Call-admission controller and method of call-admission control

• US 20040213153A1
• Filed: 04/21/2004
• Published: 10/28/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Nagato, Rie, Onoe, Seizo, Obata, Kazunori, Ishikawa, Yoshihiro
• Granted Patent: US 7,388,832 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/04 for time-division multiplexing H04Q11/0001 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/1325 Priority service
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13256 Call screening
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/1337 Operator, emergency services

Abstract

A call-admission controller is disclosed that allocates, out of shared resources in a communications system, resources required for communication in multiple calls of different priorities. The controller includes an impact-judging unit configured to make a judgment of, when having detected a low-priority call, the impact of the low priority call on the communications system, and a low-priority call admission-determining unit configured to make, based on the impact of which the judgment is made, a determination of whether to admit the low-priority call.

Claims

1. A call-admission controller which allocates, out of shared resources in a communications system, resources required for communication in a plurality of calls of different priorities, comprising:

an impact-judging unit configured to make a judgment of, when having detected a low-priority call, an impact of said low priority call on the communications system; and

a low-priority call admission-determining unit configured to make, based on said impact of which said judgment is made, a determination of whether to admit said low-priority call.

2. The call-admission controller as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said low-priority call admission-determining unit further comprises:

a call-admission threshold-value varying unit configured to cause a change in a call-admission threshold-value for the low-priority call depending on the degree of said impact.

3. The call-admission controller as claimed in claim 2,

wherein said call-admission threshold-value varying unit

sets, based on said impact, an indicator indicating the ease of allocation of the low-priority call, so as to cause, using the set indicator, a change in said call-admission threshold-value for the low-priority call.

4. The call-admission controller as claimed in claim 3,

further comprising:

a defining unit configured to define said indicator as a function determining the ease of the allocation of the low-priority call;

wherein said function sets the call-admission threshold-value for the low-priority call to be equivalent to the call-admission threshold-value for a high-priority call when said impact does not exceed a threshold value defined in advance, and sets the call-admission threshold-value for the low-priority call to be lower than the call-admission threshold-value for the high-priority call when said impact exceeds said threshold value defined in advance.

5. The call-admission controller as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said impact-judging unit

judges, from one or a plurality of the following factors, the number of circuits required for the low-priority call to perform the communication, the time up to completing the communication, the transmission data amount, the power required by communication equipment for performing the communication, the interference amount caused on other ongoing calls, the location of occurrence of said call, the travelling speed of a terminal causing said call, and the type of the terminal causing said call,

said impact of said low-priority call on the communications system.

6. The call-admission controller as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the judgment by the impact-judging unit of the impact of the low-priority call on the communications system, and

the determination by the low-priority call admission-determining unit of whether to admit said low-priority call are performed when there are not many idle shared resources.

7. The call-admission controller as claimed in claim 4, further comprising:

a measuring unit configured to measure, when having detected a call requesting a connection, a change in the usage condition of communication equipment; and

a changing unit which changes said function depending on the amount of said change in the usage condition.

8. A method of call-admission control which allocates out of shared resources in a communications system resources required for communication in a plurality of calls of different priorities, comprising the steps of:

judging, when having detected a low-priority call, an impact of said low-priority call on the communications system;

determining, when judged that said impact is large, a low-priority call-admission threshold value so that the ease of allocation of said low-priority call is set to be lower than the ease of the allocation of a high-priority call; and

determining, according to said determined call-admission threshold value, whether to admit said low-priority call.