DISTRIBUTED IMPLEMENTATION OF DYNAMIC WIRELESS TRAFFIC POLICY

• US 20120023236A1
• Filed: 07/08/2011
• Published: 01/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seven Networks LLC (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Seven Networks Inc
• Inventors: Backholm, Ari, Luna, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 9,077,630 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• 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 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/22 Traffic shaping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2408 for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/35 by embedding flow control information in regular packets, e.g. piggybacking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/566 Grouping or aggregating service requests, e.g. for unified processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/14 using intermediate storage
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/02 Power saving arrangements in wired systems H04L12/12; signaling of mobile application services, e.g. low battery notifications H04W4/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems and methods for distributed implementation of dynamic wireless traffic policy are disclosed. In one aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure include a system for optimizing resources in a mobile network having a local proxy on a mobile device to aggregate client-side parameters and a proxy server to aggregate server-side parameters. The local proxy and the proxy server can each communicate the client-side parameters and the server-side parameters, respectively, to the other component, to formulate a policy for traffic control in the mobile network between the mobile device and the server. The policy can be jointly implemented by the local proxy and the proxy server and dynamically adjusted in real-time.

Claims

1. A system for optimizing resources in a mobile network, the system, comprising:

a mobile device having a local proxy to aggregate client-side parameters, the client-side parameters include, user activity status indicating whether the user is active or inactive;

a proxy server to aggregate server-side parameters, the proxy server being coupled to the mobile device and being wirelessly coupled to a server with which the mobile device interacts, the proxy server being able to wirelessly communicate with the local proxy;

wherein, the local proxy and the proxy server each communicate the client-side parameters and the server-side parameters, respectively, to the other component, to formulate a policy for traffic control in the mobile network between the mobile device and the server;

wherein, the policy is jointly implemented by the local proxy and the proxy server and dynamically adjustable in real-time.

2. A system for optimizing resources in a mobile network, the system, comprising:

a mobile device having a local proxy to aggregate client-side parameters;

a proxy server to aggregate server-side parameters, the proxy server being coupled to the mobile device and being wirelessly coupled to a server with which the mobile device interacts, the proxy server being able to wirelessly communicate with the local proxy;

wherein, the local proxy and the proxy server each communicate the client-side parameters and the server-side parameters, respectively, to the other component, to formulate a policy for traffic control in the mobile network between the mobile device and the server;

wherein, the policy is jointly implemented by the local proxy and the proxy server and dynamically adjustable in real-time.

3. The system of claim 2,

wherein, the client-side parameters include identification of an application installed on the mobile device and polling frequency of the application;

wherein the proxy server uses the client-side parameters to determine frequency with which polling by the application yields new data and creates a probability profile for the application using the determined frequency.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein, the local proxy uses the probability profile to determine whether to respond to an application poll using a local cache on the mobile device.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein, the client-side parameters include application parameters.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein, the application parameters include, identification of applications installed on the mobile device and polling frequency of the application.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein, the application parameters include, state of the application including background operation, foreground operation, inactive, or active.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein, the application parameters include, application traffic parameters, including one or more of, polling rate, protocol used, amount of data, and interaction with other applications.

9. The system of claim 2, wherein, the client-side parameters include device parameters.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein, the device parameters include, user activity status indicating whether the user is active or inactive.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein, the device parameters include, one or more of, network availability, network strength, network congestion.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein, the device parameters include, radio state of each wireless radio on the mobile device, including one or more of, Bluetooth, WiFi, and cellular radios.

13. The system of claim 2, wherein, the server-side parameters include network parameters.

14. The system of claim 2, wherein, the server-side parameters include activity parameters for other devices or users.

15. The system of claim 2, wherein, the server-side parameters include content host parameters which indicate whether new content is available.

16. The system of claim 2, wherein, the server-side parameters include location parameters determined from triangulation and/or GPS.

17. A method of policy management for network resource use optimization in a wireless network, the method, comprising:

detecting, by a proxy server, that multiple mobile clients are requesting content polls directed towards a common host server, the proxy server being wirelessly coupled to the multiple mobile clients;

polling, by the proxy server, the common host server for the content requested by the multiple mobile clients;

sending the content received from the common host server to each of the multiple mobile clients such that each client need not make individual polls to the common host server.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the requesting of content polls directed towards the common host server are occurring within a time period.

19. A method of policy management for network resource use optimization in a wireless network, the method, comprising:

tracking, by a proxy server, network conditions in a specific network area, the proxy server being wirelessly coupled to mobile clients in the specific network area;

setting polling schedules for the mobile clients in the specific network area according to the network conditions.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the setting the polling schedules includes adjusting the polling frequency made to content hosts.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the proxy server adjusts content delivery schedule to the mobile clients from content hosts.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the polling frequency made to the content hosts is adjusted by blocking or adjusting the schedule of at least some polls from the mobile clients from reaching the wireless network.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the at least some polls are block from reaching the wireless network until indication of changed or different response at the content hosts is detected.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein, the polling frequency is adjusted based on a number of mobile clients serviced in the specific network area.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein, the polling frequency is adjusted based on a number of mobile clients serviced in the specific network area.

26. The method of claim 19, further comprising, communicating the polling schedules to the mobile clients in the specific network area;

wherein the polling schedules instruct the mobile clients to poll on different schedules so as to avoid congestion.

27. The method of claim 19, further comprising,

detecting, by the proxy server, network congestion in the specific network area;

reducing polling frequency for content made to hosts made by the mobile clients serviced in the specific network area.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein, network congestion is determined based on reduced data transfer speeds in the wireless network.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein, network congestion is determined based on higher retransmission rates on lower level protocols.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein, network congestion is determined based on failure of mobile clients in the specific network area to be able to connect to the wireless network.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein, the failure to connect is reported by local proxies on the mobile clients able to communicate with the proxy server.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein, the network congestion is reported by a network operator.

33. The method of claim 19, wherein, the polling frequency is reduced for content made by applications meeting a criterion.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein, the criteria includes, low priority application, or applications running in the background as opposed to the foreground.

35. The method of claim 19, wherein, the local proxies of respective mobile clients create traffic profiles of applications installed on the mobile clients and transfers the traffic profiles to the proxy server for use in managing network resources in the wireless network.

36. A system for policy management for network resource use optimization in a wireless network, the system, comprising:

means for, tracking network conditions in a specific network area;

means for, adjusting the polling frequency made to content hosts based on a number of mobile clients serviced in the specific network area;

means for, detecting, by the proxy server, network congestion in the specific network area;

means for, reducing polling frequency for content made to hosts made by the mobile clients serviced in the specific network area.

37. The system of claim 36, further comprising, means for, setting polling schedules for mobile clients serviced in the specific network area according to the network conditions.

38. A machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions which when executed by a processor performs a method of policy management for network resource use optimization in a wireless network, the method, comprising:

detecting that multiple mobile clients are requesting content polls directed towards a common host server;

polling the common host server for the content requested by the multiple mobile clients;

sending the content received from the common host server to each of the multiple mobile clients such that each client need not make individual polls to the common host server.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

tracking network conditions in a specific network area;

setting polling schedules for the mobile clients in the specific network area according to the network conditions;

detecting network congestion in the specific network area;

reducing polling frequency for content made to hosts made by the mobile clients serviced in the specific network area.

adjusting content delivery schedule to the mobile clients from content hosts.