Cellular Congestion Control via Packet Inter-Arrival Time Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cellular communication systems lack effective methods to detect and manage congestion within communication cells, leading to denial of service for users attempting to join group calls when the cell capacity is exceeded, with no prior indication or control measures to prevent this denial.
Innovation Solution
A method that involves measuring inter-arrival times of communication packets, calculating average values over time periods, and identifying congestion conditions to control cell congestion by requesting user equipment to report congestion levels and adjusting communication links accordingly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If user equipment attempts to join group calls in overloaded cells, then communication capacity utilization is improved, but connection reliability deteriorates due to denial of service
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary congestion detection by measuring inter-arrival times of communication packets and calculating average values over time periods. When congestion is detected before capacity is completely exceeded, the system proactively controls admission of new group calls, preventing denial of service while maximizing capacity utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where user equipment reports congestion conditions back to the network. The network uses this feedback to dynamically adjust admission control decisions, allowing new group calls when conditions are favorable and preventing them when congestion is detected, thereby resolving the contradiction between capacity utilization and connection reliability.
2Ease of operation
If the cellular communication system allows unlimited access to cells, then ease of operation is improved, but service quality deteriorates due to congestion and dropped calls
Solution Approach 1:
User equipment performs self-service congestion detection by measuring inter-arrival times of received packets and determining congestion conditions locally. This distributed self-service approach maintains ease of operation for users while improving service quality through proactive congestion management without requiring complex centralized control.
3Reliability
If the system monitors congestion in real-time, then service quality is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional monitoring requirements
Solution Approach 1:
User equipment leverages existing packet reception functionality to perform congestion monitoring by measuring inter-arrival times of already-received communication packets. This approach improves service quality through real-time monitoring while avoiding additional device complexity by utilizing existing infrastructure and data streams.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses copies of existing packet data and timing information that are already available in the communication stream. By analyzing inter-arrival times of packet copies rather than requiring separate monitoring signals, the system achieves real-time congestion detection without increasing device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for controlling congestion in a cellular communication system (20) are provided. A method includes measuring an inter-arrival time for a plurality of communication packets in at least one user equipment within the communication cell and calculating an average value for the measured inter-arrival times (102). The method further includes determining the average value over each of a plurality of time periods and identifying a congestion condition when the determined average value exceeds a predetermined value over the plurality of time periods (104, 106).