Selective Flow Control for Wireless QoS Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
In wireless communication systems, maintaining quality of service (QoS) is challenging due to insufficient uplink grants, which can lead to flow control applying to both prioritized and non-prioritized data, resulting in latency and potential failure to meet service level agreements (SLAs) for prioritized data.
Innovation Solution
Implementing selective flow control enforcement per service flow identifier, where the modem and application processor separate flow control commands for prioritized and non-prioritized data, allowing prioritized data to continue transmission while controlling non-prioritized data, using multiple buffers with threshold levels to manage data traffic.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If flow control is applied to all data traffic when uplink grants are insufficient, then buffer overflow is prevented, but prioritized data transmission is delayed and SLAs may be violated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data traffic into prioritized and non-prioritized flows using separate logical channels and buffer structures. The modem partitions uplink data into different logical channels based on priority indicators, allowing differential flow control application where flow control is selectively enforced on non-prioritized traffic while prioritized traffic maintains higher transmission precedence, thus preventing buffer overflow while protecting QoS for critical data
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different flow control characteristics to different data flows within the same uplink transmission. By assigning priority levels to logical channels and applying flow control thresholds selectively, the system creates local quality differences where prioritized data receives preferential treatment (lower flow control thresholds, higher transmission priority) while non-prioritized data undergoes stricter flow control, resolving the contradiction between preventing overflow and maintaining low latency for critical traffic
2Loss of time
If uplink bandwidth is increased to accommodate all data, then transmission latency is reduced, but system resource efficiency decreases when prioritized data is the only traffic requiring transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic resource allocation where the uplink transmission bandwidth and flow control parameters are adjusted based on real-time traffic conditions. The system dynamically selects which logical channels to transmit based on priority indicators and current buffer states, allowing the uplink grant size and composition to vary adaptively - allocating full bandwidth when prioritized data requires transmission and reducing allocation when only non-prioritized data is present, thus maintaining low latency for critical traffic while optimizing overall resource efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial flow control action by selectively enforcing flow control on non-prioritized logical channels while allowing prioritized channels to transmit more freely. This partial application of flow control prevents complete bandwidth allocation to non-critical traffic, reserving sufficient resources for prioritized data transmission when needed, thereby achieving both low latency for important traffic and reasonable resource utilization efficiency
3Device complexity
If a single flow control command is used for all data traffic, then control signaling is simplified, but prioritized and non-prioritized data cannot be differentiated in transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the flow control mechanism into multiple independent control commands, each associated with specific logical channels or priority levels. Instead of a single unified flow control command, the system implements separate flow control thresholds and enforcement mechanisms for prioritized and non-prioritized data flows, enabling QoS differentiation while keeping each individual flow control command relatively simple and manageable
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different flow control characteristics locally to different logical channels based on their priority assignments. Each logical channel has its own flow control threshold and enforcement rules, allowing the system to maintain simple control signaling for each individual channel while achieving complex differentiated QoS behavior across multiple channels through the combination of local quality variations
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. In some systems, a modem of a user equipment (UE) and a data source, such as an application processor or a tethered client, may support for flow control enforcement per service flow. For example, the modem may transmit, to the application processor, a first flow control command for a first data traffic including non-prioritized data. The application processor, based on the first flow control command, may transmit, to the modem, the first data traffic including the non-prioritized data according to the first flow control command while also transmitting a second data traffic including prioritized data without flow control. The modem and the application processor may support such selective flow control enforcement based on a priority of a service flow based on maintaining multiple buffers at the modem or based on defining multiple thresholds of one buffer associated with triggering flow control.