Slow roaming Internet speed? Cisco's latest technology can solve it

Wireless communication is a communication method that uses the characteristics of electromagnetic wave signals that can propagate in free space to exchange information. In the field of information and communication in recent years, wireless communication technology has developed the fastest and has the widest application. Wireless communication achieved on the move is also generally referred to as mobile communication, and people collectively refer to the two as wireless mobile communication.

Wireless communication technologies are used to connect several types of devices, such as satellite communication systems, portable digital assistants, laptops, and mobile devices (cell phones, notebooks, etc.). Users of such devices are able to connect to the network as long as they are within the range of such wireless communication technologies.

With the continuous evolution and development of wireless communication networking architecture, especially the networking architecture in mobile wireless communication environment, this networking architecture has become more and more complex. In addition, people now generate a large amount of data every day, which significantly increases the demand for network resources.

As the number of mobile subscribers increases, effective communication resource management becomes more critical, as the number of subscribers communicating on the network may overwhelm network equipment, provide suboptimal performance, or cause congestion in the network. Therefore, managing network resources, especially for congested systems, presents significant challenges.

To solve this problem, on March 4, 2016, Cisco applied for an invention patent called "Congestion Relief for Roaming Users" (application number: 202010119761.4), and the applicant was Cisco Technologies Corporation.

Based on the information currently disclosed in the patent, let us take a look at this network resource management technology.

First, the structure of the current network architecture is introduced. The commonly used one is the evolved packet core (EPC) network, which consists of: user equipment (UE), eNodeB radio transceiver, mobility management entity (MME) control node, control node responsible for tracking and paging UE and selecting serving gateway, serving gateway that routes and forwards user data packets and acts as the mobile anchor point of UE, RAN congestion awareness function (RCAF) that determines the congestion level of RAN cells, and packet data network gateway (PGW) that provides data network for UE and executes policy and charging (PCEF).

As shown above, a simplified block diagram of a communication system that facilitates communications for roaming users and local subscribers in a network environment. This particular configuration relies on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Evolved Packet System (EPS) architecture and sometimes involves the Long Term Evolution (LTE) EPS architecture.

Each element in the system can be coupled to each other through simple interfaces. EPS usually includes UE access network and evolved packet core (EPC). The architecture in the figure also provides a series of interfaces that can provide mobility, policy control, AAA functions and charging activities for various network elements.

These components will implement QoS on the UE side. For example, the services and functions of the components are used to provide Voice over IP (VoIP) routing, enhanced services, stateful firewall and traffic performance optimization (TPO).

As shown in the figure above, it is a schematic diagram of the selection of network nodes associated with a roaming user equipment (UE). The UE is a roaming user and must communicate through the visited network core to implement the policy functions associated with its home network core. The visited network core includes eNodeB 304, visited MME 306 and visited SGW 308, and the home network core includes home PGW 310, home PCRF 312, home TDF 314, home AF 316 and PDN 318.

The UE is a subscriber associated with the provider of the home network core, and during roaming out of coverage, the UE connects to the eNodeB associated with the visited network core. When the UE is connected to the eNodeB, it is considered a roaming user. When the UE roams on a visited network, certain network functions are handled by the visited network core, while other functions are handled by the home network core.

The above figure shows a logical diagram of the implementation of UE, where the UE includes a processor 902 , a memory 904 , a transceiver 906 having an interface 908 , a modem 910 , a wireless interface selection module 912 , and a GUI interface 914 .

The transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver, which are integrated into a single chip; the modem is configured to implement modulation and framing of signals according to a communication standard; the wireless interface selection module is configured to select a wireless interface for receiving network services; the GUI interface utilizes input and output mechanisms to provide communication to communicate with UE users.

The above figure shows an implementation of a network device 1000, which includes a slot 1002 for loading application cards and line cards. The middle plane can be used in the network device to provide internal network device communications, power connections, and transmission paths between various installed cards.

The switching structure 1004 realizes an IP-based transmission path for user data throughout the network equipment by establishing intra-card communication between application cards and line cards; the control bus 1006 interconnects the control and management processors within the network equipment; the network equipment management bus provides management of system functions, such as power supply, temperature monitoring, circuit status, data path errors, etc.; the redundant bus 1008 provides transmission of user data and redundant links in the event of hardware failure; the TDM bus provides support for voice services on the system.

The above is the congestion relief patent invented by Cisco for roaming users. The congestion information of the wireless access network will be reported to the visited network by the base station. Through the congestion perception function of the visited network, the service quality of the roaming user equipment in the congested cell can be controlled to alleviate the congestion. In addition, since RCAF can communicate under the mobile management entity of the visited cell and the policy billing and rule functions of the user's home network, it is possible to reduce congestion for roaming users without notifying the home network of the congestion in the cell.