Using the ECN Mechanism to Signal Congestion Directly to the Base Station

• US 20120147750A1
• Filed: 08/18/2010
• Published: 06/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Pelletier, Ghyslain, Peisa, Janne
• Granted Patent: US 8,923,115 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/12 Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/31 by tagging of packets, e.g. using discard eligibility [DE] bits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0205 at the air interface dynamic wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/10 Flow control between communication endpoints
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]

Abstract

Techniques for a mobile station to signal a request for a reduction in data transmission rate to a base station are disclosed. An example method for facilitating flow control in a wireless communication system includes monitoring resource use associated with a mobile station and, based upon the resource use, setting a congestion indicator in a header of at least one uplink traffic data packet. The uplink traffic data packet is then sent to a wireless base station, which detects the congestion indicator. In some embodiments, ECN bits in an IP header of the uplink traffic data packet are set. In other embodiments, ECN bits in an IP header of a downlink traffic data packet are set, to trigger the generation of a TCP header that indicates congestion in subsequent uplink packets.

Claims

1-27. -27. (canceled)

28. A method in a mobile station for facilitating flow control in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

monitoring resource use associated with the mobile station;

based upon the resource use associated with the mobile station, setting a congestion indicator in a header of at least one uplink traffic data packet; and

sending the at least one uplink traffic data packet to a wireless base station.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein monitoring resource use associated with the mobile station comprises evaluating one or more of:

processor utilization;

memory utilization; and

battery charge level.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein setting the congestion indicator in the header of at least one uplink traffic data packet comprises adjusting one or more congestion control bits in an Internet-Protocol header of the at least one uplink traffic data packet.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein adjusting one or more congestion control bits in the Internet-Protocol header for the at least one uplink traffic data packet comprises setting Explicit Congestion Notification, ECN, bits in the Internet-Protocol header to signal congestion to the wireless base station.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein adjusting one or more congestion control bits in the Internet-Protocol header for the at least one uplink traffic data packet comprises setting a Congestion Experienced, CE, codepoint in the Internet-Protocol header to signal congestion to the wireless base station.

33. The method of claim 28, wherein setting the congestion indicator in the header of at least one uplink traffic data packet comprises generating a transport-layer header for transmission in the one or more uplink traffic data packets, wherein the transport-layer header comprises the congestion indicator.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the transport-layer header comprises a Transport Control Protocol, TCP, header, and the congestion indicator comprises an ECN-Echo bit.

35. The method of claim 33, comprising adjusting one or more first congestion control bits in an Internet-Protocol header for a downlink packet received by the mobile station and generating the transport-layer header in response to the first congestion control bits in the Internet-Protocol header.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein adjusting one or more first congestion control bits in the Internet-Protocol header for the downlink packet received by the mobile station comprises setting Explicit Congestion Notification, ECN, bits in the Internet-Protocol header, to signal congestion to a transport-layer processing function in the mobile station.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein adjusting one or more first congestion control bits in an Internet-Protocol header for a downlink packet received by the mobile station comprises setting a Congestion Experienced, CE, codepoint in the Internet-Protocol header, to signal congestion to a transport-layer processing function in the mobile station.

38. A method for flow control in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

receiving, at a wireless base station, an uplink traffic data packet sent by a mobile station;

evaluating, at the base station, one or more headers included in the uplink traffic data packet to determine whether the mobile station is indicating congestion; and

based on said evaluating, adjusting a subsequent rate for transmissions to the mobile station, from the mobile station, or both.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein said evaluating comprises detecting Explicit Congestion Notification, ECN, bits in an Internet-Protocol header for the uplink traffic data packet, the ECN bits signaling congestion to the wireless base station.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein said evaluating comprises detecting a Congestion Experienced, CE, bit in an Internet-Protocol header for the uplink traffic data packet, the CE bit signaling congestion to the wireless base station.

41. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

determining whether ECN is configured for a transport data flow corresponding to the uplink traffic data packet; and

clearing the ECN bits in the Internet-Protocol header before forwarding the uplink traffic data packet, if ECN is not configured.

42. The method of claim 38, wherein said evaluating comprises detecting an ECN-Echo bit in a Transport Control Protocol, TCP, header for the uplink traffic data packet, the ECN-Echo bit signaling congestion to the wireless base station.

43. A mobile station comprising one or more processing circuits configured to:

monitor resource use associated with a mobile station;

based upon the resource use associated with the mobile station, set a congestion indicator in a header of at least one uplink traffic data packet; and

send the at least one uplink traffic data packet to a wireless base station.

44. The mobile station of claim 43, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to monitor resource use associated with a mobile station comprises by evaluating one or more of:

processor utilization;

memory utilization; and

battery charge level.

45. The mobile station of claim 43, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to set the congestion indicator in the header of at least one uplink traffic data packet by adjusting one or more congestion control bits in an Internet-Protocol header of the at least one uplink traffic data packet.

46. The mobile station of claim 45, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to adjust one or more congestion control bits in the Internet-Protocol header for the at least one uplink traffic data packet by setting Explicit Congestion Notification, ECN, bits in the Internet-Protocol header to signal congestion to the wireless base station.

47. The mobile station of claim 43, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to set the congestion indicator in the header of at least one uplink traffic data packet by generating a transport-layer header for transmission in the one or more uplink traffic data packets, wherein the transport-layer header comprises the congestion indicator.

48. The mobile station of claim 47, wherein the transport-layer header comprises a Transport Control Protocol, TCP, header, and the congestion indicator comprises an ECN-Echo bit.

49. The mobile station of claim 47, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to adjust one or more first congestion control bits in an Internet-Protocol header for a downlink packet received by the mobile station and to generate the transport-layer header in response to the first congestion control bits in the Internet-Protocol header.

50. The mobile station of claim 49, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to adjust one or more first congestion control bits in the Internet-Protocol header for the downlink packet received by the mobile station by setting Explicit Congestion Notification, ECN, bits in the Internet-Protocol header, to signal congestion to a transport-layer processing function in the mobile station.

51. A base station comprising one or more processing circuits configured to:

receive an uplink traffic data packet sent by a mobile station;

evaluate one or more headers included in the uplink traffic data packet to determine whether the mobile station is indicating congestion; and

adjust, based on the evaluation, a subsequent rate for transmissions to the mobile station, from the mobile station, or both.

52. The base station of claim 51, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to evaluate the one or more headers by detecting Explicit Congestion Notification, ECN, bits in an Internet-Protocol header for the uplink traffic data packet, the ECN bits signaling congestion to the wireless base station.

53. The base station of claim 52, wherein the one or more processing circuits are further configured to:

determine whether ECN is configured for a transport data flow corresponding to the uplink traffic data packet; and

clear the ECN bits in the Internet-Protocol header before forwarding the uplink traffic data packet, if ECN is not configured.

54. The base station of claim 51, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to evaluate the one or more headers by detecting an ECN-Echo bit in a Transport Control Protocol, TCP, header for the uplink traffic data packet, the ECN-Echo bit signaling congestion to the wireless base station.