Provisioning of application categories at a user equipment during network congestion

• US 10,420,017 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2017
• Issued: 09/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intel IP Corporation (Intel Corporation)
• Inventors: Pinheiro, Ana Lucia A., Martinez Tarradell, Marta, Siow, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Man U
• Application Number:
  US15/644,327
• Publication Number:
  US 20170311229A1
• Time in Patent Office: 802 Days
• Field of Search: 370235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2475 for supporting traffic characterised by the type of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/28 in relation to timing considerations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0226 based on location or mobility handoff or reselection H04W36/00; mobile application services making use of the location of users or terminals H04W4/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0284 detecting congestion or overload during communication monitoring arrangements H04L43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/06 based on traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Technology for a network element configured to apply Application Specific Congestion Control for Data Communication (ACDC) in a wireless network is disclosed. The network element can determine to apply ACDC in the wireless network to mitigate overload of the wireless network. The network element can process barring information for one or more ACDC categories for transmission to a user equipment (UE) when ACDC is applied in the wireless network. The barring information can indicate that the UE is prevented from accessing the network for applications associated with the one or more ACDC categories when ACDC is applied in the wireless network.

Claims

1. An apparatus of a network element configured to apply Application Specific Congestion Control for Data Communication (ACDC) in a wireless network, the apparatus comprising:

one or more processors to;

determine, at the network element, to apply ACDC in the wireless network to mitigate overload of the wireless network; and

process, at the network element, barring information for one or more ACDC categories for transmission to a user equipment (UE) when ACDC is applied in the wireless network, wherein the barring information indicates that the UE is prevented from accessing the network for applications associated with the one or more ACDC categories when ACDC is applied in the wireless network; and

process one or more ACDC categories for transmission to the UE, wherein a highest ACDC category is associated with applications that are least likely to be restricted at the UE and a lowest ACDC category is associated with applications that are most likely to be restricted at the UE, and

memory to store the one or more ACDC categories and an indication of the applications included in the one or more ACDC categories.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver to transmit the barring information for the one or more ACDC categories to the UE when ACDC is applied in the wireless network.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver to broadcast the barring information for the one or more ACDC categories when ACDC is applied in the wireless network.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors process at least four ACDC categories for transmission to the UE.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors apply ACDC to mitigate overload in one or more of a radio access network (RAN) or a core network (CN).

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors process the barring information for the one or more ACDC categories for transmission to a roaming UE within the wireless network.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the network element is included in a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) or an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN).

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the applications associated with the one or more ACDC categories include operator-identified applications.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors determine to apply ACDC in the wireless network to mitigate overload of the wireless network based on a congestion level.

10. An apparatus of a user equipment (UE) operable to control network access of applications when Application Specific Congestion Control for Data Communication (ACDC) is applied in a wireless network, the apparatus comprising:

one or more processors to;

process, at the UE, barring information for one or more ACDC categories received from a network element when ACDC is applied in the wireless network, wherein the barring information indicates to the UE that applications associated with the one or more ACDC categories are prevented at the UE from accessing the network element when ACDC is applied in the wireless network; and

prevent, at the UE, the applications included in the one or more ACDC categories indicated in the barring information from accessing the network element when ACDC is applied in the wireless network; and

process a configuration with one or more ACDC categories received from the network element, wherein the configuration indicates that a highest ACDC category is associated with applications that are least likely to be restricted at the UE and a lowest ACDC category is associated with applications that are most likely to be restricted at the UE; and

memory to store the one or more ACDC categories and an indication of the applications included in the one or more ACDC categories.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a transceiver to receive the barring information for the one or more ACDC categories from the network element when ACDC is applied in the wireless network.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a transceiver to receive the barring information for the one or more ACDC categories via a broadcast from the network element.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors process a configuration with at least four ACDC categories received from the network element.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors process the barring information for the one or more ACDC categories received from the network element when the UE is roaming within the wireless network.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the applications associated with the one or more ACDC categories include operator-identified applications.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the UE includes an antenna, a touch sensitive display screen, a speaker, a microphone, a graphics processor, an application processor, an internal memory, or a non-volatile memory port.

17. At least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium comprising instructions embodied thereon, the instructions when executed by one or more processors of a network element cause the network element to perform the following:

determining, at the network element, to apply Application Specific Congestion Control for Data Communication (ACDC) in a wireless network to mitigate overload of the wireless network;

processing, at the network element, barring information for one or more ACDC categories for transmission to a user equipment (UE) when ACDC is applied in the wireless network, wherein the barring information indicates to the UE that applications associated with the one or more ACDC categories are prevented at the UE from accessing the network element when ACDC is applied in the wireless network; and

configuring the UE with one or more ACDC categories, wherein a highest ACDC category is associated with applications that are least likely to be restricted at the UE and a lowest ACDC category is associated with applications that are most likely to be restricted at the UE.

18. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions which when executed by the one or more processors cause the network element to perform the following:

processing the barring information for the one or more ACDC categories for transmission to the UE via a broadcast.

19. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions which when executed by the one or more processors cause the network element to perform the following:

configuring the UE with at least four ACDC categories.

20. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions which when executed by the one or more processors cause the network element to perform the following:

applying ACDC to mitigate overload in one or more of a radio access network (RAN) or a core network (CN).

21. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions which when executed by the one or more processors cause the network element to perform the following:

processing the barring information for the one or more ACDC categories for transmission to a roaming UE within the wireless network.

22. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the network element is included in a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) or an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN).

23. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the applications associated with the one or more ACDC categories include operator-identified applications.