Cellular Capacity Management via Congestion Estimation and Link Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Cellular communication systems lack effective capacity management, leading to congestion issues that can result in denial of access to critical communications, especially during emergency group calls, due to the inability to detect and alert users when a cell is reaching maximum capacity, causing potential life-threatening consequences.

Innovation Solution

A method for capacity management that involves measuring communication conditions within cells, estimating congestion, initiating congestion reporting from user equipment, and controlling call legs by denying or terminating connections to maintain network stability and prevent overload.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the cellular communication system allows unlimited connections in a cell, then the system provides high accessibility and ease of connection for users, but the cell becomes overloaded and congested导致denial of access for critical communications

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of connectionVSAvoidaccess reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by measuring communication conditions and estimating congestion before the cell becomes fully overloaded. Congestion reporting is initiated proactively when certain conditions are met, allowing the system to take preventive measures before critical denial of access occurs. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining ease of connection while preventing reliability degradation through advance congestion management.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback mechanisms by measuring communication conditions within cells, estimating congestion levels, and using this information to control call legs. The congestion estimation feeds back into the system to dynamically adjust connection acceptance, ensuring that ease of connection is maintained while reliability is preserved through congestion-aware resource management.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If the cellular communication system monitors and controls congestion actively, then the system maintains high reliability and prevents denial of access, but the system complexity and measurement requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaccess reliabilityVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system employs self-service mechanisms where user equipment participates in congestion reporting by providing measurements and conditions. This distributed approach reduces central system complexity while maintaining reliability, as the network leverages resources already present in user devices rather than requiring complex centralized monitoring infrastructure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system manages complexity by focusing on key parameter changes - specifically measuring communication conditions and estimating congestion levels - rather than monitoring all possible system parameters. This selective parameter monitoring approach maintains access reliability while avoiding excessive system complexity by concentrating on the most critical congestion indicators.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Stability of the object's composition

If the system denies or terminates call legs to prevent congestion, then the system maintains network stability and prevents overload, but some users experience loss of connection and service degradation

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenetwork stabilityVSAvoidconnection reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies preliminary anti-action by denying or terminating call legs before the cell becomes critically overloaded. By proactively controlling call legs based on congestion estimation, the system prevents the harmful effect of complete cell overload while minimizing connection losses. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining network stability through preventive measures rather than reactive responses that would cause more severe service degradation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #9Preliminary anti-action

Data Source

PatentUS8428609B2System and method for managing communications in cells within a cellular communication system
Publication Date: 2013.04.23 EAGLE TECHNOLOGY LLC
  • US8428609B2 patent drawing
  • US8428609B2 patent drawing
  • US8428609B2 patent drawing

AI summary

A system and method for managing communication in a cellular communication system are provided. The method includes measuring communication conditions within at least one communication cell of the communication system and estimating congestion within the at least one communication cell of the communication system based on the measured communication conditions. The method further includes adjusting communication links within the at least one communication cell based on the estimated congestion.