METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ALLOCATING BANDWIDTH FOR A NETWORK

• US 20080159131A1
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Levy, Yonatan, Mang, Xiaowen, Hoeflin, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,538,449 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/22 Traffic shaping
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/20 Negotiating bandwidth
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/52 based on load
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/54 based on quality criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

A method and apparatus for performing traffic engineering, e.g., allocating bandwidth, on a wireless access network are disclosed. For example, the method determines a number of subscriber stations (SSs) that a Base Station (BS) is capable of supporting in accordance with at least one performance objective for voice traffic, wherein the at least one performance objective for voice traffic comprises a type of codec. The method then allocates bandwidth by the base station in accordance with the number of subscriber stations that the base station is capable of supporting.

Claims

1. A method for allocating bandwidth for a network, comprising:

determining a number of subscriber stations (SSs) that a Base Station (BS) is capable of supporting in accordance with at least one performance objective for voice traffic, wherein said at least one performance objective for voice traffic comprises a type of codec; and

allocating bandwidth by said base station in accordance with said number of subscriber stations that said base station is capable of supporting.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring an actual load for each of said subscriber stations;

monitoring an actual blocking for each of said subscriber stations;

determining whether each of said subscriber stations is conforming or non-conforming to a negotiated load level for each of said subscriber stations; and

determining whether or not each of said subscriber stations is blocked in accordance with a negotiated blocking target.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

applying a first blocking scheme to any one of said subscriber stations that is determined to be non-conforming so that each of the non-conforming subscriber stations is limited to its negotiated load level.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

performing a second blocking scheme that redistribute a blocking rate among a plurality of active voice lines.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one performance objective for data traffic for each of said subscriber stations comprises at least one of:

an average bit rate, an allowable peak rate, an average burst length during peak transmission, or an active factor.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one performance objective for voice traffic further comprises at least one of:

a maximum number of concurrent voice calls or a load per voice line.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said voice traffic is treated with a highest priority by said base station versus data traffic.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said voice traffic and said data traffic use separate queues at said base station.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said network is a wireless access network.

10. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions including instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of a method for allocating bandwidth for a network, comprising:

determining a number of subscriber stations (SSs) that a Base Station (BS) is capable of supporting in accordance with at least one performance objective for voice traffic, wherein said at least one performance objective for voice traffic comprises a type of codec; and

allocating bandwidth by said base station in accordance with said number of subscriber stations that said base station is capable of supporting.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising:

monitoring an actual load for each of said subscriber stations;

monitoring an actual blocking for each of said subscriber stations;

determining whether each of said subscriber stations is conforming or non-conforming to a negotiated load level for each of said subscriber stations; and

determining whether or not each of said subscriber stations is blocked in accordance with a negotiated blocking target.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising:

applying a first blocking scheme to any one of said subscriber stations that is determined to be non-conforming so that each of the non-conforming subscriber stations is limited to its negotiated load level.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising:

performing a second blocking scheme that redistribute a blocking rate among a plurality of active voice lines.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein at least one performance objective for data traffic for each of said subscriber stations comprises at least one of:

an average bit rate, an allowable peak rate, an average burst length during peak transmission, or an active factor.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein said at least one performance objective for voice traffic further comprises at least one of:

a maximum number of concurrent voice calls or a load per voice line.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein said voice traffic is treated with a highest priority by said base station versus data traffic.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein said voice traffic and said data traffic use separate queues at said base station.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein said network is a wireless access network.

19. An apparatus for allocating bandwidth for a network, comprising:

means for determining a number of subscriber stations (SSs) that a Base Station (BS) is capable of supporting in accordance with at least one performance objective for voice traffic, wherein said at least one performance objective for voice traffic comprises a type of codec; and

means for allocating bandwidth by said base station in accordance with said number of subscriber stations that said base station is capable of supporting.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:

means for monitoring an actual load for each of said subscriber stations;

means for monitoring an actual blocking for each of said subscriber stations;

means for determining whether each of said subscriber stations is conforming or non-conforming to a negotiated load level for each of said subscriber stations; and

means for determining whether or not each of said subscriber stations is blocked in accordance with a negotiated blocking target.