Dynamic Congestion Management for Real-Time QoE
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current telecommunications networks, particularly best-effort networks like the Internet, face increasing congestion issues that affect the Quality of Experience (QoE) for real-time communications due to lack of effective congestion management mechanisms, leading to jitter, delay, and packet loss, especially in edge networks.
Innovation Solution
A dynamic congestion management system that monitors ingress interface utilization and adjusts traffic shaping based on predefined activation and deactivation levels, transmitting messages to source data-processing systems to manage traffic flow and conserve bandwidth, supporting asymmetric bandwidths and various network protocols.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traffic shaping is implemented to manage congestion, then Quality of Experience for real-time communications is improved, but network complexity and overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where network elements monitor congestion conditions and dynamically adjust traffic shaping parameters. Routers send congestion notifications to sources, which then modulate their transmission rates, creating a closed-loop control system that improves QoE while adapting to changing network conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts traffic shaping intensity based on real-time congestion measurements. Rather than static rate limiting, the patent employs adaptive mechanisms that modify shaping parameters in response to measured network conditions, allowing the system to optimize QoE while minimizing unnecessary complexity during non-congested periods.
2Loss of energy
If traffic shaping is applied at network edges, then congestion is reduced and bandwidth is conserved, but implementation complexity and coordination requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies traffic shaping at network edges before traffic enters the core, preventing congestion rather than reacting to it. By pre-regulating traffic flows at ingress points based on configured policies and predicted congestion patterns, the system conserves backbone bandwidth while simplifying core router operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides congestion management into separate functional components: edge-based traffic shaping, core-based congestion detection, and source-based rate adjustment. This segmentation allows each component to operate independently with well-defined interfaces, reducing overall implementation complexity while achieving bandwidth conservation.
3Productivity
If dynamic congestion management is implemented, then network efficiency is improved, but processing overhead and message transmission increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent dynamically changes traffic shaping parameters such as rate limits, priority levels, and queue depths based on measured congestion conditions. By adjusting these parameters in response to actual network state rather than using fixed values, the system improves overall efficiency while keeping processing overhead proportional to actual congestion levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The implementation uses periodic sampling of congestion metrics and periodic adjustment of shaping parameters rather than continuous monitoring and control. This periodic approach maintains network efficiency by detecting congestion patterns while reducing processing overhead by allowing brief intervals between measurements and control actions.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for dynamic congestion management in communications networks that advantageously provides a satisfactory Quality of Experience (QoE) of real time communication for network users. Congestion management is achieved wherein an ingress interface is monitored by a data processing system and when utilization of that interface exceeds a first activation level a message is sent to a second data processing system wherein that second data processing system is a source for at least some of data packets traversing the ingress interface, wherein the first message indicates that traffic shaping is to occur in accordance with the first activation level and only if the utilization falls below a deactivation level, transmitting a second message to the second data processing system wherein the second message indicates that traffic shaping is to stop.