radio Access Technologies (RATs). RAN 210 may include one or more base stations (e.g., base transceiver stations, radio base stations, nodes B, eNodeB (enbs), gndebs (gnbs), base station subsystems, cellular sites, cell towers, access points, transmission Reception Points (TRPs), wireless access nodes, macrocell base stations, microcell base stations, picocell base stations, femtocell base stations, or similar types of devices) and other network entities that may support wireless communications for subscriber devices 205. RAN 210 may transport traffic between subscriber device 205 (e.g., using a cellular RAT), one or more base stations (e.g., using a wireless interface or a backhaul interface, such as a wired backhaul interface), DBNG user plane device 220, and/or data network 225. RAN 210 may provide one or more cells covering a geographic area

AN 215 includes one or more wired and/or wireless networks. For example, AN 215 may include a cellular network (e.g., a fifth generation (5G) network, a fourth generation (4G) network, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, a third generation (3G) network, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, etc.), a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a telephone network (e.g., a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)), a private network, a network, AN ad hoc network, AN intranet, the internet, a fiber-based network, and/or a combination of these or other types of networks. The AN 215 may communicate traffic between subscriber devices 205, DBNG user plane devices 220 and/or data networks 225.

DBNG user plane devices 220 include one or more devices capable of receiving, processing, storing, routing, and/or providing traffic (e.g., packets and/or other information or metadata) in the manner described herein. For example, DBNG user plane device 220 may include a router, such as a Label Switched Router (LSR), a Label Edge Router (LER), an ingress router, an egress router, a provider router (e.g., a provider edge router or a provider core router), a virtual router, or another type of router. Additionally or alternatively, DBNG user plane devices 220 may include gateways, switches, firewalls, hubs, bridges, reverse proxies, servers (e.g., proxy servers, cloud servers, or data center servers), load balancers, and/or the like. In some implementations, DBNG user plane device 220 may be a physical device implemented within a housing, such as a chassis. In some implementations, DBNG user plane device 220 may be a virtual device implemented by one or more computing devices of a cloud computing environment or data center. In some implementations, the set DBNG of user plane devices 220 may be a set of data center nodes for routing traffic flows through a network. DBNG the user plane device 220 may communicate traffic between the subscriber device 205 and/or the data network 225, for example, via a logical port of the DBNG user plane device 220. DBNG the user plane device 220 may perform the user plane functions for DBNG.

The data network 225 includes one or more wired and/or wireless data networks. For example, the data network 225 may include an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a private network such as an intranet, an ad hoc network, the internet, a fiber-based network, a cloud computing network, a third party services network, an operator services network, and/or combinations of these or other types.

DBNG control plane device 230 includes one or more devices capable of receiving, generating, storing, processing, providing, and/or routing information, as described elsewhere herein. DBNG the control plane device 230 may include a communication device and/or a computing device. For example, DBNG control plane device 230 may include a server, such as an application server, a client server, a hosted server, a proxy server, a virtual server (e.g., executing on computing hardware), or a server in a cloud computing system. In some implementations, DBNG control plane device 230 includes computing hardware used in a cloud computing environment. DBNG the control plane device 230 may perform the control plane functions of DBNG. The control plane functions include various control plane functions such as subscriber session termination, execution of signaling protocols such as point-to-point protocol over ethernet (PPPoE), ethernet IP (IPoE), IP address assignment and management, authentication/authorization/accounting (AAA), policy enforcement, gateway operations, lawful interception, local management, keep-alive message handling, and configuration DBNG of the user plane device 220.

Service provider network 235 includes one or more wired and/or wireless networks (e.g., associated with a service provider such as an Internet Service Provider (ISP)). For example, the service provider network 235 may include a wireless wide area network (e.g., a cellular network or public land mobile network), a local area network (e.g., a wired local area network or a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), such as a Wi-Fi network), a personal area network (e.g., a bluetooth network), a near field communication network, a telephone network, a private network, the internet, and/or a combination of these or other types of networks.

The number and arrangement of devices and networks shown in fig. 2 are provided as examples. Indeed, there may be additional devices and/or networks, fewer devices and/or networks, different devices and/or networks, or different arrangements of devices and/or networks than those shown in FIG. 2. Further, two or more devices shown in fig. 2 may be implemented within a single device, or a single device shown in fig. 2 may be implemented as multiple distributed devices. Additionally or alternatively, a set of devices (e.g., one or more devices) of the example environment 200 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of devices of the example environment 200.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of example components of a device 300 associated with control plane initiated handoff for a subscriber group. The device 300 may correspond to the subscriber device 205, DBNG user plane device 220, and/or DBNG control plane device 230. In some implementations, the subscriber device 205, DBNG user plane device 220, and/or DBNG control plane device 230 may include one or more devices 300 and/or one or more components of the devices 300. As shown in fig. 3, device 300 may include a bus 310, a processor 320, a memory 330, an input component 340, an output component 350, and/or a communication component 360.

Bus 310 may include one or more components that enable wired and/or wireless communication among the components of device 300. Bus 310 may couple two or more components of fig. 3 together, such as via an operational coupling, a communicative coupling, an electronic coupling, and/or an electrical coupling. For example, bus 310 may include electrical connections (e.g., wires, traces, and/or leads) and/or a wireless bus. Processor 320 may include a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, an application specific integrated circuit, and/or another type of processing component. Processor 320 may be implemented in hardware, firmware, or a combination of hardware and software. In some implementations, the processor 320 may include one or more processors that can be programmed to perform one or more operations or processes described elsewhere herein.

Memory 330 may include volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as, for example, memory 330 may include Random Access Memory (RAM), read Only Memory (ROM), a hard disk drive, and/or another type of memory (e.g., flash memory, magnetic memory, and/or optical memory). Memory 330 may include internal memory (e.g., RAM, ROM, or a hard drive) and/or removable memory (e.g., removable over a universal serial bus connection). Memory 330 may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Memory 330 may store information, one or more instructions, and/or software (e.g., one or more software applications) related to the operation of device 300. In some implementations, the memory 330 may include one or more memories coupled (e.g., communicatively coupled) to one or more processors (e.g., processor 320), for example, via bus 310. The communicative coupling between the processor 320 and the memory 330 may enable the processor 320 to read and/or process information stored in the memory 330 and/or store information in the memory 330.

The input component 340 may enable the device 300 to receive input, such as user input and/or sensed input. For example, input component 340 may include a touch screen, keyboard, keypad, mouse, buttons, microphone, switches, sensors, global positioning system sensors, global navigation satellite system sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and/or actuators. The output component 350 may enable the device 300 to provide output, such as via a display, speakers, and/or light emitting diodes. The communication component 360 can enable the device 300 to communicate with other devices via a wired connection and/or a wireless connection. For example, communications component 360 may include a receiver, a transmitter, a transceiver, a modem, a network interface card, and/or an antenna.

The device 300 may perform one or more of the operations or processes described herein. For example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., memory 330) may store a set of instructions (e.g., one or more instructions or code) for execution by processor 320. Processor 320 may execute a set of instructions to perform one or more operations or processes described herein. In some implementations, execution of the set of instructions by the one or more processors 320 results in the one or more processors 320 and/or the device 300 performing one or more operations or processes described herein. In some implementations, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with instructions to perform one or more operations or processes described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the processor 320 may be configured to perform one or more operations or processes described herein. Thus, implementations described herein are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

The number and arrangement of components shown in fig. 3 are provided as examples. The device 300 may include additional components, fewer components, different components, or different arrangements of components than those shown in fig. 3. Additionally or alternatively, a set of components (e.g., one or more components) of device 300 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of components of device 300.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of example components of a device 400 associated with control plane initiated subscriber group switching. The device 400 may correspond to the subscriber device 205, DBNG user plane device 220, and/or DBNG control plane device 230. In some implementations, the subscriber device 205, DBNG user plane device 220, and/or DBNG control plane device 230 may include one or more devices 400 and/or one or more components of the devices 400. As shown in FIG. 4, device 400 may include one or more input components 410-1 through 410-B (B.gtoreq.1) (hereinafter collectively referred to as input components 410, individually referred to as input components 410), a switching component 420, one or more output components 430-1 through 430-C (C.gtoreq.1) (hereinafter collectively referred to as output components 430, individually referred to as output components 430), and a controller 440.

Input component 410 may be one or more connection points of a physical link and may be one or more entry points for incoming traffic (e.g., data packets). The input component 410 may process incoming traffic, such as by performing data link layer encapsulation or decapsulation. In some implementations, the input component 410 can transmit and/or receive data packets. In some implementations, the input component 410 may include an input line card that includes one or more packet processing components (e.g., in the form of integrated circuits) such as one or more interface cards (IFCs), packet forwarding components, line card controller components, input ports, processors, memory, and/or input queues. In some implementations, the device 400 may include one or more input components 410.

The switching component 420 can interconnect the input component 410 with the output component 430. In some implementations, the switching component 420 can be implemented via one or more crossbars, via a bus, and/or utilizing a shared memory. The shared memory may act as a temporary buffer to store data packets from the input component 410 before the data packets are ultimately scheduled for delivery to the output component 430. In some implementations, the switching component 420 can enable the input component 410, the output component 430, and/or the controller 440 to communicate with one another.

The output component 430 can store the data packets and can schedule the data packets for transmission over the output physical link. Output component 430 can support data link layer encapsulation or decapsulation, and/or various higher layer protocols. In some implementations, the input component 430 can transmit data packets and/or receive data packets. In some implementations, the output component 430 may include an output line card that includes one or more packet processing components (e.g., in the form of integrated circuits) such as one or more IFCs, packet forwarding components, line card controller components, output ports, processors, memory, and/or output queues. In some implementations, the device 400 may include one or more output components 430. In some implementations, the input component 410 and the output component 430 may be implemented by the same set of components (e.g., the input/output component may be a combination of the input component 410 and the output component 430).

The controller 440 includes, for example, a CPU, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), an Acceleration Processing Unit (APU), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), and/or another type of processor. The processor is implemented in hardware, firmware, or a combination of hardware and software. In some implementations, the controller 440 may include one or more processors that may be programmed to perform functions.

In some implementations, the controller 440 may include RAM, ROM, and/or another type of dynamic or static storage device (e.g., flash memory, magnetic memory, optical memory, etc.) that stores information and/or instructions for use by the controller 440.

In some implementations, the controller 440 may communicate with other devices, networks, and/or systems connected to the device 400 to exchange information regarding the network topology. Controller 440 may create a routing table based on the network topology information, may create a forwarding table based on the routing table, and may forward the forwarding table to input component 410 and/or output component 430. Input component 410 and/or output component 430 can employ forwarding tables to perform route lookup of incoming and/or outgoing data packets.

The controller 440 may perform one or more of the processes described herein. The controller 440 may perform these processes in response to executing software instructions stored by a non-transitory computer-readable medium. A computer-readable medium is defined herein as a non-transitory memory device. A memory device includes memory space within a single physical storage device or memory space distributed across multiple physical storage devices.

The software instructions may be read into a memory and/or storage component associated with controller 440 from another computer-readable medium or from another device via a communication interface. When executed, software instructions stored in memory and/or storage components associated with controller 440 may cause controller 440 to perform one or more processes described herein. Additionally or alternatively, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to perform one or more processes described herein. Thus, implementations described herein are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

The number and arrangement of components shown in fig. 4 are provided as examples. In practice, device 400 may include additional components, fewer components, different components, or a different arrangement of components than those shown in FIG. 4. Additionally or alternatively, a set of components (e.g., one or more components) of device 400 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of components of device 400.

Fig. 5 is a flow diagram of an example process 500 associated with control plane initiated subscriber group switching. In some implementations, one or more of the processing blocks of fig. 5 are performed by DBNG a control plane device (e.g., DBNG control plane device 230). In some implementations, one or more processing blocks of fig. 5 are performed by another device or a set of devices separate from or including the DBNG control plane device, such as a subscriber device (e.g., subscriber device 205) and/or a DBNG user plane device (e.g., DBNG user plane device 220). Additionally or alternatively, one or more processing blocks of fig. 5 may be performed by one or more components of device 300, such as processor 320, memory 330, input component 340, output component 350, and/or communication component 360; one or more components of device 400 execute, such as input component 410, switching component 420, output component 430, and/or controller 440; and/or one or more components of another device.

As shown in fig. 5, process 500 may include sending a first message to a first DBNG user plane device (block 510). For example, as described above, DBNG control plane device may send a first message to a first DBNG user plane device that is an active DBNG user plane device for SGRP. The first message may indicate that the first DBNG user plane device is to be a standby DBNG user plane device for SGRP.

As further shown in fig. 5, process 500 may include sending a second message to a second DBNG user plane device (block 520). For example, as described above, DBNG control plane device may send a second message to a second DBNG user plane device that is a standby DBNG user plane device for SGRP. The second message may indicate that the second DBNG user plane device is to be an active DBNG user plane device for SGRP.

Process 500 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and/or in combination with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

In a first implementation, sending a first message to a first DBNG user plane device causes a first logical port of a first DBNG user plane device associated with an SGRP to have a standby state and sending a second message to a second DBNG user plane device causes a second logical port of a second DBNG user plane device associated with the SGRP to have an active state.

In a second implementation, used alone or in combination with the first implementation, the SGRP is a TLP SGRP.

In a third implementation, each of the first message and the second message is an SGRP modification message, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second implementations.

In a fourth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through third implementations, the process 500 includes receiving a first acknowledgement message associated with a first message from a first DBNG user plane device, receiving a second acknowledgement message associated with a second message from a second DBNG user plane device, and taking the first DBNG user plane device offline based on receiving the first acknowledgement message and receiving the second acknowledgement message.

In a fifth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fourth implementations, the process 500 includes sending a third message to the first DBNG user plane device indicating that the first DBNG user plane device is offline after sending the first message and the second message.

In a sixth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fifth implementations, the process 500 includes sending a third message to the first DBNG user plane device to take the first DBNG user plane device offline.

While fig. 5 shows example blocks of process 500, in some implementations, process 500 includes additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in fig. 5. Additionally or alternatively, two or more blocks of process 500 may be performed in parallel.

Fig. 6 is a flow diagram of an example process 600 associated with a control plane initiated handoff for a subscriber group. In some implementations, one or more of the processing blocks of fig. 6 are performed by DBNG user plane devices (e.g., DBNG user plane device 220). In some implementations, one or more processing blocks of fig. 6 are performed by another device or a set of devices separate from or including the DBNG user plane device, such as a subscriber device (e.g., subscriber device 205) and/or a DBNG control plane device (e.g., DBNG control plane device 230). Additionally or alternatively, one or more processing blocks of fig. 6 may be performed by one or more components of device 300, such as processor 320, memory 330, input component 340, output component 350, and/or communication component 360; one or more components of device 400 execute, such as input component 410, switching component 420, output component 430, and/or controller 440; and/or one or more components of another device.

As shown in fig. 6, process 600 may include receiving a message indicating DBNG that a role of a user plane device for SGRP is to be changed (block 610). For example, DBNG user plane device may receive a message from DBNG control plane device indicating DBNG that the role of the user plane device for SGRP is to be changed, as described above.

As further shown in fig. 6, process 600 may include causing DBNG a role change for the SGRP for the user plane device (block 620). For example, DBNG user plane devices may cause the role of DBNG user plane devices for SGRP to change based on the message, as described above.

Process 600 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and/or in combination with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

In a first implementation, causing the role for SGRP for the DBNG user plane device to change includes causing the role for SGRP for the DBNG user plane device to change from an active role to a standby role.

In a second implementation, used alone or in combination with the first implementation, causing the role of DBNG user plane devices for SGRP to change includes causing DBNG logical ports of the user plane devices associated with the SGRP to have a standby state.

In a third implementation, alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second implementations, causing a role for SGRP for DBNG user plane devices to change includes causing a role for SGRP for DBNG user plane devices to change from a standby role to an active role.

In a fourth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through third implementations, causing the role of DBNG user plane device to change for the SGRP includes causing a logical port of the DBNG user plane device associated with the SGRP to have an active state.

In a fifth implementation, the SGRP is a TLP SGRP, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fourth implementations.

In a sixth implementation, the message is an SGRP modification message, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fifth implementations.

In a seventh implementation, the process 600 includes sending an acknowledgement message based on causing DBNG a role change for the SGRP for the user plane device, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through sixth implementations.

In an eighth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through seventh implementations, the process 600 includes receiving another message from the DBNG control plane device, the another message indicating DBNG that the user plane device is offline; and taking DBNG the user plane device offline based on the other message.

While fig. 6 shows example blocks of process 600, in some implementations, process 600 includes additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in fig. 6. Additionally or alternatively, two or more blocks of process 600 may be performed in parallel.

The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the implementations to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the implementations.

As used herein, a service or content may include a set of data packets. A data packet may refer to a communication structure used to communicate information, such as a Protocol Data Unit (PDU), a Service Data Unit (SDU), a network data packet, a datagram, a segment, a message, a block, a frame (e.g., an ethernet frame), a portion of any of the above, and/or another type of formatted or unformatted data unit capable of being transmitted over a network.

As used herein, satisfying a threshold may refer to greater than a threshold, greater than or equal to a threshold, less than or equal to a threshold, a value equal to a threshold, not equal to a threshold, etc., depending on the context.

As used herein, the term "component" is intended to be broadly interpreted as hardware, firmware, or a combination of hardware and software. It is to be understood that the systems and/or methods described herein may be implemented in various forms of hardware, firmware, and/or combinations of hardware and software. The actual specialized control hardware or software code used to implement the systems and/or methods is not limiting of the implementations. Thus, the operations and behavior of the systems and/or methods were described herein without reference to the specific software code-it being understood that software and hardware can be used to implement the systems and/or methods based on the description herein.

Although specific combinations of features are recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification, such combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of the various implementations. Indeed, many of these features may be combined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification. While each of the dependent claims listed below may depend directly on only one claim, disclosure of various implementations includes a combination of each dependent claim with each other claim in the claim set. As used herein, a phrase referring to a list of items "at least one" refers to any combination of those items, including individual members. As an example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to encompass a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination of multiple like items.

When a "processor" or "one or more processors" (or other devices or components, such as a "controller" or "one or more controllers") are described or claimed (in a single claim or across multiple claims) as performing or being configured to perform multiple operations, the language is intended to broadly cover various processor architectures and environments. For example, unless explicitly stated otherwise (e.g., by using "a first processor" and "a second processor" or other language distinguishing processors in the claims), that language is intended to encompass a single processor executing or configured to execute all operations, a group of processors executing or configured to execute all operations, a first processor executing or configured to execute a first operation, and a second processor executing or configured to execute a second operation, or any combination of processors executing or configured to execute operations. For example, when the claims take the form of "one or more processors: executing X; executing Y; and execute Z ", which statement should be interpreted as" one or more processors execute X; one or more (possibly different) processors to execute Y; and one or more (possibly different) processors to execute Z. "

No element, act, or instruction used herein should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Furthermore, as used herein, the articles "a" and "an" are intended to include one or more items, and may be used interchangeably with "one or more". Furthermore, as used herein, the article "the" is intended to include one or more items associated with the article "the" and may be used interchangeably with "one or more". Furthermore, as used herein, the term "set" is intended to include one or more items (e.g., related items, unrelated items, or a combination of related and unrelated items), and can be used interchangeably with "one or more". If only one item is referred to, the phrase "only one" or similar language is used. Furthermore, as used herein, the terms "having," "having," and the like are intended to be open ended terms. Furthermore, unless explicitly stated otherwise, the phrase "based on" is intended to mean "based, at least in part, on". Furthermore, as used herein, the term "or" when used in series is intended to be inclusive and may be used interchangeably with "and/or" unless otherwise specifically indicated (e.g., if used in conjunction with "either" or "only one").

Claims (20)

1. A method, comprising:

Transmitting, by a split broadband network gateway DBNG control plane device, a first message to a first DBNG user plane device that is an active DBNG user plane device for a subscriber group SGRP, the first message indicating that the first DBNG user plane device is to be a backup DBNG user plane device for the SGRP; and

A second message is sent by the DBNG control plane device to a second DBNG user plane device that is the standby DBNG user plane device for the SGRP, the second message indicating that the second DBNG user plane device is to be the active DBNG user plane device for the SGRP.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

Sending the first message to the first DBNG user plane device to cause a first logical port of the first DBNG user plane device associated with the SGRP to have a standby state; and

Sending the second message to the second DBNG user plane device causes a second logical port of the second DBNG user plane device associated with the SGRP to have an active state.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the SGRP is a trace logical port TLP SGRP.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the first message and the second message is an SGRP modification message.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a first acknowledgement message associated with the first message from the first DBNG user plane device;

receiving a second acknowledgement message associated with the second message from the second DBNG user plane device; and

The first DBNG user plane device is taken offline based on receiving the first acknowledgement message and receiving the second acknowledgement message.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after sending the first message and the second message, sending a third message to the first DBNG user plane device, the third message indicating that the first DBNG user plane device is to be offline.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein:

Sending the third message to the first DBNG user plane device takes the first DBNG user plane device offline.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions, the set of instructions comprising:

One or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a split broadband network gateway DBNG user plane device, cause the DBNG user plane device to:

Receiving a message from DBNG control plane device indicating DBNG that the role of the user plane device for the subscriber group SGRP is to be changed; and

Based on the message, the role of the DBNG user plane device for the SGRP is changed.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more instructions that cause the DBNG user plane device to cause the role of the DBNG user plane device for the SGRP to change:

the role of the DBNG user plane device for the SGRP is changed from an active role to a standby role.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more instructions that cause the DBNG user plane device to cause the role of the DBNG user plane device for the SGRP to change:

And enabling a logical port associated with the SGRP of the DBNG user plane device to have a standby state.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more instructions that cause the DBNG user plane device to cause the role of the DBNG user plane device for the SGRP to change:

The role of the DBNG user plane device for the SGRP is changed from a standby role to an active role.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more instructions that cause the DBNG user plane device to cause the role of the DBNG user plane device for the SGRP to change:

And enabling a logical port of the DBNG user plane device associated with the SGRP to have an active state.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the SGRP is a trace logical port TLP SGRP.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the message is an SGRP modification message.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more instructions further cause the DBNG user plane device to:

an acknowledgement message is sent based on causing the role of the DBNG user plane device for the SGRP to change.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more instructions further cause the DBNG user plane device to:

Receiving another message from the DBNG control plane device, the another message indicating that the DBNG user plane device is offline; and

And taking the DBNG user plane equipment offline based on the another message.

17. A split broadband network gateway DBNG control plane device, comprising:

One or more memories; and

One or more processors to:

transmitting a first message to a first DBNG user plane device, the first message indicating that the first DBNG user plane device is to cease to have an active role for a subscriber group SGRP and is to have a standby role for the SGRP; and

A second message is sent to a second DBNG user plane device indicating that the second DBNG user plane device is to cease having a standby role for the SGRP and is to have an active role for the SGRP.

18. The DBNG control plane device of claim 17, wherein:

Sending the first message to the first DBNG user plane device to cause a first logical port of the first DBNG user plane device associated with the SGRP to have a standby state; and

Sending the second message to the second DBNG user plane device causes a second logical port of the second DBNG user plane device associated with the SGRP to have an active state.

19. The DBNG control plane device of claim 17, wherein the SGRP is a trace logical port TLP SGRP.

20. The DBNG control plane device of claim 17, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

after sending the first message and the second message, sending a third message to the first DBNG user plane device to take the first DBNG user plane device offline.