Optimizing use of network resources by small cells and/or user devices of a venue

• US 8,693,953 B2
• Filed: 09/28/2011
• Issued: 04/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Aguirre, Sergio, Bao, Derek H., Kotecha, Lalit Ratilal, Chiang, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Milord, Marceau
• Application Number:
  US13/246,942
• Publication Number:
  US 20130078925A1
• Time in Patent Office: 923 Days
• Field of Search: 455/62, 455/63.1, 455/450, 455/452.2, 455/456.1, 455/509, 455/67.11, 455/436, 455/442, 455/464, 455/557, 455/556.2, 455/566, 370/329, 370/331, 370/333, 370/341, 370/342
• US Class Current: 455/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

A device receives first information about a wireless communication service within a venue. The device further receives, from one or more small cells within the venue, second information about traffic load of the one or more small cells. The device generates third information based on the first information and the second information. The third information assigns network resources to one or more services provided to mobile devices, within the venue, via the small cells. The device transmits the third information to configure the one or more small cells.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

displaying, by a computing device, a guide, where the guide comprises information about content that is available to the computing device within a venue;

receiving, by the computing device via one or more small cells in the venue, a selection of the content;

identifying, by the computing device, a first frequency band allocated to the content when network conditions associated with a traffic load of the one or more small cells indicate that one or more traffic load values exceed corresponding threshold values related to at least one of;

a size of the venue,

a quantity of the one or more small cells, or

a quantity of computing devices receiving wireless communication service via the one or more small cells;

determining, by the computing device, that a second frequency band is being used by the computing device, the second frequency band being different than the first frequency band;

switching, by the computing device, from the second frequency band to the first frequency band when the first frequency band is not being used by the computing device; and

receiving, by the computing device, the content via the first frequency band.

2. The method of claim 1,

where the first frequency band is an advanced wireless services (AWS) band, and

where the second frequency band is an upper 700 megahertz band.

3. The method of claim 2,

where the computing device is within a venue, and

where the content is only distributed within the venue.

4. The method of claim 1, where displaying the guide comprises:

transmitting a request for the guide; and

receiving the guide, in response to the request, via the first frequency band, via the second frequency band, or via the first frequency band and the second frequency band.

5. The method of claim 1,

where the guide further comprises:

information about different content,

an association of the content to the first frequency band, and

an association of the different content to the second frequency band,

where the identifying the first frequency band comprises;

identifying the first frequency band based on the guide.

6. The method of claim 1, where receiving the content via the first frequency band comprises:

transmitting a request for the content,

receiving the content, from a small cell, via the first frequency band, and

displaying a representation of the content on a screen of the computing device.

7. A device comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

a processor to execute one or more of the instructions to;

receive first information about a wireless communication service received within a venue,

receive, from one or more small cells within the venue, second information about traffic load of the one or more small cells,

identify conditions associated with the traffic load of the one or more small cells when one or more values from the second information exceed corresponding threshold values related to at least one of;

a size of the venue,

a quantity of the one or more small cells, or

a quantity of mobile devices receiving the wireless communication service via the one or more small cells,

generate third information based on the identified conditions, the first information, and the second information, wherein the third information assigns network resources to one or more services provided to the mobile devices; and

transmit the third information to configure the one or more small cells.

8. The device of claim 7, where each one of the one or more small cells comprises one of:

a micro cell,

a pico cell,

a femtocell, or

a pico evolved Node B (eNB).

9. The device of claim 7, where, when receiving the first information, the processor is to:

receive the first information from each one of the mobile devices, or

receive the first information from a test device that is moved to different locations within the venue.

10. The device of claim 7, where the first information comprises one or more of:

information associated with the services accessed by the mobile devices,

information associated with signal strength,

information associated with signal quality,

information associated with bandwidth usage, or

information associated with signal noise.

11. The device of claim 10, where the information associated with the signal quality comprises one or more of:

a power level, reference signal received power (RSRP) level, or relative signal strength indication (RSSI) associated with a signal that is being received by one of the mobile devices,

a signal-to-interference noise ratio (SINR) associated with the signal, or

a measure of channel isolation associated with the signal.

12. The device of claim 7, where the second information comprises one or more of:

one or more frequency bands used by each one of the one or more small cells,

one or more quantities of bandwidth used by each one of the one or more small cells, or

one or more quantity of subframes or time slots used by each one of the one or more small cells.

13. The device of claim 7, where the third information comprises one or more of:

a frequency band to be used for a particular service of the one or more services,

a quantity of bandwidth to be used for the particular service,

a data rate to be used for the particular service,

a quantity of subframes or time slots to be used for the particular service, or

a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) index to be used for the particular service.

14. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising:

instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, cause the one or more processors to;

obtain, from user devices within a venue, first information that identifies services that are being accessed by the user devices,

obtain, from small cells within the venue, second information that identifies traffic loads of the small cells, wherein the user devices receive the services via the small cells,

identify conditions associated with the traffic load of at least one of the small cells when one or more values from the second information exceed corresponding threshold values related to at least one of;

a size of the venue,

a quantity of the at least one of the small cells, or

a quantity of the user devices,

generate third information based on identified conditions, the first information,. and the second information, wherein the third information specifies a quantity of bandwidth to be used, by at least one of the small cells, to provide one of the services to one or more the user devices, and

transmit the third information to one or more of the small cells.

15. The media of claim 14, where, when obtaining the first information, the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

transmit a request for the first information to the user devices, and

receive the first information from the user devices, where the first information comprises a signal quality associated with accessing one of the services.

16. The media of claim 14, where the venue is one of:

a stadium,

an arena,

a golf course,

a race track,

an amusement park, or

a shopping center, where one of the services comprises providing video streams of content to at least one of the user devices, and

where the content is associated with an event occurring within the venue.

17. The media of claim 14, where the first information further comprises at least one of:

a rate of movement of one of the mobile devices within the venue, or

a pattern of the movement.

18. The media of claim 14, where the third information comprises one or more of:

a time period during which the third information is to be used by the one or more of the small cells,

a frequency band to be used for a particular service of the services,

a quantity of bandwidth to be used for the particular service,

a data rate to be used for the particular service,

a quantity of subframes or time slots to be used for the particular service, or

a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) index to be used for the particular service.

19. A device comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

a processor to execute one or more of the instructions to;

receive, via one or more small cells within a venue, an electronic service guide (ESG), wherein the ESG comprises;

an identifier of a program available to be received by the devices, and

a first frequency band allocated to be used to receive the program when network conditions associated with a traffic load of the one or more small cells indicate that one or more traffic load values exceed corresponding threshold values related to at least one of;

a size of the venue,

a quantity of the one or more small cells, or

a quantity of mobile devices receiving wireless communication service via the one or more small cells,

display a representation of the ESG,

receive a selection of the program by a user of the device,

identify the first frequency band based on the selection of the program,

determine whether the first frequency band is being used by the device, and

initiate an inter-frequency handoff in order to switch the device from a second frequency band to the first frequency band when the first frequency band is not being used by the device, wherein the first frequency band is different from the second frequency band, and

receive streams associated with the program via the first frequency band.

20. The device of claim 19,

where the first frequency band is an advanced wireless services (AWS) band,

where the device is within a venue, and

where the program is only distributed within the venue.

21. The device of claim 19, where the ESG further comprises:

an identifier of a different program available to be received by the devices, and

the second frequency band or a third frequency band to be used to receive the different program.