WO2021245684A1

WO2021245684A1 - First node, second node, third node and methods performed thereby for handling information regarding a session in a communications network

Info

Publication number: WO2021245684A1
Application number: PCT/IN2020/050491
Authority: WO
Inventors: Srinivasa Babu MEDANKI; ANN Soniya JOHNY
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2020-06-03
Filing date: 2020-06-03
Publication date: 2021-12-09

Abstract

A method, performed by a first node (111), for handling information regarding a session in a communications network (100). The first node (111) operates in the communications network (100). The first node (111) sends (204) an indication to a second node (112) operating in the communications network (100). The indication indicates information enabling reconstruction of a session between the first node (111) and the second node (112). The session is for provision of a service to a user equipment (130) operating in the communications network (100). The first node (111) has received a request for establishment of the session from the second node (112) prior to sending (204) the indication. The sending (202) of the indication is performed prior to an interruption of the session.

Description

FIRST NODE, SECOND NODE, THIRD NODE AND METHODS PERFORMED THEREBY FOR HANDLING INFORMATION REGARDING A SESSION IN A COMMUNICATIONS

NETWORK

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to a first node and methods performed thereby for handling information regarding a session in a communications network. The present disclosure also relates generally to a second node, and methods performed thereby for handling information regarding a session in a communications network. The present disclosure further relates generally to a third node and methods performed thereby for handling information regarding a session in a communications network.

BACKGROUND

Computer systems in a communications network may comprise one or more nodes, which may also be referred to simply as nodes. A node may comprise one or more processors which, together with computer program code may perform different functions and actions, a memory, a receiving port and a sending port. A node may be, for example, a server. Nodes may perform their functions entirely on the cloud.

Devices within a communications network may be user equipments (UEs), e.g., stations (ST As), wireless devices, mobile terminals, wireless terminals, terminals, and/or Mobile Stations (MS). Devices may be enabled to communicate wirelessly in a cellular communications network or wireless communication network, sometimes also referred to as a cellular radio system, cellular system, or cellular network. Devices may also, or alternatively, be enabled to communicate with the communications network via wired connection. The communication may be performed e.g., between two devices, between a device and a regular telephone, and/or between a device and a server via a Radio Access Network (RAN), and possibly one or more core networks, comprised within the communications network. Devices may further be referred to as mobile telephones, cellular telephones, laptops, tablets with wireless capability, sensors, printers, or cameras, just to mention some further examples. The devices in the present context may be, for example, portable, pocket-storable, hand-held, computer-comprised, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices, enabled to communicate voice and/or data, via the RAN, with another entity, such as another terminal or a server.

The communications network may comprise a telecommunications network. The telecommunications network may cover a geographical area which may be divided into cell areas, each cell area being served by a network node, e.g., a radio network node or Transmission Point (TP), for example, an access node such as a Base Station (BS), e.g., a Radio Base Station (RBS), which sometimes may be referred to as e.g., gNB, evolved Node B (“eNB”), “eNodeB”, “NodeB”, “B node”, or BTS (Base Transceiver Station), depending on the technology and terminology used. The base stations may be of different classes such as e.g., Wide Area Base Stations, Medium Range Base Stations, Local Area Base Stations and Home Base Stations, based on transmission power and thereby also cell size. A cell may be understood as the geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the base station at a base station site. One base station, situated on the base station site, may serve one or several cells. Further, each base station may support one or several communication technologies. In 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE), base stations, which may be referred to as eNodeBs or even eNBs, may be directly connected to one or more core networks. All data transmission in LTE is controlled by the radio base station.

The standardization organization 3GPP is currently in the process of specifying a New Radio Interface called NR or 5G-UTRA, as well as a Fifth Generation (5G) Packet Core Network, which may be referred to as 5G Core Network, abbreviated as 5GC.

Nodes in a communication network may provide services, e.g., voice or data services, to devices, and in the event that the devices are managed by a user, to the users of such devices. A service may be provided by establishing a session between a device and one or more nodes in the communications network providing the service. During such a session, data may be collected about the session, which may enable to handle subsequent requests by the device pertaining to the session that may be associated with the service until the service may be complete. Such data may be referred to as the context of the session or session context. During maintenance activities in the communications network involving restart of the one or more nodes providing the service in the communications network, the session data associated with a session that may have been ongoing at the time of the restart, may be lost. After this, the session will be torn down, and the processing of any subsequent attempt to resume the session will fail, as the nodes providing the service will no longer have the session related data. The current on-going data session will be interrupted and a new session may be understood to need to be established. The data service the user is requesting may be understood to not be available until the new session is established. The interruption of the data session may therefore be understood to impact highly critical data sessions, resulting in negative user experience.

In particular, in order for the service to be provided to the device, a session may have to go through Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) procedures. AAA procedures take time and involve usage of resources, e.g., energy and processing resources, in the communications network. One of the protocols that may be used to handle AAA procedures in a communications network may be Diameter. Another example may be NCHF, a converged charging service interface defined for 5G online charging. This may be extended to any two systems communicating on the same standard or sub-standards.

There may be situations where maintenance actions in a communications network may need to be performed every hour. For example, the license keys, immediate software patch updates to a system, or a restore of a machine, in e.g., Machine Type Communication (MTC), may be needed with a certain periodicity. These situations may be handled by planned reboots, and may result in loss of session context data, such as AAA data. This means that once the system may be up and running again, the AAA procedures may need to be performed again from anew, which will lead to a waste of resources in the communications network, such as energy resources and processing resources, and further, a degraded customer user experience.

SUMMARY In existing methods, session related information may be stored in distributed non relational databases (DBs). No session information may be cached internally in some nodes, but it may be done only in the DB. If a node in question reboots or crashes, there may be another node which may serve the subsequent update request, thereby ensuring no session information is lost. But this requires additional hardware. Embodiments herein may therefore be understood to address the above-mentioned problem. It is an object of embodiments herein to improve the handling of information regarding a session in a communications network.

According to a first aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method, performed by a first node. The method is for handling information regarding a session in a communications network. The first node operates in the communications network. The first node sends an indication to a second node operating in the communications network. The indication indicates information enabling reconstruction of a session between the first node and the second node. The session is for provision of a service to a device operating in the communications network. The first node has received a request for establishment of the session from the second node prior to the sending of the indication. The sending of the indication is performed prior to an interruption of the session.

According to a second aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method, performed by the second node. The method is for handling the information regarding the session in the communications network. The second node operates in the communications network. The second node receives the indication from the first node operating in the communications network. The indication indicates the information enabling the reconstruction of the session between the first node and the second node. The session is for provision of the service to the device operating in the communications network . The second node has sent the request for establishment of the session to the first node prior to the receiving of the indication. The receiving of the indication is performed prior to the interruption of the session.

According to a third aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method, performed by a third node. The method is for handling the information regarding the session in the communications network. The third node operates in the communications network. The third node sends a first indication to the first node operating in the communications network. The first indication indicates the probability that the session between the first node and the second node operating in the communications network is interrupted during the time period. The session is for the provision of the service to the device operating in the communications network. The second node has sent the request for establishment of the session to the first node. According to a fourth aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by the first node, for handling the information regarding the session in the communications network. The first node is configured to operate in the communications network. The first node is further configured to send the indication to the second node configured to operate in the communications network. The indication is configured to indicate the information configured to enable the reconstruction of the session between the first node and the second node. The session is configured to be for the provision of the service to the device configured to operate in the communications network. The first node is configured to have received the request for the establishment of the session from the second node prior to the sending of the indication. The sending of the indication is configured to be performed prior to the interruption of the session.

According to a fifth aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by the second node, for handling the information regarding the session in the communications network. The second node is configured to operate in the communications network. The second node is further configured to receive the indication from the first node configured to operate in the communications network. The indication is configured to indicate the information enabling the reconstruction of the session between the first node and the second node. The session is configured to be for the provision of the service to the device configured to operate in the communications network. The second node is configured to have sent the request for the establishment of the session to the first node prior to the receiving of the indication. The receiving of the indication is configured to be performed prior to the interruption of the session. According to a sixth aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by the third node, for handling the information regarding the session in the communications network. The third node is configured to operate in the communications network. The third node is further configured to send the first indication to the first node configured to operate in the communications network. The first indication is configured to indicate the probability that the session between the first node and the second node configured to operate in the communications network is interrupted during the time period. The session is configured to be for provision of the service to the device configured to operate in the communications network. The second node is configured to have sent the request for the establishment of the session to the first node.

By the first node sending the indication indicating the information enabling the reconstruction of the session between the first node and the second node to the second node, wherein the sending of the indication is performed prior to the interruption of the session, the first node is then enabled to receive the indication back, from the second node, after resumption of the session is enabled. By receiving the indication back from the second node, the first node may be understood to then be enabled to reconstruct the session and to be able to do it more efficiently. This may be understood to be because the first node may be enabled to reconstruct the session without requiring additional hardware, thereby reducing hardware cost. Yet a further advantage is that the first node may enable an improved user experience by ensuring uninterrupted data handling of sessions that may be considered critical, during node failures and maintenance windows.

By the third node sending the first indication to the first node indicating the probability that the session between the first node and the second node is interrupted, the first node may be enabled to time the sending of the indication to the second node so that the indication is sent prior to the interruption of the session. The third node may thereby enable the first node to reconstruct the session after the interruption and once the resumption of the session is enabled, and to be able to do it more efficiently. This may be understood to be because the first node may be enabled to reconstruct the session without requiring additional hardware, thereby reducing hardware cost. Yet a further advantage is that the third node may enable an improved user experience by ensuring uninterrupted data handling of sessions that may be considered critical, during node failures and maintenance windows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of embodiments herein are described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, according to the following description. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating two non-limiting examples of a communications network, according to embodiments herein. Figure 2 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in a first node, according to embodiments herein.

Figure 3 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in a second node, according to embodiments herein. Figure 4 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in a third node, according to embodiments herein.

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram depicting a non-limiting example of signalling between nodes in a communications network, according to embodiments herein.

Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating two non-limiting examples, a) and b), of a first node, according to embodiments herein.

Figure 7 is a schematic block diagram illustrating two non-limiting examples, a) and b), of a second node, according to embodiments herein.

Figure 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating two non-limiting examples, a) and b), of a third node, according to embodiments herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As a summarized overview of embodiments herein, session context data pertaining to an on-going session handled by a node in a communications network may be stored prior to restart of the system during system maintenance activities. In networking, a session context may be understood as a local memory area to a specific machine, where interactive information interchange between two or more communicating devices may be stored and referred. An established communication session may involve more than one message in each direction. An established session may be understood as a basic requirement to perform a connection-oriented communication. A session may be also understood as a basic step to transmit in connectionless communication modes. A session context may store information that may be needed for faster identification of request and processing of intermediate messages. A session may be typically stateful, meaning that at least one of the communicating parties may need to hold current state information and save information about the session history in order to be able to communicate. The stored session context data may be then obtained again after the restart, so that upon receiving an update request after the restart, the presence of this session context data may be verified and special handling logic may be invoked to re-construct the session context information for processing the subsequent requests. Thereby, system resources such as energy and processing resources, may be saved. Moreover, the first node may be enabled to reconstruct the session without requiring additional hardware, thereby reducing hardware cost. In summary, embodiments herein may be understood to relate to session handling and re-establishment. Particularly, embodiments herein may be understood to relate to an innovative way of failover handling using software and upstream network elements.

Further particular embodiments herein may relate to re-establishment of a Diameter session. Even further particular embodiments herein may relate to re-establishment of a Diameter session using an Attribute Value Pair (AVP), as will be described later.

The embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which examples are shown. In this section, embodiments herein are illustrated by exemplary embodiments. It should be noted that these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. All possible combinations are not described to simplify the description. Components from one embodiment or example may be tacitly assumed to be present in another embodiment or example and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other exemplary embodiments. Figure 1 depicts two non-limiting examples, in panels “a” and “b”, respectively, of a communications network 100, in which embodiments herein may be implemented. In some example implementations, such as that depicted in the non-limiting example of Figure 1a, the communications network 100 may be a computer network. In other example implementations, such as that depicted in the non-limiting example of Figure 1 b, the communications network 100 may be implemented in a telecommunications network, which may be a cellular radio system, cellular network or wireless communications system. In some examples, the telecommunications network may comprise network nodes which may serve receiving nodes, such as wireless devices, with serving beams.

In some examples, the telecommunications network may for example be a network such as 5G system, or a newer system supporting similar functionality. The telecommunications network may also support other technologies, such as a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network, e.g. LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), LTE Half-Duplex Frequency Division Duplex (HD-FDD), or LTE operating in an unlicensed band, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) TDD, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) network, GSM/Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE) Radio Access Network (GERAN) network, Ultra-Mobile Broadband (UMB), EDGE network, network comprising of any combination of Radio Access Technologies (RATs) such as e.g. Multi-Standard Radio (MSR) base stations, multi-RAT base stations etc., any 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular network, Wireless Local Area Network/s (WLAN) or WiFi network/s, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

(WiMax), IEEE 802.15.4-based low-power short-range networks such as IPv6 over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LowPAN), Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), or any cellular network or system. The telecommunications network may for example support a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN). LPWAN technologies may comprise Long Range physical layer protocol (LoRa), Haystack, SigFox, LTE-M, Internet of Things (loT), and Narrow- Band loT (NB-loT).

Although terminology from Long Term Evolution (LTE)/5G has been used in this disclosure to exemplify the embodiments herein, this should not be seen as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein to only the aforementioned system. Other wireless systems, supporting similar or equivalent functionality may also benefit from exploiting the ideas covered within this disclosure. In future telecommunication networks, e.g., in the sixth generation (6G), the terms used herein may need to be reinterpreted in view of possible terminology changes in future technologies.

The communications network 100 may comprise a plurality of nodes, whereof a first node 111, a second node 112, and a third node 113 are depicted in Figure 1. Any of the first node 111, the second node 112 and the third node 113 may be understood, respectively, as a first computer system, a second computer system and a third computer system. In some examples, any of the first node 111 , the second node 112 and the third node 113 may be implemented as a standalone server in e.g., a host computer in the cloud 115. Any of the first node 111 , the second node 112 and the third node 113 may in some examples be a distributed node or distributed server, with some of their respective functions being implemented locally, e.g., by a client manager, and some of its functions implemented in the cloud 115, by e.g., a server manager. Yet in other examples, any of the first node 111 , the second node 112 and the third node 113 may also be implemented as processing resources in a server farm.

In some embodiments, any of the first node 111 , the second node 112 and the third node 113 may be independent and separated nodes. In other embodiments, any of the first node 111 , the second node 112 and the third node 113 may be co-located, or be the same node. All the possible combinations are not depicted in Figure 1 to simplify the Figure.

Any of the first node 111 , the second node 112 and the third node 113 may be considered network nodes. Particularly, any of the first node 111 , the second node 112 and the third node 113 may be considered network nodes in a core network of the communications network 100.

In some examples of embodiments herein, the first node 111 may have a capability to determine units, such as time, volume, etc, in use in the communications network 100, and to determine their price. The first node 111 may alternatively, or in addition, have the capability, to handle subscriber account balance management, transaction control and advice of charge to external systems. For example, the first node 111 may, in some embodiments, manage an Online Charging System (OCS), or a may be a node capable of performing a similar function in the communications network 100.

In some examples of embodiments herein, the second node 112 may have a capability to generate charging events based on network resource consumption. For example, the second node 112 may, in some embodiments, manage a Charging Trigger Function (CTF), or a may be a node capable of performing a similar function in the communications network 100.

The communications network 100 may comprise one or more radio network nodes, whereof a radio network node 120 is depicted in Figure 1b. The radio network node 120 may typically be a base station or Transmission Point (TP), or any other network unit capable to serve a wireless device or a machine type node in the communications network 100. The radio network node 120 may be e.g., a 5G gNB, a 4G eNB, or a radio network node in an alternative 5G radio access technology, e.g., fixed or WiFi. The radio network node 120 may be e.g., a Wide Area Base Station, Medium Range Base Station, Local Area Base Station and Home Base Station, based on transmission power and thereby also coverage size. The radio network node 120 may be a stationary relay node or a mobile relay node. The radio network node 120 may support one or several communication technologies, and its name may depend on the technology and terminology used. The radio network node 120 may be directly connected to one or more networks and/or one or more core networks.

The communications network 100 covers a geographical area which may be divided into cell areas, wherein each cell area may be served by a radio network node, although, one radio network node may serve one or several cells. In the non-limiting example of Figure 1 b), the radio network node 120 serves a cell 130.

The communications network 100 comprises a device 140. The device 140 may be also known as a user equipment (UE), which may be, e.g., a wireless device, mobile terminal, wireless terminal and/or mobile station, mobile telephone, cellular telephone, laptop with wireless capability, or a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), just to mention some examples. The device 140 in the present context may be, for example, portable, pocket- storable, hand-held, computer-comprised, or a vehicle-mounted mobile device, enabled to communicate voice and/or data, via a RAN, with another entity, such as a server, a laptop, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or a tablet computer, sometimes referred to as a tablet with wireless capability, or simply tablet, a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) device, a device equipped with a wireless interface, such as a printer or a file storage device, modem, Laptop Embedded Equipped (LEE), Laptop Mounted Equipment (LME), USB dongles or any other radio network unit capable of communicating over a link, e.g., a radio link, in the communications network 100. The device 140 may be wired, or wireless, i.e., it may be enabled to communicate wirelessly in the communications network 100 and, in some particular examples, may be able support beamforming transmission. The communication may be performed e.g., between two devices, between a device and a radio network node, and/or between a device and a server. The communication may be performed e.g., via a RAN and possibly one or more core networks, comprised, respectively, within the communications network 100. In some particular embodiments, the device 140 may be an loT device, e.g., a NB loT device, such as a sensor or a camera.

The first node 111 may communicate with the second node 112 over a respective first link 151 , e.g., a radio link or a wired link. The first node 111 may communicate with the third node 113 over a second link 152, e.g., a radio link or a wired link. The second node 112 may communicate with the device 140 over a third link 153, e.g., a radio link or a wired link. The second node 112 may communicate with the radio network node 120 over a fourth link 154, e.g., a radio link or a wired link. The radio network node 120 may communicate with the device 140 over a fifth link 155, e.g., a radio link or a wired link. Any of the first link 151, the second link 152, the third link 153, the fourth link 154 or the fifth link 155 may be a direct link or comprise one or more links, e.g., via one or more other nodes, network nodes, radio network nodes or core network nodes. Any of the first link 151 , the second link 152, the third link 153, and the fourth link 154 may be a direct link or it may go via one or more computer systems or one or more core networks in the communications network 100, or it may go via an optional intermediate network. The intermediate network may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; the intermediate network, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet, which is not shown in Figure 1.

In general, the usage of “first”, “second”, “third”, “fourth” and/or “fifth” herein may be understood to be an arbitrary way to denote different elements or entities, and may be understood to not confer a cumulative or chronological character to the nouns they modify.

Embodiments of a method, performed by the first node 111 , will now be described with reference to the flowchart depicted in Figure 2. The method may be understood to be for handling information regarding a session in the communications network 100. The first node 111 operates in the communications network 100. In some embodiments, the first node 111 may manage an Online Charging System

(OCS). A particular non-limiting example of the method wherein the first node 111 may manage an OCS will be described later.

The method may comprise the actions described below. In some embodiments one or more of the actions may be performed. In some embodiments all the actions may be performed. In Figure 2, optional actions are indicated with a dashed box. One or more embodiments may be combined, where applicable. All possible combinations are not described to simplify the description. It should be noted that the examples herein are not mutually exclusive. Components from one example may be tacitly assumed to be present in another example and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other examples.

Action 201

In the course of operations within the communications network 100, the first node 111 and the second node 112 may hold a session to provide a service to the device 140 operating in the communications network 100. The service may be, for example, a data service. The session may be, for example, a data session or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) session, e.g., streaming or downloading content. This may be extended to other services and sessions.

During the course of such a session, maintenance procedures may need to be performed in the communications network 100 which may involve, for example, restarting equipment, such as the first node 111 , the second node 112, or another node in the communications network 100 that may be involved in the session. The performance of these procedures may be planned, e.g., it may occur with a certain periodicity, or may be automated and take place when a number of criteria, e.g., some systems performance measurement criteria or some flag in the code may be met. There may be situations when the first node 111 or another node involved in the session may go into overload on various conditions such as high Central Processing Unit (CPU) utilization (>80%), high subscriber database update rates, session context storage getting exhausted, file space unavailable, link congestion etc. During an overload situation, the first node 111 or the other relevant node involved in the session may drop the session, which may in turn result in the interruption of the service, e.g., a call.

The occurrence of the maintenance procedures and/or any interruption that may be created by them, may be, according to the foregoing, subject to a predictability analysis by e.g., machine-learning procedures, conducted by the third node 113, which may be considered as a learning module in the communications network 100. System measurement and application measurement data generated may be used as an input to the third node 113. The third node 113 may use a rule evaluation algorithm that may rely on certain node performance and traffic related input parameters to predict the probability that a relevant node in the session, e.g., the first node 111 , may go down. The higher the density of the connection, the higher may be the chance that the system may go down.

In this Action 201 , the first node 111 may obtain a first indication from the third node 113 operating in the communications network 100. The first indication may indicate a probability of occurrence of an interruption of the session between the first node 111 and the second node 112 for provision of the service to the device 140 operating in the communications network 100.

The obtaining in this Action 201 may be implemented be receiving, e.g., via the second link 152. In examples wherein the first node 111 and the third node 113 may be co-located, the obtaining in this Action 201 may comprise retrieving from a memory. In other embodiments wherein the first node 111 may be the third node 113, the obtaining in this Action 201 of the first indication may comprise determining, using machine learning, a mathematical model to predict the probability that the session is interrupted during a time period.

The first indication may be, for example, in the form of a memory allocation, page space, System health etc.

Input parameters to the learning agent, whether it may be the first node 111 or the third node 113, may be, e.g., current call rate, CPU utilization, session context storage, file system availability, and/or link congestion.

In particular embodiments, the session may be a diameter session. In some embodiments, the first node 111 may manage an Online Charging System

(OCS), and the second node 112 may manage a Charging Trigger Function (CTF).

By obtaining the first indication, the first node 111 may be enabled to predict the occurrence of the interruption of the session between the first node 111 and the second node 112 and thereby be enabled to perform some of the following Actions before this happens, as described below. This may then in turn enable the first node 111 to reconstruct the session, without requiring to re-establish it from scratch, thereby avoiding to waste resources in the communications network 100, as will be further explained later. Moreover, the first node may be enabled to reconstruct the session without requiring additional hardware, thereby reducing hardware cost.

Action 202

In embodiments herein, the first node 111 has received a request for establishment of the session from the second node 112.

In this Action 202, the first node 111 may generate a second indication, which may be referred to herein simply as a/the“indication” after receiving the request for the session. The second indication indicates information enabling reconstruction of the session between the first node 111 and the second node 112 for provision of the service to the device 140 operating in the communications network 100. The information may comprise session context data.

As explained earlier, a session context may store information that may be needed for faster identification of request and processing of intermediate messages. A session may be typically stateful, meaning that at least one of the communicating parties may need to hold current state information and save information about the session history in order to be able to communicate. Such information may be understood as session context data. The session context data may comprise a unique session key maintained by a computer node such as the first node 111 , to identify a request. The parameters that may be used in a session context may be any of the request parameters from an incoming request and also any customizable parameters that may be derived from the standard request. Session context data may comprise, for example critical call related information, such as service duration, and reserved service units. Other examples of such session context data, e.g., for examples wherein the first node 111 may be a charging node, may be, call related data which may be associated with the charging of a data session held by the OCS, such as service units charged, charging rule details for the service, current charging information etc.

Generating in this Action 202 may be understood as e.g., determining or calculating.

The indication may be based on a template to reduce the load on the communications network 100, and to process the information quickly during the session reestablishment that may be performed later.

The second indication may be, e.g., an Attribute Value Pair (AVP). This may be for example the case in embodiments wherein the session may be a diameter session.

The generating in this Action 202 of the indication may be understood to be performed prior to an interruption of the session. By generating the indication in this Action 202, the first node 111 may be enabled to provide this indication to the second node 112 before an interruption of the session takes place due to one of the nodes in the communications network 100 involved in the session shutting down, and later, once the node may have restarted, the first node 111 may be able to receive this information again, and use it to reconstruct the session, as will be described later.

Action 203

In this Action 203, the first node 111 may store the generated indication, in e.g., a memory of the first node 111.

By storing, or saving, the indication, the first node 111 may be understood to be enabled to send it to the second node 112 in the next Action, and then be enabled to later receive it back, when needed , e.g., following a resumption of the session after an interruption.

Action 204

In this Action 204, the first node 111 sends the indication to the second node 112 operating in the communications network 100. The indication indicates the information enabling the reconstruction of the session between the first node 111 and the second node 112 for the provision of the service to the device 140 operating in the communications network 100. The first node 111 has received the request for establishment of the session from the second node 112 prior to the sending in this Action 204 of the indication. The sending in this Action 204 of the indication is performed prior to the interruption of the session. In this Action 204, the sending may be implemented, e.g., via the first link 151.

The information that may be needed for re-establishment of the session creation may be sent along with a response message prior to reboot based on some trigger criteria.

In embodiments wherein Action 202 may have been performed, the sent indication may be the generated indication. In embodiments wherein Action 203 may have been performed, the sent indication may be the stored indication.

In embodiments wherein Action 201 may have been performed, the sending 204 of the second indication may be based on the received first indication. That is, that the sending in this Action 204 of the indication is performed prior to the interruption of the session, may be based on the probability of occurrence of the interruption of the session that may have been indicated by the third node 113. In other words, based on the knowledge of the probability of occurrence of the interruption of the session, the first node 111 may ensure it sends the indication prior the occurrence of the interruption.

In some embodiments, the sending in this Action 204 of the indication to the second node 112 may be in a Credit Control Request (CCR).

By sending the indication to the second node 112 before the interruption of the session may take place, the first node 111 may be understood to be enabled to later receive it back, once the first node 111 , or another node involved in the session which may have shutdown, may have restarted again. This may be understood to enable the first node 111 to use the information comprised in the indication to reconstruct the session, refraining from re establishing it from scratch. Moreover, the first node may be enabled to reconstruct the session without requiring additional hardware, thereby reducing hardware cost. Yet a further advantage of this Action 204 is that it may enable an improved user experience by the first node 111 ensuring uninterrupted data handling of sessions that may be considered critical, during node failures and maintenance windows.

Action 205

At some point in time, the interruption of the session may occur, for example because of a restart of the first node 111 due to a maintenance operation in the communications network 100. Once the restart of the first node 111 , or of another node involved in the session whose operation may have been interrupted, may be completed, the first node 111 may receive, in this Action 205, after resumption of the session may be enabled, the sent indication from the second node 112.

The receiving in this Action 205 may be implemented, e.g., via the first link 151 .

In some embodiments, the receiving in this Action 205 of the indication from the second node 112 may be in a request for an update to the CCR.

By receiving the indication from the second node 112, the first node 111 may be provided with the data that may be required to process the update request for the session whose session context data may have been saved in the first node 111 in Action 203, and may have been lost during the restart of the first node 111 or the other node that may have been involved in the session and may have shutdown. By receiving the sent indication, that is the indication sent in Action 204, back from the second node 112 after resumption of the session, the first node 111 may be understood to be enabled to reconstruct the session in the next Action 206 after the occurrence of the interruption, without requiring to start it from scratch. Moreover, the first node 111 may be enabled to reconstruct the session without requiring additional hardware, thereby reducing hardware cost. Yet a further advantage of this Action 205 is that it may enable an improved user experience by the first node 111 ensuring uninterrupted data handling of sessions that may be considered critical, during node failures and maintenance windows. Action 206

In this Action 206, the first node 111 may reconstruct the session based on the indication, that is, the second indication, received from the second node 112. To reconstruct the session may be understood as to recreate the session related information that may be needed by the first node 111 to process a subsequent session update request. For example, to reconstruct the session may comprise to invoke special handling logic, to construct the session context information that may be needed to handle update requests from the second node 112. The first node 111 may use data comprised in the indication to reconstruct the minimal required session context data so that an update request may be processed.

According to embodiments herein, the first node 111 may be enabled to process a subsequent update request for the session that may have been ongoing at the time of the interruption, after the restart of the first node 111 or the other node that may have been involved in the session and may have shutdown.

By the first node 111 reconstructing the session based on the indication received from the second node 112, the first node 111 may be enabled to refrain from having to re-establish the session with the second node 112 from scratch, and instead re-use the information saved prior to the interruption. Moreover, the first node 111 may be enabled to reconstruct the session without requiring additional hardware, thereby reducing hardware cost. Yet a further advantage of this Action 206 is that it may enable an improved user experience by the first node 111 ensuring uninterrupted data handling of sessions that may be considered critical, during node failures and maintenance windows.

Embodiments of a method performed by the second node 112 will now be described with reference to the flowchart depicted in Figure 3. The method may be understood to be handling information regarding the session in the communications network 100. The second node 112 operates in the communications network 100. The method may comprise the following actions. Several embodiments are comprised herein. In some embodiments, one action may be performed, in other embodiments, all actions may be performed. One or more embodiments may be combined, where applicable.

All possible combinations are not described to simplify the description. It should be noted that the examples herein are not mutually exclusive. Components from one example may be tacitly assumed to be present in another example and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other examples. In Figure 3, an optional action is represented in a box with dashed lines.

The detailed description of some of the following corresponds to the same references provided above, in relation to the actions described for the first node 111 , and will thus not be repeated here to simplify the description. For example, in particular embodiments, the session may be a diameter session.

Action 301

In this Action 301 , the second node 112 receives, the indication from the first node 111 operating in the communications network 100. As stated earlier, the indication may be a second indication, that is the indication may be referred to as the second indication.

The indication indicates the information enabling the reconstruction of the session between the first node 111 and the second node 112. The session is for provision of the service to the device 140 operating in the communications network 100. The second node 112 has sent the request for establishment of the session to the first node 111 prior to the receiving in this Action 301 of the indication. The receiving in this Action 301 of the indication is performed prior to the interruption of the session.

The information may comprise session context data.

The receiving in this Action 301 may be implemented for example, via the first link 151. The second indication may be an AVP. This may be particularly the case in embodiments wherein the session may be a diameter session. In some embodiments, the first node 111 may manage an OCS, and the second node 112 may manage a CTF.

In some particular embodiments, the receiving in this Action 301 of the indication from the first node 111 may be in a CCR.

Action 302

In this Action 302, the second node 112 may send, after resumption of the session may be enabled, the received indication to the first node 111. The session may then be reconstructed based on the indication sent to the first node 111. The sending in this Action 302 may be implemented, e.g., via the first link 151 .

In some particular embodiments, the sending in this Action 302 of the indication to the first node 111 may be in a request for an update to the CCR.

Embodiments of a method performed by the third node 113, will now be described with reference to the flowchart depicted in Figure 4. The method may be understood to be for handling information regarding the session in the communications network 100. The third node 113 operates in the communications network 100.

The method may comprise the following actions. Several embodiments are comprised herein. In some embodiments, one action may be performed, in other embodiments, all actions may be performed. One or more embodiments may be combined, where applicable. All possible combinations are not described to simplify the description. It should be noted that the examples herein are not mutually exclusive. Components from one example may be tacitly assumed to be present in another example and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other examples. In Figure 4, an optional action is represented in a box with dashed lines.

The detailed description of some of the following corresponds to the same references provided above, in relation to the actions described for the first node 111 , and will thus not be repeated here to simplify the description. For example, the session may be a diameter session.

Action 401

In this Action 401 , the third node 113 may determine, using machine learning, the mathematical model to predict the probability that the session may be interrupted during the time period. Determining in this Action 401 may comprise calculating or deriving. The third node 113 may determine the mathematical model by using, for example a regression model.

Action 402 In this Action 402, the third node 113 sends the first indication to the first node 111 operating in the communications network 100. The first indication indicates the probability that the session between the first node 111 and the second node 112 operating in the communications network 100 is interrupted during the time period. The session is for provision of the service to the device 140 operating in the communications network 100. The second node 112 has sent the request for establishment of the session to the first node 111.

The sending in this Action 402, may be performed, for example, via the second link 152.

The sent first indication may be based on the determined machine learning model in Action 401.

In some embodiments, the first node 111 may manage an OCS.

Non-limiting illustrative example of embodiments herein

The methods just described as being implemented by the first node 111 , the second node 112 and the third node 113 will now be described in further detail with a non-limiting illustrative example in a charging system comprising an OCS and a CTF. As part of the development of the illustrative example, a specific problem with existing methods in such a charging system involving a CTF and a OCS will first be identified and discussed.

During diameter session establishment or continuation, a CTF may request an OCS to rate and grant units applicable for that session. When a diameter session is established, the OCS may create session context data for this session and associate a unique session identifier (ID) for this session. The OCS may store the session context data for this session.

When a subsequent update request may be received for this session, the session context data may be fetched using this unique session ID and may be then used to process the update request. The processing of the update request may involve rating and granting additional units based on the usage and subscriber balance. All information that may be needed for rating the session may be understood to be present in the session context data.

There may be situations when the charging system may be on planned reboot due to some issues. This may be understood to not be known to the network gateways who may be handling the calls which may be in middle of processing, that is, whose session may be in progress. A situation may, for example, considered, where a call may be in the middle of processing and one of the OCS or the CTF may be restarted. On restarting the node, all the session context data stored in the OCS will be lost. This may be understood to mean that when a subsequent update/terminate request comes, the OCS will not be able to process the request as it may be no longer be holding the session context data that may be needed to process this request. This leads to the tearing down of the session, requiring to start the session from scratch, increasing the latency, processing resources needed and energy resources, providing in turn a bad user experience.

One of the additional negative consequences of such an interruption and loss of the context data may be understood to be that users of the communications network may not be able to keep track of their respective usage of the services, and may therefore be unable to adequately manage usage of the communications network.

An OCS may be understood to allow a telecommunication service provider to charge its customers in real time, based on service usage. The functions within the OCS may include both event and session-based charging for various services, such as voice, data etc. The OCS may receive traffic from a wide variety of core network elements for real time charging based on service. During session establishment or continuation, a CTF may request the OCS to rate and grant units applicable for that session. The units may be time, or duration, monetary or data. The units may be granted during each request in a session. The CTF may need to report back the usage and get additional units from the OCS to continue the session by sending a new request.

The charging system may maintain the session context data to handle the subsequent requests pertaining to the call that may be associated with the service, until the call may be complete. During maintenance activities involving restart of the OCS, such as those described earlier, the session data associated with the ongoing session may be lost. The processing of the subsequent update request from CTF will fail, as the charging system may no longer have the session related data associated with the diameter session, and this will tear down the session. This may result in wasted network resources, such as time, energy, and processing resources, negative user experience, charging issues, and user complaints.

A situation may be considered where license keys or an immediate software patch update to the system or a restore of a machine may be needed every hour. These situations may be handled by existing OCSs by planned reboots, with data loss or opportunity loss. This creates an inability to manage the usage of resources in the network, from the perspective of an operator of the network, as well as degraded customer user experience due at least in part to the inability to properly manage the usage of the resources of any device used to access the network. Embodiments herein may be used to handle the failover of systems without disturbing the subscriber experiences and allowing the resources of the network to be used more efficiently.

In the non-limiting illustrative example used herein, the communications network 100, comprises a charging system, wherein the first node 111 may be an OCS, the second node may be a CTF, and the third node 113 may be a learning module. Any reference in the text below to a/the OCS may be understood to equally refer to the first node 111. Any reference in the text below to a/the CTF may be understood to equally refer to the second node 112. Any reference in the text below to a/the learning module may be understood to equally refer to the third node 113. The third node 113 may be independent from the first node 111 , as depicted in the non-limiting example of Figure 1 , or co-located with the first node 111. In the illustrative example, the session may be a diameter session.

As part of embodiments herein, the OCS may be able to process the subsequent update request for on-going diameter sessions, after the restart of the OCS node. To achieve this, the OCS may need to be provided, in accordance with Action 205, with the data that may be required to process the update request for the ongoing diameter session whose session context data may have been saved in the OCS, in agreement with Action 203, and which may have been lost during the restart of the OCS node.

One way to achieve this, may to store, in agreement with Action 203, the critical call related information in the second indication, e.g., an AVP, and send, in agreement with Action 204, this information in the response message to the CTF during the system maintenance times. The CTF may then send, in agreement with Action 302, this second indication, e.g., AVP, back to the OCS in the next update request. Upon receiving the request, in agreement with Action 205, the OCS may verify if the second indication is present in the request and it may invoke the special handling logic, to construct the session context information that may be needed to handle the update requests.

The OCS may, in Action 206, use data stored in the AVP to reconstruct the minimal required session context data, so that this update request may be processed and subsequent rating and granting of additional units may be performed. Embodiments herein may also be applicable to a Charging function in 5G (CHF), and this may be understood to be relevant for critical sessions that may promise high reliability. The information that may be needed for re establishment of the session creation may be sent in a new AVP, packed along with the response messages prior to reboot, based on some trigger criteria. This may be a planned reboot or may be automated, based on some systems performance measurement criteria or through some flag in the code. The information to pass in the second indication, e.g., the AVP may be controlled by the implementer. New AVP data may, for example, be based on template in order to reduce the load on the communications network 100, and to process the information quickly during the session reestablishment.

The (second) indication

For session-based charging requests, the OCS may store, according to Action 203, the respective information reserved or charged from subscriber balances. When a conversational request may be received by the OCS, the OCS may reserve and/or rate the subscriber. For a subsequent request handling, the OCS may read the information stored from the session, and check the reserved units against the consumed units, and re-rate the call accordingly. This information may be understood to be lost if the OCS reboots. The first node 111 , according to embodiments herein, may pack, in accordance with Action 202, the important information that may be needed for restructuring the rating session when a subsequent request may arrive after reboot.

The information that may be needed for restricting the session in most cases with respect to the OCS may, for example, be units that may have been charged so far, elapsed time of a charging call, identifiers of the charged rows, etc... The charged rows may be of any measurement units such as monetary, data wise, and/or time. For example, 10 dollars, daily pool data, 30 minutes of duration.

A Local-Session-Recreate AVP may be newly defined, according to embodiments herein, to serve the purpose of indication, that is, of second indication. Below is an example of the structure of the AVP which may be generated according to Action 202 per the grouped- avp-def of RFC 3588 [DIAMBASE] The AVP may be amended in an implementation-specific manner, as may be understood by one of skill in the art:

Local-Session-Recreate ::= < AVP Header: <NUM>>

[ RECENT QUOTA CHARGED]

[ RECENT QUOTA DUARATION] [ RECENT CHARGE RULE DETAILS]

[ CURRENT CHARGEJNFO]

[ CURRENT RESERVEJNFO]

^*[ AVP ]

Note: <NUM> is AVP code which may be integer data type. Ex: 4567 RECENT_QUOTA_CHARGED - > may comprise accumulated quota consumption. The unit of quota may be monetary, time duration and/or data metric

RECENT QUOTA DURATION -> may comprise an elapsed duration of call RECENT_CHARGE_RULE_DETAILS-> may comprise the recent charge rules information for re-rating and for call detail record purpose.

CURRENT_CHARGE_INFO -> may comprise current charge rule information CURRENT_RESERVE_INFO -> may comprise current reserved amount either money or time or service units. A particular non-limiting example of a of a new AVP according to embodiments herein may be as follows:

[ 2.5 GB ]

[ 4 hours 30 minutes]

[RULE_VIDEO_SURF] [1 GB / 30 MINS]

[1 GB ]

As a summarized overview of the illustrative example, thanks to the embodiments herein, an OCS may be able to process any subsequent update requests coming from a CTF for an on-going diameter session handled by the OCS after a scheduled restart of the OCS.

The session context data pertaining to the on-going session that may be handled by the OCS may be understood to be lost on restart. To avoid call failures due to session context data not available in the OCS, critical call information may, according to embodiments herein, be stored in an AVP, and this information may be sent in the response to the CTF prior to the restart of the OCS, during system maintenance activities. Upon receiving the update request from the CTF, the presence of this AVP may be verified and the special handling logic to construct the session context information for processing the subsequent requests may be invoked.

The information to pass in AVP may be controlled by the implementer. New AVP data may be based on a template to reduce the load on the communications network 100 and to process the information quickly during the session reestablishment

Embodiments herein may be extended also to a Charging function in 5G (CHF). In 5G, the Session Management Function (SMF) and the Charging Function (CHF) may communicate via a Nchf interface. The Nchf converged charging service may comprise Create, Update, Release and Notify requests which may comprise multiple information elements exchanged to handle different parameters related to charging. These requests and informational elements may be correlated to the CCR- Initial/Update/Terminate requests in Diameter based Charging. Similarly, the information elements may be correlated to AVPs in Diameter based Charging. Embodiments herein may be extended to 5G, by adapting to 5G Nchf requests and information elements.

As mentioned earlier, embodiments herein may be triggered by maintenance activities such as planned reboot of the charging system, e.g., the OCS, or for example by an on- demand reboot of the charging system based on trigger criteria. Embodiments herein may involve a learning module such as the third node 113, to identify, according to Action 401 , the possibility of the charging system going down, and based on the output of the logic, to save the session details that may be needed to restore the session in the AVP. Figure 5 is a signalling diagram depicting a non-limiting example of embodiments herein. In this non-limiting example, the first node 111 is an OCS, and the second node 112 is a CTF. In the flow diagram of Figure 5, in a first group of actions, captioned “CCR-Update 1 ”, an end user of the device 140 sends, from the device 140, an update request, in Step 1.0, to the CFT. During session establishment or continuation, the CTF may request the OCS to rate and grant units applicable for that session. According to existing methods, the units may be granted with a validity time. This means that, the CTF may need to report back and request additional units for the session to continue. Accordingly, in Step 1.1 , the CTF forwards the CCR-Update 1 to the OCS, which the CTF may have received from the device 140. The OCS, fetches the session context data, and invokes a rating engine to rate the current leg of the call. The OCS may normally have the session context data to process the next request. According to embodiments herein, while granting units in the success response, the call context data associated with the call processing which may be required to re-establish the session context, may be embedded in either optional or any compatible AVP. The OCS may then, according to Action 202, generate the second indication by updating an AVP with the fetched information and may send it back, according to Action 204, in the response to CTF in Step 1.3. The CTF may then be enabled to send back this information in the next update request, so that in case of charging system maintenance activities such as reboot or shutdown of the OCS, where the session context data stored in the cache may be understood to be lost, the OCS may then be enabled to re-establish the session data and the subsequent update request may be processed without call interruption. In Step 1.4, the CTF continues the session for the end user. Later, in a second group of actions, captioned “Charging System reboot”, a planned restart of the OCS may take place, before the next CCR-Update request is received. All session context data is lost.

Subsequently, in a third group of actions, captioned “CCR-Update 2”, the end user sends, from the device 140, a new usage request to the CTF in Step 1.5. In Step 1.6, the CTF forwards the CCR-Update 2 to the OCS, along with the second indication, in accordance with Action 302. The second indication is, in this example, the AVP, which is received by the OCS in accordance with Action 205. In Step 1.7, in accordance with Action 206, the OCS recreates the context session using the received second indication. While an OCS according to existing methods could try to fetch the session context data, it would fail as per the existing architecture. According to embodiments herein of Action 206, the OCS may invoke special handling logic to recreate the session data successfully by the special processing of the AVP and such requests according to embodiments herein. This may be understood to provide flexibility for the call to be handled by the same OCS which originally processed the previous update, or the by a different OCS. In Step 1.8, the CFT may receive the granted units and an updated version of the second indication, as an updated AVP. In Step 1.9, the CTF may continue the session for the end user.

Embodiments herein may be implemented as a tuneable feature, to reduce the overload on the communications network 100, and may be used for critical diameter sessions that may need to not be interrupted.

One advantage of embodiments herein is that they may ensure un-interrupted data call handling for sessions that may be considered critical, during node failures and maintenance windows. A further advantage of embodiments herein is that, according to embodiments herein, a new concept of Any Node Handling (ANH) may be brought forth to handle session update requests with a new AVP without storing the session information as it may be done in standard fail over handling procedures. As a consequence, embodiments herein, may be understood to reduce the hardware cost. Moreover, as an additional advantage, embodiments herein may be understood to provide an alternate way for fail-over handling without requiring additional hardware. Another advantage of embodiments herein is that they may enable efficient handling of session re-establishment. This may be understood to be because in embodiments herein, the overhead associated with storing and fetching the session related data from a distributed non-relational DB associated with standard failover systems may be avoided. Yet a further advantage of embodiments herein is that they may enable an excellent user experience. Figure 6 depicts two different examples in panels a) and b), respectively, of the arrangement that the first node 111 may comprise to perform the method actions described above in relation to Figure 2 and/or Figure 5. In some embodiments, the first node 111 may comprise the following arrangement depicted in Figure 6a. The first node 111 may be understood to be for handling information regarding the session in the communications network 100. The first node 111 is configured to operate in the communications network 100.

Several embodiments are comprised herein. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present in another embodiment and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other exemplary embodiments. In Figure 6, optional boxes are indicated by dashed lines. The detailed description of some of the following corresponds to the same references provided above, in relation to the actions described for the first node 111 , and will thus not be repeated here. For example, the session may be configured to be a diameter session. The first node 111 is configured to, e.g. by means of a sending unit 601 within the first node 111 configured to, send the indication, that is, the second indication, to the second node 112 configured to operate in the communications network 100. The indication is configured to indicate the information configured to enable the reconstruction of the session between the first node 111 and the second node 112. The session is configured to be for provision of the service to the device 140 configured to operate in the communications network 100. The first node 111 is configured to have received the request for establishment of the session from the second node 112 prior to the sending of the indication. The sending of the indication is configured to be performed prior to the interruption of the session.

In some embodiments, the information may be configured to comprise the session context data.

The first node 111 may be also configured to, e.g. by means of a receiving unit 602 within the first node 111 configured to, receive, after resumption of the session is configured to be enabled, the indication, that is, the second indication, configured to be sent from the second node 112. In some embodiments, the first node 111 may be configured to, e.g. by means of a reconstructing unit 603 within the first node 111 configured to, reconstruct the session based on the indication, that is, the second indication, configured to be received from the second node 112.

In some embodiments, at least one of the following may apply: a) the sending of the indication to the second node 112 may be configured to be in a CCR, and b) the receiving of the indication from the second node 112 may be configured to be in a request for an update to the CCR.

In some embodiments, the first node 111 may be configured to, e.g. by means of a generating unit 604 within the first node 111 configured to, generate the indication, that is, the second indication, after receiving the request for the session. In such embodiments, the indication configured to be sent may be configured to be the indication configured to be generated.

In some embodiments, the first node 111 may be configured to, e.g. by means of a storing unit 605 within the first node 111 configured to, store the indication configured to be generated. In such embodiments, the indication configured to be sent may be configured to be the stored indication.

In some embodiments wherein the indication may be configured to be the second indication, the first node 111 may be configured to, e.g. by means of an obtaining unit 606 within the first node 111 configured to, obtain the first indication from the third node 113 configured to operate in the communications network 100. In such embodiments, the first indication may be configured to indicate the probability of occurrence of the interruption of the session. The sending of the second indication may be configured to be based on the first indication configured to be received.

In some embodiments, the first node 111 may be configured to be the third node 113 and the obtaining of the first indication may be configured to comprise determining, using machine learning, the mathematical model to predict the probability that the session is interrupted during the time period.

In such embodiments, wherein the indication may be configured to be the second indication, the second indication may be configured to be an AVP. In some embodiments, the first node 111 may be configured to manage an OCS, and the second node 112 may be configured to manage a CTF.

The embodiments herein may be implemented through one or more processors, such as a processor 607 in the first node 111 depicted in Figure 6, together with computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the in the first node 111. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the first node 111 . The first node 111 may further comprise a memory 608 comprising one or more memory units. The memory 608 is arranged to be used to store obtained information, store data, configurations, schedulings, and applications etc. to perform the methods herein when being executed in the first node 111. In some embodiments, the first node 111 may receive information from, e.g., the second node 112, the third node 113 and/or the device 140, through a receiving port 609. In some examples, the receiving port 609 may be, for example, connected to one or more antennas in the first node 111. In other embodiments, the first node 111 may receive information from another structure in the communications network 100 through the receiving port 609. Since the receiving port 609 may be in communication with the processor 607, the receiving port 609 may then send the received information to the processor 607. The receiving port 609 may also be configured to receive other information.

The processor 607 in the first node 111 may be further configured to transmit or send information to e.g., the second node 112, the third node 113, the device 140 and/or another structure in the communications network 100, through a sending port 610, which may be in communication with the processor 607, and the memory 608.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that any of the units 601-606 described above may refer to a combination of analog and digital circuits, and/or one or more processors configured with software and/or firmware, e.g., stored in memory, that, when executed by the one or more processors such as the processor 607, perform as described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC). Any of the units 601-607 described above may be the processor 607 of the first node 111 , or an application running on such processor.

Thus, the methods according to the embodiments described herein for the first node 111 may be respectively implemented by means of a computer program 611 product, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor 607, cause the at least one processor 607 to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the first node 111. The computer program 611 product may be stored on a computer- readable storage medium 612. The computer-readable storage medium 612, having stored thereon the computer program 611 , may comprise instructions which, when executed on at least one processor 607, cause the at least one processor 607 to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the first node 111. In some embodiments, the computer- readable storage medium 612 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as a CD ROM disc, a memory stick, or stored in the cloud space. In other embodiments, the computer program 611 product may be stored on a carrier containing the computer program, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or the computer-readable storage medium 612, as described above. The first node 111 may comprise an interface unit to facilitate communications between the first node 111 and other nodes or devices, e.g., the second node 112, the third node 113, the device 140, and/or another structure in the communications network 100. In some particular examples, the interface may, for example, include a transceiver configured to transmit and receive radio signals over an air interface in accordance with a suitable standard. In other embodiments, the first node 111 may comprise the following arrangement depicted in Figure 6b. The first node 111 may comprise a processing circuitry 607, e.g., one or more processors such as the processor 607, in the first node 111 and the memory 608. The first node 111 may also comprise a radio circuitry 613, which may comprise e.g., the receiving port 609 and the sending port 610. The processing circuitry 607 may be configured to, or operable to, perform the method actions according to Figure 2 and/or Figure 5, in a similar manner as that described in relation to Figure 6a. The radio circuitry 613 may be configured to set up and maintain at least a wireless connection with the second node 112, the third node 113, the device 140 and/or another structure in the communications network 100.

Hence, embodiments herein also relate to the first node 111 operative to handle information regarding the session in the communications network 100, the first node 111 being operative to operate in the communications network 100. The first node 111 may comprise the processing circuitry 607 and the memory 608, said memory 608 containing instructions executable by said processing circuitry 607, whereby the first node 111 is further operative to perform the actions described herein in relation to the first node 111 , e.g., in Figure 2 and/or Figure 5.

Figure 7 depicts two different examples in panels a) and b), respectively, of the arrangement that the second node 112 may comprise to perform the method actions described above in relation to Figure 3 and/or Figure 5. In some embodiments, the second node 112 may comprise the following arrangement depicted in Figure 7a. The second node 112 may be understood to be for handling information regarding the session in the communications network 100. The second node 112 is configured to operate in the communications network 100.

Several embodiments are comprised herein. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present in another embodiment and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other exemplary embodiments. In Figure 7, optional boxes are indicated by dashed lines. The detailed description of some of the following corresponds to the same references provided above, in relation to the actions described for the first node 111 , and will thus not be repeated here. For example, the session may be configured to be a diameter session. The second node 112 is configured to, e.g. by means of a receiving unit 701 within the second node 112 configured to, receive the indication from the first node 111 configured to operate in the communications network 100. The indication is configured to indicate the information enabling reconstruction of the session between the first node 111 and the second node 112. The session is configured to be for provision of the service to the device 140 configured to operate in the communications network 100. The second node 112 is configured to have sent the request for establishment of the session to the first node 111 prior to the receiving of the indication. The receiving of the indication is configured to be performed prior to the interruption of the session.

The second node 112 is also configured to, e.g. by means of a sending unit 702 within the second node 112 configured to, send, after resumption of the session may be enabled, the indication configured to be received to the first node 111. The session may be configured to be reconstructed based on the indication configured to be sent to the first node 111. In some embodiments, at least one of the following may apply: a) the receiving of the indication from the first node 111 may be configured to be in a CCR, and b) the sending of the indication to the first node 111 may be configured to be in a request for an update to the CCR.

The embodiments herein may be implemented through one or more processors, such as a processor 703 in the second node 112 depicted in Figure 7, together with computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the in the second node 112. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the second node 112. The second node 112 may further comprise a memory 704 comprising one or more memory units. The memory 704 is arranged to be used to store obtained information, store data, configurations, schedulings, and applications etc. to perform the methods herein when being executed in the second node 112. In some embodiments, the second node 112 may receive information from, e.g., the first node 111 , the third node 113 and/or the device 140, through a receiving port 705. In some examples, the receiving port 705 may be, for example, connected to one or more antennas in the second node 112. In other embodiments, the second node 112 may receive information from another structure in the communications network 100 through the receiving port 705. Since the receiving port 705 may be in communication with the processor 703, the receiving port 705 may then send the received information to the processor 703. The receiving port 705 may also be configured to receive other information.

The processor 703 in the second node 112 may be further configured to transmit or send information to e.g., the first node 111 , the third node 113, the device 140, and/or another structure in the communications network 100, through a sending port 706, which may be in communication with the processor 703, and the memory 704.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that any of the units 701- 702 described above may refer to a combination of analog and digital circuits, and/or one or more processors configured with software and/or firmware, e.g., stored in memory, that, when executed by the one or more processors such as the processor 703, perform as described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC). Any of the units 701 - 702 described above may be the processor 703 of the second node 112, or an application running on such processor.

Thus, the methods according to the embodiments described herein for the second node 112 may be respectively implemented by means of a computer program 707 product, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor 703, cause the at least one processor 703 to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the second node 112. The computer program 707 product may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 708. The computer-readable storage medium 708, having stored thereon the computer program 707, may comprise instructions which, when executed on at least one processor 703, cause the at least one processor 703 to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the second node 112. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium 708 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as a CD ROM disc, a memory stick, or stored in the cloud space. In other embodiments, the computer program 707 product may be stored on a carrier containing the computer program, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or the computer-readable storage medium 708, as described above. The second node 112 may comprise an interface unit to facilitate communications between the second node 112 and other nodes or devices, e.g., the first node 111 , the third node 113, the device 140, and/or another structure in the communications network 100. In some particular examples, the interface may, for example, include a transceiver configured to transmit and receive radio signals over an air interface in accordance with a suitable standard. In other embodiments, the second node 112 may comprise the following arrangement depicted in Figure 7b. The second node 112 may comprise a processing circuitry 703, e.g., one or more processors such as the processor 703, in the second node 112 and the memory 704. The second node 112 may also comprise a radio circuitry 709, which may comprise e.g., the receiving port 705 and the sending port 706. The processing circuitry 703 may be configured to, or operable to, perform the method actions according to Figure 3 and/or Figure 5, in a similar manner as that described in relation to Figure 7a. The radio circuitry 709 may be configured to set up and maintain at least a wireless connection with the first node 111 , the third node 113, the device 140, and/or another structure in the communications network 100. Hence, embodiments herein also relate to the second node 112 operative to handle information regarding the session in the communications network 100, the second node 112 being operative to operate in the communications network 100. The second node 112 may comprise the processing circuitry 703 and the memory 704, said memory 704 containing instructions executable by said processing circuitry 703, whereby the second node 112 is further operative to perform the actions described herein in relation to the second node 112, e.g., in Figure 3 and/or Figure 5.

Figure 8 depicts two different examples in panels a) and b), respectively, of the arrangement that the third node 113 may comprise to perform the method actions described above in relation to Figure 4. In some embodiments, the third node 113 may comprise the following arrangement depicted in Figure 8a. The third node 113 may be understood to be for handling information regarding the session in the communications network 100. The third node 113 is configured to operate in the communications network 100.

Several embodiments are comprised herein. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present in another embodiment and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other exemplary embodiments. In Figure 8, optional boxes are indicated by dashed lines. The detailed description of some of the following corresponds to the same references provided above, in relation to the actions described for the third node 113, and will thus not be repeated here. For example, the session may be configured to be a diameter session. The third node 113 is configured to, e.g. by means of a sending unit 801 within the third node 113 configured to, send the first indication to the first node 111 configured to operate in the communications network 100. The first indication is configured to indicate the probability that the session between the first node 111 and the second node 112 configured to operate in the communications network 100 is interrupted during the time period. The session is configured to be for provision of the service to the device 140 configured to operate in the communications network 100. The second node 112 is configured to have sent the request for establishment of the session to the first node 111.

In some embodiments, the information may be configured to comprise the session context data. The third node 113 is configured to, e.g. by means of a determining unit 802 within the third node 113 configured to determine, using machine learning, the mathematical model to predict the probability that the session may be interrupted during the time period. The first indication configured to be sent may be configured to be based on the machine learning model configured to be determined. In some embodiments, the first node 111 may be configured to manage an OCS.

The embodiments herein may be implemented through one or more processors, such as a processor 803 in the third node 113 depicted in Figure 8, together with computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the in the third node 113. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the third node 113. The third node 113 may further comprise a memory 804 comprising one or more memory units. The memory 804 is arranged to be used to store obtained information, store data, configurations, schedulings, and applications etc. to perform the methods herein when being executed in the third node 113.

In some embodiments, the third node 113 may receive information from, e.g., the first node 111 and/or the second node 112, through a receiving port 805. In some examples, the receiving port 805 may be, for example, connected to one or more antennas in the third node 113. In other embodiments, the third node 113 may receive information from another structure in the communications network 100 through the receiving port 805. Since the receiving port 805 may be in communication with the processor 803, the receiving port 805 may then send the received information to the processor 803. The receiving port 805 may also be configured to receive other information.

The processor 803 in the third node 113 may be further configured to transmit or send information to e.g., the first node 111 , the second node 112, and/or another structure in the communications network 100, through a sending port 806, which may be in communication with the processor 803, and the memory 804. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the units 801-802 described above may refer to a combination of analog and digital circuits, and/or one or more processors configured with software and/or firmware, e.g., stored in memory, that, when executed by the one or more processors such as the processor 803, perform as described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application- Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC).

The units 801-802 described above may be the processor 803 of the third node 113, or an application running on such processor. Thus, the methods according to the embodiments described herein for the third node 113 may be respectively implemented by means of a computer program 807 product, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor 803, cause the at least one processor 803 to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the third node 113. The computer program 807 product may be stored on a computer- readable storage medium 808. The computer-readable storage medium 808, having stored thereon the computer program 807, may comprise instructions which, when executed on at least one processor 803, cause the at least one processor 803 to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the third node 113. In some embodiments, the computer- readable storage medium 808 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as a CD ROM disc, a memory stick, or stored in the cloud space. In other embodiments, the computer program 807 product may be stored on a carrier containing the computer program, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or the computer-readable storage medium 808, as described above.

The third node 113 may comprise an interface unit to facilitate communications between the third node 113 and other nodes or devices, e.g., the first node 111 , the second node 112, and/or another structure in the communications network 100. In some particular examples, the interface may, for example, include a transceiver configured to transmit and receive radio signals over an air interface in accordance with a suitable standard.

In other embodiments, the third node 113 may comprise the following arrangement depicted in Figure 8b. The third node 113 may comprise a processing circuitry 803, e.g., one or more processors such as the processor 803, in the third node 113 and the memory 804. The third node 113 may also comprise a radio circuitry 809, which may comprise e.g., the receiving port 805 and the sending port 806. The processing circuitry 803 may be configured to, or operable to, perform the method actions according to Figure 4, in a similar manner as that described in relation to Figure 8a. The radio circuitry 809 may be configured to set up and maintain at least a wireless connection with the first node 111 , the second node 112 and/or another structure in the communications network 100.

Hence, embodiments herein also relate to the third node 113 operative to handle information regarding the session in the communications network 100, the third node 113 being operative to operate in the communications network 100. The third node 113 may comprise the processing circuitry 803 and the memory 804, said memory 804 containing instructions executable by said processing circuitry 803, whereby the third node 113 is further operative to perform the actions described herein in relation to the third node 113, e.g., in Figure 4.

When using the word "comprise" or “comprising”, it shall be interpreted as non- limiting, i.e. meaning "consist at least of".

The embodiments herein are not limited to the above described preferred embodiments. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used. Therefore, the above embodiments should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention.

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description. As used herein, the expression “at least one of:” followed by a list of alternatives separated by commas, and wherein the last alternative is preceded by the “and” term, may be understood to mean that only one of the list of alternatives may apply, more than one of the list of alternatives may apply or all of the list of alternatives may apply. This expression may be understood to be equivalent to the expression “at least one of:” followed by a list of alternatives separated by commas, and wherein the last alternative is preceded by the “or” term.

Any of the terms processor and circuitry may be understood herein as a hardware component.

As used herein, the expression “in some embodiments” has been used to indicate that the features of the embodiment described may be combined with any other embodiment or example disclosed herein.

As used herein, the expression “in some examples” has been used to indicate that the features of the example described may be combined with any other embodiment or example disclosed herein.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1 . A method performed by a first node (111), the method being for handling information regarding a session in a communications network (100), the first node (111) operating in the communications network (100), the method comprising:

- sending (204) an indication to a second node (112) operating in the communications network (100), the indication indicating information enabling reconstruction of a session between the first node (111) and the second node (112) for provision of a service to a device (140) operating in the communications network (100), wherein the first node (111) has received a request for establishment of the session from the second node (112) prior to the sending (204) of the indication, and wherein the sending (204) of the indication is performed prior to an interruption of the session.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

- receiving (205), after resumption of the session is enabled, the sent indication from the second node (112), and

- reconstructing (206) the session based on the indication received from the second node (112).

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein at least one of:

- the sending (204) of the indication to the second node (112) is in a Credit Control Request, CCR, and

- the receiving (205) of the indication from the second node (112) is in a request for an update to the CCR.

4. The method according to any of claims 1-3, further comprising:

- generating (202) the indication after receiving the request for the session,, and

- storing (203) the generated indication, and wherein the sent indication is the stored indication.

5. The method according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the indication is a second indication, and wherein the method further comprises:

- obtaining (201 ) a first indication from a third node (113) operating in the communications network (100), wherein the first indication indicates a probability of occurrence of the interruption of the session, and wherein the sending (204) of the second indication is based on the received first indication.

6. The method according to any of claims 1 -5, wherein the first node (111) is the third node (113) and wherein obtaining (201 ) the first indication comprises determining, using machine learning, a mathematical model to predict the probability that the session is interrupted during a time period.

7. The method according to any of claims 1-6, wherein at least one of: - the information comprises session context data,

- the indication is a second indication, and wherein the second indication is an Attribute Value Pair, AVP,

- the session is a diameter session, and

- the first node (111) manages an Online Charging System, and the second node (112) manages a Charging Trigger Function.

8. A method performed by a second node (112), the method being for handling information regarding a session in a communications network (100), the second node (112) operating in the communications network (100), the method comprising: - receiving (301 ) an indication from a first node (111 ) operating in the communications network (100), the indication indicating information enabling reconstruction of a session between the first node (111) and the second node (112) for provision of a service to a device (140) operating in the communications network (100), wherein the second node (112) has sent a request for establishment of the session to the first node (111) prior to the receiving (301) of the indication, and wherein the receiving (301) of the indication is performed prior to an interruption of the session.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: - sending (302), after resumption of the session is enabled, the received indication to the first node (111), and wherein the session is reconstructed based on the indication sent to the first node (111).

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein at least one of: - the receiving (301 ) of the indication from the first node (111) is in a Credit

Control Request, CCR, and - the sending (302) of the indication to the first node (111) is in a request for an update to the CCR.

11 . The method according to any of claims 8-10, wherein at least one of: - the information comprises session context data the indication is a second indication, and wherein the second indication is an Attribute Value Pair, AVP,

- the session is a diameter session, and

12. A method performed by a third node (113), the method being for handling information regarding a session in a communications network (100), the third node (113) operating in the communications network (100), the method comprising: - sending (402) a first indication to a first node (111 ) operating in the communications network (100), the first indication indicating a probability that a session between the first node (111) and a second node (112) operating in the communications network (100) is interrupted during a time period, the session being for provision of a service to a device (140) operating in the communications network (100), wherein the second node (112) has sent a request for establishment of the session to the first node (111).

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising:

- determining (401), using machine learning, a mathematical model to predict the probability that the session is interrupted during the time period, and wherein the sent first indication is based on the determined machine learning model.

14. The method according to any of claims 12-13, wherein at least one of:

- the information comprises session context data, - the session is a diameter session, and

- the first node (111) manages an Online Charging System.

15. A first node (111), for handling information regarding a session in a communications network (100), the first node (111) being configured to operate in the communications network (100), the first node (111) being further configured to: - send an indication to a second node (112) configured to operate in the communications network (100), the indication being configured to indicate information configured to enable reconstruction of a session between the first node (111) and the second node (112), the session being configured to be for provision of a service to a device (140) configured to operate in the communications network (100), wherein the first node (111 ) is configured to have received a request for establishment of the session from the second node (112) prior to the sending of the indication, and wherein the sending of the indication is configured to be performed prior to an interruption of the session.

16. A second node (112), for handling information regarding a session in a communications network (100), the second node (112) being configured to operate in the communications network (100), the second node (112) being further configured to:

- receive an indication from a first node (111 ) configured to operate in the communications network (100), the indication being configured to indicate information enabling reconstruction of a session between the first node (111) and the second node (112), the session being configured to be for provision of a service to a device (140) configured to operate in the communications network (100), wherein the second node (112) is configured to have sent a request for establishment of the session to the first node (111) prior to the receiving of the indication, and wherein the receiving of the indication is configured to be performed prior to an interruption of the session.

17. A third node (113), for handling information regarding a session in a communications network (100), the third node (113) being configured to operate in the communications network (100), the third node (113) being further configured to:

- send a first indication to a first node (111 ) configured to operate in the communications network (100), the first indication being configured to indicate a probability that a session between the first node (111) and a second node (112) configured to operate in the communications network (100) is interrupted during a time period, the session being configured to be for provision of a service to a device (140) configured to operate in the communications network (100), wherein the second node (112) is configured to have sent a request for establishment of the session to the first node (111).