Controlling traffic transmissions to manage cellular radio resource utilization

• US 9,264,872 B2
• Filed: 06/20/2012
• Issued: 02/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sen, Subhabrata, Spatscheck, Oliver, Gerber, Alexandre, Mao, Zhuoqing Morley, Qian, Feng, Wang, Zhaoguang
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): HOLLIDAY, JAIME MICHELE
• Application Number:
  US13/528,423
• Publication Number:
  US 20130035082A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,336 Days
• Field of Search: 4554141-4144
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/61 for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/53 based on regulatory allocation policies

Abstract

Techniques for using controlling traffic transmissions to manage radio resource utilization are presented herein. When content is being streamed to user equipment (UE) and is at least initially intended to be streamed in real time at a constant bitrate, a communication management component can determine whether the content being transmitted to the UE can be delayed, instead of being transmitted in real time. In response to determining that the content can be delayed, the communication management component can facilitate buffering data and periodically streaming the data to the UE in data bursts to reduce use of UE power and radio resources. When transmitting a visual image to a UE, the communication management component can adjust resolution of a visual image to correspond to screen dimensions of the UE based on information indicating screen dimensions of the UE that can be received from the UE.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a memory that stores executable instructions; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, that facilitates execution of the executable instructions to perform operations, comprising;

in connection with content that is initially scheduled to be communicated using a continuous stream at a constant bitrate, determining whether it is permissible for the content to be received by a user equipment using a set of separate data bursts comprising respective portions of the content without using the continuous stream at the constant bitrate, wherein the set of separate data bursts comprises a first separate data burst and a second separate data burst;

to facilitate the determining whether it is permissible for the content to be received by the user equipment using the set of separate data bursts, determining whether communication of a second portion of the content is able to be delayed for a defined amount of time after communication of a first portion of the content, wherein the second portion of the content is included in the second separate data burst that is communicated to the user equipment the defined amount of time after communication of the first separate data burst comprising the first portion of the content, and wherein no portion of the content is communicated to the user equipment during at least a portion of the defined amount of time;

to facilitate determining whether the communication of the second portion of the content is able to be delayed for the defined amount of time after the communication of the first portion of the content, determining whether a scheduled data transfer start time for the communication of the second portion of the content is able to be adjusted to delay the communication of the second portion of the content for the defined amount of time based on a jitter parameter associated with the second portion of the content, wherein the jitter parameter indicates an amount of time delay from the scheduled data transfer start time that is permitted; and

in response to determining that it is permissible for the content to be received by the user equipment using the set of separate data bursts, receiving the respective portions of the content in respective separate data bursts of the set of separate data bursts.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

identifying the content is scheduled to be streamed to the user equipment using the continuous stream at the constant bitrate;

determining that a defined amount of delay of reception of the content by the user equipment is permissible; and

in response to the defined amount of delay being determined to be permissible, receiving the respective portions of the content via respective data transfers as part of the respective separate data bursts of the set of separate data bursts.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise scheduling a transmission of respective data transfers of the respective portions of the content with a communication device that is to provide the respective portions of the content.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the operations further comprise scheduling transmission of a first data transfer of the respective data transfers from a first communication device to occur within a specified amount of time of transmission of a second data transfer associated with different content from a second communication device to facilitate reception of the first data transfer and the second data transfer in a same separate data burst of the set of separate data bursts.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise transmitting information indicative of a set of display characteristics associated with the user equipment.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a visual image that has been modified based on the set of display characteristics associated with the user equipment, wherein the visual image is received as part of a portion of the respective portions of the content; and

providing the visual image to a display screen of the user equipment that is associated with the set of display characteristics to facilitate presentation of the visual image by the display screen.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the set of display characteristics comprises information indicative of a display screen dimension associated with the user equipment.

8. A method, comprising:

in connection with content that is initially set to be communicated using a continuous stream at a constant bitrate, determining, by a system including a processor, whether it is acceptable to communicate the content to a user equipment using a set of individual data bursts comprising individual data bursts that comprise individual portions of the content as an alternative to communicating the content using the continuous stream at the constant bitrate, wherein the set of individual data bursts comprises a first individual data burst and a second individual data burst;

to facilitate the determining whether it is acceptable to communicate the content to the user equipment using the set of individual data bursts, determining, by the system, whether communication of a second portion of the content is able to be delayed for a defined amount of time after communication of a first portion of the content, wherein the second portion of the content is part of the second individual data burst that is to be communicated to the user equipment the defined amount of time after communication of the first individual data burst comprising the first portion of the content;

to facilitate determining whether the communication of the second portion of the content is able to be delayed for the defined amount of time after the communication of the first portion of the content, determining, by the system, whether a nominal data transfer start time for the communication of the second portion of the content is able to be modified to delay the communication of the second portion of the content for the defined amount of time based on a jitter parameter associated with the second portion of the content, wherein the jitter parameter indicates an amount of time deviation from the nominal data transfer start time that is acceptable; and

in response to determining that it is acceptable to communicate the content to the user equipment using the set of individual data bursts, communicating, by the system, the individual portions of the content to the user equipment using the individual data bursts of the set of individual data bursts.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

identifying, by the system, the content is scheduled to be streamed to the user equipment using the continuous stream at the constant bitrate;

determining, by the system, that a specified amount of delay of reception of the content by the user equipment satisfies a condition; and

in response to the determining that the specified amount of delay satisfies the condition, receiving, by the system, the individual portions of the content via the individual data bursts of the set of individual data bursts.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

scheduling, by the system, communication of individual data transfers of the individual portions of the content with a communication device that is to communicate the individual portions of the content.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

scheduling, by the system, communication of a first data transfer of the individual data transfers to be executed by the communication device within a specified amount of time of communication of a second data transfer associated with different content from a different communication device to facilitate communicating the first data transfer and the second data transfer in a same individual data burst of the set of individual data bursts; and

facilitating communicating, by the system, the first data transfer and the second data transfer in the same individual data burst.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

transmitting, by the system, information indicative of a set of display characteristics associated with the user equipment to facilitate modifying a visual image of the content to a modified visual image to correspond to the set of display characteristics.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving, by the system, the modified visual image based on the set of display characteristics associated with the user equipment.

14. A system, comprising:

a memory that stores executable instructions; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, that facilitates execution of the executable instructions to perform operations, comprising;

in connection with content that is initially scheduled to be transmitted using a continuous stream at a constant bitrate, determining whether it is acceptable to transmit the content to a user equipment using a set of separate data bursts comprising respective portions of the content instead of transmission of the content using the continuous stream at the constant bitrate, wherein the set of separate data bursts comprises a first separate data burst and a second separate data burst;

to facilitate the determining whether it is acceptable to transmit the content to the user equipment using the set of separate data bursts, determining whether transmission of a second portion of the content is able to be delayed for a defined amount of time after transmission of a first portion of the content, wherein the second portion of the content is included in the second separate data burst that is to be transmitted to the user equipment the defined amount of time after transmission of the first separate data burst comprising the first portion of the content;

to facilitate determining whether the transmission of the second portion of the content is able to be delayed for the defined amount of time after the transmission of the first portion of the content, determining whether a scheduled data transfer start time for the transmission of the second portion of the content is able to be modified to delay the transmission of the second portion of the content for the defined amount of time based on a data transfer parameter associated with the second portion of the content, wherein the data transfer parameter indicates an amount of time deviation from the scheduled data transfer start time that is acceptable; and

in response to determining that it is acceptable to transmit the content to the user equipment using the set of separate data bursts, transmitting the respective portions of the content to the user equipment using respective separate data bursts of the set of separate data bursts.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

identifying the content is scheduled to be streamed to the user equipment using the continuous stream at the constant bitrate;

determining that a specified amount of delay of transmission of the content to the user equipment is acceptable;

storing a set of the respective portions of the content in a buffer component to facilitate transmission of the respective portions of the content in the set of the respective portions of the content in subsequent separate data bursts of the set of separate data bursts; and

transmitting the respective portions of the content via respective data transfers as part of the respective separate data bursts of the set of separate data bursts, without exceeding the specified amount of delay.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise coordinating with the user equipment to schedule transmission of respective data transfers of the respective portions of the content to the user equipment.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

coordinating with the user equipment to schedule a first data transfer of the respective data transfers associated with a first service to occur within a specified amount of time of a second data transfer associated with different content that is associated with a second service to facilitate reception, by the user equipment, of the first data transfer and the second data transfer in a same separate data burst of the set of separate data bursts; and

facilitating transmitting the first data transfer and the second data transfer in the same separate data burst to the user equipment.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise receiving information indicative of a set of display characteristics associated with the user equipment in relation to provision of a visual image of the content to facilitate modification of the visual image to correspond to the set of display characteristics.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

modifying the visual image, based on the set of display characteristics, to generate a modified visual image; and

transmitting the modified visual image to the user equipment.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the set of display characteristics comprises information indicative of a display screen size associated with the user equipment.