US-20260129102-A1 - PREVENTING, IDENTIFYING, AND RESOLVING CONFLICTING SESSION INFORMATION

US20260129102A1US 20260129102 A1US20260129102 A1US 20260129102A1US-20260129102-A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to systems and methods for improved identification and resolution of conflicting session information, such as when multiple session information entries are associated with a single session identifier. By communicating timestamps with the session information deposited in the NF component, the NF component may determine which session information is relevant to the request or which session information is stale and should be removed from its dataset.

Inventors

Suryaprakash Reddy VOODEM

Assignees

T-MOBILE INNOVATIONS LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251219

Claims (20)

1 . A method for managing session information in a core network, the method comprising: receiving, at a first network function (NF) component, first session information from a second NF component, the first session information comprising a first timestamp, a first device identifier, and a first session identifier; creating, by the first NF component, a first entry in a locally stored dataset, the first entry comprising the first session information; receiving, at the first NF component, second session information from the second NF component, the second session information comprising a second timestamp, a second device identifier, and the first session identifier; creating, by the first NF component, a second entry in the locally stored dataset, the second entry comprising the second session information; determining the first entry is stale as compared to the second entry; and p 21 removing, based on the determinations, the first entry from the locally stored dataset.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first NF component is a binding support function (BSF) and the second NF component is a policy control function (PCF).
3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising communicating the second session binding information in response to a request from an NF consumer.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the NF consumer is a network exposure function (NEF).
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the first entry is stale as compared to the second entry comprises determining the first entry and the second entry are both associated with the first session identifier and that the second timestamp is more recent than the first timestamp.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein determining the second timestamp is more recent than the first timestamp is in response to creating the second entry.
7 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the first NF component determines the first session identifier is associated with both the first entry and the second entry at intervals of a pre-determined length of time.
8 . The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the first entry is stale as compared to the second entry is in response to determining a threshold amount of time has passed since creation of the first timestamp.
9 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the first session identifier is an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) address.
10 . A method for managing session information in a core network, the method comprising: receiving, at a first network function (NF) component, first session information, the first session information comprising a first session identifier, a first device identifier, and a first timestamp; receiving, at the first NF component, second session information, the second session information comprises the first session identifier, a second device identifier, and a second timestamp; receiving, at the first NF component, a request for session information associated with the first session identifier; in response to the request for session information, determining the first session information is stale as compared to the second session information; and communicating, based on the determination, the second session information in response to the request for session information.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first NF component is a binding support function (BSF).
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the first session information is stale as compared to the second session information comprises determining the first session information and the second session information are both associated with the first session identifier and that the second timestamp is more recent than the first timestamp.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein determining the second timestamp is more recent than the first timestamp is in response to creating the second entry.
14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising removing, based on the determination, the first session information from a locally stored dataset.
15 . A system for managing session information in a core network, the system comprising: a network function (NF) consumer configured to perform operations comprising: communicating a request for session information associated with a first session identifier to an NF producer; and the NF producer configured to perform operations comprising: receiving first session information from a policy control function (PCF) for a first session, the first session information comprising a first timestamp, a first device identifier, and a first session identifier; receiving second session information from the PCF for a second session, the second session information comprising a second timestamp, a second device identifier, and the first session identifier; in response to the request, determining the second timestamp is more recent than the first timestamp; and communicating, based on the determination, the second session information to the NF consumer.
16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the NF producer is a binding support function (BSF).
17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the NF consumer is a network exposure function (NEF).
18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the request for session information comprises a request to uplift a quality of service.
19 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the request for session information comprises a request to authenticate a session.
20 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the first session identifier is an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) address.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a U.S. Continuation Application claiming priority to, and the benefit of, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/541,734, titled “PREVENTING, IDENTIFYING, AND RESOLVING CONFLICTING SESSION INFORMATION,” filed on December 15, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. SUMMARY The present disclosure is directed, in part to preventing, identifying, and resolving conflicting session information, substantially as shown and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, and as set forth more completely in the claims. According to various aspects of the technology, network function (NF) components of the 5G core network work cooperatively to create and manage sessions. Under typical conditions, NF components are notified when a session is created and a session is terminated. When a session is created, an NF component may store the session information communicated from other NF components, and when a session is terminated, the NF component may remove the session information to avoid retaining conflicting session information. However, in some cases, the termination of a session may not be communicated to NF components, resulting in NF components retaining stale session information and causing bad requests. Conventionally, conflicting session information is removed through auditing that removes all stored data at set intervals of time. The auditing does not prevent, identify, or resolve conflicting session information. By preventing, identifying, and resolving conflicting session information before the audit occurs, fewer bad requests will occur. This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary computing device for use with the present disclosure; FIG. 2 illustrates a diagram of an exemplary network environment in which implementations of the present disclosure may be employed; FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary method for eliminating conflicting session information in which implementations of the present disclosure may be employed; FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary method for eliminating stale session information in which implementations of the present disclosure may be employed; and FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary method for eliminating stale session information in which implementations of the present disclosure may be employed. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The subject matter of embodiments of the invention is described with specificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, the description itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. Rather, the inventors have contemplated that the claimed subject matter might be embodied in other ways, to include different steps or combinations of steps similar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction with other present or future technologies. Moreover, although the terms “step” and/or “block” may be used herein to connote different elements of methods employed, the terms should not be interpreted as implying any particular order among or between various steps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps is explicitly described. Various technical terms, acronyms, and shorthand notations are employed to describe, refer to, and/or aid the understanding of certain concepts pertaining to the present disclosure. Unless otherwise noted, said terms should be understood in the manner they would be used by one with ordinary skill in the telecommunication arts. An illustrative resource that defines these terms can be found in Newton's Telecom Dictionary, (e.g., 32d Edition, 2022). As used herein, the term “base station” refers to a centralized component or system of components that is configured to wirelessly communicate (receive and/or transmit signals) with a plurality of stations (i.e., wireless communication devices, also referred to herein as user equipment (UE(s))) in a particular geographic area. As used herein, the term “network access technology (NAT)” is synonymous with wireless communication protocol and is an umbrella term used to refer to the particular technological standard/protocol that governs the communication between a UE and a base station; examples of network access technologies include 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, 802.11x, and the like. Embodiments of the technology described herein may be embodied as, among other things, a method, system, or computer-program product. Accordingly, the embodiments may take the form of a hardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. An embodiment takes the form o