Service-Aware Carrier Aggregation for Wireless Resource Efficiency

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current wireless communication systems manage radio bearers at a granularity that leads to unnecessary resource allocation and inefficient quality of service (QoS) management, as they do not consider service-specific needs, resulting in suboptimal carrier aggregation and resource utilization.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a method and system for configuring secondary component carriers on a per-service basis, where the number of activated carriers is dynamically adjusted based on service requirements, prioritization, and available resources, allowing for efficient activation and deactivation of carriers to optimize resource allocation and QoS.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If carrier aggregation is used to boost throughput by adding secondary cells, then wireless device throughput is improved, but resource utilization efficiency deteriorates due to unnecessary carrier activation

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewireless device throughputVSAvoidresource utilization efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements dynamic carrier activation and deactivation based on service requirements. The base station determines whether to activate secondary component carriers by evaluating service-specific parameters such as service type, QoS requirements, and current radio conditions, rather than statically aggregating all available carriers. This dynamic approach ensures carriers are activated only when needed for specific services, improving resource utilization efficiency while maintaining high throughput when required.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

2Reliability

If bearers are managed at the connection level rather than service level, then connection reliability is improved, but service-specific QoS management deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveconnection reliabilityVSAvoidservice-specific QoS management
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the bearer management function by introducing service-level abstraction above the existing connection-level bearer management. Each service is associated with a service identifier that groups multiple bearers, allowing the system to manage bearers both at the connection level (maintaining reliability) and service level (enabling QoS adaptability). This segmentation enables independent QoS policies for different services while preserving the underlying connection reliability mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent adds a service-level dimension to the existing connection-level bearer management hierarchy. By introducing service identifiers and service-level QoS parameters as an additional layer, the system can simultaneously maintain connection reliability through existing bearer mechanisms while achieving service-specific QoS management through the new dimension. This dimensional extension allows multi-criteria bearer management without compromising existing reliability features.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Adaptability or versatility

If admission control is performed at the bearer level, then individual bearer admission flexibility is improved, but service establishment completeness deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveindividual bearer admission flexibilityVSAvoidservice establishment completeness
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges admission control decisions by evaluating all bearers associated with a service collectively rather than independently. When a service admission request is received, the system determines the number of component carriers needed for the entire service and evaluates admission control for all required bearers together. This merging approach ensures that either all bearers for a service are admitted together (maintaining service completeness) or none are admitted (preserving resource efficiency), while still allowing flexible bearer-level adjustments within the service context.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP3360274B1Service aware carrier aggregation
Publication Date: 2020.02.19 TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)
  • EP3360274B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3360274B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3360274B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A method and system for carrier activation and release on a per-service basis are disclosed. According to one aspect a method is provided for configuring secondary component carriers associated with a service for a wireless device, the service being associated with a plurality of bearers. The method includes receiving a message corresponding to the service. When the message is for establishing the service, a number of carriers corresponding to the service are activated for the wireless device, providing that the total number of carriers activated do not exceed a maximum allowable number of carriers for the wireless device.