Backup Gateway Association for Overload and Failure Handover

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Solution Overview

Problem

If a gateway becomes incapacitated or overloaded, the data connectivity service to user devices suffers, leading to communication disruptions.

Innovation Solution

Form associations between gateways based on their wireless communication capabilities, physical locations, and network compatibility to identify suitable backup gateways that can take over if the primary gateway fails or becomes overloaded.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a gateway is deployed to provide data connectivity service, then data connectivity service is provided, but the service suffers when the gateway becomes incapacitated or overloaded

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata connectivity service reliabilityVSAvoidgateway capacity to handle failures

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent establishes associations between gateways in advance based on wireless signal characteristics, physical locations, and network compatibility before failures occur. This preliminary grouping enables rapid workload redistribution when a gateway fails or becomes overloaded, eliminating the need for complex real-time decision-making during incidents and ensuring service continuity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If gateway associations are formed based on wireless communication capabilities and environmental characteristics, then backup gateway suitability is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebackup gateway suitabilityVSAvoidgateway association management complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent enables gateways to autonomously determine their own associations with other gateways by evaluating wireless signal characteristics, physical locations, and network compatibility. Each gateway independently assesses its environment and forms associations without requiring centralized management, thereby improving backup suitability while avoiding the complexity of centralized association management.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Reliability

If workload is reassigned to associated gateways when primary gateway fails, then service continuity is maintained, but communication overhead increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice continuityVSAvoidcommunication overhead

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent pre-establishes associations between gateways based on wireless signal characteristics and environmental factors before failures occur. When a gateway fails or becomes overloaded, the pre-formed associations enable immediate workload redistribution to suitable backup gateways without requiring complex real-time discovery or negotiation, thereby maintaining service continuity while minimizing communication overhead.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS20250392964A1Gateway Management

Publication Date: 2025.12.25 COMCAST CABLE COMM LLC

AI summary

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are described for associating a gateway device as a backup for another gateway device based on the communication characteristics of the gateways. The communication characteristics of the gateways may indicate that the gateways available are suitable backups of each other in the event that one of the gateways becomes inoperable or has an excessive workload. The associations between the gateways may be further based on the network channels used by the gateways for communications.