METHODS FOR MANAGING RESOURCE UTILIZATION IN A LONG TERM EVOLUTION COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20120170552A1
• Filed: 12/30/2010
• Published: 07/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Inventors: Oprescu-Surcobe, Valentin, Korus, Michael F., Newberg, Donald G., Pandey, Aparna
• Granted Patent: US 9,237,483 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/332
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/16 Central resource management; Negotiation of resources or communication parameters, e.g. negotiating bandwidth or QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0007 for multicast or broadcast services, e.g. MBMS multicast or broadcast application services H04W4/06; resource management for broadcast services H04W72/30; connection management for selective distribution or broadcast H04W76/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0011 for data sessions of end-to-end connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/36 for reassigning the resources associated with the released connections

Abstract

Methods for managing resource utilization in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication system are described. In one method, an application server: receives signaling indicating resource utilization in the LTE system; determines, based on this signaling, a set of control parameters for a user equipment (UE) receiving service from the LTE system; and sends the set of control parameters to the UE, wherein the set of control parameters indicates behavior for the UE toward at least one of maintaining LTE system resources or modifying standard handover procedures. The signaling indicating resource utilization in the LTE system is sent from UE, the LTE system, or both.

Claims

1. A method for managing resource utilization in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication system, the method comprising:

an application server performing;

receiving signaling indicating resource utilization in the LTE system;

determining, based on the signaling indicating resource utilization, a set of control parameters for a user equipment (UE) receiving service from the LTE system; and

sending the set of control parameters to the UE, wherein the set of control parameters indicates behavior for the UE toward at least one of maintaining LTE system resources or modifying standard handover procedures.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of control parameters comprises a resources request and release parameter that indicates the UE'"'"'s behavior toward requesting, holding, or releasing an LTE system resource and timing information of when, for how long and how often the behavior occurs.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the resources request and release parameter indicates to the UE'"'"'s to perform at least one of:

request an LTE connection;

release an LTE connection;

hold an LTE connection;

request an evolved packet system (EPS) bearer;

release an EPS bearer

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of control parameters comprises a time hold parameter that indicates when and for how long the UE signals the LTE system in order to hold an LTE connection.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of control parameters comprises a modifier for handover behavior that indicates to the UE to perform at least one of:

withhold measuring of signals received from eNodeBs;

withhold sending a signal measurement report to an eNodeB in order to prevent triggering handover signaling from the eNodeB;

or

ignore a handover command from an eNodeB.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of control parameters comprises a list, determined by the applications server, of acceptable eNodeB'"'"'s for servicing the UE.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of control parameters comprises a filtering parameter that indicates particular UE to which the set of control parameters applies.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the filtering parameter comprises at least one of:

a filter tag that limits applicability to the UE of the set of control parameters based on whether the UE possesses a tag that matches the filter tag;

or

a current override value that limits applicability to the UE of the set of control parameters based on whether the UE previously applied a set of control parameters having an associated override value that is less than the current override value.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of control parameters is sent over an Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the EPS bearer comprises at least one of:

a default bearer, a dedicated bearer, or a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) bearer.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling indicating resource utilization is received from at least one UE and comprises an identifier for an eNodeB and access probability factors broadcast by the eNodeB.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling indicating resource utilization is received from the LTE system.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the signaling indicating resource utilization indicates at least one of:

a number of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer allocations;

total reserved bandwidth;

a total number of LTE connections;

a number of ports available at gateways;

an amount of memory available for buffering;

a level of backhaul utilization;

or

an air interface congestion level.

14. A method for managing resource utilization in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication system, the method comprising:

a user equipment (UE) performing;

receiving a set of control parameters from an application server; and

using the set of control parameters to determine behavior of the UE toward at least one of maintaining LTE system resources or modifying standard handover procedures.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the set of control parameters comprises at least one of:

a resources request and release descriptor that indicates to the UE'"'"'s to perform behavior of at least one of request an LTE connection, release an LTE connection, hold an LTE connection, request an evolved packet system (EPS) bearer or release an EPS bearer and timing information of when, for how long and how often the behavior occurs;

a time hold parameter that indicates when and for how long the UE signals the LTE system in order to hold an LTE connection;

a modifier for handover behavior that causes the UE to modify its standard handover behavior while the UE is connected to the LTE system;

a list of acceptable eNodeB'"'"'s for servicing the UE;

or

a filtering parameter that indicates particular UE to which the set of control parameters applies.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising the UE receiving the modifier for handover behavior, and performing at least one of:

withholding measuring of signals received from eNodeBs;

withholding sending a signal measurement report to an eNodeB after detecting a weak signal from the eNodeB, in order to prevent triggering handover signaling from the eNodeB;

or

ignoring a handover command from an eNodeB.

17. The method of claim 14 further comprising the UE sending to the application server signaling that indicates resource utilization in the LTE system, wherein the signaling from the UE indicates at least one of:

an identifier for an eNodeB and access probability factors broadcast by the eNodeB;

the number and Quality of Service of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearers used by the UE for all of its applications and services;

or

utilization of Multimedia Broadcast Multimedia Services (MBMS) bearers shared with other UE.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the control parameters are determined by the application server based on signaling received by the application server by at least one of a UE or the LTE system, wherein the signaling indicates resource utilization in the LTE system.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the signaling provided to the application server indicates at least one of:

a number of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer allocations;

total reserved bandwidth;

a total number of LTE connections;

a number of ports available at gateways;

an amount of memory available for buffering;

a level of backhaul utilization;

or

an air interface congestion level.

19. A method for managing resource utilization in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication system, the method comprising:

at the LTE system;

receiving, from an application server, a request for signaling indicating resource utilization in the LTE system;

receiving, from the application server, a set of reporting criteria;

providing, to the application server, the signaling indicating resource utilization in the LTE system, at a time and with a frequency that is controlled by the reporting criteria.