U.S. patent application number 17/151182 was filed with the patent office on 2021-05-13 for methods circuits devices systems and functionally associated computer executable code for facilitating edge computing on a mobile data communication network.
The applicant listed for this patent is SAGUNA NETWORKS LTD.. Invention is credited to Barak Enat, Daniel Nathan Frydman.
Application Number | 20210144216 17/151182 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005345688 |
Filed Date | 2021-05-13 |
![](/patent/app/20210144216/US20210144216A1-20210513\US20210144216A1-2021051)
United States Patent
Application |
20210144216 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Enat; Barak ; et
al. |
May 13, 2021 |
Methods Circuits Devices Systems and Functionally Associated
Computer Executable Code for Facilitating Edge Computing on a
Mobile Data Communication Network
Abstract
Disclosed are methods, circuits, devices, systems and
functionally associated computer executable code to Facilitate Edge
Computing on a mobile communication network. According to some
embodiments, there may be provided a mobile data communication
network comprising two or more Mobile Edge Computing MEC Zones,
wherein a first MEC Zone is communicatively coupled to a first set
of network access points which are adapted to communicated with
User Equipment (UE) and includes at least one Edge Processing Host
adapted to run a server-side application accessible to a client
application running on an EU communicating with a network access
point of the first set of network access points. The network may
include an Edge Processing Connectivity Manager ("EPCM") to provide
application session continuity for the client application and the
server-side application when the UE switches its network connection
from an access point of said first MEC zone to an access point
communicatively coupled to an access point coupled to a second MEC
zone.
Inventors: |
Enat; Barak; (Haifa, IL)
; Frydman; Daniel Nathan; (Haifa, IL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SAGUNA NETWORKS LTD. |
Yokneam Illit |
|
IL |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005345688 |
Appl. No.: |
17/151182 |
Filed: |
January 17, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16243264 |
Jan 9, 2019 |
10938916 |
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17151182 |
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15331853 |
Oct 22, 2016 |
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16243264 |
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62615027 |
Jan 9, 2018 |
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62244747 |
Oct 22, 2015 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 67/148 20130101;
H04W 36/08 20130101; H04L 67/141 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04L 29/08 20060101
H04L029/08; H04W 36/08 20060101 H04W036/08 |
Claims
1. A mobile data communication network comprising: two or more
Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) Zones, wherein a first MEC Zone: (a) is
communicatively coupled to a first set of network access points
which are adapted to communicated with User Equipment (UE); and (b)
includes at least one Edge Processing Host adapted to run a
server-side application accessible to a client application running
on an EU connecting to said network through a network access point
of the first set of network access points; and an Edge Processing
Connectivity Manager ("EPCM") to provide application session
continuity for a communication session for client application of
the UE when the UE switches its network connection from an access
point of said first MEC zone to an access point communicatively
coupled to a second MEC zone; and a second MEC zone: (a) is
communicatively coupled to a second set of network access points
which are adapted to communicated with User Equipment (UE); and (b)
includes at least one Edge Processing Host adapted to run a
server-side application accessible to a client application running
on an EU communicating with a network access point of the second
set of network access points.
2. The data communication network according to claim 1, wherein
said EPCM is comprised of Mobility Services modules running within
each of said first and second MEC zones, wherein said Mobility
Services modules communicate with one another using cross-zone
communication paths.
3. The data communication network according to claim 1, wherein
said EPCM provides application session continuity for the UE client
application and the server-side application running on an EPH of
said first MEC zone by bridging application session related packets
between said second MEC zone and said first MEC zone.
4. The data communication network according to claim 3, wherein
said EPCM is comprised of a Mobility Services module within said
first MEC zone in collaborative communication and operating in
concert with a Mobility Services module within said second MEC.
5. The data communication network according to claim 3, wherein
said EPCM provides application session continuity for the UE client
application and the server-side application running on an EPH of
said first MEC zone by copying application session data from said
EPH of said first MEC zone to an EPH of said second MEC zone.
6. The data communication network according to claim 5, wherein the
copied application session data is selected from the group of data
consisting of: (a) application session state data, and (b) at least
a partial application image snapshot of the server-side application
running on said EPH of said first MEC zone.
7. The data communication network according to claim 6, wherein
said EPCM is comprised of a Mobility Services module within said
first MEC zone in collaborative communication and operating in
concert with a Mobility Services module within said second MEC.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present applications claims priority from U.S. Utility
patent application Ser. No. 16/243,264 which claims priority from
U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/615,027, filed on Jan.
9, 2018 and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by
reference in its entirety. The present application is a
continuation-in-part of U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No.
15/331,853, filed on Oct. 22, 2016, which claims the benefit of
U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/244,747, filed on Oct.
22, 2015, and the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by
reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention generally relates to the field of
wireless communication. More specifically, the present invention
relates to methods, circuits, devices, systems and functionally
associated computer executable code for facilitating edge computing
on a mobile data communications network.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) is a new concept in Software
Defined Networking and Virtualization Technology. The MEC paradigm
relates to moving computational and storage resources from the core
of an access network or from outside the network to an edge of a
mobile (access) network and enabling mobile communication/computing
devices, also referred to as User Equipment ("UE"), to connect to
server type applications running on the edge located resources
through a Mobile (Network) Breakout (FIG. 1A). Edge located
resources, with or without the relevant breakout switching, and or
the server type applications running thereon, can optionally be
referred to as MEC platforms. Applications running or otherwise
residing on the MEC platforms can optionally be running in a VM
environment or in computational containers.
[0004] When a client application running on a specific UE is
engaged in a communication session, through a specific wireless
access point of the network, with an application running on a
specific MEC platform functionally associated with the specific
wireless access point, the mobile nature of the UE may lead to the
UE communicatively disconnecting from the specific wireless access
point during the client application communication session being
disrupted (FIG. 1B). When a UE physically moves through a coverage
area of a mobile network, it may transit across coverage areas of
different wireless access points. Two wireless adjacent access
points may be associated with either the same or with different MEC
zones. Accordingly, when a UE's connection the access network
transition from one access point to another, such as during a
connection handed, the UE might transit from one MEC zone to
another different MEC zone. When a UE moves between MEC zones, the
UE's IP address might change within the new MEC zone, for example
due to NAT issues.
[0005] If, as a result of a transition between two access point
coverage areas, a UE disconnects from a first access point and
communicatively couples to a second wireless access point of the
network, for example as part of a handover process performed by a
control unit of the network, the client application on the UE may
attempt a reconnection to the server application. But if the two
access points are, however, associated with different MEC zone's,
the reconnection request will not succeed. If the second wireless
access point to which the UE is handed over to is part of, or
otherwise associated with, a different MEC zone, at best a new
communication session with a different instance of the server
application running on a different MEC platform will be started. At
worse, data in the old communication session will be lost and
possibly a new session may not be started with the new server
application.
[0006] There is a need in the field of wireless data communication
for methods and systems to preserve communication session
continuity between UE client applications and MEC hosted server
applications, including during mobility or transitioning the UE
between MEC zones. There is a need to provide a transparent
reconnection for a UE's client application's communication session
with a edge hosted server application when the UE is transiting or
transitioning between two access points associated with different
MEC zones. It is also desirable to provide reconnection of a
session between a UE client application and an edge server
application transparently on all layers, such as IP, TCP and
Applications.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0007] The present invention includes methods, circuits, devices,
systems and functionally associated computer executable code for
facilitating edge computing on a mobile data communication network.
Embodiments of the present invention relate to Edge Computing,
Software Defined Networking and Virtualization Technology.
Embodiments of the present invention include features facilitating
mobility of mobile communication devices (UE's) across MEC zones of
access communication networks having computing and storage
resources residing, or otherwise operating, at the edge of the
access network. The present invention may include features for
connecting UE's to server applications residing/operating on an
edge computing platform, optionally running in Virtual Machine's,
Containers or Unikernels.
[0008] Embodiments of the present invention may include methods and
systems to transparently resetting an existing communication
session between a client application running on UE and a server
application running on computing resources of a MEC zone, while
causing the UE application client to reopen a new session with a
server application running on computing resources of another MEC
zone. Optionally, the present invention provides for the UE to
continue the previous session with an application instance located
on the new edge computing resources in the new MEC zone.
Optionally, a reconnection of the session between the UE client
application and the different server application, and or
application instance, may be performed transparently on all layers
(e.g. IP, TCP and Applications). Embodiments of the present
invention include features and steps enabling a client application
running on a UE connected to a first server application and running
a TCP or UDP session to preserve functionality when a user of the
respective UE is moving in the mobile network from one edge
computing zone into a different edge computing zone.
[0009] According to embodiments, there may be provided a mobile
data communication network and communication network architecture
including one or more Mobile Edge Computing ("MEC") zones, wherein
at least one of the MEC zones may be associated with one or more
network access points and may also include or be otherwise
associated with at least one Edge Processing Host (EPH) as referred
to Edge Host. EPH's may include computational and communication
resources and may be adapted to provide resources required for the
execution one or more server applications, which server
applications may provide application services to client (side)
applications running on client devices (UE's) communicatively
coupled to an access point within the EPH's respective MEC zone.
The present invention may include methods, devices, systems and
computer executable code to provide a client application running on
a mobile communication device (UE), and communicating with a
server-side application (e.g. application engine) running on an EPH
within a first MEC zone of the mobile data communication networks,
with server-side application session continuity as the mobile
communication device moves or otherwise switches from the first MEC
zone of the mobile data communication network to a second MEC zone
of the mobile data communication network.
[0010] In order to support session continuity of client
applications running on UE's crossing between MEC zones with
different EPH's, one or more MEC zones may include or be
functionally associated with a mobility services module. Each MEC
zone's mobility services module may run on the MEC zone's
respective EPH or on some other functionally associated computation
resources. Each MEC zone's mobility services module may be able to
communicate with at least some other MEC's mobility services
module. According to some embodiments, a mobility services module
may have access to application session information of at least some
of the server applications running on a respective corresponding
EPH in the same MEC zone. According to further embodiments, a
Mobility Services Module may have access and or control of
applications and application session information of at least some
server applications running on a respective corresponding EPH. For
example, a Mobility Services Module according to embodiments of the
present invention may have the ability to: (a) copy application
session information (e.g. application state values and session
client application communication parameters); (b) terminate an
application session with a specific client application; and (c)
trigger or instance new application sessions with specific state
values and client application communication parameters.
[0011] An MEC Zone's Mobility Services Module may be integral or
otherwise functionally associated with the zone's Edge Platform,
which Edge Platform may be integral or otherwise functionally
associated with the zone's EPH, also referred to as an Edge Host of
the MEC zone. Mobility Services Modules residing at different MEC
zones may communicate with one another, for example through a cross
MEC zone gateway. Several Mobility Services Modules residing in
different MEC zones may collaborate in the transfer of application
sessions between server applications hosted on EPH's of the
different MEC zones. Mobility Services Modules may coordinate an
orderly and transparent transfer of a UE client application's
communication session between two separate server applications
running on separate EPH's in different MEC zones.
[0012] Mobility Services Module according to embodiments of the
present invention may be integral or otherwise functionally
associated with an Edge Processing Connectivity Manager (EPCM). An
EPCM according to embodiments of the present invention may be
formed of some combination of Edge Host or Edge Platform services
(e.g. computing and packet routing functionality) and Mobile
Services Module logic for server application session management.
According to further embodiments, an EPCM may reside on a single
network appliance, while according to other embodiment the EPCM may
be a distributed logical network entity, or virtual appliance,
formed or composed of functional portions of each of multiple
Mobile Services Modules and multiple Edge host services located in
different MEC zones of the network and collaborating with each
other to facilitate transparent UE client application switching
between server applications residing in different MEC zones of the
network.
[0013] A mobility services module according to embodiments of the
present invention may, alone or with resources of an associated
EPCM, monitor access network control signaling between a
communicatively coupled UE and a network control element in order
to detect when a specific communicatively coupled UE with a client
application communicating with an associated EPH server application
is about to handover to another access point (e.g. base-station).
If the UE is being handed over to an access point associated with a
different MEC zone, the Mobility Services Module of the first MEC
zone, alone or with support of EPCM services, may determine to
which new MEC zone the UE is about to handover. Optionally, the
Mobility Services Module of the first MEC zone may contact a
Mobility Services Module in the new MEC zone and may coordinate
transfer of active application session state information relating
to an application session in which the leaving UE's client
application is engaged with a server application in the current MEC
zone. Along with the state information, the Mobility Services
Module may also transfer one or more UE client application
designator in order to enable an server application running on a
EPH in the new MEC zone to connect with the moving UE's client
application. The collaborative transfer of session state and client
identifier information may enable the server application in the new
MEC zone to connect with the client application and pick-up the
active application session where the server application in the
previous MEC zone left off. More generally, application session
continuity for client side applications on UE moving between MEC
zones may be maintained by transferring server-side application
session data, such as session state data, from a first EPH in the
first MEC zone to a second EPH in the second MEC zone.
[0014] According to some embodiments, each of two or more network
access nodes of a mobile data communication network may be located
within, or be otherwise associated with, an Mobile Edge Computing
(MEC) zone and may be integral or otherwise functionally associated
with at least one Edge Processing Host (EPH) which EPH is part of
that MEC zone. A mobile data communication network according to
embodiments may include multiple MEC zones, each MEC being
associated with a separate set of wireless network access points,
which wireless access points may be cellular base stations or Wi-Fi
hotspots. Each MEC zone according to embodiments of the present
invention may be integral or otherwise functionally associated with
a separate set of EPH's, wherein an EPH may be or may include
computational resources or a platform including one or more
processors, computational memory, and an operating system running a
single server at a time, or the computational platform may include
an operating system adapted to host multiple virtual servers (e.g.
virtual machines) and/or multiple processing containers at the same
time. According to yet further embodiments, an EPH may include
multiple computational platforms operating in concert (e.g. a grid
computer). An EPH, either running a single server (Machine)
operating system or running a virtual machine hypervisor (e.g.
VMWare) with multiple virtual machines (e.g. virtual servers)
instanced/running thereon, may also be referred to as a Mobility
Edge Computing Platform (MECP). A server operating system or a
virtual machine/server running on an EPH of a specific MEC,
according to embodiments, may be referred to as an MEC server.
[0015] An EPH according to embodiments may include computational
resources such as operating memory, digital processing circuits,
and data connectivity circuits for running one or more server-side
applications, and may be adapted to allocate at least a portion of
its computational resources to application engines or application
servers to be accessed through the mobile data communication
network. An EPH within a mobile data communication network
according to embodiments may have data connectivity to and with
other EPH's in the same MEC zone, to and with EPH's in other MEC
zones, and with generic network resources across the internet.
Client application access to a specific EPH and server-side
applications (e.g. application engines) running thereon may be
restricted to client applications running on UE's communicatively
coupled to an access point associated with the MEC zone of the
specific EPH. An MEC zone specific DNS associated with a specific
MEC zone may cause connection requests from MEC zone connected UE,
for connections to external server applications, to be routed to
local instances of those server application host on an EPH of the
same specific MEC.
[0016] According to further embodiments, application session
continuity for a client application running on an UE which is
switching from a first MEC zone to a second MEC zone may be
maintained by transferring a corresponding server-side application
session from a corresponding server-side application running on an
MEC server of the first MEC zone to a corresponding server-side
application running on an MEC server of the second MEC zone. The
corresponding server-side application session may be transferred by
copying session state data from the application running on the
first zone MEC server and instancing or otherwise creating another
session with the copied session state data on an MEC server of the
second zone. According to yet further embodiments, a snapshot of
the entire first zone server-side application (or container) may be
copied and instanced on an MEC server of the second zone. These
application session transfers may be achieved through a
collaborative series of steps performed by Mobility Service modules
running on EPH's within the first and second MEC zones.
[0017] A server-side application or application engine running on
an EPH which is functionally associated with a given network access
point may be accessible and may provide data services to a
corresponding or otherwise associated client application which is
running on a mobile communication device communicatively coupled to
the mobile data communication network through the given network
access point. According to some embodiments of the present
invention, the network may include an Edge Processing Connectivity
Manager ("EPCM") adapted to provide session continuity for a client
application running on a mobile communication device which is
moving or otherwise switching between two network access points,
when each network access point is associated with a different MEC
and separate EPH's. The EPCM may: (a) reroute communication between
the client and server; (b) shift the application session data (e.g.
state and client ID) to the MEC zone; and (c) some combination of
the two.
[0018] According to some embodiments, the EPMC may be a discrete
and/or centralized network resource, network element or set of
network elements, such as one or more network appliances connected
to the network. According to further embodiments, the EPMC may be
decentralized and may be comprised of Mobility Services modules
running on portions of each of multiple EPH's which are spread
across different MEC zones. For example, at least one Mobility
Services module may be located at each MEC zone which participates
in a MEC zone group supports server application session continuity,
and the Mobility Services modules from each MEC zone of the MEC
zone group may communicate with at least one other Mobility
Services module located at another MEC zone. According to further
embodiments, each Mobility Services module of any MEC zone may
communicates with each other Mobility Services module of each other
MEC zone within the same MEC zone group. The communication may be
in the form of TCP/IP packet transmission to a specific Mobility
Services module, a packet unicast to a specific Mobility Services
module, and/or a multicast to several or all of the Mobility
Services modules of an MEC zone group. Communication between
Mobility Services module of different MEC zones may provide for a
collaborative computing configuration supporting application
session continuity for applications running on UE which is
switching between two MEC zones according to embodiments of the
present invention.
[0019] According to some embodiments, session continuity may be
provided and/or maintained for a client application running on an
EU which switched its connection to the network between a first
access point associated with a first MEC zone and to a second
access point associated with a second MEC zone, by reconnecting the
client running on the UE to the original application running over
the original MEC server of the first MEC zone from the new MEC
server of the second MEC zone. The reconnection between the UE and
the Application on the MEC server of MEC zone may be performed
transparently on all layers (IP, TCP and Applications). As an UE
switches its network connection, and server-side application data
service requests from client applications running on the UE, to the
second MEC zone, a Mobility Services module of the second MEC zone
may recognize that server-side application data service requests
from the client application running on the newly connected EU are
relevant to a server-side application running on an MEC server of a
different MEC Zone. The Mobility Services module may transmit a
query to one or more Mobility Services modules running in other MEC
zones to determine whether and/or which of the MEC servers in the
other zones is running the relevant application. Upon receiving an
indication and/or a network address of the relevant MEC server, the
Mobility Services module in the new MEC zone may forward or
otherwise bridge communication from the client application on the
UE with the relevant MEC server on in the other MEC zone. Bridging
application session packets between the two MEC zones may be
performed using Mobility Services modules in both MEC zones as
gateways and/or Network Address Translators (NAT) for data packets
of the application session. Data communication between the two
Mobility Services modules, including signaling packets and payload
data such as application session packets, may be communicated using
a data tunnel connecting the two modules.
[0020] Embodiments of the present invention, including structure,
steps and functions described herein, are applicable to all
cellular networks known today or to be device in the future.
Embodiments of the present invention, including structure, steps
and functions described herein, are applicable to wireless data
networks known today or to be device in the future. Embodiments of
the present invention, including structure, steps and functions
described herein, are applicable to satellite data networks known
today or to be device in the future.
[0021] Application session continuity may also be maintained by
bridging application session data communications between the second
MEC and the first MEC zones, thereby maintaining connectivity or
reconnecting the client application running on the UE
communicatively coupled to the second MEC zone with the server-side
application running on an EPH in the first MEC zone.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0022] The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly
pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the
specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and
method of operation, together with objects, features, and
advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the
following detailed description when read with the accompanying
drawings in which:
[0023] FIG. 1A shows a functional block network diagram of an
exemplary mobile data communication network according to
embodiments of the present invention including an Edge Processing
Host (EPH) connected to each of two Mobile Edge Computing (MEC)
zones, wherein each EPH provides application hosting for
service-side applications servicing mobile devices (User Equipment)
connected to access points of its respective MEC zone, and also to
mobile devices connected to access points of other MEC zones when
directed by an Edge Processing Connectivity Manager (EPCM). The
shown EPCM, which may be composed of Mobility Services Modules in
each of the two zones (shown in FIG. 1B), facilitates a transition
of an application session between Zone 1 and Zone 2 for a client
application running on UE1;
[0024] FIG. 1B shows a network diagram of an exemplary cellular
network with two MEC zones, each of which zones includes Edge
Computing Hosts integral or otherwise functionally associated with
Mobility Services Modules and computing resources. The Mobility
Services Modules in each zone coordinate with each other to
facilitate a transition of an application session between Zone 1
and Zone 2 for a client application running on UE1;
[0025] FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of at least a
portion of an exemplary Edge Processing Connectivity Manager (EPCM)
according to embodiments of the present invention wherein the EPCM
is comprised of Mobility Services modules integral or otherwise
functionally associated with one or more access points of an MEC
zone, and wherein the EPCM provides application session continuity
by transferring and or bridging application session information
between two or more different MEC zones, such as for example by
copying application session data (State and Client ID) from an
EPH/MEC-Server of one MEC zone to an EPH/MEC-Server of another MEC
zone;
[0026] FIG. 3 is a flowchart including steps of an exemplary set of
steps performable to maintain application session continuity in
accordance with embodiments of the present invention;
[0027] FIGS. 4A & 4B are functional block illustrations of an
exemplary transition phases of a UE from a first MEC zone of an
exemplary network in accordance with embodiments of the present
invention to a second MEC zone of the exemplary network;
[0028] FIG. 4C is functional block diagram illustration of an
example embodiment by which a server application session,
corresponding to a client application session on the mobile
computing device (UE) which moved from one MEC zone to another, is
transferred from an original MEC zone to a destination MEC
zone;
[0029] FIGS. 4D & 4E are functional block illustrations of an
exemplary reconnection phase of a UE from a first MEC zone of an
exemplary network in accordance with embodiments of the present
invention to a second MEC zone of the exemplary network;
[0030] It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of
illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily
been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the
elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity.
Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be
repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous
elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0031] In the following detailed description, numerous specific
details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding
of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled
in the art that the present invention may be practiced without
these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods,
procedures, components and circuits have not been described in
detail so as not to obscure the present invention.
[0032] Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the
following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the
specification discussions utilizing terms such as "processing",
"computing", "calculating", "determining", or the like, may refer
to the action and/or processes of a computer or computing system,
or similar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or
transform data represented as physical, such as electronic,
quantities within the computing system's registers and/or memories
into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within
the computing system's memories, registers or other such
information storage, transmission or display devices.
[0033] In addition, throughout the specification discussions
utilizing terms such as "storing", "hosting", "caching", "saving",
or the like, may refer to the action and/or processes of `writing`
and `keeping` digital information on a computer or computing
system, or similar electronic computing device, and may be
interchangeably used. The term "plurality" may be used throughout
the specification to describe two or more components, devices,
elements, parameters and the like.
[0034] Some embodiments of the invention, for example, may take the
form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software
embodiment, or an embodiment including both hardware and software
elements. Some embodiments may be implemented in software, which
includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software,
microcode, or the like.
[0035] Furthermore, some embodiments of the invention may take the
form of a computer program product accessible from a
computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code
for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction
execution system. For example, a computer-usable or
computer-readable medium may be or may include any apparatus that
can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the
program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution
system, apparatus, or device.
[0036] In some embodiments, the medium may be an electronic,
magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor
system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Some
demonstrative examples of a computer-readable medium may include a
semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable
computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory
(ROM), any composition and/or architecture of semiconductor based
Non-Volatile Memory (NVM), any composition and/or architecture of
biologically based Non-Volatile Memory (NVM), a rigid magnetic
disk, and an optical disk. Some demonstrative examples of optical
disks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact
disk-read/write (CD-RAN), and DVD.
[0037] In some embodiments, a data processing system suitable for
storing and/or executing program code may include at least one
processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements, for
example, through a system bus. The memory elements may include, for
example, local memory employed during actual execution of the
program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which may provide
temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce
the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during
execution.
[0038] In some embodiments, input/output or I/O devices (including
but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) may
be coupled to the system either directly or through intervening I/O
controllers. In some embodiments, network adapters may be coupled
to the system to enable the data processing system to become
coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or
storage devices, for example, through intervening private or public
networks. In some embodiments, modems, cable modems and Ethernet
cards are demonstrative examples of types of network adapters.
Other functionally suitable components may be used.
[0039] According to embodiments of the present invention, there may
be provided a mobile data communication network comprising two or
more Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) Zones, wherein a first MEC Zone
may be communicatively coupled to a first set of network access
points which are adapted to communicated with User Equipment (UE),
and the zone may include at least one Edge Processing Host adapted
to run a server-side application accessible to a client application
running on an EU connecting to the network through a network access
point of the first set of network access points. The network may
include an Edge Processing Connectivity Manager ("EPCM") to provide
application session continuity for a communication session between
the client application of the UE and the server-side application of
the first MEC zone when the UE switches its network connection from
an access point of said first MEC zone to an access point
communicatively coupled to a second MEC zone. The second MEC zone
may be communicatively coupled to a second set of network access
points which are adapted to communicated with User Equipment (UE),
and the second MEC may include at least one Edge Processing Host
adapted to run a server-side application accessible to a client
application running on an EU communicating with a network access
point of the second set of network access points.
[0040] According to embodiments, the EPCM may be comprised of
Mobility Services modules running within each of said first and
second MEC zones, wherein said Mobility Services modules may
communicate with one another using cross-zone communication paths,
for example through a cross-MEC gateway.
[0041] The EPCM may provide application session continuity for the
UE client application and the server-side application running on an
EPH of said first MEC zone by bridging application session packets
between said second MEC zone and said first MEC zone. Bridging
application session packets between said second MEC zone and said
first MEC zone may include detecting that client application
packets of the UE are related to a server-side application session
running on a EPH in another MEC zone, poling one or more other MEC
zones to determine in which MEC zone the intended application
session is running, and establishing network address translation
and transport the two MEC zones. The EPCM may be comprised of a
Mobility Services module within said first MEC zone in
collaborative communication and operating in concert with a
Mobility Services module within said second MEC.
[0042] The EPCM may provide application session continuity for the
UE client application and the server-side application running on an
EPH of said first MEC zone by copying application session data from
said EPH of said first MEC zone to an EPH of said second MEC zone.
Copying application session data from said EPH of said first MEC
zone to an EPH of said second MEC zone may include detecting at
said second MEC zone that client application packets of the client
application on the UE are related to a server-side application
session running on a EPH in another MEC zone, poling one or more
other MEC zones to determine in which MEC zone the intended
application session is running, requesting the application session
data from said first MEC zone and instancing on said EPH of said
second MEC zone an application session based on the application
session data requested from said first MEC zone. The copied
application session data may be selected from the group of data
consisting of: (a) application session state data, and (b) at least
a partial application image snapshot of the server-side application
running on said EPH of said first MEC zone. The EPCM may be
comprised of a Mobility Services module within said first MEC zone
in collaborative communication and operating in concert with a
Mobility Services module within said second MEC.
[0043] Turning now to FIG. 1A, there is shown a functional block
network diagram of an exemplary mobile data communication network
according to embodiments of the present invention including an Edge
Processing Host (EPH) in each of two Mobile Edge Computing (MEC)
zones, wherein each EPH provides application services to mobile
devices (User Equipment) connected to access points of its
respective MEC zone and to mobile devices connected to access
points of other MEC zones at the direction of an Edge Processing
Connectivity Manager (EPCM).
[0044] The EPCM may provides application session continuity for an
application running on a UE and the server-side application running
on the EPH of the first MEC zone by bridging or transferring
application session information from said first MEC zone and said
second MEC zone. Bridging or transferring application session
information between the first MEC zone and the second MEC zone
includes detecting that the connection to the UE (e.g. UE1) on
which the client application is running is about to be handed over
to an access point (base-station) in a different MEC zone which is
associated with or includes a server-side application instance
running on a different EPH in the another MEC zone (Step 100, FIG.
3).
[0045] The EPCM of FIG. 1A may be comprised of a Mobility Services
Module within said first MEC zone in collaborative communication
and operating in concert with a Mobility Services Module within
said second MEC zone. FIG. 1B shows a network diagram of an
exemplary cellular network with MEC zones, each of which MEC zones
is associated with several base-stations and includes an EPH (also
referred to as Mobile Edge Computing Platform) with one or more MEC
servers and a Mobility Services Module running thereon. The network
of FIG. 1B also shows a cross-MEC zone gateway to facilitate a
communication path, for signaling and application session related
packet transfer, between the first and second MEC zones.
[0046] Turning now to FIG. 2 there is shown a functional block
diagram of at least a portion of an Edge Processing Connectivity
Manager (EPCM) according to embodiments of the present invention,
wherein the EPCM is comprised of Mobility Services Modules integral
or otherwise functionally associated with one or more MEC zones and
wherein the EPCM provides application session continuity by
bridging or just selectively transferring application session
related packets between MEC zones. The EPCM may include or
otherwise provide Mobility Services Module functionality for one
specific MEC zone or for a set of zones and it has interfaces to
receive packets from UE's connected to associated access points, an
MEC zone DNS with routing packet information, an interfaces to MEC
zone EPH's, an interface to the network cored, an interface to a
gateways of other MEC zones, a packet routing module, and a
controller to regulate application session related data transfer or
routing based on actual network locations of the source and target
servers for the server session information.
[0047] Exemplary operation of the EPCM of FIG. 2 may be described
with reference to the steps in the flowchart of FIG. 3 and in view
of the illustrations of FIGS. 4A to 4E, which collectively list and
illustrate a sequence of steps for bridging or transferring
server-client application session related data packets between
EPH's of two separate MEC zones as an UE switches between the two
MEC zones according to embodiments of the present invention
[0048] The user equipment seen in FIG. 4A has a known IP address
(IPV4 or IPV6) and is connected to a local application, running on
resources associated with Edge Host A or MEC Zone A. The
application may be virtualized on a Virtual Machine, virtualized on
a container or running native over the Operating System of an edge
server. This server, on an EPH or the like, could be any kind of
server running any kind of operating system using any kind of
virtualization. Although the model for Mobile Edge Computing (MEC)
is used as the example throughout this application, it is also
applicable for any NFV/SDN architecture. When the UE is moving in
the network it might migrate into a new MEC ZONE which is serviced
by different MEC server types. As seen in FIGS. 1A & 1B, to
support mobility, an MEC interconnection through a grid or zone
gateway is provided. The MEC grid may connect all MEC server that
are part of a MEC Mobility Group--MMG. The MMG is a collection of
all MEC zones and respective servers that a UE might migrate to
when it is connected to a specific MEC zone, for example, if a UE
is connected to MEC-X and under the mobility options the UE can
migrate to either MEC-Y, MEC-Z or MEC-J it is said that the MMG of
MEC-X includes MEC-Y, MEC-Z and MEC-J and they are the only members
in the group. The MMG supports IP Multicast between group
members--it is possible practice to implement this channel over a
dedicated IGMP address per MMG.
[0049] When the UE of FIGS. 4A and 4B is being handed over from
Zone A to Zone B related access points, a connection between a
client application on the UE and a server application running on
Zone A computing resources is disrupted. As part of step (FIG. 3
Step 100) this handover is detected by the EPCM (FIG. 2) through
its various interfaces, which EPCM is part of the Edge platforms of
Zone A and or Zone B in FIGS. 3 to 4E. The EPCM starts an
application session data transfer process (FIG. 3 Steps 200 to 500)
from an application resource in Zone A to an Application Instance
in Zone B. Examples of such transfer are illustrated in FIGS. 4C
and 4D. Once the transfer is completed, the application on the UE
can reconnect with an instance of the server application, as
illustrated in FIG. 4E, which appears and behaves the same as the
previous server application instance in Zone A. Accordingly, the UE
handover from Zone A to Zone B may be transparent to the client
application running on the UE.
[0050] Turning back to FIG. 2, there is shown a functional block
diagram of at least a portion of an exemplary Edge Processing
Connectivity Manager (EPCM) according to embodiments of the present
invention, wherein the EPCM is comprised of Mobility Services
modules or features. The EPCM may be integral or otherwise
functionally associated with one or more access points of an MEC
zone and the EPCM provides application session continuity by
copying application session data from an EPH of one MEC zone to an
EPH of another MEC zone. The EPCM can be part of or functionally
associated with an MEC zone platform or may be composed of portions
of several MEC zone platforms. The EPCM may include or otherwise
use a cross MEC zone gateway to transfer information between
Mobility Services Modules/Features operating in different MEC
zones. The EPCM session information copying and loading module
interface or otherwise functionally associated with the EPH to
which it is connected. Application session data copying operation
of the EPCM of FIG. 2 can be described with reference to FIGS. 4C
and 4D which illustrate copying of application session data between
two MEC zones as a UE switches MEC zones according to embodiments
of the present invention. FIG. 4C illustrates an example where the
server-side application is located within a virtual machine of the
original MEC zone. The MEC zone server(s) includes a Mobility
Service (MS). The MS has an API towards the applications in which
the relevant applications are required to save the following: (1)
The IP 5 tuple of the session managed; (2) The unique identifier of
the Application; (3) The required Mobility Action (as described
above); and (4) The application is also allowed to save proprietary
information that in case of Application Mobility will allow is to
restore the full status of the Application and the specific session
or sessions within the application.
[0051] When an Application Mobility response is sent, the new MEC
server will do the following: (1) If the required application is
not running on the new MEC, the MEC server will activate this
application; (2) The new MEC server will transfer the proprietary
information saved by the application on the Previous MEC server;
(3) The new MEC server will alert the running application of the
session or sessions regarding the mobility events; (4) The new MEC
server will initiate a TCP/UDP connection towards the Application;
(5) The new MEC server will proxy the TCP/UDP connection towards
the application so the connection towards the UE will not be
affected by means of correcting sequence, numbers time-stamps,
indexes and etc. Once all is completed the UE is connected to the
application running over the new MEC server of the new MEC
zone.
[0052] It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of
illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily
been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the
elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity.
Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be
repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous
elements.
[0053] Functions, operations, components and/or features described
herein with reference to one or more embodiments, may be combined
or otherwise utilized with one or more other functions, operations,
components and/or features described herein with reference to one
or more other embodiments, or vice versa. While certain features of
the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many
modifications, substitutions, changes, and equivalents will now
occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be
understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such
modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the
invention.
* * * * *