US 12,457,191 B2
User plane function configured to prioritize using a preferred internet protocol to establish a connection between user device and host server
Cesare Natale, Frisco, TX (US); and Saravana Velusamy, Overland Park, KS (US)
Assigned to T-Mobile USA, Inc., Bellevue, WA (US)
Filed by T-Mobile USA, Inc., Bellevue, WA (US)
Filed on Mar. 6, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/179,292.
Prior Publication US 2024/0305602 A1, Sep. 12, 2024
Int. Cl. H04W 76/10 (2018.01); H04L 61/4511 (2022.01); H04L 101/686 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 61/4511 (2022.05) [H04W 76/10 (2018.02); H04L 2101/686 (2022.05)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method performed by a user plane function (UPF) of a telecommunications network to use Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) addresses instead of Internet Protocol version 4 (IPV4) addresses for communicating content over the telecommunications network from a content server to a user device, the method comprising:
receiving, from a user device, a content request at the UPF,
wherein the content request includes a uniform resource locator (URL), and
wherein the URL points to a resource on a host server;
receiving, from the user device, a first domain name system (DNS) query for the URL and a second DNS query for the URL,
wherein the first DNS query includes an Address Address Address Address (AAAA) record request and the second DNS query includes an Address (A) record request;
forwarding the first DNS query and the second DNS query to a DNS server;
receiving, at the UPF, from the DNS server, an AAAA record in response to the AAAA record request and an A record in response to the A record request,
wherein the AAAA record includes an IPV6 address associated with the URL, and
wherein the A record includes an IPv4 address associated with the URL;
prioritize the use of the IPV6 address included in the AAAA record instead of the IPV4 address included in the A record to establish a client-server connection by:
(i) forwarding the AAAA record to the user device while delaying transmission of the A record at the UPF, or
(ii) transmitting an extension header (x-header) to the user device including the AAAA record, the A record, and instructions to use the IPV6 address instead of the IPV4 address; and
enabling the client-server connection between the user device and the host server based on the IPV6 address.