Carrier Network Capacity Management via Request Modification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Carrier networks, especially wireless ones, face capacity issues due to increased demand for data services from new users and more bandwidth-intensive devices, leading to degraded or unavailable services during peak usage, and existing solutions like monthly caps do not effectively address these issues without significant infrastructure upgrades.
Innovation Solution
A capacity management agent that integrates with existing carrier network components to modify user content requests by adjusting bandwidth consumption based on network and user parameters, caching content at a lower rate during congestion and increasing it when resources are underutilized, thereby optimizing resource usage and providing quality of service controls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If carrier networks upgrade existing infrastructure to meet increased demand, then network capacity is improved, but implementation and maintenance costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a capacity management agent as an intermediary component that sits between the end user and the carrier network infrastructure. This agent modifies user content requests to adjust bandwidth consumption based on network conditions, thereby improving network capacity utilization without requiring complex infrastructure upgrades. The agent acts as a mediator that translates user requests into network-appropriate requests, resolving the contradiction between improving capacity and avoiding infrastructure complexity.
2Loss of energy
If carrier networks implement monthly caps on data usage, then bandwidth consumption is controlled, but user experience deteriorates and service availability decreases during peak usage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic bandwidth adjustment rather than static monthly caps. The capacity management agent continuously monitors network conditions and dynamically modifies user requests in real-time based on current network state. When network capacity is available, users can consume more bandwidth; when capacity is constrained, the agent adjusts requests to reduce bandwidth consumption. This dynamic approach maintains service availability while controlling bandwidth usage, resolving the contradiction between bandwidth control and service reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where the capacity management agent receives information about network conditions and user usage patterns, then adjusts bandwidth allocation accordingly. The agent monitors network capacity availability and feeds this information back into request modification decisions, creating a closed-loop control system that balances bandwidth consumption with service availability, thereby resolving the contradiction between controlling bandwidth loss and maintaining reliability.
3Ease of operation
If carrier networks allow unlimited access plans, then user convenience is improved, but network resources are disproportionately consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The capacity management agent enables a form of self-service where users can maintain unlimited access plans and enjoy user convenience, but the agent automatically manages network resource consumption on their behalf. The agent monitors each user's bandwidth usage patterns and autonomously modifies requests to prevent disproportionate resource consumption, allowing users to benefit from unlimited plans without actually exhausting network resources. This resolves the contradiction between ease of operation and resource consumption control.
Data Source
AI summary
Some embodiments provide a capacity management agent that modifies content requests to adjust bandwidth consumption when streaming requested content from a content provider to a requesting user. The modifications include modifying a URL or header information of the request. The agent performs a process that receives a request for content of a content provider. The process identifies a parameter of the carrier network and modifies the request when the parameter satisfies a threshold. The process passes the request to the content provider and the content provider provides content that consumes a first set of resources in response to an unmodified request and a second set of resources in response to a modified request. When the parameter identifies congestion, the first set of resources is greater than the second set of resources. When the condition parameter identifies underutilization, the first set of resources is less than the second set of resources.