Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W72/00—Local resource management
  • H04W72/04—Wireless resource allocation

Definitions

• TITLE Method for processing a connection between user equipment and remote equipment in a communication network, control method, devices, satellite, earth station, system and corresponding computer programs.
• the field of the invention is that of a communication network, to which a user equipment is connected.
• the invention relates to the processing of a connection between this user equipment and a remote equipment via the communication network, when the user equipment is attached to a wireless access network of this communication network .
• 5G proposes to split the mobile radio access network (RAN) into NF (Network Functions) network functions, independent of the physical network elements. These are mainly the following functions: a remote unit RU (for "Remote Unit”) at radio level, a distributed unit DU (for "Distribution Unit”) for processing and radio scheduling and a centralized unit CU (for “Centralized Unit”) to the core network.
• NF Network Functions
• FIG. 1 presents a family of “splits” known as intra physical layer known from the state of the art (variants 8, 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3).
• the interfaces between the virtualized network functions CU, DU and RU are presented.
• the FL interface between the CU and DU functions is specified in part by 3GPP which has defined deployment scenarios in which the FL interface is fully interoperable.
• LLS Low Layer Split
• CPRI Common Public Radio Interface
• 3GGP 3GGP in particular for the split 7.2 variant.
• 5G network architectures based on satellite constellations have been proposed, as shown in Figure 3.
• a user equipment UE is connected to a server web via a radio network RAN comprising a satellite SAT1 which embeds the RU and DU functions and a ground station NTN_GW1 (“terrestrial gateway”) which embeds the CU function.
• the satellite SAT1 to embed only the RU function and for the DU function to be integrated into a second ground station NTN_GW2.
• the DU function is embedded in an intermediate satellite SAT of the RAN network.
• all or part of the virtualized functions (RU, DU, CU) of the RAN can be distributed over one or more satellites of a constellation and one or more ground stations.
• satellite RAN Compared to a terrestrial RAN radio access network, it involves at least one additional radio connection, for example of the e-CPRI type, in order to connect the satellite to the terrestrial station then to the core of the mobile network, or even more when the virtualized functions are distributed over several satellites, with the use of ISL links (for “Inter Satellite Link”) between satellites.
• ISL links for “Inter Satellite Link”
• the distance between these virtualized functions must be minimized to meet the deadlines established for 5G.
• the latency between the RU function and the DU function must be less than one millisecond.
• the system is less sensitive to the latency between the satellite and the earth station, at least with regard to the mobile radio processing.
• the CU function can also be placed in the constellation of satellites, in the ground station or even in equipment of a remote data center.
• these different configurations produce several scenarios of loss of data packets, likely to affect, as illustrated by FIG. 3, the three links marked with a cross.
• These include in particular the intra-constellation link between the RU function and the DU function, and, depending on the examples, the link between the DU function located in the constellation and the CU function located in the ground station or even the link between the function DU located in the ground station and the CU function located in equipment of a remote data center.
• the function concerned for example RU/DU requests the retransmission of the lost packet to the remote CU function and during this period of time, the resources allocated to the connection on the radio link with the user equipment are underused.
• the convergence time of end-to-end transport connection congestion control algorithms according to protocols such as TCP or QUIC between a user equipment and a server equipment via such a mobile network leads to a waste of radio speed at start-up or upon resumption of such a connection.
• this convergence time or THRPT (for “throughput”, in English) is generally of the order of several RTT (for “Round Trip Time”, in English), or round trip time between the source (l user equipment) and the destination (the server equipment or a proxy proxy equipment), as shown in Figure 4.
• the invention improves the situation.
• the invention meets this need by proposing a method for processing a connection between a user equipment and a remote equipment in a communication network, said user equipment being attached to a wireless access network of said communication network by the via a wireless link, said method comprising:
• the invention proposes an entirely new and inventive approach for reducing the waste of wireless transmission resources, which consists in detecting an underuse of the resources allocated to a connection on the wireless link between a user equipment and the access network to which it is attached, and to transmit padding data over this wireless link, these padding data having been previously made available in a memory accessible in the communication network (e.g. in the access network and/or in the core network).
• the invention relates in particular to end-to-end communications in connected mode, implementing for example transport layer level protocols such as TCP (for "Transport Communication Protocol” in English) or QUIC, which require establishing a connection before sending data.
• transport layer level protocols such as TCP (for "Transport Communication Protocol” in English) or QUIC, which require establishing a connection before sending data.
• TCP Transport Communication Protocol
• QUIC QUIC
• the transmitter sequences the data and controls the flows
• the receiver acknowledges the reception of the data so that the packet losses are detected and the lost packets are retransmitted.
• the invention applies to any type of wireless access network, for example based on Wifi, Lifi or cellular radio technology. It is particularly suitable for a radio access network RAN (for "Radio Access Network", in English) of a 5G mobile communication network, in particular when it is divided into several virtual functions which are implemented by a or more satellites and possibly one or more ground stations, according to different distribution scenarios.
• RAN for "Radio Access Network", in English
• the RU function which performs the attachment of the user equipment is on board such a satellite.
• the DU and CU functions can be embedded in this same satellite or else in an intermediate satellite or even be integrated into a terrestrial station.
• a satellite RAN Compared to a terrestrial RAN, a satellite RAN requires at least one additional radio connection to link the satellite to a ground station, or even more if a constellation of satellites is used and the sources of congestion or packet loss are all the more numerous .
• the filling data can be of different types, in connection with the different layers of the OSI model.
• padding data includes application data, which replaces lost or missing data (for example, a degraded version of an image whose data has not been received), or DNS entries (for "Domain Name System”, in English) or computer update data, for example of the operating system of the user equipment, public information data, such as a weather report, a tsunami alert, etc.
• the padding data includes data generation instructions to replace lost or missing data (eg an instruction such as "replace image with text").
• control data may also include technical data, such as control data at the 5G level or at the radio level.
• the memory for example of the cache memory type, in which the filling data is stored, is integrated in the network equipment closest to the user equipment, therefore located at one end of the wireless link on which a famine data is detected.
• it can be integrated into another piece of equipment of the wireless access network, preferably close to the latter, to minimize the latency during the transmission of the filling data from the memory to the network piece of equipment.
• the padding data can also be read on an input/output interface which has received it from another piece of equipment in the wireless access network, such as an intermediate satellite, or which generates this data in real time from instructions received.
• the invention is particularly suitable for transmissions in the downlink direction, from the mobile network to the user equipment, but it also applies in the uplink direction.
• the cache memory is integrated into the user equipment.
• the detection of an underutilization of a data rate comprises the detection of a loss of data packets on another link of the access network implemented by the connection and the Padding data is obtained and then transmitted following a request to retransmit lost packets and before reception of retransmitted packets.
• the access network equipment which detects the data loss requests their retransmission to the server equipment.
• the radio resources allocated for the transport of these data packets on the downstream radio links are not used during the period of time necessary for this retransmission.
• the detection of an underutilization of a data rate comprises the detection of a start and/or a resumption of said connection and the filling data are obtained then transmitted during a convergence period of a congestion control.
• the congestion control parameters determined at the start of the connection may be incorrectly adjusted following data loss, variations in delay or data rate, which may cause underutilization of the resources allocated to the connection in the communication network, the time for the congestion control algorithm to readjust its configuration.
• the method comprises obtaining information relating to the connection and predicting an amount of said padding data to be requested, by applying a predetermined prediction model to the obtained information.
• the information obtained indicates a loss of data packets intended for the user equipment ([ID, domain, AIMD, 10 packet losses, 4 glued losses]) on another link implemented by the connection and located more upstream on the path followed by the data, between two devices of the access network (for example between the satellite closest to the user device and another satellite of the constellation or else between the satellite and an earth station).
• the amount of predicted padding data is 500 bytes.
• the information obtained indicates a slow start of the connection in the direction of the user equipment due to a slow convergence of the congestion control algorithms implemented end-to-end at the level of the transport layer ([ID , domain, MIMD, 3 RTT duration]) and the predicted amount of padding data is 10k bytes or 5ms of radio transmission.
• the predetermined prediction model is previously received from the communication network. For example, it was produced from congestion data and data loss relating to prior connections and stored in a data table which can be managed in distributed or distributed mode.
• the filling data is transmitted on a control channel and/or on a user channel of the wireless link, the channel used for the transmission being determined by a type of the filling data.
• the application data is transmitted at the physical level in the user channel and the access network control data is transmitted in the control channel.
• An advantage of the invention is that it makes it possible to modify the initial distribution of the resources allocated between already existing control and user channels between the virtualized functions for transmitting the filling data. In this way, the allocated bandwidth is used in an optimized manner.
• the filler data is inserted into a data stream of said connection.
• An advantage is that we take advantage of the established connection. It can be a control data flow or a user data flow. For example, if a loss of packets has occurred, the filler data is inserted into the subframes (RB) initially provided for these data packets.
• This embodiment is suitable for the transmission of filling data intended for an application of the user equipment at the origin of the connection established between the user equipment and the remote equipment.
• the Quic/Mask technology makes it possible to insert them into a connection flow for only one section of the path between the remote equipment and the user equipment.
• the padding data when it is intended for a non-IP application of the user equipment, it can be sent in a parallel communication channel in one or more messages, for example according to a format specific to the networks of communication, such as for example the USSD format for a mobile communication network, provided that the targeted application supports this mode of communication.
• the invention also relates to a device for processing a connection between a user equipment and a remote equipment in a communication network, said user equipment being attached to a wireless access network of said communication network via a wireless link, said device being configured to implement:
• said device configured to implement the steps of the processing method as described above.
• said device is integrated into a satellite of an access network of a communication network, said satellite comprising a memory configured to store filling data.
• this satellite embeds at least the virtualized function RU of a satellite radio access network RAN according to the 5G standard.
• the satellite and the processing device have at least the same advantages as those conferred by the aforementioned processing method.
• the invention also relates to a method for controlling a connection between user equipment of a communication network and remote equipment, said user equipment being attached by a wireless link to a wireless access network of said network of communication, said method comprising: obtaining filler data intended to be transmitted via said connection in the event of detection of an underutilization of the resources allocated to this connection by the wireless access network; and transmitting the obtained padding data to a memory accessible in the communication network for storage.
• the method is implemented by a control device co-located with the virtualized function CU.
• the control device and the CU function are hosted by a ground station of the access network RAN.
• the supply of the memory is therefore done via a link, for example of the eCPRI type, between the ground station and the satellite which hosts the memory.
• the aforementioned control device is on board an intermediate satellite which implements the DU and RU functions of the radio access network.
• the padding data may be intended for a single user equipment. These are, for example, operating system update data or DNS entries.
• they can also be intended for a plurality of user terminals which are attached to the same access network, for example to the same cell of a cellular radio access network.
• One or more of these terminals may not be connected at the time the memory is supplied with filling data, but the invention allows them to benefit from some of these data, due to their proximity to the user equipment involved. in the connection. This is, for example, information linked to public services such as weather forecasts.
• the filling data is transmitted to said memory in at least one data stream of the connection.
• the method comprises the establishment of a dedicated connection between the network equipment, for example the intermediate satellite or the earth station, which implements the method and the memory.
• the memory that stores the filling data is seen as a "5G end point" of a B2B contract.
• a dedicated communication tunnel for example of the VPN type, is established for example according to a technology specific to the satellite operator.
• the method comprises obtaining information relating to a congestion control of the data flows and information relating to data losses of previous connections in the wireless access network of a data table accessible in the communication network and the selection of the filling data at least according to the information obtained.
• This data table stores a history of previous connections, in particular congestion and loss events that have occurred within the RAN or several RANs.
• this data table serves as a basis for establishing a model for predicting variations in the use of radio resources allocated to an end-to-end connection by radio access equipment of the RAN.
• it is obtained by concatenation of the contents of local data tables specific to the various RANs, which makes it possible to constitute a history of connections large enough to implement techniques based on artificial intelligence and to determine a prediction model capable of predicting data of prediction adapted to the connection.
• This determination implements, for example, artificial intelligence (“Machine Learning”) techniques which exploit the connection history data stored in the data table.
• Artificial intelligence Machine Learning
• the method comprises obtaining at least one filling data prediction model from the information contained in the data table and the transmission of said model in the wireless access network to a device for processing a connection configured to detect an underuse of resources allocated to said connection on a wireless link between the user equipment and the access network, predicting padding data to be used for said connection to from said prediction model and transmitting the predicted filler data over the wireless link.
• this prediction model is a computer program which makes it possible to obtain filling data types suitable for the connection from information relating to the connection. It is intended to be used by the processing method according to the invention to select the filling data adapted to the connection in the memory.
• this same prediction model or another, itself also produced by the control method according to the invention is intended to be used to select the filling data to be pre-positioned in the memory.
• the method further comprises obtaining from the user equipment information relating to a state of at least one cache memory of said user equipment and the selection of suitable filling data to the user equipment depends on the information obtained.
• This information allows the access network to prepare upstream the update of one or more memories of the user equipment, for example the cache memory of its web browser, according to what it contains and to pre-position data packets, for example relating to Web or DNS content, in the cache memory of the radio access network, specifically adapted to the needs of this user equipment. For example, these data packets are placed in a chosen order in a FIFO (First In First Out) type data queue.
• FIFO First In First Out
• the invention also relates to a device for controlling a connection established between user equipment of a mobile communication network and remote equipment, said user equipment being attached to the wireless access network of said communication network, said device being configured to implement: obtaining padding data for said at least one connection; transmitting the padding data to a memory accessible in the communication network for storage.
• said device configured to implement the steps of the connection control method as described above.
• said device is integrated in an intermediate satellite of an access network of a communication network or in a ground station of the access network or of the core network.
• such an intermediate satellite or such an earth station comprises a data table comprising information on congestion and data loss relating to previous connections.
• the intermediate satellite, the ground station and the control device have at least the same advantages as those conferred by the aforementioned control method.
• the invention also relates to a system of a communication network, comprising the aforementioned processing device, the control device, the memory and the data table.
• the invention also relates to computer program products comprising program code instructions for implementing the methods as described above, when they are executed by a processor.
• a program may use any programming language, and be in the form of source code, object code, or intermediate code between source code and object code, such as in partially compiled form, or in any other desirable form.
• the invention also relates to a recording medium readable by a computer on which is recorded a computer program comprising program code instructions for the execution of the steps of the methods according to the invention as described above.
• Such recording medium can be any entity or device capable of storing the program.
• the medium may include a storage medium, such as a ROM, for example a CD ROM or a microelectronic circuit ROM, or else a magnetic recording medium, for example a mobile medium (memory card) or a hard drive or SSD.
• such a recording medium may be a transmissible medium such as an electrical or optical signal, which may be conveyed via an electrical or optical cable, by radio or by other means, so that the program computer it contains is executable remotely.
• the program according to the invention can in particular be downloaded on a network, for example the Internet network.
• the recording medium may be an integrated circuit in which the program is incorporated, the circuit being adapted to execute or to be used in the execution of the aforementioned display control method.
• the present technique is implemented by means of software and/or hardware components.
• the term "module" may correspond in this document to a software component, a hardware component or a set of hardware and software components.
• a software component corresponds to one or more computer programs, one or more sub-programs of a program, or more generally to any element of a program or software capable of implementing a function or a set of functions, as described below for the module concerned.
• Such a software component is executed by a data processor of a physical entity (terminal, server, gateway, set-top-box, router, etc.) and is likely to access the hardware resources of this physical entity (memories, recording media, communication bus, electronic input/output cards, user interfaces, etc.).
• resources means all sets of hardware and/or software elements supporting a function or a service, whether unitary or combined.
• a hardware component corresponds to any element of a hardware assembly (or hardware) able to implement a function or a set of functions, according to what is described below for the module concerned. It can be a hardware component that can be programmed or has an integrated processor for executing software, for example an integrated circuit, a smart card, a memory card, an electronic card for executing firmware ( “firmware” in English), etc.
• FIG. 1 (already described) schematically illustrates the virtualization of the functions of a radio access network according to the 5G standard;
• FIG. 2 (already described) schematically illustrates the interfaces between the various virtualized functions of a radio access network according to the 5G standard;
• FIG. 3 (already described) schematically illustrates an example of radio access network architecture comprising a satellite
• FIG. 4 (already described) schematically illustrates the convergence times of congestion control algorithms of an end-to-end connection in a communication network
• FIG. 5 schematically illustrates an implementation principle of the invention for a radio access network comprising at least one satellite;
• FIG. 6 schematically illustrates an example of radio access network architecture comprising a satellite and a system for managing a connection between user equipment and remote equipment according to one embodiment of the invention ;
• FIG. 7 describes in the form of a flowchart the steps of a method for processing a connection between a user equipment and another remote equipment in a communication network, according to an example embodiment of the invention
• FIG. 8 schematically illustrates the data flows exchanged between the virtualized network functions and the elements of the invention according to an exemplary embodiment
• FIG. 9 describes in the form of a flowchart the steps of a method for controlling a connection between user equipment and remote equipment, according to an example embodiment of the invention
• FIG. 10 describes in the form of a flow diagram the exchanges between the user equipment and the various access network equipment according to one embodiment of the invention
• FIG. 11 describes in the form of a flow diagram the exchanges between the user equipment and the various access network equipment according to another embodiment of the invention
• FIG. 12 describes an example of the hardware structure of a device for processing a connection according to the invention.
• FIG. 13 describes an example of the hardware structure of a connection control device according to the invention.
• the general principle of the invention is based on the detection of an underutilization of a data rate allocated on a wireless link between a user equipment and an access network to a communication network for communication between this equipment user and remote equipment in the communication network, for example, connected end-to-end in client-server mode.
• detection triggers the obtaining of filling data previously made available in a memory (for example a cache memory for accelerate the execution of the invention), accessible in the access network, and on the transmission over said wireless link of said filler data.
• the data pre-loaded in a memory of the communication network are used to fill the data frames allocated for the connection. In this way, the use of the resources allocated to the connection is optimized.
• the invention is particularly suitable for a radio access network of a mobile communication network, in particular a cellular radio access network according to the 5G standard, of which one or more virtualized functions RU, DU, CU are embedded on a or more satellites.
• the invention applies more generally to any type of wireless access network of a communication network, regardless of the technology used, for example Wi-Fi, Li-Fi, etc. It concerns both the downlink between the user equipment and the access network and the uplink from the user equipment to the access network. In this second case, the invention is implemented in the user equipment.
• FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a principle of the invention in a radio access network RAN according to an embodiment of the invention, which comprises a satellite SAT1 and an earth station NTN-GW.
• a user equipment UE for example of the smart telephone type (for “smartphone”, in English) is attached by a wireless link RL1 to this radio access network RAN to a mobile communication network RM (not shown).
• the satellite SAT1 embeds at least the virtualized functions RU and DU (not shown) of the RAN network and according to this embodiment of the invention, it comprises a device 100 for processing a connection of the user equipment UE with remote equipment (not shown) in the mobile communication network.
• This device 100 is configured to detect under-use of a data rate allocated on said wireless link RL1 to said connection, to obtain filling data DR, said data being stored in a memory CDN_EC accessible in the access network wireless and for example embedded in the satellite SAT1, and transmitting the filling data DR obtained on said wireless link.
• the device 100 thus implements the method for processing a connection according to the invention which will be detailed below in relation to FIG. 7.
• the device 100 can be independent of the satellite SAT1, but connected to it by any link, wired or not.
• it can be integrated with another satellite, called intermediate satellite, of a constellation of RAN satellites, or to another node equipment of the RAN access network.
• the satellite RAN also comprises a ground station NTN-GW, connected to the satellite SAT1 by a wireless link RL2.
• This ground station implements the virtualized CU function of the RAN.
• it comprises a connection control device 200 according to one embodiment of the invention.
• Such a device is configured to obtain padding data DR and to transmit the padding data to a memory (in the example considered here, the memory CDN_EC introduced previously) accessible in the wireless access network, for storage.
• the device 200 is configured to obtain from a data table CC_DB_H200 information relating to congestion control of the data streams and information relating to data losses of previous connections established in the wireless access network and to select said filling data at least according to the obtained information.
• the device 200 thus implements the method for controlling a connection according to the invention which will be detailed below in relation to FIG. 8.
• the CC_DB_H200 data table is hosted close to the device 200, for example in the ground station NTN-GW.
• its content comes from the export of the contents of one or more data tables CC_DB_H100 of the same type, located close to one or more satellites and processing devices 100 of different access networks RAN.
• a single satellite SAT1 has been represented.
• the CC_DB_H200 data table is a concatenation of historical data collected from different RANs, which makes it possible to obtain a sufficiently high number of connection histories, in particular to implement a technique of automatic classification of this data by artificial intelligence.
• the CC_DB_H200 data table includes additional information compared to the CC_DB_100 tables, in particular relating to a context of the connection concerned. It can also include information received on another interface, such as for example information relating to a number of connections waiting in the RAN concerned.
• the device 200 can be independent of the ground station NTN-GW, but connected to the latter by any link, wired or not.
• it can be integrated into the satellite SAT1 or into another satellite, called an intermediate satellite, of a constellation of RAN satellites, or even into another node equipment item of the RAN access network.
• An advantage of locating device 200 in ground station NTN_GW is that it can serve several different satellite RANs. Indeed, only a few NTN_GW earth stations are installed for around a hundred satellites which each cover a thousand kilometers and emulate around a hundred radio cells. They are distributed on the ground so that any satellite RAN always has one or two within range to communicate with.
• the access network RAN comprises several satellites, including the satellite SAT1 located close to the user equipment UE and an intermediate satellite SAT2 connected to the satellite SAT1 on the one hand and to a ground station NTN_GW1 on the other hand.
• the DU function is embedded in the intermediate satellite SAT2.
• the CDN_EC cache memory is integrated into the first satellite SAT1, as well as the RU function.
• a CU function is hosted by each of the ground stations NTN_GW1 and NTN_GW2.
• the device 100 is on board the satellite SAT1 and the device 200 is hosted by the intermediate satellite SAT2 as well as the data table CC_DB_H200.
• An advantage is that the device 200 is closer to the device 100, which makes it possible to limit the latency, in particular for the supply of the CDN_EC memory.
• the data and control streams exchanged within the framework of the connection established or being established with the user equipment UE can be routed by two distinct paths DF1, DF2 illustrated by arrows in the figure, a first via the station terrestrial station NTN_GW1 via the link RL2 and a second via a second terrestrial station NTN_GW2 and the link RL3.
• DF1, DF2 illustrated by arrows in the figure
• the processing device 100, the control device 200, the memory CDN_EC and the data table CC_DB_200 constitute a system within the meaning of the invention.
• FIG. 7 in the form of a flowchart, an example of implementation of a method for processing a connection between a user equipment, namely a user equipment UE, and a remote equipment, in a communication network, according to one embodiment of the invention.
• this method is implemented by the aforementioned device 100.
• the user equipment UE has established or is in the process of establishing a connection with a remote equipment, in the communication network. To do this, it attached itself via the wireless link RL1 to a wireless access network RAN to the communication network, by example the satellite RAN network of FIG. 5. It is assumed that the user equipment UE has requested to receive data via this connection, and for this purpose, radio resources have been allocated to it on the wireless link RL1.
• the RU function in charge of modulation and demodulation and, advantageously, the DU function of the RAN access network, which carries out the encoding/decoding, allocates the bandwidth to the connection on the link RL1 and detects the loss of data packets.
• ICS information relating to the connection is obtained. For example, they relate to a state of this connection and indicate possible losses of data packets on other radio links implemented by the connection in the network RAN, such as for example the link RL2. They can also include information relating to a congestion control implemented from end to end of the connection during its establishment. As previously mentioned, the congestion control algorithms do not know a priori the available bit rate and put several RTTs to converge, that is to say to transmit data using all the allocated bandwidth. Also during a connection resumption, conditions may have changed and cause the initial configuration to be unsuitable, which requires a delay to readjust the control parameters.
• they can include information relating to the service transported by the end-to-end connection, for example a domain name, or a URL of the remote equipment or of the service requested from the connection.
• a prediction of a quantity or duration of padding data and a type of padding data to be requested is implemented, for example by applying a predetermined prediction model MP to the obtained information.
• a computer program comprising code instructions for implementing the prediction model MP has previously been received by the device 100 from a function ML_GEN_ALG_CC.
• Such a function is configured to produce one or more MP prediction models using ML artificial intelligence techniques.
• this function is implemented by the device 200 according to the invention.
• the predicted amount of padding data is requested for the predicted duration from a dedicated memory CDN_EC of the access network RAN (eg a cache memory), which has been pre-loaded with padding data DR.
• the padding data DR obtained can be of different types. This may be user data, application level data, for example data to replace lost data, such as a degraded version of an image or image description text, DNS entries, or even configuration information. public interest common to the cell such as a weather report, or even public information common to a geographical area such as local advertising, called segmented.
• it can be program code instructions making it possible to generate filling data from parameters, such as for example a text, an image or music. In the latter case, the processing method generates padding data from the instructions and parameters obtained.
• the filling data obtained is transmitted over the radio link LR1 to the user equipment UE. They can be transmitted in different ways on the wireless link RL1, depending on their type and the application of the user equipment for which they are intended. Several embodiments will be detailed below.
• the function DU implements at layer 2 or MAC a MAC scheduler (MAC scheduler), in charge of allocating the radio resources up to the user equipment UE, a controller the radio link conforming to the RLC protocol (for "Radio Link Control", in English), as defined by the 3GPP, in charge of detecting and correcting transmission errors and a congestion controller (for "CC controller", in English ) in charge of detecting and correcting congestion on the radio links implemented by the connection.
• the RLC controller is configured to control a TX FIFO (for "First In First Out") transmission data file.
• the device 100 associated with the DU function, on request from the MAC scheduler in (1), detects that data to be transmitted on the radio link RL1 is going to be missing, determines the quantity of missing data, sends in (2) a request to obtain the determined quantity of filling data to the cache memory CDN_EC and switches in (3) the output of the file of data to be transmitted FIFO to that of the cache memory CDN_EC.
• the filling data DR are inserted into an existing data stream of said connection.
• the padding data is inserted at the physical level (layer 1 of the OSI model) in the RB subframes (for "Resource Block", in English)) allocated to transport the data packets sent by the remote server equipment to the user equipment UE.
• User-type padding data is inserted into the available subframes of a data stream transmitted on the user channel C-U, while control-type padding data is inserted into the available subframes of a data stream. signaling transmitted on the C-C control channel of the LR1 link.
• this embodiment involves a rearrangement of the sub-frames to insert the filling data therein.
• a rearrangement comprises the selection of a more robust encoding type, of the eMBB type (for “enhanced Mobile Broadband”, in English) or, mMTC (for “massive Machine Type Communications”, in English), or even URLLC (for “Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications”) to increase the quality of reception to the detriment of the volume of data transmitted.
• the distribution of the resources provided for each channel can be adapted according to a quantity of filling data DR of each type of data to be transmitted on the link LR1. For example, if the filling data includes a large part of control data, a larger part of bandwidth is allocated to the control channel than to the data channel to allow their transmission on the link LR1.
• control data is sent in the control channel and the application data in the user channel, these two channels pre-existing in the connection.
• the Web browser of the user equipment UE can be transmitted in a dedicated data flow created on a section of the connection (at level 3 of the OSI model), between the CDN_EC memory and the user equipment, for example using a technology of the QUIC/MASK type which will be detailed below in relation to figure 11.
• a proxy-type network device called a QUIC/MASK proxy
• QUIC/MASK proxy is placed as a cut-off for the messages exchanged as part of the connection at the transport layer level and it is configured to aggregate information relating to the connection in particular in terms of congestion control for each of the ends of the connection, that is to say on the server equipment side and on the user equipment side UE.
• This mode of transmission is suitable for control data or user data intended for the application at the origin of the connection.
• the processing device 100 creates a dedicated radio connection with the user equipment UE or else an IP tunnel.
• the data is intended for another non-IP application of the user equipment, or for a function of the operating system of the user equipment, it can be, if this application supports it, be transmitted in USSD (for “Unstructured Supplementary Service Data”, in English), at level 2 of the OSI model or, otherwise, via another channel, in parallel with the connection.
• USSD for “Unstructured Supplementary Service Data”, in English
• FIG. 9 there is now presented, in relation to FIG. 9, in the form of a flowchart, an example of implementation of a method for controlling a connection between a user equipment, for example a user equipment UE, attached by a link without wire RL1 to an access network to a communication network and another remote device, for example a server, according to one embodiment of the invention.
• a user equipment for example a user equipment UE
• another remote device for example a server
• a control device 200 on board an intermediate satellite or in the ground station NTN-GW.
• the device 200 is located close to the node equipment of the access network RAN, for example the terrestrial station NTN_GW1 of FIG. 6 implementing the virtualized function CU. In this way, latency is kept to a minimum.
• MFT information relating to the user equipment UE is obtained.
• manifest MFT relating to a state of memories, for example of cache memories of the user equipment UE. They provide information in particular on the state of a DNS cache memory of the user equipment UE, the state of its Web cache memory, the state of the versions of the libraries of its operating system, the state of security data ) of its firewalls according to predetermined attack patterns, etc. They allow the selection of filling data adapted to the user equipment and in particular of a type of this data.
• IPC information relating to congestion control implemented and data loss occurring during previous connections involving the access network RAN is obtained from a data table CC DB FI200 accessible in the RAN network.
• a data table CC DB FI200 accessible in the RAN network.
• it is stored close to the device 200, for example in the ground station NTN-GW. It is for example organized in the form of a database and indexed by an identifier of the user equipment UE.
• Table 1 below shows examples of the information obtained from the CC_DB_H200 data table.
• the user equipment UE is for example identified by an IP address, the remote server equipment ES by a URL.
• the associated information concerns a type of congestion control (corresponding to (1) AIMD (for "addiive increase/multiplicative decrease", in English), (2) Lost based, (3) delay based, (4) rate base, 5 and more: dynamically discovered using an artificial intelligence or ML method (for “Machine Learning”), a convergence time, a packet loss profile: a number of consecutive losses observed and the average number of stuck losses , that is to say burst losses (for “burst lost”, in English) etc.
• AIMD for "addiive increase/multiplicative decrease", in English
• ML method for “Machine Learning”
• padding data is obtained for the user equipment UE from the information obtained at 90 and 91.
• it is obtained from one or more data sources, using a model of prediction MP, MP200 predetermined which takes as input the information obtained and produces one or more types of padding data, adapted to the connection.
• the device 200 chooses the data source according to the type(s) produced at the output of the prediction model.
• the historical data of the CC_DB_H200 data table are used in a preliminary phase to produce or update at least a first prediction model MP100, intended on the one hand to be used by the device 200 itself to select filling data adapted to the user equipment UE and preposition them in the memory CDN_EC, and on the other hand a second prediction model MP200 intended to be used by the processing device 100 to determine a quantity of data of padding to be requested from the CDN_EC memory.
• a single multi-target MP prediction model is determined.
• a prediction model is for example implemented by a decision system implementing artificial intelligence techniques or ML (for "Machine Learning", in English), configured to determine output parameters from parameters of entry comprising the connection and state information of the memories of the user equipment previously obtained.
• ML Machine Learning
• They indicate the data and/or the types of data to be pre-positioned in the memory. For example, they describe the following data:
• 5G layer level control data for example in USSD to a non-IP application or to a function of the operating system of the user equipment UE;
• DNS entries have for example been chosen on the basis of probabilities of use of a domain by another user device in a Web page;
• filler data e.g. interlude music, lost data replacement text or image, etc.
• the device 200 obtains the output parameters previously listed after having provided the following information as input to the prediction model, presented in table 2:
• the filling data is selected according to the output parameters obtained and transmitted at 95 to the CDN-EC memory.
• the memory CDN_EC is advantageously structured such that the filling data selected for the user equipment UE are accessible for this equipment. For example, they are indexed by an identifier of the connection between the user equipment UE and the remote equipment ES, such as for example a sequence number. It should be noted that this transmission can take place according to different modes: in data streams or in streams of control of the connection of the user equipment with the remote equipment ES; in a dedicated connection.
• the CDN_EC memory which stores the DR filling data is seen as a 5G end-point; in a dedicated VPN (Virtual Private Network) type tunnel created between the memory CDN_EC and the user equipment UE.
• the device 200 pre-supplies the CDN-EC memory of the RAN network so that filling data is available when the device 100 detects a data starvation on the wireless link between the user equipment UE and the RAN access network.
• the RU/DU functions of the RAN and the processing device 100 according to the invention are on board the satellite SAT1, the cache memory CDN_EC is located close to the DU function in the satellite SAT1.
• the control device 200 and the CC_DB_H200 table they are hosted by the ground station NTN_GW, in accordance with the diagram in Figure 5.
• the user equipment UE attaches via a radio link to the satellite SAT1 of the RAN and that it establishes an end-to-end connection, of the TCP or QUIC type for example with the remote server equipment ES.
• the control device 200 pre-supplies the cache memory CND_EC with filling data DR adapted to the user equipment UE. To do this, the user equipment UE transmits to it when attaching to the access network or establishing the connection, at 90, information relating to the state of its various cache memories, for example that of a cache memory B_C of its browser or that of a memory OS_UP_C configured to store update data for its operating system.
• device 200 obtains connection information relating to previous ICP connections from the CC_DB_H200 data table.
• device 200 generates a first prediction model MP100 of padding data description parameters and transmits it at 93 to device 100.
• device 200 uses a second prediction model MP200 to select fill data types. filling from the information obtained and at 95 it requests from one or more predetermined sources filling data of the selected types. For example, the device chooses to send a request for obtaining data to a particular data source, for example a memory or a data table of the communication network, according to a desired type of data. The amount of padding data selected depends on the memory space available in the CDN_EC memory.
• a single multi-target MP prediction model is produced and used by the devices 100 and 200 according to the invention.
• device 200 transmits the padding data received to memory CDN_EC.
• the device 200 can also preposition filling data in the memory CDN_EC on the basis of another connection established by the same user equipment UE with a remote equipment or even by another user equipment.
• the device 100 requests at 70 the obtaining of ICS information relating to the connection.
• ICS information relating to the connection include information relating to a congestion control implemented from end to end of the connection during its establishment.
• the congestion control algorithm detects an underuse of the resources allocated to the connection, for example, at the start of the connection, the time necessary for the congestion control algorithm to converge.
• it predicts a quantity of padding data to be requested, based on the information obtained and the prediction model MP, MP100.
• it requests the predicted quantity of filling data DR from the CDN_EC memory and at 74, it transmits them over the link LR1 to the user equipment UE, for example by inserting them into user data streams or data streams. control data, using unused radio resource elements.
• the satellite SAT1 embeds not only the RU and DU functions and the processing device 100 according to the invention, but also a “mini CU” function, configured to intervene at certain stages of one or more application connections of the user equipment UE, identified by the processing device 100.
• the satellite SAT1 also embeds a QUIC/MASK type proxy module configured to create a QUIC data stream dedicated to the exchanges of filling data DR between the device 100 and the user equipment UE.
• the ground station NTN_GW embeds the CU function, the device 200, the table CC_DB_H200 and a distributed QUIC/MASK proxy. It is assumed that following its request to establish a connection, the user equipment UE establishes (CRE_TNL) with the proxy module QUIC/MASK of the satellite SAT1 a communication tunnel.
• the tunnel MFT information describing the state of its caches (Web, DNS, advertising, etc.) for example in the form of manifests transmitted in a "CONNECT" connection request message from the MASK protocol to this proxy in addition to a request for access to a URL "URL1" , for example in the form of a GET_URL1 message according to the HTTP3 protocol.
• the SAT1 satellite proxy receives these manifests and the GET_URL1 access request. It retransmits the GET URL1 access request to the server equipment ES and the manifests to the proxy of the ground station whose device 200 identifies the contents of the manifests to be refreshed by taking into account the manifests received as well as other criteria ( obsolescence of the manifests received, the presence of other user equipment, the existence of contracts, for example of the advertising type, etc.).
• the device 200 prepares the update of these contents and prepositions the data packets of the Web or DNS contents selected in the cache memory CDN_EC of the satellite SAT1, by implementing the control method according to the invention (90-96) .
• the DU function On receipt by the DU function of a first train of REP_URL1 response data packets to the GET_URL1 request from the UE, coming from the server equipment ES, the DU function detects a loss of packets between the CU function and the RU (or DU) function.
• the device 100 is informed of this and detects at 71 an underuse of the radio resources allocated to the connection between the user equipment UE and the server equipment ES. It therefore obtains at 73 pre-positioned DR filling packets in the CDN_EC cache memory and sends them at 74 into the QUIC/MASK tunnel in place of the lost data packets.
• the satellite resends the first lost packet stream of the response. They are transmitted to the user equipment (LED).
• no manifest is sent by the user equipment UE.
• the filling data DR is selected by the control device 200.
• These are, for example, DNS entries selected by the function DU.
• the function DU indicates to the user equipment UE that it provides an online DNS resolver function ("resolverless", in English), for example of the DNS over HTTPS or DoH type (for "DNS over HTTPs”, in English), DNS over TLS or DOT (for “DNS over TLS”, in English) or even DNS over QUIC or DOQ (for “DNS over QUIC”, in English), known per se.
• the two embodiments are combined to reduce the web page loading time both by pushing web pages and DNS entries used by the user equipment UE.
• the filling data is transmitted on the downlink, from the satellite to the user equipment UE.
• the invention also applies to the uplink.
• the latter also embeds a cache memory MC_UE according to the invention, in which filling data are pre-positioned. It also includes the processing device 100 according to the invention and the control device 200 according to the invention. For example, the device 100 is integrated into the operating system OS or into the network card of the user equipment UE and the device 100 is hosted at the application level.
• the second application APP2 is already connected to a remote server equipment ES2 via a connection CNX2.
• the APP1 application connects via another CNX1 connection to another ESI server.
• the congestion control performs a slow start and, as illustrated by FIG. 4, and an underuse of the allocated resources is detected by the device 100, which obtains filling data dedicated to the application APP2 from the cache memory MC_UE and transmits them in the form of a data stream (“burst”) in the connection CNX1.
• burst data stream
• the invention also finds an application in a RAN network (not shown) comprising a satellite SAT1 connected to an earth station NTN_GW by a first direct path and by a second indirect path, via another satellite.
• the satellite SAT1 obtains the prediction models and the filling data from the control devices on board each of the two earth stations.
• the invention therefore allows the satellite SAT1 to use two prediction models and two tables of filling data, without immediately changing earth station.
• the method also applies to a terrestrial RAN 5G radio access network, in particular when it comprises relay or transponder equipment which increases the distance and therefore the delay between the UE and the CU function.
• module can correspond both to a software component and to a hardware component or a set of hardware and software components, a software component itself corresponding to one or more computer programs or sub-programs or in a more general to any element of a program capable of implementing a function or a set of functions.
• such a device 100 comprises a random access memory 103 (for example a RAM memory), a processing unit 102 equipped for example with a processor, and controlled by a computer program Pgl, representative of the detection modules, obtaining and transmission, stored in a read only memory 101 (for example a ROM memory or a hard disk).
• a read only memory 101 for example a ROM memory or a hard disk.
• the code instructions of the computer program are for example loaded into the random access memory 103 before being executed by the processor of the processing unit 102.
• the random access memory 103 can also contain the filling data obtained.
• FIG. 12 only illustrates one particular way, among several possible, of making the device 100 so that it performs the steps of the method for processing a connection as detailed above, in relation to FIG. 7, in its different embodiments. Indeed, these steps can be carried out either on a reprogrammable calculation machine (a PC computer, a DSP processor or a microcontroller) executing a program comprising a sequence of instructions, or on a dedicated calculation machine (for example a set of logic gates like an FPGA or an ASIC, or any other hardware module).
• a reprogrammable calculation machine a PC computer, a DSP processor or a microcontroller
• a dedicated calculation machine for example a set of logic gates like an FPGA or an ASIC, or any other hardware module.
• the corresponding program (that is to say the sequence of instructions) could be stored in a removable storage medium (such as for example an SD card , a USB key, a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM) or not, this storage medium being partially or totally readable by a computer or a processor.
• a removable storage medium such as for example an SD card , a USB key, a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM
• FIG. 13 Also presented, in relation to FIG. 13, is an example of the hardware structure of a control device 200 between a user equipment of a communication network and a remote equipment, said user equipment being attached by a wireless link to a wireless access network of said communication network, comprising a module for obtaining filler data intended to be transmitted via said connection in the event of detection of underuse of the resources allocated to this connection by the network access wireless and a module for transmitting the filling data obtained to a memory accessible in the wireless access network, for storage.
• module can correspond both to a software component and to a hardware component or a set of hardware and software components, a software component itself corresponding to one or more computer programs or sub-programs or in a more general to any element of a program capable of implementing a function or a set of functions.
• such a device 200 comprises a random access memory 203 (for example a RAM memory), a processing unit 202 equipped for example with a processor, and controlled by a computer program Pg2, representative of the modules for obtaining and transmission, stored in a read only memory 201 (for example a ROM memory or a hard disk).
• a read only memory 201 for example a ROM memory or a hard disk.
• the code instructions of the computer program are for example loaded into the random access memory 203 before being executed by the processor of the processing unit 202.
• the random access memory 203 can also contain the filling data selected before transmission.
• FIG. 13 illustrates only one particular way, among several possible ones, of making the device 200 so that it performs the steps of the connection control method as detailed above, in relation to FIG. 8, and in its different embodiments. Indeed, these steps can be carried out either on a reprogrammable calculation machine (a PC computer, a DSP processor or a microcontroller) executing a program comprising a sequence of instructions, or on a dedicated calculation machine (for example a set of logic gates like an FPGA or an ASIC, or any other hardware module).
• a reprogrammable calculation machine a PC computer, a DSP processor or a microcontroller
• a dedicated calculation machine for example a set of logic gates like an FPGA or an ASIC, or any other hardware module.
• the corresponding program (that is to say the sequence of instructions) can be stored in a removable storage medium (such as for example an SD card , a USB key, a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM) or not, this storage medium being partially or totally readable by a computer or a processor.
• a removable storage medium such as for example an SD card , a USB key, a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM

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• 2021
  • 2021-06-30 FR FR2107094A patent/FR3124681A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
• 2022
  • 2022-06-29 WO PCT/FR2022/051294 patent/WO2023275490A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2022-06-29 EP EP22744294.4A patent/EP4364498A1/de active Pending
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