Methods and apparatus for supporting quality of service in communication systems

• US 20070243879A1
• Filed: 07/14/2006
• Published: 10/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: O'Neill, Alan William, Das, Arnab, Uppala, Sathyadev Venkata, Park, Vincent D., Corson, M. Scott, Li, Junyi, Anigstein, Pablo, Srinivasan, Murari, Parizhisky, Vladimir, Impett, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 8,170,572 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/453
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5019 Ensuring fulfilment of SLA
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5022 by giving priorities, e.g. assigning classes of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/509 wherein the managed service relates to media content delivery, e.g. audio, video or TV
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5093 wherein the managed service relates to messaging or chat services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2483 involving identification of individual flows
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/14 using intermediate storage
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/12 Wireless traffic scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]

Abstract

An access node, e.g., base station, determines a configuration of an end node, e.g., wireless terminal, intended to support a specific traffic flow and sends a configuration command to the wireless terminal. A base station may determine one or more parameters associated with classification, queue management, scheduling, and/or automatic repeat request, and then send a configuration command to the wireless terminal instructing it to implement a configuration operation. In some embodiments, a wireless terminal sets the value of an internal parameter to a value directly provided by the base station in a configuration command. In some embodiments, a wireless terminal determines and sets the value of an internal parameter as a function of information included in the configuration command from the base station.

Claims

1. A method of operating an access node comprising:

determining wireless terminal configuration parameters corresponding to a traffic flow; and

communicating a configuration command instructing a wireless terminal to implement a configuration operation corresponding to at least one determined configuration parameter.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said access node is a base station and wherein communicating a configuration command includes transmitting said command to said wireless terminal over a wireless communications link.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said configuration command instructs the wireless terminal to perform at least one of:

i) setting an internal parameter to a parameter value determined by said access node; and

ii) setting an internal parameter to a value determined by said wireless terminal based on a parameter determined by said access node.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein configuration command instructs said wireless terminal to perform an automatic repeat request configuration operation corresponding to said traffic flow.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving, prior to performing said determining operation, a signal indicating a quality of service requirement for said traffic flow; and

wherein said determining includes determining wireless terminal configuration parameters required to satisfy said indicated quality of service requirement.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said configuration command instructs said wireless terminal to set a request group corresponding to said traffic flow.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending said wireless terminal a dictionary indicator indicating which one of a plurality of uplink request signal definition dictionaries should be used when sending an uplink resource request.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating a configuration command includes instructing said wireless terminal to set a minimum communication rate corresponding to said traffic flow.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating a configuration command includes instructing said wireless terminal to set a sharing weight corresponding to said traffic flow.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating a configuration command includes instructing said wireless terminal to store latency tolerance information specified by said access node for said traffic flow.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating a configuration command includes instructing said wireless terminal to store loss tolerance information specified by said access node for said traffic flow.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating a configuration command includes instructing said wireless terminal to set a minimum communications rate, latency tolerance and loss tolerance specified by said access node for said traffic flow.

13. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving, prior to performing said determining operation, a signal providing traffic flow profile information for said traffic flow; and

wherein said determining includes determining wireless terminal configuration parameters required to support a traffic flow having the indicated traffic flow profile.

14. The method of claim 3, wherein said configuration command instructs the wireless terminal to set a scheduling parameter used to schedule transmission of data units corresponding to said flow.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

setting an uplink scheduling parameter used by said access node in assigning uplink communications resources to said wireless terminal.

16. The method of claim 15,

wherein said uplink communications resources are uplink traffic channel segments;

and

wherein said uplink traffic channel segments are assigned as a function of a latency requirement corresponding to said traffic flow.

17. The method of claim 3, wherein said configuration command instructs the wireless terminal to set an automatic repeat request setting corresponding to said traffic flow, said setting being used to control retransmission of at least some data units in said traffic flow.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

setting in said access node, an automatic repeat request parameter corresponding to said traffic flow, said setting being used to control a discard timer used to control discarding of received information.

19. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

wherein said configuration command instructs the wireless terminal to set an automatic repeat request parameter corresponding to said traffic flow, said setting being used to control a discard timer used to control discarding of received information.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

setting in said access node an automatic repeat request setting corresponding to said traffic flow, said setting being used to control retransmission of at least some data units in said traffic flow.

21. The method of claim 3, wherein said configuration command instructs the wireless terminal to set classifier parameters used to identify data units corresponding to said traffic flow.

22. The method claim 1, further comprising:

making a flow admission control determination prior to communicating said configuration command, said admission control determination including determining if sufficient resources are available at said access node to support said traffic flow at a particular quality of service level.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said particular quality of service level is requested by said wireless terminal.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining wireless terminal configuration parameters corresponding to an additional traffic flow corresponding to said wireless terminal; and

communicating an additional configuration command instructing said wireless terminal to implement an additional configuration operation corresponding to at least one additional determined configuration parameter.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein communicating a configuration command and communicating an additional configuration command are performed by transmitting a signal including both said configuration command and said additional configuration command;

and

wherein said determining wireless terminal configuration parameters corresponding to said additional traffic flow is performed while said traffic flow is ongoing.

26. A base station comprising:

a parameter determination module for determining wireless terminal configuration parameters corresponding to a traffic flow; and

a communication module for communicating a configuration command instructing a wireless terminal to implement a configuration operation corresponding to at least one determined configuration parameter.

27. The base station of claim 26, wherein said communication module includes a transmitter module for transmitting said command to said wireless terminal over a wireless communications link.

28. The base station of claim 26, wherein said configuration command instructs the wireless terminal to perform at least one of:

i) setting an internal parameter to a parameter value determined by said access node; and

ii) setting an internal parameter to a value determined by said wireless terminal based on a parameter determined by said access node.

29. The base station of claim 28, wherein said configuration command instructs said wireless terminal to perform an automatic repeat request configuration operation corresponding to said traffic flow.

30. The base station of claim 28, further comprising:

a receiver module for receiving, prior to performing said determining operation, a signal indicating a quality of service requirement for said traffic flow; and

wherein said determination module determines wireless terminal configuration parameters required to satisfy said indicated quality of service requirement.

31. The base station of claim 26, wherein said configuration command instructs said wireless terminal to set a request group corresponding to said traffic flow.

32. The base station of claim 31, further comprising:

a dictionary selection module for selecting a dictionary sending said wireless terminal a dictionary indicator indicating which one of a plurality of uplink request signal definition dictionaries should be used when sending an uplink resource request.

33. A base station comprising:

means for determining wireless terminal configuration parameters corresponding to a traffic flow; and

means for communicating a configuration command instructing a wireless terminal to implement a configuration operation corresponding to at least one determined configuration parameter.

34. The base station of claim 33, wherein said means for communicating includes a transmitter module for transmitting said command to said wireless terminal over a wireless communications link.

35. The base station of claim 33, wherein said configuration command instructs the wireless terminal to perform at least one of:

i) setting an internal parameter to a parameter value determined by said access node; and

ii) setting an internal parameter to a value determined by said wireless terminal based on a parameter determined by said access node.

36. The base station of claim 35, wherein said configuration command instructs said wireless terminal to perform an automatic repeat request configuration operation corresponding to said traffic flow.

37. The base station of claim 35, further comprising:

means for receiving, prior to performing said determining operation, a signal indicating a quality of service requirement for said traffic flow; and

wherein said means for determining determines wireless terminal configuration parameters required to satisfy said indicated quality of service requirement.

38. The base station of claim 33, wherein said configuration command instructs said wireless terminal to set a request group corresponding to said traffic flow.

39. The base station of claim 38, further comprising:

means for selecting a dictionary sending said wireless terminal a dictionary indicator indicating which one of a plurality of uplink request signal definition dictionaries should be used when sending an uplink resource request.

40. A computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for implementing a method of operating an access node, the method comprising:

determining wireless terminal configuration parameters corresponding to a traffic flow; and

communicating a configuration command instructing a wireless terminal to implement a configuration operation corresponding to at least one determined configuration parameter.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 40, wherein said access node is a base station and wherein communicating a configuration command includes transmitting said command to said wireless terminal over a wireless communications link.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 40, wherein said configuration command instructs the wireless terminal to perform at least one of:

i) setting an internal parameter to a parameter value determined by said access node; and

ii) setting an internal parameter to a value determined by said wireless terminal based on a parameter determined by said access node.

43. The computer readable medium of claim 42, wherein said configuration command instructs said wireless terminal to perform an automatic repeat request configuration operation corresponding to said traffic flow.

44. The computer readable medium of claim 42, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

receiving, prior to performing said determining operation, a signal indicating a quality of service requirement for said traffic flow; and

wherein said determining includes determining wireless terminal configuration parameters required to satisfy said indicated quality of service requirement.

45. The computer readable medium of claim 40, wherein said configuration command instructs said wireless terminal to set a request group corresponding to said traffic flow.

46. A method of operating a wireless terminal comprising:

receiving a message including configuration information associated with a traffic flow; and

implementing a configuration operation using said received configuration information.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein said traffic flow is an uplink traffic flow.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein implementing said configuration operation includes:

setting a traffic flow classifier parameter to a value specified by said received configuration information; and

performing a traffic classification operation on traffic to be transmitted using said traffic flow classifier to identify traffic corresponding to said traffic flow.

49. The method of claim 48, further comprising:

storing traffic identified by said traffic classification operation in a queue corresponding to said traffic flow.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein said received configuration information includes transmission scheduling information, the method further comprising:

setting a transmission scheduling control parameter used to control the transmission of data units from said queue as a function of said received transmission scheduling information.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein said transmission scheduling control parameter is a link sharing weight.

52. The method of claim 48, wherein said configuration operation includes setting a transmission control parameter as a function of said received configuration information.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein said received configuration information includes:

latency information; and

wherein setting a transmission control parameter includes setting a parameter affecting transmission latency.

54. The method of claim 52,

wherein said received configuration information includes link sharing information;

and

wherein setting a transmission control parameter includes setting a parameter affecting transmission resource sharing between traffic flows.

55. The method of claim 52,

wherein said received configuration information includes automatic repeat request information;

and

wherein setting a transmission control parameter includes setting a parameter affecting automatic repeat request operations related to said traffic flow.

56. The method of claim 48,

wherein said received configuration information includes at least two of:

latency information, link sharing information and automatic repeat request information, and

wherein said configuration operation includes setting a plurality of transmission control parameters as a function of said received configuration information.

57. The method of claim 48,

receiving a message including configuration information associated with an additional traffic flow;

and

implementing an additional configuration operation using said received additional configuration information.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein said implementing an additional configuration operation is performed while said traffic flow is ongoing.

59. A wireless terminal, comprising:

a receiver for receiving a message including configuration information associated with a traffic flow; and

a configuration control module for implementing a configuration operation using said received configuration information.

60. The wireless terminal of claim 59, wherein said traffic flow is an uplink traffic flow.

61. The wireless terminal of claim 60, wherein configuration control module includes:

a classification control module for setting a traffic flow classifier parameter to a value specified by said received configuration information; and

a traffic classifier module for performing a traffic classification operation on traffic to be transmitted using said traffic flow classifier to identify traffic corresponding to said traffic flow.

62. The wireless terminal of claim 61, further comprising:

memory for storing traffic identified by said traffic classification operation in a queue corresponding to said traffic flow.

63. The wireless terminal of claim 62, wherein said received configuration information includes transmission scheduling information, the wireless terminal further comprising:

a scheduling module for setting a transmission scheduling control parameter used to control the transmission of data units from said queue as a function of said received transmission scheduling information.

64. The wireless terminal of claim 63, wherein said transmission scheduling control parameter is a link sharing weight.

65. The wireless terminal of claim 61, further comprising a scheduling module for setting a transmission control parameter as a function of said received configuration information.

66. The wireless terminal of claim 65, wherein said received configuration information includes:

latency information; and

wherein said scheduling module sets a parameter affecting transmission latency.

67. The wireless terminal of claim 65,

wherein said received configuration information includes link sharing information;

and

wherein said scheduling module sets a transmission control parameter affecting transmission resource sharing between traffic flows.

68. The wireless terminal of claim 65,

wherein said received configuration information includes automatic repeat request information;

and

wherein said scheduling module sets a parameter affecting automatic repeat request operations related to said traffic flow.

69. A wireless terminal, comprising:

means for receiving a message including configuration information associated with a traffic flow; and

means for implementing a configuration operation using said received configuration information.

70. The wireless terminal of claim 69, wherein said traffic flow is an uplink traffic flow.

71. The wireless terminal of claim 70, wherein said means for implementing a configuration operation includes:

means for setting a traffic flow classifier parameter to a value specified by said received configuration information; and

means for performing a traffic classification operation on traffic to be transmitted using said traffic flow classifier to identify traffic corresponding to said traffic flow.

72. The wireless terminal of claim 71, further comprising:

means for storing traffic identified by said traffic classification operation in a queue corresponding to said traffic flow.

73. The wireless terminal of claim 72, wherein said received configuration information includes transmission scheduling information, the wireless terminal further comprising:

means for setting a transmission scheduling control parameter used to control the transmission of data units from said queue as a function of said received transmission scheduling information.

74. The wireless terminal of claim 73, wherein said transmission scheduling control parameter is a link sharing weight.

75. The wireless terminal of claim 71, further comprising:

means for setting a transmission control parameter as a function of said received configuration information.

76. A computer readable medium embodying machine executable instructions for performing a method of operating a wireless terminal, the method comprising:

receiving a message including configuration information associated with a traffic flow; and

implementing a configuration operation using said received configuration information.

77. The computer readable medium of claim 76, wherein said traffic flow is an uplink traffic flow.

78. The computer readable medium of claim 77, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

setting a traffic flow classifier parameter to a value specified by said received configuration information; and

performing a traffic classification operation on traffic to be transmitted using said traffic flow classifier to identify traffic corresponding to said traffic flow;

as part of said step of implementing said configuration operation.

79. The computer readable medium of claim 78, further embodying machine executable instructions for:

storing traffic identified by said traffic classification operation in a queue corresponding to said traffic flow.

80. The computer readable medium of claim 79, wherein said received configuration information includes transmission scheduling information, the computer readable medium further embodying machine executable instructions for:

setting a transmission scheduling control parameter used to control the transmission of data units from said queue as a function of said received transmission scheduling information.

81. The computer readable medium of claim 80, wherein said transmission scheduling control parameter is a link sharing weight.