Multicast Traffic Scheduling Across WAN-LAN Radio Access Links
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Solution Overview
Problem
In wireless communications systems, multicast and broadcast services (MBS) traffic experiences delays and quality of service (QoS) issues due to schedulers in local area networks (LANs) being unaware of the delay sensitivity of MBS traffic, leading to bottlenecks and poor user experience, despite good channel conditions in wide area networks (WANs like 5G).
Innovation Solution
A WAN modem provides MBS information to a LAN scheduler, allowing prioritization of MBS traffic based on parameters such as the number of clients, QoS, bandwidth, client capabilities, and feedback schemes, ensuring MBS traffic is prioritized over more delay-tolerant traffic, and is placed in separate access category queues for low latency transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If multicast traffic is transmitted through LAN scheduler without priority awareness, then network infrastructure complexity is reduced, but transmission delay and QoS reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary classification of multicast traffic into separate access category queues before scheduling, marking MBS traffic with specific access categories (e.g., AC_VO or AC_VI) to ensure priority handling. This preliminary action enables the LAN scheduler to automatically prioritize MBS traffic without requiring complex QoS awareness, resolving the contradiction by maintaining simple scheduler logic while ensuring reliable QoS delivery.
2Speed
If MBS traffic is prioritized in separate access category queues, then transmission speed improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality differentiation by creating specific access category queues for MBS traffic within the existing WLAN queue structure. Instead of redesigning the entire scheduling system, it locally enhances priority handling by allocating dedicated queues (e.g., AC_VO for voice, AC_VI for video) to MBS traffic, enabling fast transmission while maintaining overall system simplicity through targeted modifications.
3Reliability
If LAN scheduler prioritizes MBS traffic based on multiple parameters, then QoS reliability improves, but information processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential QoS parameters needed for MBS traffic prioritization (such as traffic type, bandwidth requirements, and delay sensitivity) from the complete set of possible traffic parameters. By taking out only the critical parameters and ignoring less relevant ones, the scheduler achieves reliable QoS handling with reduced processing complexity, avoiding the need to analyze all possible traffic attributes.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described that provide for multicast communications that originate at a wide area network (WAN) using a first RAT to be provided to a local area network (LAN) that uses a second RAT that is used to complete the multicast communications to a user equipment (UE). A scheduler of the second RAT may use one or more parameters associated with the multicast communications to prioritize transmission of the multicast data to one or more UEs. The scheduler of the second RAT may prioritize the multicast communications with other communications of the second RAT based on one or more of a number of clients served, a quality of service (QoS) or bandwidth of the multicast communications, a capability of the UEs, one or more other data flows, a feedback scheme associated with the multicast communications, or any combinations thereof.