FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970) THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
APPLICANT
of Office-101, Saffron, Nr JIO PLATFORMS LIMITD~__
380006, Gujarat, India; Nationality : India
The following specification particularly describes
the invention and the manner in which
it is to be performed

RESERVATION OF RIGHTS
[001] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material
which is subject to intellectual property rights such as, but are not limited to, copyright, design, trademark, integrated circuit (IC) layout design, and/or trade dress protection, belonging to Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) or its affiliates (herein after referred as owner). The owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever. All rights to such intellectual property are fully reserved by the owner.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[002] The present disclosure relates to a field of a wireless network, and
specifically to a system and a method for managing stale session in a wireless network.
BACKGROUND
[003] The following description of related art is intended to provide
background information pertaining to the field of the disclosure. This section may include certain aspects of the art that may be related to various features of the present disclosure. However, it should be appreciated that this section be used only to enhance the understanding of the reader with respect to the present disclosure, and not as admissions of prior art.
[004] Network Function (NF) in 5th Generation Core (5GC) is responsible
for session management related functionality. As part of this functionality, the NF stores Access Mobility (AM)/Session Management (SM)/Binding Support Function (BSF)/Spending Limit/Slice Differentiator (SD)/Rx interface/Subscription Profile Repository (SPR) session data in a cache or a Shared Data Layer (SDL) or both.

[005] NFs serve as crucial nodes that communicate with each other,
functioning as both clients and servers. There may be a number of sessions
established between the clients and servers. Stale sessions are those which are
inactive for a longer time, or refer to sessions in which no notification/termination
requests have been received after their creation for a long duration. This indicates
that these sessions may no longer operational within a cluster, yet their session data
remains stored in a cache memory of the NF, awaiting the aforementioned requests.
Due to network fluctuations, messages terminate or calls get dropped and results in
stale session, which may lead to performance degradation on the nodes.
[006] In normal course of action, as the session terminates, the session data
are removed automatically from the cache and the SDL. But there may be various
network conditions such as packet loss, synchronization loss, node restart,
switchover, overload, etc., which may not terminate the session. This may lead to
memory overload, latency in the network, and decrease in the throughput.
[007] There is, therefore, a need in the art to improve state of managing
stale sessions by overcoming the deficiencies of the prior arts.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE
[008] The present disclosure relates to a method for managing a session in
a network. The method comprises the steps of periodically monitoring, by a processing engine, functionality of a session between a first Network Function (NF) node and a second NF node, wherein the first NF node and the second NF node are associated with a cluster of nodes in the network. The cluster of nodes represent a group or set of network nodes for which session is to be monitored. The cluster of nodes includes neighboring nodes or nodes providing different functionality. The nodes in the cluster may be similar or different. Further, the method comprises, in response to the periodical monitoring, determining, by the processing engine, that the session is an inactive session based on a plurality of pre-defined conditions. Furthermore, the method comprises, based on the determination, deleting, by the

processing engine, session data pertaining to the inactive session from a cache
memory of at least one of the first NF node and the second NF node.
[009] In an embodiment, determining that the session is the inactive
session comprises: calculating, by the processing engine, a time difference between a session creation time and a current time associated with the session; and if the time difference exceeds an inactive session duration threshold, indicating, by the processing engine, the session as the inactive session.
[0010] In an embodiment, the method, upon determining that session is the
inactive session, includes a step of: initiating, by the processing engine, a challenge request towards a server node for confirming the inactive session, wherein the challenge request includes at least one of a Session Unique Permanent Identifier (SUPI), a notification Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), and a session Identifier (ID) and, other session related parameter. The method further includes the step of receiving, by the processing engine, a challenge response from the server node based on the challenge request. The challenge response is one of an error response and a success response. Further, the error response indicates that the session has been deleted and is absent from the network, and the success response indicates that the session is active and present in the network. Further, based on receiving the error response as the challenge response, the method includes the step of validating, by the processing engine, that the session is inactive. Moreover, the method includes the step of triggering, by the processing engine, a deletion process for the inactive session.
[0011] In an embodiment, the inactive session comprises: a session which
is non-operational/non-functional for an inactive session duration threshold; or a session for which there is non-availability of a notification or a termination request for the inactive session duration threshold. The first NF node and the second NF node comprises session data which is inactively stored in the cache memory of at least one of the first NF node and the second NF node.
[0012] In an embodiment, the first NF node is a client node and the second
NF node is a server node.

[0013] In an embodiment, the session data pertaining to the inactive session
is inactively stored based on a network condition preventing termination of the
session, wherein the network condition comprises at least one of packet loss,
synchronization loss, node restart, switchover, and overload.
[0014] The present disclosure relates to a system for managing a session in
a network. The system comprises one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the one or more processors. The memory includes computer implemented instructions to configure the one or more processors to periodically monitor functionality of a session between a first Network Function (NF) node and a second NF node, wherein the first NF node and the second NF node are associated with a cluster of nodes in the network. Further, the one or more processors is configured to, in response to the periodical monitoring, determine that the session is an inactive session based on a plurality of pre-defined conditions. Moreover, the one or more processors is configured to, based on the determination, delete session data pertaining to the inactive session from a cache memory of at least one of the first NF node and the second NF node.
[0015] In an embodiment, the plurality of pre-defined conditions to
determine that the session is the inactive session comprises: calculating a time difference between a session creation time and a current time associated with the session; and if the time difference exceeds an inactive session duration threshold, indicating the session as the inactive session.
[0016] In an embodiment, the system, upon determining that session is the
inactive session, is configured to initiate a challenge request towards a server node for confirming the inactive session. The challenge request includes at least one of a Session Unique Permanent Identifier (SUPI), a notification Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), and a session Identifier (ID) and, other session related parameter. The system is also configured to receive a challenge response from the server node based on the challenge request, wherein the challenge response is one of an error response and a success response, wherein the error response indicates that the session has been deleted and is absent from the network, and the success response indicates that the session is active and present in the network. Further, the system

is also configured to, based on receiving the error response as the challenge
response, validate that the session is inactive. Furthermore, the system is also
configured to trigger a deletion process for the inactive session.
[0017] In an embodiment, the inactive session comprises: a session which
is non-operational/non-functional for an inactive session duration threshold; or a session for which there is non-availability of a notification or a termination request for the inactive session duration threshold, and wherein the first NF node and the second NF node comprises session data which is inactively stored in the cache memory of at least one of the first NF node and the second NF node. The inactive session duration threshold represents a time period for which is session is not in operation state since a particular time period. In other words, the inactive session duration threshold is the time interval during which session is not involved in any type of communication.
[0018] In an embodiment, the first NF node is a client node and the second
NF node is a server node.
[0019] In an embodiment, the session data pertaining to the inactive session
is inactively stored based on a network condition preventing termination of the
session, wherein the network condition comprises at least one of packet loss,
synchronization loss, node restart, switchover, and overload.
[0020] In an embodiment, there is a non-transitory computer readable
medium including program instructions stored thereon, executed by a system for managing a session in a network. The program instructions comprise periodically monitoring functionality of a session between a first Network Function (NF) node and a second NF node, wherein the first NF node and the second NF node are associated with a cluster of nodes in the network. Further, the program instructions comprise, in response to the periodical monitoring, determining that the session is an inactive session based on a plurality of pre-defined conditions. Furthermore, the program instructions comprise, based on the determination, deleting session data pertaining to the inactive session from a cache memory of at least one of the first NF node and the second NF node.

[0021] A user equipment user equipment communicatively coupled with a
system, the coupling comprises steps of receiving, by the system, a connection
request; sending, by the system, an acknowledgment of the connection request to
the UE; and transmitting a plurality of signals in response to the connection
5 request, wherein the system is configured for managing a session in a network.
[0022] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be
in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description. 10
OBJECTS OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE
[0023] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a
method to effectively manage stale session in a wireless network.
[0024] It is an object of the present disclosure to mitigate performance
15 impact on a node when a number of sessions reaches a certain threshold value.
[0025] It is an object of the present disclosure to actively monitor the
functionality of sessions and optimize memory usage by discarding sessions that
are no longer functional.
[0026] It is an object of the present disclosure to periodically identify and
20 remove the stale sessions from a cache memory, such that unused sessions are
removed from the cache memory resulting in a more robust and reliable network
infrastructure with minimal disruptions.
[0027] It is an object of the present disclosure to efficiently monitor and
manage the sessions to optimize utilization of the cache memory, enabling creation 25 of new sessions and processing of requests without any delay or latency.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] In the figures, similar components and/or features may have the
same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be
30 distinguished by following the reference label with a second label that distinguishes
7

among the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the
specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components
having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label.
[0029] The diagrams are for illustration only, which thus is not a limitation
5 of the present disclosure, and wherein:
[0030] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture (100) in which
or with which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.
[0031] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram (200) of a stale session
management system (108), in accordance with an embodiment of the present
10 disclosure.
[0032] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary flow chart (300) implementing a stale
session management method, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
disclosure.
[0033] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary architecture (400) of the stale session
15 management system (108), in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0034] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary computer system (500) in which or
with which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.
[0035] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram (600) of a method for
20 managing a session in a network, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
100 – Network architecture 25 102-1, 102-2…102-N – Users
104-1, 104-2…104-N – User Equipments
106 – Network
108– System
110– Entity 30 112– Centralized server
8

200- Block diagram
202 – One or more processor(s)
204 – Memory
206 – Interface(s) 5 208 – Processing unit/engine(s)
210 – Database
212 – Detection engine
214 – Session management engine
216 – Other engine(s) 10 300- Flow chart
400- Architecture
500- Computer system
510 – External Storage Device
520 – Bus 15 530 – Main Memory
540 – Read Only Memory
550 – Mass Storage Device
560 – Communication Port
570 – Processor 20 600- Flow chart
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0036] The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the
disclosure depicted in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are in such 25 detail as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
9

[0037] The present disclosure may effectively manage sessions in a wireless
network. The present disclosure may serve a maximum number of sessions per instance. By effectively managing the sessions, the present disclosure may mitigate the performance impact on the node when the number of sessions reaches a certain 5 threshold value. A session may be defined as a data path between a UE and a network function or between to network functions. For example, a PDU session is a logical connection between the UE and a data network, such as the internet or a private network. The network may be any wireless network such as 3G, 4G, and 5G network.
10 [0038] By efficiently monitoring and managing sessions, the present
disclosure may achieve optimized utilization of cache memory, thereby allowing for creation of new sessions and processing of requests seamlessly and without any loss or latency. In cases available memory is limited, the creation of new sessions or retrieval of existing session may get delayed, which introduces unwanted latency
15 into the network. However, the present disclosure may mitigate such unforeseen latency. The present disclosure may effectively minimize potential latency, leading to enhanced network performance overall.
[0039] The present disclosure may detect stale sessions by calculating
durations of the sessions and confirming their staleness before initiating deletion.
20 Thereby, achieving a new level of automation and efficiency, significantly reducing
manual efforts and mitigating the risk of downtime or service disruptions. By
automating the process of identifying and removing the stale sessions, the present
disclosure streamlines operations and enhances overall system reliability.
[0040] By seamlessly removing the stale sessions that are no longer
25 functional, the present disclosure may create memory space to accommodate new sessions. The present disclosure may prioritize the significance of session and memory management, thereby ensuring seamless operation of the node. This may enhance overall network efficiency and reliability, improve network performance, and a seamless user experience. The present disclosure may optimize the overall
30 functioning of the node, and guarantee a smooth and efficient network operation.
10

[0041] The various embodiments of the present disclosure will be explained
in detail with reference to FIGs. 1 to 6.
[0042] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture (100) in which
or with which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.
5 [0043] Referring to FIG. 1, the network architecture (100) may include one
or more computing devices or user equipments (104-1, 104-2…104-N) associated with one or more users (102-1, 102-2…102-N) in an environment. A person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that one or more users (102-1, 102-2…102-N) may be individually referred to as the user (102) and collectively referred to as
10 the users (102). Similarly, a person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that one or more user equipments (104-1, 104-2…104-N) may be individually referred to as the user equipment (104) and collectively referred to as the user equipment (104). A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the terms “computing device(s)” and “user equipment” may be used interchangeably throughout the
15 disclosure. Although three user equipments (104) are depicted in FIG. 1, however any number of the user equipments (104) may be included without departing from the scope of the ongoing description.
[0044] In an embodiment, the user equipment (104) may include smart
devices operating in a smart environment, for example, an Internet of Things (IoT)
20 system. In such an embodiment, the user equipment (104) may include, but is not limited to, smart phones, smart watches, smart sensors (e.g., mechanical, thermal, electrical, magnetic, etc.), networked appliances, networked peripheral devices, networked lighting system, communication devices, networked vehicle accessories, networked vehicular devices, smart accessories, tablets, smart television (TV),
25 computers, smart security system, smart home system, other devices for monitoring or interacting with or for the users (102) and/or entities, or any combination thereof. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the user equipment (104) may include, but is not limited to, intelligent, multi-sensing, network-connected devices, that can integrate seamlessly with each other and/or with a central server
30 (or centralized server) or a cloud-computing system or any other device that is network-connected.
11

[0045] In an embodiment, the user equipment (104) may include, but is not
limited to, a handheld wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a smart phone, a phablet device, and so on), a wearable computer device(e.g., a head-mounted display computer device, a head-mounted camera device, a wristwatch 5 computer device, and so on), a Global Positioning System (GPS) device, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, or another type of portable computer, a media playing device, a portable gaming system, and/or any other type of computer device with wireless communication capabilities, and the like. In an embodiment, the user equipment (104) may include, but is not limited to, any electrical, electronic,
10 electro-mechanical, or an equipment, or a combination of one or more of the above devices such as virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, laptop, a general-purpose computer, desktop, personal digital assistant, tablet computer, mainframe computer, or any other computing device, wherein the user equipment (104) may include one or more in-built or externally coupled accessories
15 including, but not limited to, a visual aid device such as a camera, an audio aid, a microphone, a keyboard, and input devices for receiving input from the user (102) or the entity such as touch pad, touch enabled screen, electronic pen, and the like. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the user equipment (104) may not be restricted to the mentioned devices and various other devices may be
20 used.
[0046] Referring to FIG. 1, the user equipment (104) may communicate
with a system (108), for example, a stale session management system, through a network (106). The stale session management system (108) may detect stale sessions by calculating durations of the sessions and confirming their staleness
25 before initiating deletion. The stale session management system (108) may effectively manage sessions in the network (106). The stale session management system (108) may serve a maximum number of sessions per instance by effectively managing the sessions, thereby mitigating the performance impact on the node when the number of sessions reaches a certain threshold value.
30 [0047] In an embodiment, the network (106) may include at least one of a
Fifth Generation (5G) network, 6G network, or the like. The network (106) may
12

enable the user equipment (104) to communicate with other devices in the network architecture (100) and/or with the system (108). The network (106) may include a wireless card or some other transceiver connection to facilitate this communication. In another embodiment, the network (106) may be implemented as, or include any 5 of a variety of different communication technologies such as a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless network, a mobile network, a Virtual Private Network (VPN), the Internet, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), or the like.
[0048] Although FIG. 1 shows exemplary components of the network
10 architecture (100), in other embodiments, the network architecture (100) may include fewer components, different components, differently arranged components, or additional functional components than depicted in FIG. 1. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more components of the network architecture (100) may perform functions described as being performed by one or more other components 15 of the network architecture (100).
[0049] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram (200) of a stale session
management system (108), in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0050] In an aspect, the system (108) may include one or more processor(s)
20 (202). The one or more processor(s) (202) may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, edge or fog microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that process data based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, one or more processor(s) (202) may be configured to fetch and execute 25 computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (204) of the stale session management system (108). The memory (204) may be configured to store one or more computer-readable instructions or routines in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which may be fetched and executed to create or share data packets over a network service. The memory (204) may comprise any non-30 transitory storage device including, for example, volatile memory such as Random-
13

Access Memory (RAM), or non-volatile memory such as Erasable Programmable
Read-Only Memory (EPROM), flash memory, and the like.
[0051] In an embodiment, the stale session management system (108) may
include an interface(s) (206). The interface(s) (206) may include a variety of 5 interfaces, for example, interfaces for data input and output devices, referred to as I/O devices, storage devices, and the like. The interface(s) (206) may facilitate communication of the stale session management system (108). The interface(s) (206) may also provide a communication pathway for one or more components of the stale session management system (108). Examples of such components include,
10 but are not limited to, processing unit/engine(s) (208) and a database (210).
[0052] The processing unit/engine(s) (208) may be implemented as a
combination of hardware and programming (for example, programmable instructions) to implement one or more functionalities of the processing engine(s) (208). In examples described herein, such combinations of hardware and
15 programming may be implemented in several different ways. For example, the programming for the processing engine(s) (208) may be processor-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and the hardware for the processing engine(s) (208) may comprise a processing resource (for example, one or more processors), to execute such instructions. In the present
20 examples, the machine-readable storage medium may store instructions that, when executed by the processing resource, implement the processing engine(s) (208). In such examples, the stale session management system (108) may comprise the machine-readable storage medium storing the instructions and the processing resource to execute the instructions, or the machine-readable storage medium may
25 be separate but accessible to the stale session management system (108) and the processing resource. In other examples, the processing engine(s) (208) may be implemented by an electronic circuitry.
[0053] In an embodiment, the processing engine (208) may include one or
more engine(s) selected from a detection engine (212), a session management
30 engine (214), and other engine(s) (216).
14

[0054] The detection engine (212) may detect stale sessions by calculating
durations of the sessions and confirm the staleness of the sessions.
[0055] The session management engine (214) may delete the stale sessions
upon confirming the staleness of the sessions. The session management engine
5 (214) may effectively manage sessions in the network (106) by deleting the stale
sessions. The session management engine (108) may serve a maximum number of
sessions per instance by effectively managing the sessions.
[0056] In an embodiment, the database (210) may comprise data that may
be either stored or generated as a result of functionalities implemented by any of
10 the components of the processor(s) (202) or the processing engine(s) (208) or the system (108).
[0057] Although FIG. 2 shows an exemplary block diagram (200) of the
stale session management system (108), in other embodiments, the stale session management system (108) may include fewer components, different components,
15 differently arranged components, or additional functional components than depicted in FIG. 2. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more components of the stale session management system (108) may perform functions described as being performed by one or more other components of the stale session management system (108).
20 [0058] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary flow chart (300) implementing a stale
session management method, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0059] Referring to FIG. 3, the stale session management method may
include initializing monitoring of sessions periodically. At step 304, the method
25 may include calculating a time difference between a session creation time and a current time. At step 306, it is determined whether the time difference exceeds a configurable stale session time, the session may be indicated as a potential stale session. If the time difference exceeds the configurable stale session time, the session may be indicated as a potential stale session otherwise it is indicated as not
30 a stale session at step 308.. At step 310, the stale session may be deleted silently or a challenge request may be initiated by a session management tool towards a server
15

node for confirmation of the stale session. The challenge request may include a Session Unique Permanent Identifier (SUPI), a notification Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), and a session Identifier (ID) or any session related parameter. The method may include receiving a response from the server node at step 312, and 5 checking the response received from the server node. If an error response is received, it indicates that the session has been deleted and no longer exists in the network and the steps are iterated again for other session objects at 302. This confirmation may validate that the session is stale, and a deletion process may be triggered at step 314. The triggering includes sending a query to the database for
10 deletion of the corresponding inactive session. In the deletion process, the database receives the request for deletion of the inactive session and in response, the corresponding inactive session is removed from the database. If a success response is received from the server node, it indicates at step 316 that the session is still active and present in the network. In the present disclosure, the sessions have been
15 represented as session objects. When one session has been checked for staleness,
then the method steps are repeated for other session objects.
[0060] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary architecture (400) of the stale session
management system (108), in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
20 [0061] Referring to FIG. 4, the stale session management system (108) may
determine the stale sessions in the network functions (402). The stale sessions may be determined based on the time difference between the session creation time and the current time. Upon determination of the stale sessions, the stale session management system (404) may delete the stale sessions, and effectively manage the
25 stale sessions in the network. Thereby, achieving optimized utilization of cache memory (406), allowing for creation of new sessions and processing of requests seamlessly and without any loss or latency.
[0062] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary computer system (500) in which or
with which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown
30 in FIG. 5, the computer system (500) may include an external storage device (510), a bus (520), a main memory (530), a read only memory (540), a mass storage device
16

(550), a communication port (560), and a processor (570). A person skilled in the
art will appreciate that the computer system (500) may include more than one
processor (570) and communication ports (560). Processor (570) may include
various modules associated with embodiments of the present disclosure.
5 [0063] In an embodiment, the communication port (560) may be any of an
RS-232 port for use with a modem-based dialup connection, a 10/100 Ethernet port, a Gigabit or 10 Gigabit port using copper or fiber, a serial port, a parallel port, or other existing or future ports. The communication port (560) may be chosen depending on a network, such a Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network
10 (WAN), or any network to which the computer system (500) connects.
[0064] In an embodiment, the memory (530) may be Random Access
Memory (RAM), or any other dynamic storage device commonly known in the art. Read-only memory (540) may be any static storage device(s) e.g., but not limited to, a Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM) chips for storing static
15 information e.g., start-up or Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) instructions for the processor (570).
[0065] In an embodiment, the mass storage (550) may be any current or
future mass storage solution, which may be used to store information and/or instructions. Exemplary mass storage solutions include, but are not limited to,
20 Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disk drives or solid-state drives (internal or external, e.g., having Universal Serial Bus (USB) and/or Firewire interfaces), one or more optical discs, Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) storage, e.g., an array of disks (e.g., SATA arrays).
25 [0066] In an embodiment, the bus (520) communicatively couples the
processor(s) (570) with the other memory, storage and communication blocks. The bus (520) may be, e.g., a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)/PCI Extended (PCI-X) bus, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), Universal Serial Bus (USB) or the like, for connecting expansion cards, drives and other subsystems as well as
30 other buses, such a front side bus (FSB), which connects the processor (570) to the computer system (500).
17

[0067] Optionally, operator and administrative interfaces, e.g., a display,
keyboard, joystick, and a cursor control device, may also be coupled to the bus
(520) to support direct operator interaction with the computer system (500). Other
operator and administrative interfaces may be provided through network
5 connections connected through the communication port (560). Components
described above are meant only to exemplify various possibilities. In no way should
the aforementioned exemplary computer system (500) limit the scope of the present
disclosure.
[0068] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram (600) of a method for
10 managing a session in a network, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
disclosure. The flow diagram (600) includes steps which are defined below.
[0069] At step 602, functionality of a session between a first Network
Function (NF) node and a second NF node is periodically monitored by a processing engine (208). The first NF node and the second NF node may be associated with a
15 cluster of nodes in the network. The functionality may include but not limited to an ongoing call session, accepting an incoming message, transferring data etc. The monitoring is performed periodically as an example, it may be hourly, daily weekly, monthly. The period for monitoring can be a user defined time interval. The monitoring can be performed based on an input received from a user by defining
20 the time.
[0070] At step 604, in response to the periodical monitoring, it is determined
by the processing engine (208) that the session is an inactive session based on a
plurality of pre-defined conditions.
[0071] At step 606, based on the determination, session data pertaining to
25 the inactive session from a cache memory of at least one of the first NF node and
the second NF node is deleted by the processing engine (208).
[0072] In an embodiment, the plurality of pre-defined conditions for
determining that the session is the inactive session comprises: calculating, by the processing engine, a time difference between a session creation time and a current
30 time associated with the session; and if the time difference exceeds an inactive
18

session duration threshold, indicating, by the processing engine, the session as the inactive session.
[0073] In an embodiment, the method, upon determining that session is the
inactive session, includes a step of: initiating, by the processing engine, a challenge 5 request towards a server node for confirming the inactive session, wherein the challenge request includes at least one of a Session Unique Permanent Identifier (SUPI), a notification Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), and a session Identifier (ID) and, other session related parameter. The method further includes the step of receiving, by the processing engine, a challenge response from the server node
10 based on the challenge request. The challenge response is one of an error response and a success response. Further, the error response indicates that the session has been deleted and is absent from the network, and the success response indicates that the session is active and present in the network. Further, based on receiving the error response as the challenge response, the method includes the step of validating,
15 by the processing engine, that the session is inactive. Moreover, the method includes the step of triggering, by the processing engine, a deletion process for the inactive session. The validation is performed by comparing the received error response code with the codes in a lookup table stored at the session management tool. If error response is present in the lookup table, then it confirmed that the
20 session is inactive.
[0074] A user equipment user equipment (104) communicatively coupled
with a system (108), the coupling comprises steps of receiving, by the system (108), a connection request; sending, by the system (108), an acknowledgment of the connection request to the UE (104); and transmitting a plurality of signals in
25 response to the connection request, wherein the system (108) is configured for managing a session in a network.
[0075] In an embodiment, the inactive session comprises: a session which
is non-operational/non-functional for an inactive session duration threshold; or a session for which there is non-availability of a notification or a termination request
30 for the inactive session duration threshold. The first NF node and the second NF
19

node comprises session data which is inactively stored in the cache memory of at least one of the first NF node and the second NF node.
[0076] In an embodiment, the first NF node is a client node and the second
NF node is a server node.
5 [0077] In an embodiment, the session data pertaining to the inactive session
is inactively stored based on a network condition preventing termination of the
session, wherein the network condition comprises at least one of packet loss,
synchronization loss, node restart, switchover, and overload.
[0078] The present disclosure provides technical advancement related to the
10 development of a sophisticated automatic session management mechanism. This mechanism plays a crucial role in optimizing network performance, eliminating latency, and guaranteeing high availability. By seamlessly removing stale sessions that are no longer functional, the mechanism creates memory space to accommodate new sessions. This inventive approach enhances overall network
15 efficiency and reliability, paving the way for improved performance and a seamless user experience.
[0079] Further, implementing this solution in the NF enables to prioritize
the significance of session and memory management, thereby ensuring the seamless operation of the node. By doing so, the problem of memory management is tackled
20 and the associated processes are automated, resulting in high performance and minimal memory usage. This solution optimizes the overall functioning of the node, guaranteeing a smooth and efficient network operation.
[0080] While the foregoing describes various embodiments of the present
disclosure, other and further embodiments of the present disclosure may be devised
25 without departing from the basic scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is determined by the claims that follow. The present disclosure is not limited to the described embodiments, versions or examples, which are included to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present disclosure when combined with information and knowledge available to the person having ordinary
30 skill in the art.
20

ADVANTAGES OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE
[0081] The present disclosure provides a system and a method to effectively
manage stale session in a wireless network.
[0082] The present disclosure mitigates performance impact on a node
5 when a number of sessions reaches a certain threshold value.
[0083] The present disclosure actively monitors the functionality of
sessions and optimizes memory usage by discarding sessions that are no longer
functional.
[0084] The present disclosure periodically identifies and removes the stale
10 sessions from a cache memory, such that unused sessions are removed from the
cache memory resulting in a more robust and reliable network infrastructure with
minimal disruptions.
[0085] The present disclosure efficiently monitors and manages the sessions
to optimize utilization of the cache memory, enabling creation of new sessions and 15 processing of requests without any delay or latency.
[0086] The present disclosure effectively minimizes potential latency,
leading to enhanced network performance overall.
[0087] The present disclosure prioritizes the significance of session and
memory management, thereby ensuring seamless operation of the node. Thereby, 20 ensuring memory management and automating the associated processes, resulting
in high performance and minimal memory usage. This optimizes the overall
functioning of the node, guaranteeing a smooth and efficient network operation.
21

We Claim:
1. A method for managing a session in a network, the method comprising:
periodically monitoring, by a processing engine (208), functionality of a
session between a first Network Function (NF) node and a second NF node, wherein the first NF node and the second NF node are associated with a cluster of nodes in the network;
in response to the periodical monitoring, determining, by the processing engine (208), that the session is an inactive session based on a plurality of pre-defined conditions; and
based on the determination, deleting, by the processing engine (208), session data pertaining to the inactive session from a cache memory of at least one of the first NF node and the second NF node.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of pre-defined
conditions for determining that the session is the inactive session comprises:
calculating, by the processing engine (208), a time difference between a session creation time and a current time associated with the session; and
if the time difference exceeds an inactive session duration threshold, indicating, by the processing engine (208), the session as the inactive session.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, upon determining that session is
the inactive session, the method further comprises:
initiating, by the processing engine (208), a challenge request towards a server node for confirming the inactive session, wherein the challenge request includes at least one of a Session Unique Permanent Identifier (SUPI), a notification Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), and a session Identifier (ID) and, other session related parameter;
receiving, by the processing engine (208), a challenge response from the server node based on the challenge request, wherein the challenge response is one

of an error response and a success response, wherein the error response indicates that the session has been deleted and is absent from the network, and the success response indicates that the session is active and present in the network;
based on receiving the error response as the challenge response, validating, by the processing engine (208), that the session is inactive; and
triggering, by the processing engine (208), a deletion process for the inactive session.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inactive session comprises:
a session which is non-operational/non-functional for an inactive session duration threshold; or
a session for which there is non-availability of a notification or a termination request for the inactive session duration threshold, and wherein the first NF node and the second NF node comprises session data which is inactively stored in the cache memory of at least one of the first NF node and the second NF node.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first NF node is a client node and the second NF node is a server node.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the session data pertaining to the inactive session is inactively stored based on a network condition preventing termination of the session, wherein the network condition comprises at least one of packet loss, synchronization loss, node restart, switchover, and overload.
7. A system (108) for managing a session in a network, the system (108) comprising:
a processing engine (208); and
a memory (204) coupled to the processing engine (208), wherein the memory (204) includes computer implemented instructions to configure the processing engine (208) to:

periodically monitor functionality of a session between a first Network Function (NF) node and a second NF node, wherein the first NF node and the second NF node are associated with a cluster of nodes in the network;
in response to the periodical monitoring, determine that the session is an inactive session based on a plurality of pre-defined conditions; and
based on the determination, delete session data pertaining to the inactive session from a cache memory of at least one of the first NF node and the second NF node.
8. The system (108) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the plurality of pre-defined
conditions to determine that the session is the inactive session comprises:
calculating a time difference between a session creation time and a current time associated with the session; and
if the time difference exceeds an inactive session duration threshold, indicating the session as the inactive session.
9. The system (108) as claimed in claim 7, wherein, upon determining that
session is the inactive session, the processing engine (208) is further configured to:
initiate a challenge request towards a server node for confirming the inactive session, wherein the challenge request includes at least one of a Session Unique Permanent Identifier (SUPI), a notification Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), and a session Identifier (ID) and, other session related parameter;
receive a challenge response from the server node based on the challenge request, wherein the challenge response is one of an error response and a success response, wherein the error response indicates that the session has been deleted and is absent from the network, and the success response indicates that the session is active and present in the network;
based on receiving the error response as the challenge response, validate that the session is inactive; and
trigger a deletion process for the inactive session.

10. The system (108) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the inactive session
comprises:
a session which is non-operational/non-functional for an inactive session duration threshold; or
a session for which there is non-availability of a notification or a termination request for the inactive session duration threshold, and wherein the first NF node and the second NF node comprises session data which is inactively stored in the cache memory of at least one of the first NF node and the second NF node.
11. The system (108) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first NF node is a client node and the second NF node is a server node.
12. The system (108) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the session data pertaining to the inactive session is inactively stored based on a network condition preventing termination of the session, wherein the network condition comprises at least one of packet loss, synchronization loss, node restart, switchover, and overload.
13. A user equipment user equipment (104) communicatively coupled with a
system (108), the coupling comprises steps of:
receiving, by the system (108), a connection request;
sending, by the system (108), an acknowledgment of the connection request to the UE (104); and
transmitting a plurality of signals in response to the connection request, wherein the system (108) is configured for managing a session in a network as claimed in claim 7.