WO2014121835A1

WO2014121835A1 - Maintenance connectivity in advanced telecommunications computing architecture system

Info

Publication number: WO2014121835A1
Application number: PCT/EP2013/052383
Authority: WO
Inventors: Heikki Jarmo Tapani LAAKSONEN; Marten Ilmari LAMPINEN; Risto Petri Johannes HARJU
Original assignee: Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy
Priority date: 2013-02-07
Filing date: 2013-02-07
Publication date: 2014-08-14
Also published as: EP2954641A1

Abstract

Communication systems, including wireless communication systems, may benefit from technology for maintenance and troubleshooting of network elements. Related networks may include global system for mobile communication (GSM) and third generation partnership project (3GPP) networks. For example, certain embodiments may relate to an external application that connects to, for example, a network server (NS)/mobility management entity (MME) network element from an operation and maintenance local area network (LAN) to a single interface to collect more information about the way the network works. A method includes interfacing to a plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units to provide maintenance or troubleshooting access. The method also includes isolating traffic related to the maintenance or troubleshooting access from other traffic related to data or signaling provided by or to the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units.

Description

DESCRIPTION TITLE:

Maintenance Connectivity in Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture System

BACKGROUND: Field:

[0001] Communication systems, including wireless communication systems, may benefit from technology for maintenance and troubleshooting of network elements. Related networks may include global system for mobile communication (GSM) and third generation partnership project (3GPP) networks. For example, certain embodiments may relate to an external application that connects to, for example, a network server (NS)/mobility management entity (MME) network element from an operation and maintenance local area network (LAN) to a single interface to collect more information about the way the network works.

Description of the Related Art:

[0002] Conventionally, a user that wanted to perform maintenance had to gain access to, and in some cases had to obtain a separate personal computer (PC) to connect to, signaling and data LAN(s) on top of the PC located in operations and maintenance (O&M) to get, for example, Wireshark® (of the Wireshark Foundation) protocol traces, or other operations and maintenance information. This conventionally requires having multiple PCs or Ethernet interfaces to collect the data for maintenance and troubleshooting.

[0003] For example, in order to capture protocol data previously, a user had to set a second maintenance and troubleshooting PC in separate LAN in order to collect information. Alternatively, conventionally in order to collect the data, the user had to have a login into each signaling or data central processing unit (CPU) separately to collect the data.

SUMMARY:

[0004] According to certain embodiments, a method can include interfacing to a plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units to provide maintenance or troubleshooting access. The method can also include isolating traffic related to the maintenance or troubleshooting access from other traffic related to data or signaling provided by or to the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units.

[0005] In certain embodiments, an apparatus includes at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code can be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to interface to a plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units to provide maintenance or troubleshooting access. The at least one memory and the computer program code can also be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to isolate traffic related to the maintenance or troubleshooting access from other traffic related to data or signaling provided by or to the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units.

[0006] An apparatus, according to certain embodiments, includes interfacing means for interfacing to a plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units to provide maintenance or troubleshooting access. The apparatus can also include isolating means for isolating traffic related to the maintenance or troubleshooting access from other traffic related to data or signaling provided by or to the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units.

[0007] A non-transitory computer-readable is, in certain embodiments, encoded with instructions that, when executed in hardware, perform a process. The process includes interfacing to a plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units to provide maintenance or troubleshooting access. The process can also include isolating traffic related to the maintenance or troubleshooting access from other traffic related to data or signaling provided by or to the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

[0008] For proper understanding of the invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0009] Figure 1 illustrates isolated maintenance connectivity according to certain embodiments.

[0010] Figure 2 illustrates a network service element, such as Flexi™ NS, according to certain embodiments.

[001 1 ] Figure 3 illustrates a Flexi ™ maintenance application position with respect to a packet core.

[0012] Figure 4 illustrates a maintenance architecture according to certain embodiments.

[0013] Figure 5 illustrates a method according to certain embodiments.

[0014] Figure 6 illustrates a system according to certain embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

[0015] Flexi ™ maintenance application (FMA) of Nokia Siemens Networks is a web application that runs on top of web servers, such as Apache Tomcat of the Apache Software Foundation. Such a maintenance application can be used by any device that allows use of web browsers. FMA is a maintenance and troubleshooting application for the Flexi™ product family (of Nokia Siemens Networks) in a packet core, as illustrated in Figure 3.

[0016] Specifically Figure 3 illustrates a Flexi ™ maintenance application position with respect to a packet core. As shown in Figure 3, the FMA 310 may be connected via interface FMA-MAINT with a mobility management entity (MME) 320. The MME 320 may be connected to an eNode B 330 via interface S1-MME, to a NetAct™/Traffica™ 340 (both of Nokia Siemens Networks) over an interface, and to a serving gateway (SGW) 350 via interface S1 1. The SGW 350 can be connected to a packet gateway (PGW) 355 via interface S5.

[0017] The PGW 355, SGW 350, and eNode B can each be connected to the NetAct™/Traffica™ 340 via respective interfaces. Moreover, the eNodeB 330 can provide radio connectivity to various user equipment 332 devices, including devices that work in long term evolution (LTE), such as laptops, tablets, and smart phones.

[0018] A home subscriber server (HSS) 325 may be connected to the MME 320 via interface S6a. A policy and charging rules function (PCRF) 352 can be connected to the SGW 350 and the PGW 355 respectively via interfaces Gxc and Gx. Moreover, the PCRF 352 can be connected to other networks 360, which can include the Internet, operator services, and corporate services. The other networks 360 can also be connected to the eNodeB via interface S1 , which can pass through the SGW 350 and PGW 355. The PGW 355 can be connected to an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server 357 via interface S6b.

[0019] Certain network elements have signaling and data related external interfaces in isolated central processing unit (CPU) blades. In typical operator network configurations, the operation and maintenance (O&M) local area network (LAN) is separated from signaling and data related LANs. From the O&M LAN, connectivity is conventionally impossible with respect to LANs that process signaling and data traffic.

[0020] While debugging the system, a typical user conventionally gets connectivity only to O&M LAN. Thus, for example, monitoring the data passed through signaling and data CPU blades is not easily possible.

[0021] Figure 1 illustrates isolated maintenance connectivity according to certain embodiments. As shown in Figure 1 , for example, certain embodiments provide a way to speed up problem solving by providing an isolated connectivity from data and signaling units to O&M units. This can speed up troubleshooting. Specifically, certain embodiments of a connectivity method may help to collect maintenance and troubleshooting information to speed up problem solving in real and live network configurations.

[0022] Figure 2 illustrates a network service element, such as Flexi™ NS, according to certain embodiments. This network element may be connected to, associated with, or in communication with MME and SGSN functions, which can share a common subscriber database and have transaction/mobility handling and operations and maintenance capabilities in common.

[0023] As shown in Figure 2, an operation and maintenance unit (OMU) 210 can communicate over switching unit (SWU) 260 using an internet protocol address for a local area network (LAN). The OMU 210 may be equipped with a rear transition module (RTM) having a hard disk drive (HDD), which may be equipped to provide logging and other storage for the OMU 210.

[0024] The OMU 210 may be in communication with marker and charging unit (MCHU) 220, which can offers statistics functions, and which can be equipped with its own RTM having its own HDD. The MCHU 220 can be provided with both a base interface (Bl) and a fabric interface (Fl) that connect the MCHU 220 to other units via the SWU 260. The other devices of the network server system may be connected using an EL0 interface, or generally any Ethernet or other network interface.

[0025] The OMU 210 may be in communication with an IP director unit (IPDU) 230, which can provide load balancing and connectivity, and which can be equipped with its own RTM having its own HDD. Likewise, the OMU 210 may be in communication with a mobility management and database unit (MMDU) 240, which can store visiting subscriber information into a visiting subscriber database. The MMDU 240 may also be able to control an evolved packet system (EPS) mobility management and EPS system management level functions for LTE subscribers.

[0026] The OMU 210 may further be in communication with a control plane processing unit (CPPU) 250. The CPPU 250 may provide transaction-based mobility management and S1 - MME, S1 1 , S3/Gn and S10 interfaces.

[0027] The SWU 260 can be a switching unit that provides communication between units like the OMU 210, CPPU 250, MMDU 240, or IPDU 230 each over base interface (Bl) and/or fabric interface (Fl). Other units can also be connected via the SWU 260, although not illustrated.

[0028] Referring again to Figure 1 , a user interface 1 10 can connect to an OMU 122 within the ambit of a network server 120 via an O&M LAN 130. The OMU 122 can be connected with MMDU 124, CPPU 126, and IPDU 128, as well as other elements as described in Figure 2, over one or more interfaces, such as fiber or Ethernet interfaces.

[0029] The OMU 122 may be configured to communicate using a maintenance protocol and a control protocol, and may serve as a maintenance proxy for the O&M LAN 130. The MMDU 124, CPPU 126, and IPDU 128 may each be configured as a remote maintenance server and may be configured to use simple object access protocol (SOAP). A LAN 129 that connects the various remote servers may be maintained in isolation from the O&M LAN 130.

[0030] When a maintenance application registers from the user interface 1 10 to the OMU 122, it can use a control protocol, such as FlexiNS™ control protocol of Nokia Siemens Networks. Any desired login credentials can be used, but in certain embodiments only a single set of login credentials are needed. The connection between the OMU 122 and the external tool at the user interface 1 10 can be secured using, for example, secure socket layer (SSL).

[0031 ] MME configuration information can be exchanged via Flexi™ maintenance protocol. Troubleshooting information can be delivered, with the help of the maintenance proxy in the OMU 122, from the maintenance units (for example, MMDU 124, CPPU 126, and IPDU 128), which may, for example, be Linux units.

[0032] Figure 4 illustrates a maintenance architecture according to certain embodiments. As shown in Figure 4, a user equipment 410, which may be equipped with FMA, can communicate over O&M LAN 420 with OMU 430. For this communication a protocol stack that includes TCP/TSL, FlexiNS™ control protocol (including various type-length-value (TLV) items), and SOAP, can be used. Other protocols may also be used. For example, User Datagram Protocol (UDP) or Secure Shell (SSH) can also be used as well as other protocols to carry the maintenance and troubleshooting information between network elements and to a maintenance application such as, for example, Flexi™ Maintenance Application of Nokia

Siemens Networks.

[0033] Moreover, the OMU 430 can communicate with one or more Linux servers (LinDX) 450 over an interface (INT) 440. The communication protocol stack over INT 440 can include SOAP and user datagram protocol (UDP), which can be used on a FlexiNS™ (FNS) internal channel.

[0034] Thus, certain embodiments may be able to isolate and relay the maintenance and troubleshooting traffic from 3GPP signaling and data units to O&M LAN for various reasons. The reasons may include allowing maintenance personnel to download all required data from single interface of network element. For example filtered traffic from an external interface can be seen from a local PC network protocol analyzer (e.g. Wireshark™) located in an O&M LAN. Maintenance and troubleshooting traffic can include monitoring, counters, logs, and the like.

[0035] According to certain embodiments, data can be forwarded from signaling and data blades to O&M LAN by sending the data in a separate channel. This data can then be isolated from other traffic, for example, with virtual local area network (VLAN) tagging or with a proprietary protocol. Also, in certain embodiments priorities can be allocated for the maintenance related traffic in order to avoid consuming bandwidth from other traffic, such as signaling and data. For example, port mirroring can also be used to relay specific data from signaling blades to O&M LAN.

[0036] Such features may ease connectivity for maintenance reasons. Thus, those systems or devices performing maintenance may more easily be able to get the data that is passed from separated blades.

[0037] Accordingly, for example, if a user is able to retrieve monitored data in O&M external PC, this kind of success may indicate that connectivity according to certain embodiments is being used.

[0038] Figure 5 illustrates a method according to certain embodiments. As shown in Figure 5, a method can include, at 510, interfacing to a plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units to provide maintenance or troubleshooting access. The plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units can be, for example, the units shown in Figures 1 and 2.

[0039] The method illustrated in Figure 5 can also include, at 520, isolating traffic related to the maintenance or troubleshooting access from other traffic related to data or signaling provided by or to the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units. This isolation of the traffic can be accomplished in various ways. For example, the isolating traffic can include, at 522, forwarding the data related to the maintenance or troubleshooting in a separate channel that is isolated from the other traffic. The isolating traffic can also or alternatively include, at 524, using port mirroring to relay specific data from signaling blades to a maintenance application in a user equipment. The isolating traffic can also or alternatively include, at 526, tagging the traffic with a virtual local area network identifier.

[0040] The method can also include, at 530, interfacing to a user equipment to provide combined maintenance or troubleshooting access to the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units. The interfacing to the user equipment comprises interfacing to a remote user over a secure connection. The secure connection can be accomplished in a variety of ways, including using SSL.

[0041] The method can further include, at 540, relaying data related to the maintenance or troubleshooting from at least one of the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units to the user equipment. This data can be raw data from the units being monitored, or it can be reports or statistics about the raw data. [0042] Figure 6 illustrates a system according to certain embodiments of the invention. In one embodiment, a system may include multiple devices, such as, for example, user equipment 610, proxy element 630, and data/signaling unit 620. The data/signaling unit 620 can be any of the network elements illustrated or discussed herein, such as an MCHU, IPDU, MMDU, CPPU, or any similar maintenance, monitoring, and/or troubleshooting unit. Proxy element 630 can be, for example, an OMU. Broadly the proxy element 630 and the data/signaling unit 620 can be considered a network server. There is no requirement that the proxy element 630 and the data/signaling unit 620 are physically separate from one another.

[0043] Each of these devices may include at least one processor, respectively indicated as 614, 624, and 634. At least one memory is provided in each device, and indicated as 615, 625, and 635, respectively. The memory may include computer program instructions or computer code contained therein. Transceivers 616, 626, and 636 are provided, and each device may also include an antenna, respectively illustrated as 617, 627, and 637. Other configurations of these devices, for example, may be provided. For example, user equipment 610, proxy element 630, and data/signaling unit 620 may be configured for wired communication, rather than wireless communication, and in such a case antennas 617, 637, and 627 would illustrate any form of communication hardware, without requiring a conventional antenna. Indeed, as illustrated herein wired communications, such as Ethernet or fiber optic connections may be used.

[0044] Transceivers 616, 626, and 636 can each, independently, be a transmitter, a receiver, or both a transmitter and a receiver, or a unit or device that is configured both for transmission and reception.

[0045] Processors 614, 624, and 634 can be embodied by any computational or data processing device, such as a central processing unit (CPU), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or comparable device. The processors can be implemented as a single controller, or a plurality of controllers or processors.

[0046] Memories 615, 625, and 635 can independently be any suitable storage device, such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. A hard disk drive (HDD), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, or other suitable memory can be used. The memories can be combined on a single integrated circuit as the processor, or may be separate therefrom.

Furthermore, the computer program instructions stored in the memory and which may be processed by the processors can be any suitable form of computer program code, for example, a compiled or interpreted computer program written in any suitable programming language.

[0047] The memory and the computer program instructions can be configured, with the processor for the particular device, to cause a hardware apparatus such as user equipment 610, proxy element 630, and data/signaling unit 620, to perform any of the processes described above (see, for example, Figures 1-5). Therefore, in certain embodiments, a non- transitory computer-readable medium can be encoded with computer instructions that, when executed in hardware, perform a process such as one of the processes described herein. Alternatively, certain embodiments of the invention can be performed entirely in hardware.

[0048] Furthermore, although Figure 6 illustrates a system including a user equipment, proxy element, and data/signaling unit, embodiments of the invention may be applicable to other configurations, and configurations involving additional elements, as illustrated herein. Moreover, although only one user equipment 610, proxy element 630, and data/signaling unit 620 are shown, multiple of each of the devices in the system may be provided, as can be seen from, for example, Figures 1 and 2. Moreover, multiple of each kind of monitoring unit can be provided, although only one is shown in Figures 1 and 2, for ease of illustration.

[0049] One having ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that the invention as discussed above may be practiced with steps in a different order, and/or with hardware elements in configurations which are different than those which are disclosed. Therefore, although the invention has been described based upon these preferred embodiments, it would be apparent to those of skill in the art that certain modifications, variations, and alternative constructions would be apparent, while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention. In order to determine the metes and bounds of the invention, therefore, reference should be made to the appended claims.

[0050] Glossary

[0051 ] FMA - Flexi ™ Maintenance Application (a maintenance application of Nokia Siemens Networks)

[0052] O&M - Operation and Maintenance

[0053] GSM - Global System for Mobile Communication

[0054] 3GPP - Third Generation Partnership Project

[0055] LAN - Local Area Network

[0056] NS - Network Server

[0057] MME - Mobility Management Entity

[0058] LTE - Long Term Evolution

[0059] SGW - Serving Gateway

[0060] PGW - Packet Gateway

[0061] PCRF - Policy and Charging Rules Function

[0062] AAA - Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting

VLAN - Virtual Local Area Network

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1. A method, comprising: interfacing to a plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units to provide maintenance or troubleshooting access; and isolating traffic related to the maintenance or troubleshooting access from other traffic related to data or signaling provided by or to the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: interfacing to a user equipment to provide combined maintenance or troubleshooting access to the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the interfacing to the user equipment comprises interfacing to a remote user over a secure connection.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising: relaying data related to the maintenance or troubleshooting from at least one of the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units to the user equipment.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the isolating traffic comprises forwarding the data related to the maintenance or troubleshooting in a separate channel that is isolated from the other traffic.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the isolating traffic comprises using port mirroring to relay specific data from signaling blades to a maintenance application in a user equipment.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the isolating traffic comprises tagging the traffic with a virtual local area network identifier.

8. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to interface to a plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units to provide maintenance or troubleshooting access; and isolate traffic related to the maintenance or troubleshooting access from other traffic related to data or signaling provided by or to the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to interface to a user equipment to provide combined maintenance or troubleshooting access to the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to interface to the user equipment by interfacing to a remote user over a secure connection.

1 1. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to relay data related to the maintenance or troubleshooting from at least one of the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units to the user equipment.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to isolate the traffic by forwarding the data related to the maintenance or troubleshooting in a separate channel that is isolated from the other traffic.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to isolate the traffic by using port mirroring to relay specific data from signaling blades to a maintenance application in a user equipment.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to isolate the traffic by tagging the traffic with a virtual local area network identifier.

15. An apparatus, comprising: interfacing means for interfacing to a plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units to provide maintenance or troubleshooting access; and isolating means for isolating traffic related to the maintenance or troubleshooting access from other traffic related to data or signaling provided by or to the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising: user interfacing means for interfacing to a user equipment to provide combined maintenance or troubleshooting access to the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the user interfacing means comprises means for interfacing to a remote user over a secure connection.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising: relaying means for relaying data related to the maintenance or troubleshooting from at least one of the plurality of signaling, data, or data and signaling units to the user equipment.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the isolating means comprises means for forwarding the data related to the maintenance or troubleshooting in a separate channel that is isolated from the other traffic.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the isolating means comprises means for using port mirroring to relay specific data from signaling blades to a maintenance application in a user equipment.

21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the isolating means comprises means for tagging the traffic with a virtual local area network identifier.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable encoded with instructions that, when executed in hardware, perform a process, the process comprising the method according to any of claims 1-7.