Wireless Device Media Codec Handoff Capacity Matching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wireless communication devices (WCDs) often experience poor media quality during handoffs due to being assigned to wireless coverage areas with insufficient capacity, leading to packet drops and degraded user experience, especially for high bit rate, real-time applications like video and audio streaming.
Innovation Solution
The WCD proactively renegotiates media codecs by requesting and receiving capacity information from a server about the new wireless coverage area, allowing it to switch to a codec with lower bit rate requirements that match the available capacity before the handoff occurs, ensuring a stable media session.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the WCD maintains a high bit rate media session codec, then media quality is improved, but network capacity requirements increase causing packet drops during handoff
Solution Approach 1:
The WCD proactively queries the target coverage area's available capacity before handoff occurs, and renegotiates the media codec in advance based on the queried capacity information. This preliminary action ensures that the codec is adjusted before the handoff, preventing packet drops and maintaining session continuity while adapting to the target area's capacity constraints.
2Reliability
If the WCD switches to a lower bit rate codec before handoff, then session continuity is maintained, but media quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The WCD dynamically changes the media codec parameters (bit rate) based on the actual available capacity of the target coverage area. By querying the capacity information and selecting an appropriate codec from available options, the system optimizes the balance between media quality and session continuity, using the highest quality codec that the target network can support.
3Productivity
If the RAN balances load between coverage areas, then network utilization is improved, but capacity mismatches occur during handoff
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the WCD queries the actual available capacity of the target coverage area before handoff. This feedback information about real-time capacity conditions allows the WCD to make informed decisions about codec negotiation, ensuring that handoff succeeds by matching the selected codec's capacity requirements with the target area's actual available capacity.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for a wireless communication device (WCD) to change a media session codec prior to handoff to a new wireless coverage area are presented. In particular, a WCD is served by a first wireless coverage area of a RAN, and is conducting a media session using a first codec. The WCD detects that it is about to be handed off to a second wireless coverage area, and transmits a request to a server to determine the capacity available to the WCD via the second wireless coverage area. If this capacity is less than the capacity request by the first codec, the WCD proactively renegotiates the media session to use a second codec that requires less capacity. The server may take various factors into account when responding to the WCD's query, including the sector loading of the second wireless coverage area, available capacity at a backhaul link between the RAN and a network, and/or a profile of the WCD.