Method and apparatus for channel traffic congestion avoidance in a mobile communication system
View Patent ↗An apparatus, comprising at least one processor configured to receive and read a series of blocks on a first channel and determine whether there is congestion and if not transmitting a channel request on a second channel.
1. An apparatus for use in controlling congestion in a cell of a communications network, the apparatus comprising:
at least one controller and a memory storing a computer program which are configured to:
receive and read a series of blocks on a first channel;
determine whether there is congestion based on whether said series of blocks comprises a flag indicating that there is congestion, wherein the flag is in at least one of an IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT message or an IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT REJECT message; and
in the event that the determination is that there is no congestion, initiate an access procedure by transmitting a channel request on a second channel.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the series of blocks has a predetermined length (N).
3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , the controller with the memory and the computer program being further configured to wait for a waiting time before performing another attempt to determine whether there is congestion or not.
4. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the waiting time is proportionate to the number of attempts to determine whether there is congestion or not.
5. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the waiting time includes a random element.
6. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the controller with the memory and the computer program are further arranged to receive the waiting time from a network node.
7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the waiting time is based on at least one implementation specific criterion.
8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first channel is an access grant channel and the second channel is a random access channel.
9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises a mobile station.
10. A method of controlling congestion in a cell of a communications network, the method comprising:
reading a series of blocks on a first channel;
determining whether there is congestion based on whether said series of blocks comprises a flag indicating that there is congestion, wherein the flag is in at least one of an IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT message or an IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT REJECT message;
if the determination is that there is congestion, waiting; and
if the determination is that there is no congestion, initiating an access procedure by transmitting a channel request on a second channel.
11. A method according to claim 10 , wherein the method comprises if the determination is that there is congestion, waiting for a waiting time before performing another attempt to determine whether there is congestion or not.
12. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the first channel is an access grant channel and the second channel is a random access channel.
13. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the series of blocks has a predetermined length (N).
14. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the waiting time is proportionate to the number of attempts to determine whether there is congestion or not.
15. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the waiting time is received from a network node by a mobile station performing the method.
16. A memory storing a computer program comprising a set of instructions, which, when executed on a data-processing system, causes the data processing system to
read a series of blocks on a first channel;
determine whether there is congestion based on whether said series of blocks corn irises a flag indicating that there is congestion wherein the flag is in at least one of an IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT message or an IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT REJECT message; and
in the event that the determination is that there is no congestion, to initiate an access procedure by transmitting a channel request on a second channel.
17. The memory according to claim 16 , wherein the first channel is an access granted channel and the second channel is a random access channel.
18. The memory according to claim 16 , wherein the series of blocks has a predetermined length (N).
19. The memory according to claim 16 , wherein the set of instructions, when executed on a data-processing system, further causes the data processing system to wait for a waiting time before performing another attempt to determine whether there is congestion or not.
20. The memory according to claim 19 , wherein the waiting time is proportionate to the number of attempts to determine whether there is congestion or not.
21. The memory according to claim 19 , wherein the waiting time is received from a network node by a mobile station comprising the memory and data processing system.