Transport path-aware quality of service for mobile communications

• US 9,930,091 B2
• Filed: 11/20/2015
• Issued: 03/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ViaSat Incorporated
• Original Assignee: ViaSat Incorporated
• Inventors: Padmanabhan, Veena, Velayudhan, Nirmalkumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Truong, Lan-Dai T
• Application Number:
  US14/948,002
• Publication Number:
  US 20160234281A1
• Time in Patent Office: 858 Days
• Field of Search: 709235, 709219, 709220, 709223, 709224, 709225
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18508 with satellite system used as relay, i.e. aeronautical mobile satellite service
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18584 Arrangements for data networking, i.e. for data packet routing, for congestion control data switching networks H04L12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2041 Spot beam multiple access
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/61 for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking 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 84/06 Airborne or Satellite Networks space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185

Abstract

Embodiments provide quality of service for media content delivery over capacity-constrained communications links to user devices by exploiting usage models and path awareness. For example, one or more uncongested beams can be identified as preceding one or more congested beams (e.g., by computing a congestion map) along a predicted transport path of a user device moving through a multi-beam satellite communications system. A prediction can be made as to one or more future requests that are likely to be made by the user device for pre-positionable types of media content, and that are likely to be serviced by one of the subsequent congested beams. When such a request for pre-positionable media content is predicted, embodiments can schedule transmission of at least a portion of the media content over one or more of the preceding uncongested beams for storage local to the user device, thereby pre-positioning the content at the client prior to reaching the congested beam.

Claims

1. A mobility management system comprising a hardware processor managing streaming media service to a plurality of user devices disposed within an aircraft that is traveling along a predicted transport path through a multi-carrier communications system, the mobility management system comprising:

a congestion modeler system to compute a congestion map to indicate congestion conditions for a plurality of carriers of the multi-carrier communications system along the predicted transport path, the congestion map indicating a first carrier as uncongested with respect to servicing the aircraft during a first service timeframe, and the congestion map indicating a second carrier as congested with respect to servicing the aircraft during a second service timeframe subsequent to the first service timeframe;

a pre-positioning system to identify candidate media content portions for consumption by one or more of the plurality of user devices during the second service timeframe based at least in part on one or more media content items presently provided to the one or more of the plurality of user devices via the multi-carrier communications system;

a terminal usage modeler system to select a set of media content portions from the candidate media content portions that satisfy a pre-position threshold; and

a mobility-aware scheduler system to schedule transmission of the selected set of media content portions to the aircraft via the first carrier for storage local to the aircraft.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the multi-carrier communications system is a multi-beam satellite communications system, such that the first carrier is a first beam of the multi-beam satellite communications system and the second carrier is a second beam of the multi-beam satellite communications system.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the pre-positioning system identifies the set of candidate media content portions based at least in part on prior user consumption that followed consumption of the one or more presently provided media content items.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the pre-positioning system identifies the set of candidate media content portions based at least in part on a period of time until the second service timeframe.

5. The system of claim 1, the terminal usage modeler system further to:

obtain individual pre-position scores for the candidate media content portions, wherein an individual pre-position score of a given candidate media content portion is based at least in part on a frequency that the given candidate media content portion has been consumed following consumption of one or more of the presently provided media content items; and

selecting, for the set, the candidate media content portions having individual pre-position scores satisfying a threshold pre-position score corresponding to the pre-position threshold.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the pre-position threshold is based at least in part on one or more of available capacity of the first carrier during the first service timeframe, a length of time of the second service timeframe, available capacity of one or more carriers preceding the second carrier along the predicted transport path, available capacity of one or more carriers subsequent to the second carrier along the predicted transport path, and available storage space local to the aircraft.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a transport path modeler system to determine the predicted transport path of the aircraft.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the transport path modeler system predicts the transport path according to origin and destination locations received in association with a present trip of the aircraft.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the congestion modeler system, the pre-positioning system, the terminal usage modeler system, and the mobility-aware scheduler system are disposed at a provider side of the multi-carrier communications system remote from the aircraft.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein:

at least one of the congestion modeler system, the pre-positioning system, the terminal usage modeler system, or the mobility-aware scheduler system is disposed within the aircraft.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a terminal cache within the aircraft,

wherein the mobility-aware scheduler system schedules the transmission via the first carrier for storage in the terminal cache.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein a given media content portion of the selected set of content portions is subsequent to a current portion of a given media content item of the one or more media content items presently provided to the one or more of the plurality of user devices.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the first carrier is presently servicing the aircraft.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the first carrier is subsequent, along the predicted transport path, to a present carrier of the plurality of carriers that is presently servicing the aircraft.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the second carrier is immediately subsequent to the first carrier along the predicted transport path.

16. A method for managing streaming media service to a plurality of user devices disposed within an aircraft that is traveling along a predicted transport path through a multi-carrier communications system, the method comprising:

computing, by a mobility management system, a congestion map to indicate congestion conditions for a plurality of carriers of the multi-carrier communications system along the predicted transport path, the congestion map indicating a first carrier as uncongested with respect to servicing the aircraft during a first service timeframe, and the congestion map indicating a second carrier as congested with respect to servicing the aircraft during a second service timeframe;

identifying, by the mobility management system, candidate media content portions for consumption by one or more of the plurality of user devices during the second service timeframe, wherein the identifying is based at least in part on media content items presently provided to the one or more of the plurality of user devices within the aircraft via the multi-carrier communications system;

selecting, by the mobility management system, a set of media content portions from the candidate media content portions that satisfy a pre-position threshold; and

scheduling, by the mobility management system, transmission of the selected set of media content portions to the aircraft via the first carrier for storage local to the aircraft.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the multi-carrier communications system is a multi-beam satellite communications system, such that the first carrier is a first beam of the multi-beam satellite communications system and the second carrier is a second beam of the multi-beam communications system.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the identifying is further based at least in part on prior user consumption that followed consumption of the one or more presently provided media content items.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

obtaining individual pre-position scores for the candidate media content portions, wherein an individual pre-position score of a given candidate media content portion is based at least in part on a frequency that the given candidate media content portion has been consumed following consumption of one or more of the presently provided media content items; and

selecting, for the set, the candidate media content portions having individual pre-position scores satisfying a threshold position score corresponding to the pre-position threshold.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the pre-position threshold is based at least in part on one or more of available capacity of the first carrier during the first service timeframe, a length of time of the second service timeframe, available capacity of one or more carriers preceding the second carrier along the predicted transport path, available capacity of one or more carriers subsequent to the second carrier along the predicted transport path, and available storage space local to the aircraft.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the computing comprises:

computing that the first carrier is uncongested with respect to servicing the aircraft and that the second carrier is congested with respect to servicing the aircraft.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein the first carrier is presently servicing the aircraft.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the first carrier is subsequent, along the predicted transport path, to a present carrier of the plurality of carriers that is presently servicing the aircraft.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein the computing is according to congestion data maintained by the mobility management system, the congestion data indicating congestion statistics for the plurality of carriers at a plurality of timeframes.

25. The method of claim 16, wherein the congestion map indicates the second carrier as congested when the congestion data indicates the second carrier as congested during the second service timeframe.

26. The method of claim 16, wherein a given media content portion of the selected set of media content portions is subsequent to a current position of a given media content item of the one or more media content items presently provided to the one or more of the plurality of user devices.

27. The method of claim 16, wherein the computing comprises:

receiving origin and destination locations associated with a present trip of the aircraft; and

predicting the transport path of the aircraft according to the origin and destination locations.

28. The method of claim 16, wherein the second carrier is immediately subsequent to the first carrier along the predicted transport path.