KR101830224B1 - Method for controlling packet traffic and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

A downlink traffic control method of SPGW is disclosed. The method includes receiving a packet having a field value of an IP header set to a first value from an IMS (Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem) switch, transmitting a packet set to a first value to a first Ingress queue, Sending a packet to a second ingress queue, sending packets included in the first ingress queue and the second ingress queue to an internal queue based on a predetermined criterion, and if the packet has a threshold value or more in the internal queue And dropping a packet included in the second ingress queue. Therefore, user convenience is expected to improve.

Description

[0001] METHOD FOR CONTROLLING PACKET TRAFFIC AND APPARATUS THEREFOR [0002]

The present invention relates to a communication system, and more particularly, to a traffic control method and apparatus therefor.

Recently, a ubiquitous society based on information and communication technology is being implemented. The wired / wireless communication network is connected globally, and various needs of individuals, companies, and countries are being solved.

On the other hand, when Internet traffic and VoLTE (Voice over LTE) traffic are mixed in the LTE network, the Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) that processes traffic is overloaded. In this case, packets are discarded arbitrarily regardless of the Internet traffic and the VoLTE traffic according to the packet buffer state of the PGW, which makes it difficult to guarantee the VoLTE service quality.

In the prior art, since the control for traffic overloading is performed after the packet is introduced into the system through the ingress terminal, the buffer overflow occurs at the ingress terminal. In this case, the packet is discarded without distinguishing between VoLTE and Internet traffic .

As a result, a rise in traffic overload control technology for improving the loss of voice data is required.

Published Patent Publication No. KR10-2012-0062596

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to overcome the limitations of the prior art described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a Serving Packet Network GateWay (SGPW) in which a specific value of a packet header is differently set and manages a plurality of buffer queues.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an SGPW in which a priority packet is protected in an incoming packet, thereby providing a QoS guaranteed service.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, unless further departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It will be possible.

The downlink traffic control method of an SPGW according to various embodiments of the present invention includes: receiving a packet having an IP header field value set to a first value from an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) switch; Transmitting a packet set to the first value to a first ingress queue and transmitting a packet not set to the first value to a second ingress queue; Transmitting a packet included in the first ingress queue and the second ingress queue to an internal queue based on a predetermined criterion; And dropping a packet included in the second ingress queue if a packet with a threshold value or more is included in the internal queue.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, And can be understood and understood.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, the following effects are expected.

By providing the SGPW (Serving Packet Network GateWay) which manages a plurality of buffer queues by setting a specific value of a packet header differently, device efficiency can be improved.

By protecting the packet having priority among the incoming packets, QoS guaranteed service is provided, so that user convenience and device efficiency can be improved.

The effects obtained by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description will be.

1 is a configuration diagram of an LTE system according to an embodiment.
2 is a diagram illustrating a traffic control method when a traffic overload occurs in a downlink according to an embodiment.
3 is a diagram illustrating an SPGW that performs traffic overload control using a plurality of queues.
4 is a diagram illustrating a traffic control method when a traffic overload occurs in an uplink according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an apparatus and various methods to which embodiments of the present invention are applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The suffix "module" and " part "for the components used in the following description are given or mixed in consideration of ease of specification, and do not have their own meaning or role.

In the description of the embodiment, in the case of being described as being formed on the "upper or lower", "before" or "after" of each component, (Lower) "and" front or rear "encompass both that the two components are in direct contact with each other or that one or more other components are disposed between the two components.

It is also to be understood that the terms such as " comprises, "" comprising," or "having ", as used herein, mean that a component can be implanted unless specifically stated to the contrary. But should be construed as including other elements. All terms, including technical and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs, unless otherwise defined. Commonly used terms, such as predefined terms, should be interpreted to be consistent with the contextual meanings of the related art, and are not to be construed as ideal or overly formal, unless expressly defined to the contrary.

In describing the components of the present invention, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used. These terms are intended to distinguish the constituent elements from other constituent elements, and the terms do not limit the nature, order or order of the constituent elements. When a component is described as being "connected", "coupled", or "connected" to another component, the component may be directly connected to or connected to the other component, It should be understood that an element may be "connected," "coupled," or "connected."

LTE  System General

Hereinafter, an LTE system will be schematically described with reference to FIG.

1, the LTE system includes a user equipment (UE) 10, an eNode B 20, an MME 30, a SGW 40, a PGW A Packet Data Network Gateway) 50, an HSS (Home Subscriber Server) 60, a Policy & Charging Rule Function (PCRF) 70, and a Packet Data Network (PDN)

The UE 10 is a subscriber terminal device and receives a data call relay from the eNB 20 of the LTE network to the MME 30 as an exchange means. The mobile terminal (UE) 10 may include mobile terminal devices such as a smart phone, a notepad, and a tablet computer. However, these mobile terminal devices are merely examples of a mobile terminal (UE) 10, and various types of terminal devices capable of receiving data service through the wireless Internet may be included in the mobile terminal (UE) 10.

The eNB 20 is a base station equipment of an EUTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network) access method, and performs functions such as RF transmission and transmission of a transmission signal, signal strength and quality measurement, baseband signal processing, and channel card resource management .

The MME 30 is an EUTRAN access-type mobile communication switching center for signaling control between the eNB 20 and the SGW 40. The MME 30 determines where to route the incoming data from the UE 10, Subscriber information, and mobility management, session management, idle subscriber management, paging, and subscriber authentication functions of the UE 10.

The SGW 40 is a serving gateway device for managing the mobility of the UE 10 between the eNB 20 and the second eNB, and performs a session control function for processing payload traffic according to a set session. In addition, the SGW 40 interworks with the eNB 20, supports handover, sets up the PGW 50 and an EPS bearer (Evolved Packet System bearer), and uses tunneling to transmit a PDU ).

The PGW 50 is a packet data network gateway device that allocates an IP address of the UE 10 and controls a session linked with a PDN (Packet Data Network) 80. The SGW 40 and the PDN 80 ) And routing information, and performs tunneling and IP routing functions. In addition, the PGW 50 is responsible for delivering the PDUs to the SGW 40 and the PDN 80.

The HSS 60 is a network node including a database including subscriber information on the mobile communication system, and may store profile information, authentication and location-related data of a service subscriber.

The PCRF 70 is a charging policy rule processing device and can provide a dynamic QoS and a charging rule according to a service data flow to perform a communication policy and a charging process in the communication network .

The PDN 80 may include, for example, the Internet as a packet data network.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 2, a method of representing a traffic control method when a traffic overload occurs in a downlink will be described.

2, an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) cloud 220 can provide multimedia services such as voice, audio, video, and data based on Internet Protocol (IP). IMS is independent of the access network, and the improvement of the session management function facilitates the interworking of services of different networks and the conversion of wired and wireless networks.

Upon downlink, the IMS cloud 220 transmits an IMS packet (e.g., VoLTE) to an SPGW (Serving Packet Network GateWay) 100 via an IMS SW (IMS Switch) 210.

The IMS SW (IMS Switch) 210 may receive the packet from the IMS cloud 220 and modify the field value of the IP header. For example, the IMS SW 210 may change the value of the Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) field from BE (0) to EF (46) throughout the I / F. In this case, the network element receiving the packet can distinguish between a packet (e.g., an Internet packet) received via another routing path and a packet (e.g., VoLTE) passed through the IMS SW 210.

Here, the DSCP is a type indicating the type of quality of service attached to the IP header, and indicates the class of service of the packet and the like. In case of IPv4, 8 bit TOS (Type of Service), and in case of IPv6, it is indicated as 8 bit traffic class.

The Internet cloud 240 may transmit the Internet packet to the INT SW (Internet Switch). At this time, the Internet cloud 240 can set the DSCP value of the IP header to the default (BE) and transmit it to the INT SW.

The SPGW 100 can provide APN (Access Point Name) for the Internet and APN for VoLTE, respectively. The SPGW 100 may be a network component that combines the functions of the S-GW 40 and the P-GW 50 of FIG. In this case, the UE 10 must provide multiple PDNs.

The SPGW 100 may receive an IMS packet (e.g., VoLTE) from the IMS SW 210 and receive Internet packets separately from the IMT SW 230. [

The SPGW 100 may determine whether the packet is transmitted from the IMS cloud 220 or the Internet cloud 240 through the DSCP of the IP header of the packet.

The SPGW 100 includes a plurality of ingress queues and an internal queue.

The SPGW 100 moves the packet placed in the ingress queue to the internal queue and transmits the packet moved to the internal queue to the eNB 260 through various network elements including the router 250 so that the UE 10 So that packets can be received. Here, the eNB 260 corresponds to an LTE base station.

Hereinafter, the SPGW will be described with reference to FIG. 3 for performing traffic overload control using a plurality of queues.

The SPGW 100 may include a plurality of ingress queues. The SPGW 100 includes first to third ingress queues 310 to 330. The SPGW 100 recognizes the value of the DSCP field of the packet and then buffers the first ingress queue 310 and the second ingress queue 320 when the packet is an IMS packet (green packet) ).

In addition, the SPGW 100 may buffer the discarded packet in the third ingress queue 330.

The SPGW 100 transmits packets buffered in the ingress queues 310 and 320 to the internal queue.

The SPGW 100 may transmit the packet in the first ingress queue and the packet in the second ingress queue to the internal queue 340 in an alternate manner, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The SPGW 100 can normally receive packets from the first ingress queue and the second ingress queue when the internal queue is filled with a minimum threshold (TH_MIN) or less.

In addition, the SPGW 100 may randomly move a packet in the second ingress queue to the third ingress queue when the internal queue exceeds the minimum threshold TH_MIN and is equal to or less than the maximum threshold TH_MAX.

Also, if the Internal queue exceeds the maximum threshold (TH_MIN), the SPGW 100 may move all the packets of the second ingress queue to the third ingress queue. The SPGW 100 may discard all the packets included in the third ingress or store the packets separately.

As described above, when an IMS packet and an Internet packet are introduced at the SPGW 100 level, the QoS of the IMS service can be guaranteed by protecting the IMS packet in the priority order. This can be useful in services such as VoLTE.

Returning to FIG. 2, the SPGW 100 manages incoming packets, and a packet is transmitted to the eNB 260 through the router 250.

Hereinafter, a traffic control method will be described with reference to FIG. 4 when a traffic overload occurs in the uplink, as opposed to FIG.

According to FIG. 4, the UE 10 transmits a packet to the eNB 260.

At this time, the eNB 260 may change the value of the QCI (QoS Class Identifier) field value of the VoLTE packet. Here, QCI corresponds to a parameter that prioritizes QoS with a QoS parameter.

the eNB 260 may change the VoLTE packet header to 1, 2, or 5, set the Internet packet header to 6, or set the header value to maintain the value set to 6.

The eNB 260 may set the DSCP value of the VoLTE header to EF 46 as shown in FIG.

The SPGW 100 refers to the header of the packet received from the eNB 260 and buffers the packet to the first ingress queue 310 when the VoLTE packet is a VoLTE packet. Can be buffered.

The specific operation principle is similar to that described with reference to FIG. 3, and will not be described here.

Meanwhile, the SPGW 100 may include a communication unit for transmitting a packet from an IMS switch or an Internet switch, and a control unit for controlling the SPGW 100 as a whole.

The method according to the above-described embodiments may be implemented as a program to be executed by a computer and stored in a computer-readable recording medium. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include a ROM, a RAM, a CD- , Floppy disks, optical data storage devices, and the like.

The computer readable recording medium may be distributed over a networked computer system so that computer readable code can be stored and executed in a distributed manner. And, functional program, code, and code segments for implementing the above-described method can be easily inferred by programmers in the technical field to which the embodiment belongs.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof.

Accordingly, the above description should not be construed in a limiting sense in all respects and should be considered illustrative. The scope of the present invention should be determined by rational interpretation of the appended claims, and all changes within the scope of equivalents of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention.

100: SPGW
210: IMS SW
220: IMS Cloud
230: INT SW

Claims (19)

A downlink traffic control method of a Serving Packet Network Gateway (SPGW)
Receiving a packet having an IP header field value set to a first value from an IMS (Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem) switch;
Transmitting a packet set to the first value to a first ingress queue and transmitting a packet not set to the first value to a second ingress queue; And
Transmitting a packet included in the first ingress queue and the second ingress queue to an internal queue based on a predetermined criterion; And
And dropping a packet included in the second ingress queue if a packet having a threshold value or more is included in the internal queue,
Wherein the IMS switch receives the packet from the IMS cloud and changes the Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) value of the IP header from BE to EF. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising receiving from the Internet switch a packet that is not set to the first value. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the packet not set to the first value is an Internet packet. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the packet set to the first value is a voice over LTE (VoLTE) packet. delete The method according to claim 1,
The step of dropping the packet comprises:
When the packet is included in the internal queue below the first threshold value, transmits the packet included in the first ingress queue and the packet included in the second ingress queue to the internal queue in an intersecting manner. Link traffic control method. The method according to claim 1,
The step of dropping the packet comprises:
And drops packets included in the second ingress queue at random when the first threshold value is exceeded and the second threshold value is less than the second threshold value. The method according to claim 1,
The step of dropping the packet comprises:
And drops all the packets included in the second ingress queue if the second threshold value is exceeded. In the SPGW for downlink traffic control,
A communication unit for receiving a packet having an IP header field value set to a first value from an IMS (Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem) switch; And
Transmits a packet set to the first value to a first ingress queue, transmits a packet not set to the first value to a second ingress queue, and transmits a packet included in the first ingress queue and the second ingress queue to a preset To the internal queue,
Wherein,
And dropping a packet included in the second ingress queue if a packet having a threshold value or more is included in the internal queue,
The IMS switch receives the packet from the IMS cloud and controls the downlink traffic to change the DSCP value of the IP header from BE to EF. A method for controlling uplink traffic of a SPGW,
receiving from the eNB a packet in which a specific QoS parameter value is set to a first value;
Transmitting a packet set to the first value to a first ingress queue and transmitting a packet not set to the first value to a second ingress queue;
Transmitting the packets of the first ingress queue and the second ingress queue to an internal queue; And
And dropping a packet included in the second ingress queue if the internal queue has buffered a packet having a threshold value or more,
And the eNB sets the DSCP value of the VoLTE header to EF. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the packet not set to the first value is an Internet packet. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the packet set to the first value is a VoLTE packet. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the receiving comprises:
A method for controlling an uplink traffic of an SPGW, the method comprising receiving a packet having a QoS class identifier (QCI) value set to 1, 2, or 5 from an eNB (NodeB). 11. The method of claim 10,
The step of dropping the packet comprises:
When the packet is included in the internal queue below a first threshold value, transmits a packet included in the first ingress queue and a packet included in the second ingress queue to the internal queue in an intersecting manner. Link traffic control method. 11. The method of claim 10,
The step of dropping the packet comprises:
And drops packets included in the second ingress queue at random if the first threshold value exceeds the first threshold value and the second threshold value is less than the second threshold value. 11. The method of claim 10,
The step of dropping the packet comprises:
And drops all packets included in the second ingress queue if the second threshold value is exceeded. In the SPGW for controlling uplink traffic,
a communication unit for receiving a packet having a specific QoS parameter value set to a first value from the eNB; And
A controller for transmitting a packet set to the first value to a first ingress queue, a packet not set to the first value to a second ingress queue, and a packet for the first ingress queue and the second ingress queue to an internal queue ≪ / RTI >
Wherein,
And dropping a packet included in the second ingress queue if the internal queue is buffered with a threshold value or more,
And the eNB controls the uplink traffic to set the DSCP value of the VoLTE header to EF.  A program recorded on a recording medium for realizing the downlink traffic control method of SPGW according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and 6 to 8. A recording medium on which the program according to claim 18 is recorded.

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