Customer Premises Equipment Network Path Selection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Communications networks face economic challenges due to high costs incurred from constructing infrastructure to meet peak bandwidth demands, which are only required for a few hours a day, while the rest of the time bandwidth usage is significantly lower, leading to inefficient resource allocation.
Innovation Solution
Implementing customer premise equipment (CPE) that allows users to access free market pricing for bandwidth across multiple network paths operated by different service providers, adjusting prices based on real-time bandwidth occupancy, enabling users to select the most cost-effective network path for communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If communications networks are constructed to meet peak bandwidth demands, then sufficient bandwidth is provided during peak hours, but the cost of construction becomes difficult to justify due to underutilization during non-peak hours
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic bandwidth allocation where network resources are not statically provisioned for peak demand but are dynamically allocated based on real-time occupancy. Multiple service providers can dynamically adjust their network capacity utilization, allowing the system to scale resources up during peak hours and down during non-peak hours, thereby avoiding the need to permanently over-provision infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the pricing parameter dynamically based on bandwidth occupancy levels. During peak hours when occupancy is high, prices increase to discourage non-essential usage and generate revenue to offset infrastructure costs. During non-peak hours, prices decrease to encourage usage, thereby utilizing existing infrastructure capacity and avoiding the need for additional construction.
2Productivity
If bandwidth occupancy is increased during peak hours, then more users can access the network, but pricing becomes less equitable and economic efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where pricing is continuously adjusted based on real-time bandwidth occupancy measurements. When occupancy exceeds certain thresholds, prices automatically increase to provide feedback to users about network congestion conditions. This feedback loop enables the system to balance throughput requirements with economic efficiency by dynamically aligning pricing with actual resource utilization levels.
3Loss of energy
If free market pricing is implemented based on real-time bandwidth occupancy, then economic efficiency is improved and infrastructure costs are reduced, but system complexity increases due to multiple service providers and dynamic pricing mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the network infrastructure into multiple independent service provider networks, each with its own pricing and resource management. This segmentation allows each provider to independently optimize their infrastructure utilization without requiring a monolithic complex control system. The CPE device then selects among these segmented providers based on simple pricing comparisons, reducing the complexity burden from any single entity.
Solution Approach 2:
The CPE device is empowered with self-service capabilities to autonomously select network paths based on pricing information received from multiple service providers. This self-service approach eliminates the need for a centralized complex arbitration mechanism, as each end device independently makes optimal routing decisions based on current pricing, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining economic efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for providing a user of communications services with free market based pricing may include providing for communications over one of multiple network paths serviced by multiple respective communications service providers via at least one communications network. One of the network paths over which to communicate based on current pricing from the multiple communications service providers may be selected and communications may be performed over the selected network path.