Adaptive traffic shaping for wireless communication systems

1. A system comprising:

base stations that provide wireless communication coverage in wireless network areas to mobile devices;

a monitoring module to obtain signaling messages corresponding to one or more of the base stations and produce associations between the wireless network areas and the mobile devices based on the signaling messages; and

a traffic shaping module in communication with the monitoring module to receive the associations, determine loading factors for the wireless network areas based on the associations, and control data flows to the mobile devices associated with the wireless network areas based at least on respective loading factors.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring module obtains an additional signaling message and correspondingly updates one of the associations, wherein the traffic shaping module uses the updated association to update a corresponding loading factor.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the traffic shaping module is configured to monitor a transfer of an active data flow to a different wireless network area, and to dynamically update corresponding loading factors based on the transfer.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the traffic shaping module is configured to perform an operation on a type of traffic to a wireless network area based on a respective loading factor and one or more threshold values, wherein the operation is one of blocking traffic, forwarding traffic, or rate limiting traffic.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the traffic shaping module is configured to select one or more data flows for preferential traffic forwarding, wherein preferential traffic forwarding overrides a blocking or rate limiting operation.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring module obtains a type of message being one of attach, handoff, or area update.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring module is collocated with the traffic shaping module.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring module is separate from the traffic shaping module.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a network interface to receive signaling messages corresponding to one or more base stations that provide wireless communication coverage in wireless network areas to mobile devices; and

a monitoring module to process the signaling messages, produce associations between the wireless network areas and the mobile devices based on the signaling messages, and communicate the associations to control traffic shaping based on the associations.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising:

a traffic shaping module to receive the associations, determine loading factors for the wireless network areas based on the associations, and control data flows to the mobile devices associated with the wireless network areas based at least on respective loading factors.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the monitoring module obtains an additional signaling message and correspondingly updates one of the associations, wherein the traffic shaping module uses the updated association to update a corresponding loading factor.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the traffic shaping module is configured to monitor a transfer of an active data flow to a different wireless network area, and to dynamically update corresponding loading factors based on the transfer.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the traffic shaping module is configured to perform an operation on a type of traffic to a wireless network area based on a respective loading factor and one or more threshold values, wherein the operation is one of blocking traffic, forwarding traffic, or rate limiting traffic.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the traffic shaping module is configured to select one or more data flows for preferential traffic forwarding, wherein preferential traffic forwarding overrides a blocking or rate limiting operation.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein a processing unit module comprises the traffic shaping module and the monitoring module.

16. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the monitoring module obtains a type of message being one of attach, handoff, or area update.

17. A method for adaptive traffic shaping, the method comprising:

obtaining information that associates mobile devices with wireless network areas handling wireless communications with the mobile devices, wherein obtaining the information comprises receiving signaling messages associated with the mobile devices; and

influencing data flow transmissions to the mobile devices associated with the wireless network areas based at least on the obtained information.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

monitoring data flows between the mobile devices and one or more networks;

identifying one or more of the data flows to a specific wireless network area by at least using the obtained information; and

determining a loading factor for the specific wireless network area based on the identified data flows,

wherein influencing data flow transmissions comprises controlling traffic on the identified data flows to the specific wireless network area based on the loading factor.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein controlling traffic comprises performing an operation on a type of traffic to the specific wireless network area based on the loading factor and one or more threshold values, wherein the operation is one of blocking traffic, forwarding traffic, or rate limiting traffic.

20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

obtaining additional information that indicates a change in data flows associated with the specific wireless network; and

updating the loading factor based on the additional information.

21. The method of claim 18 , wherein controlling traffic comprises selecting at least one of the identified data flows for preferential traffic forwarding based on one or more selection criteria.

22. The method of claim 21 , further comprising:

monitoring a transfer of an existing data flow into the specific wireless network area; and

updating the loading factor based on the transfer.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein controlling traffic comprises selecting a different one of the identified data flows for preferential traffic forwarding based on the updated loading factor.

24. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

associating the mobile devices to the wireless network areas based on the signaling messages to generate mapping information.

25. The method of claim 24 , wherein influencing data flow transmissions to the mobile devices comprises communicating the mapping information to a traffic shaping process that controls the data flow transmissions.

26. The method of claim 25 , further comprising:

obtaining a new signaling message that indicates a different wireless network area for at least one of the mobile devices;

updating the mapping information based on the new signaling message; and

communicating at least an updated portion of the mapping information to the traffic shaping process.

27. The method of claim 17 , wherein receiving signaling messages comprises receiving a message that comprises an identity of a mobile device and an identity of a wireless network area.

28. The method of claim 17 , wherein receiving signaling messages comprises receiving a type of message being one of an attach, handoff, or area update.