Application-Aware Scheduling for OTT Service Differentiation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current communication systems fail to differentiate and prioritize over-the-top (OTT) services effectively, leading to a degradation in quality of experience (QoE) for real-time services like voice and video streaming, as they are treated similarly to non-real-time services during network congestion, ignoring their specific quality of service (QoS) needs.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system with application-aware scheduling and admission control that uses cooperative communication between user equipment and application-aware base stations, allowing for dynamic resource allocation based on the specific needs of each application through an application-agent cooperative communication control path, which determines and adjusts bit rate options without going through the backhaul link.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traffic is segregated by classes of service in the core network, then operator provided services can be given quality of service guarantees, but over-the-top services are treated as best effort traffic without differentiation, leading to degradation in quality of experience for real-time services during network congestion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments traffic classification from coarse-grained class of service (CoS) in the core network to fine-grained application-level differentiation at the access node. This allows operator services to maintain QoS guarantees while enabling differentiated treatment of multiple OTT services based on their specific QoS requirements, resolving the contradiction between reliability for operator services and adaptability for diverse OTT services.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimension of service differentiation by implementing application-aware scheduling at the access node, adding fine-grained classification capability without disrupting the existing CoS architecture. This dimensional addition enables simultaneous support for both QoS-guaranteed operator services and differentiated OTT services in the same network infrastructure.
2Device complexity
If admission control is performed on a logical bearer basis, then resource allocation is simplified, but real-time services such as voice and streaming video are perceived to have substantial degradation in quality of experience relative to non-real-time services
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having applications signal their QoS requirements and state information to the access node before resource allocation decisions are made. This allows the access node to perform application-aware admission control and scheduling, ensuring real-time services receive appropriate resources ahead of congestion, thereby improving QoE without substantially increasing system complexity.
3Device complexity
If all over-the-top services are grouped into the same class of service and logical bearer, then resource management is simplified, but network congestion affects all services equally regardless of their specific quality of experience needs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by implementing application-specific resource allocation at the access node, where each OTT service receives treatment tailored to its QoS requirements. The access node performs fine-grained scheduling and admission control for individual applications while maintaining simplified macro-level resource management, thus achieving service-specific optimization without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems and methods provide communications between applications in terminal nodes and applications agents in access nodes. The APP-agent cooperative communications can be used to improve quality of experience for users or the terminal nodes. An access node may, for example, have a parameterized scheduling system that incorporates information from the APP-agent cooperative communications in determining scheduling parameters. An application at a terminal node may, for example, modify requests for communication based on information about communication capabilities received from an access node. For APP-agent cooperative communications for multiple applications, an access node may include a master application agent to facilitate and coordinate communications to specific application agents that address APP-agent cooperative communications for specific applications. Similarly, a terminal node may use a master application and specific applications for APP-agent cooperative communications.