Method and system of providing data service according to a user's future location

• US 9,775,001 B2
• Filed: 03/03/2014
• Issued: 09/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vodafone IP Licensing Limited (Vodafone Group PLC)
• Original Assignee: Vodafone IP Licensing Limited (Vodafone Group PLC)
• Inventors: Dunkin, Andrew, Javaid, Usman, Lioulis, Nikolaos, Bender, Sandra
• Primary Examiner(s): Fang, Keith
• Application Number:
  US14/777,464
• Publication Number:
  US 20160037304A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,303 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3415 Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3446 Details of route searching algorithms, e.g. Dijkstra, A*, arc-flags, using precalculated routes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0083 Determination of parameters used for hand-off, e.g. generation or modification of neighbour cell lists
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/00837 Determination of triggering parameters for hand-off
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/34 Modification of an existing route
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for controlling data service for a vehicle-based user of a telecommunication network. The method comprising: retrieving data associated with location behavior of the user within the network; predicting, based on said data and on a current user location within the network, a future user location within the network; performing a determination of network capability at the future user location; and modifying, in response to the determination, a configuration of the network and/or a service parameter associated with the user. A network element, system and computer program product are also provided.

Claims

1. A method for controlling data service for a vehicle-based gateway operating in a telecommunication network, wherein the vehicle-based gateway is configured to communicate with the telecommunication network using a first communication interface and to provide access to the telecommunication network to a plurality of user devices on-board a vehicle using a second communication interface, the method comprising:

retrieving data associated with location behavior of the vehicle-based gateway within the telecommunication network;

predicting, based on said data and on a current location for the vehicle-based gateway within the telecommunication network, a future location for the vehicle-based gateway within the telecommunication network;

performing a determination of network capability at the future location for the vehicle-based gateway to identify a degradation in a link quality of the first communication interface;

modifying, in response to the identification, a configuration of the network and/or a service parameter associated with the vehicle-based gateway; and

performing, in response to the step of modifying, one or more of;

a) prioritizing some services over others;

b) communicating data from the network to the vehicle-based gateway for storage in a storage system at the vehicle-based gateway and caching the communicated data for use during a time period when the vehicle-based gateway is in the future location within the network; and

c) maintaining any calls and web-browsing sessions provided by the telecommunications network at a pre-determined level.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the data associated with location behavior of the vehicle-based gateway within the network comprises scheduling information for the vehicle.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of performing a determination of network capability at the future location comprises determining that an expected communication throughput between the telecommunication network and the vehicle-based gateway at the future location is no greater than a predetermined threshold.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the modifying step is performed based on one or more of:

a profile of the vehicle-based gateway; and

a data service requested by the vehicle-based gateway.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the modifying step further comprises one or more of:

tilt adjustment of a base station of the telecommunication network;

beam steering;

configuration of handover parameters;

expanding a cell range of the telecommunication network;

increasing transmit power of a base station of the telecommunication network;

adjusting resources scheduled to the vehicle-based gateway;

traffic steering;

adjusting a priority of the vehicle-based gateway; and

identifying that the vehicle-based gateway is a priority user.

6. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

establishing at the vehicle-based gateway that the configuration of the network and/or the service parameter associated with the vehicle-based gateway has been modified.

7. A method according to claim 6, further comprising:

using the stored data during a time period when the vehicle-based gateway is located at the future location within the network.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the step of using the stored data comprises communicating the stored data and/or information relating to the stored data from the vehicle-based gateway to at least one of the plurality of user devices in communication with the vehicle-based gateway.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of communicating data and caching the communicated data comprises one or more of:

updating all pages stored in a cache of the vehicle-based gateway; and

caching content which is usually accessed at this journey and time.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that when executed by one or more processors of a telecommunications network cause the telecommunications network to carry out the method of claim 1.

11. A network element of a telecommunication network adapted to control data service for a user, the network element adapted to carry out the method of claim 1.