Method and Apparatus for Leveraging End User Terminals in Self-Learning Networks

• US 20090112778A1
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Published: 04/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Beck, Andre, Hofmann, Markus Andreas
• Granted Patent: US 8,041,656 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 706/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5067 Customer-centric QoS measurements

Abstract

The invention includes a method and apparatus for configuring a self-learning network using feedback information received from an end user terminal communicating via the self-learning network. A method includes receiving feedback information from the end user terminal, generating configuration information for at least one network element of the self-learning network using the received feedback information, and configuring the at least one network element using the generated configuration information. The at least one network element of the self-learning network is configured by executing commands on each of the at least one network element and/or by propagating configuration information to each of the at least one network element. The feedback information may include user and/or terminal feedback information. The configuration information may include any information adapted for use in configuring the at least one network element of the self-learning network (and may also include configuration information for the end user terminal).

Claims

1. A method for configuring a self-learning network, comprising:

receiving feedback information from an end user terminal, wherein the feedback information comprises at least one of user feedback information and terminal feedback information;

generating configuration information for at least one network element of the self-learning network using the received feedback information; and

propagating the configuration information toward the at least one network element of the self-learning network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user feedback information comprises at least one of quality-of-service information and call handling information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal feedback information comprises at least one of information about a processing load of the end user terminal, information about an available memory of the end user terminal, information about a battery level of the end user terminal, and information about a terminal capability of the end user terminal.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the feedback information is received at least one of once per call, in response to an event on the end user terminal, and in response to a request from the self-learning network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of at least one parameter to be configured on the at least one network element and at least one rule to be configured on the at least one network element.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one network element comprises at least one of a border element, a core element, a proxy server, an application server, a media server, a quality-of-service server, and a content adaptation server.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating additional configuration information for the end user terminal; and

propagating the additional configuration information toward the end user terminal.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the configuration information at each of the at least one network element of the self-learning network, wherein each of the at least one network element configures itself using the received configuration information.

9. An apparatus for configuring a self-learning network, comprising:

means for receiving feedback information from an end user terminal, wherein the feedback information comprises at least one of user feedback information and terminal feedback information;

means for generating configuration information for at least one network element of the self-learning network using the received feedback information; and

means for propagating the configuration information toward the at least one network element of the self-learning network.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the user feedback information comprises at least one of quality-of-service information and call handling information.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the terminal feedback information comprises at least one of information about a processing load of the end user terminal, information about an available memory of the end user terminal, information about a battery level of the end user terminal, and information about a terminal capability of the end user terminal.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the feedback information is received at least one of once per call, in response to an event on the end user terminal, and in response to a request from the self-learning network.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of at least one parameter to be configured on the at least one network element and at least one rule to be configured on the at least one network element.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the at least one network element comprises at least one of a border element, a core element, a proxy server, an application server, a media server, a quality-of-service server, and a content adaptation server.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

means for generating additional configuration information for the end user terminal; and

means for propagating the additional configuration information toward the end user terminal.

16. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

means for receiving the configuration information at each of the at least one network element of the self-learning network, wherein each of the at least one network element configures itself using the received configuration information.

17. A method for configuring a self-learning network, comprising:

receiving feedback information from an end user terminal, wherein the feedback information comprises at least one of user feedback information and terminal feedback information;

generating configuration information for at least one network element of the self-learning network using the received feedback information; and

configuring the at least one network element of the self-learning network using the generated configuration information.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein configuring the at least one network element using the generated configuration information comprises:

logging into each of the at least one network element of the self-learning network; and

executing at least one command on each of the at least one network element of the self-learning network.

19. An apparatus for configuring a self-learning network, comprising:

means for receiving feedback information from an end user terminal, wherein the feedback information comprises at least one of user feedback information and terminal feedback information;

means for generating configuration information for at least one network element of the self-learning network using the received feedback information; and

means for configuring the at least one network element of the self-learning network using the generated configuration information.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the means for configuring the at least one network element using the generated configuration information comprises:

means for logging into each of the at least one network element of the self-learning network; and

means for executing at least one command on each of the at least one network element of the self-learning network.

21. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a network element of a self-learning network, configuration information adapted for configuring the network element, wherein the configuration information is generated using feedback information received from at least one end user terminal communicating via the self-learning network, wherein the feedback information comprises at least one of user feedback information and terminal feedback information; and

processing the configuration information to configure the network element according to the configuration information.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the user feedback information comprises at least one of quality-of-service information and call handling information.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the terminal feedback information comprises at least one of information about a processing load of the end user terminal, information about an available memory of the end user terminal, information about a battery level of the end user terminal, and information about a terminal capability of the end user terminal.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of at least one parameter to be configured on the at least one network element and at least one rule to be configured on the at least one network element.