Proximity based sub-pooling of network devices in mobile wireless networks

• US 9,578,541 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2015
• Issued: 02/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2015
• 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: Seenappa, Vikram, Kodaypak, Rajendra Prasad, Wang, Jiansong
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Brenda H
• Application Number:
  US14/679,395
• Publication Number:
  US 20160295449A1
• Time in Patent Office: 687 Days
• Field of Search: 370/229, 370/232, 370/235, 370/252, 370/310.2, 370/328, 370/338, 370/395.3
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/46 Cluster building
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/122 by diverting traffic away from congested entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/27 Evaluation or update of window size, e.g. using information derived from acknowledged [ACK] packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/283 in response to processing delays, e.g. caused by jitter or round trip time [RTT]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/629 Ensuring fair share of resources, e.g. weighted fair queuing [WFQ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0236 radio quality, e.g. interference, losses or delay
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0289 Congestion control load shedding arrangements in network planning H04W16/08; performing reselection for handling the traffic H04W36/22; wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/06 Transport layer protocols, e.g. TCP [Transport Control Protocol] over wireless transmission control protocol/Internet protocol [TCP/IP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, determining message transfer delays based on transport layer control information associated with network traffic of a backhaul network coupled between a number of core network nodes of a wireless network and a wireless access node of the wireless network. The message transfer delays are representative of the network traffic between the core network nodes and the wireless access node. Weighting factors are assigned to the core network nodes based on the message transfer delays. The weighting factors are exposed to a scheduler that identifies a first group of core network nodes and a second group of core network nodes based on the weighting factors. The wireless access node preferentially establishes communications via the first group of core network nodes. The wireless access node establishes communications via the second group, responsive to an inability to establish communications via any core network nodes the first group. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

accessing, by a system comprising a processor, transport layer control information associated with network traffic of a backhaul network communicatively coupled between a plurality of core network nodes of a wireless communication network and a radio access node of the wireless communication network, wherein the radio access node is communicatively coupled to the plurality of core network nodes by way of the backhaul network;

determining, by the system, a plurality of message transfer delays based on the transport layer control information, wherein the plurality of message transfer delays are representative of the network traffic between the plurality of core network nodes and the radio access node;

assigning, by the system, a plurality of weighting factors to the plurality of core network nodes based on the plurality of message transfer delays; and

providing, by the system, a scheduler with access to the plurality of weighting factors to enable the scheduler to identify a first group of core network nodes of the plurality of core network nodes and a second group of core network nodes of the plurality of core network nodes based on the plurality of weighting factors,

wherein the providing of the access enables the radio access node to establish communications links with the first and second groups of core network nodes, selectively sending communications messages;

via a first core network node of the first group of core network nodes responsive to a first determination that the first core network node is available to establish the communications, and

via a second core network node of the second group of core network nodes responsive to a second determination of an inability to establish the communications via any core network nodes of the first group of core network nodes or responsive to a second determination of excessive transport delays to any signaling nodes in a first group of signaling nodes.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

repeating periodically, by the system, the determining of the plurality of message transfer delays to obtain an updated plurality of message transfer delays;

assigning, by the system, a plurality of updated weighting factors to the plurality of core network nodes based on the updated plurality of message transfer delays; and

providing, by the system, the scheduler with access to the plurality of updated weighting factors to enable the scheduler to re-associate a third core network node of the plurality of core network nodes with one of the first group of core network nodes or the second group of core network nodes.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the plurality of message transfer delays comprises determining a round trip time of a stream-control-transmission-protocol message exchanged between the plurality of core network nodes and the radio access node.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first core network node comprises a mobility management entity of an evolved packet core of a long term evolution network, and wherein the radio access node comprises an evolved Node B.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising comparing the message transfer delays to a static predefined threshold value, and determining the plurality of weighting factors based on the comparing of the message transfer delays to the static predefined threshold value.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining service level agreement latency values of the backhaul network, wherein the plurality of weighting factors are based on the plurality of message transfer delays and the service level agreement latency values.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

repeating, by the system, the determining of the plurality of message transfer delays over a sample window; and

statistically averaging, by the system, the plurality of message transfer delays over the sample window to obtain a plurality of statistically averaged message transfer delays, wherein the assigning of the plurality of weighting factors to the plurality of core network nodes is based on the plurality of statistically averaged message transfer delays.

8. A device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

determining a plurality of message transfer delays based on transport layer control information associated with network traffic of a backhaul network communicatively coupled between a plurality of core network nodes of a wireless communication network and a wireless access node of the wireless communication network, wherein the wireless access node is communicatively coupled to the plurality of core network nodes by way of the backhaul network, wherein the message transfer delays are representative of the network traffic between the plurality of core network nodes and the wireless access node;

assigning a plurality of weighting factors to the plurality of core network nodes based on the plurality of message transfer delays; and

advertising the plurality of weighting factors to a scheduler that identifies a first group of core network nodes of the plurality of core network nodes and a second group of core network nodes of the plurality of core network nodes based on the plurality of weighting factors,

wherein the advertising enables the wireless access node to send communications messages via a second core network node of the second group of core network nodes, responsive to a determination of an inability to send communications messages via a first core network node of the first group of core network nodes, or responsive to a message transfer delay above a threshold value.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise:

repeating periodically the determining of the plurality of message transfer delays to obtain an updated plurality of message transfer delays;

assigning a plurality of updated weighting factors to the plurality of core network nodes based on the updated plurality of message transfer delays; and

advertising the plurality of updated weighting factors to the scheduler to enable the scheduler to re-associate a third core network node of the plurality of core network nodes with one of the first group of core network nodes or the second group of core network nodes.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein the determining of the plurality of message transfer delays comprises determining a round trip time of a stream-control-transmission-protocol message exchanged between the plurality of core network nodes and the wireless access node, and wherein the advertising enables the wireless access node to establish the communications via the first core network node of the first group of core network nodes responsive to a first determination that the first core network node is available to establish the communications.

11. The device of claim 8, wherein the second core network node comprises a mobility management entity of an evolved packet core of a long term evolution network, and wherein the wireless access node comprises an evolved Node B.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise comparing the message transfer delays to a static predefined threshold value, and determining the plurality of weighting factors based on the comparing of the message transfer delays to the static predefined threshold value.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining service level agreement latency values of the backhaul network, wherein the plurality of weighting factors are based on the plurality of message transfer delays and the service level agreement latency values.

14. The device of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise:

repeating the determining of the plurality of message transfer delays over a sample window; and

statistically averaging the plurality of message transfer delays over the sample window to obtain a plurality of statistically averaged message transfer delays, wherein the assigning of the plurality of weighting factors to the plurality of core network nodes is based on the plurality of statistically averaged message transfer delays.

15. A machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

determining a plurality of latency values associated with network traffic of a backhaul network communicatively coupled between a plurality of core network nodes of a wireless communication network and a wireless access node of the wireless communication network, wherein the wireless access node is associated with the plurality of core network nodes and communicatively coupled to the plurality of core network nodes by way of the backhaul network;

determining a plurality of weighting factors based on the plurality of latency values;

associating the plurality of weighting factors with the plurality of core network nodes; and

providing the plurality of weighting factors to the wireless access node that identifies a first group of core network nodes of the plurality of core network nodes and a second group of core network nodes of the plurality of core network nodes based on the plurality of weighting factors, wherein the wireless access node establishes communications links with the first and second groups of core network nodes, the wireless access node preferentially sending communications messages via a core network node of the first group of core network nodes, and wherein the wireless access node sends communications messages via a core network node of the second group of core network nodes, responsive to an inability to send communications messages via any core network nodes the first group of core network nodes or responsive to excessive transport delays to any signaling nodes in a first group of signaling nodes.

16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

repeating periodically the determining of the plurality of latency values to obtain an updated plurality of message transfer delays;

assigning a plurality of updated weighting factors to the plurality of core network nodes based on the updated plurality of message transfer delays; and

advertising the plurality of updated weighting factors to the wireless access node to allow the wireless access node to re-associate a core network node of the plurality of core network nodes with one of the first group of core network nodes or the second group of core network nodes.

17. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the determining of the plurality of latency values comprises determining a round trip time of a stream-control-transmission-protocol message exchanged between the plurality of core network nodes and the wireless access node.

18. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise comparing the latency values to a static predefined threshold value, and determining the plurality of weighting factors based on the comparing of the latency values to the static predefined threshold value.

19. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise, determining service level agreement latency values of the backhaul network, wherein the a plurality of weighting factors are based on the plurality of latency values and the service level agreement latency values.

20. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, further comprising:

repeating the determining of the plurality of latency values over a sample window; and

statistically averaging the plurality of latency values over the sample window to obtain a plurality of statistically averaged latency values, wherein the associating of the plurality of weighting factors to the plurality of core network nodes is based on the plurality of statistically averaged latency values.