IP Library Granted Patent US 9,781,040
Granted Patent B2
US 9,781,040 · App. 13/963,204 · Granted Oct 3, 2017

Congestion detection based on resource utilization information and user quality-of-experience indicators

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,781,040
App. No.
13/963,204
Granted
Oct 3, 2017
Kind
B2
Abstract

A capability is provided for detecting congestion in a communication network. A congestion condition is detected for the network based on resource utilization information associated with the network and a set of user quality-of-experience (QoE) indicators associated with the network. An indication of congestion in the network is detected based on resource utilization information associated with the network and a determination as to whether or not to generate detect a congestion condition for the network is made based on one or more user QoE indicators associated with the network. An indication of congestion in the network is detected based on resource utilization information associated with the network and a determination as to whether or not to generate a congestion alert for the indication of congestion in the network is made based on one or more user QoE indicators associated with the network.

Claims (45)

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor and a memory communicatively connected to the processor, the processor configured to:

detect an indication of congestion in a network based on resource utilization information associated with the network, wherein the resource utilization information comprises a resource utilization value;

select, from a plurality of sets of user quality-of-experience (QoE) indicators based on evaluation of the resource utilization value with respect to a set of resource utilization thresholds, a selected set of user QoE indicators; and

determine, responsive to the detection of the indication of congestion in the network and based on evaluation of one or more user QoE indicators in the selected set of user QoE indicators, whether to detect a congestion condition for the indication of congestion in the network or whether to prevent detection of a congestion condition for the indication of congestion in the network.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein

the selected set of user QoE indicators comprises a user throughput parameter, a round trip time (RTT) parameter, and a loss parameter.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the set of resource utilization thresholds defines a set of congestion levels, wherein the set of congestion levels comprises a first congestion level and a second congestion level, wherein the first congestion level has associated therewith a first one of the sets of user QoE indicators from the plurality of sets of user QoE indicators and the second congestion level has associated therewith a second one of the sets of user QoE indicators from the plurality of sets of user QoE indicators.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein evaluation of one or more user QoE indicators of the first one of the sets of user QoE indicators for the first congestion level is different than evaluation of one or more user QoE indicators of the second one of the sets of user QoE indicators for the second congestion level.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the first one of the sets of user QoE indicators and the second one of the sets of user QoE indicators are different.

6. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein, for a common user QoE indicator that is common to the first one of the sets of user QoE indicators and the second one of the sets of user QoE indicators, a first set of thresholds is used for evaluating the common user QoE indicator for the first congestion level and a second set of thresholds is used for evaluating the common user QoE indicator for the second congestion level.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more user QoE indicators in the selected set of user QoE indicators has associated therewith a respective threshold level for evaluation of the respective one or more user QoE indicators.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more user QoE indicators in the selected set of user QoE indicators comprise at least one of a user throughput parameter, a round trip time (RTT) parameter, or a loss parameter.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:

detect a congestion condition for the indication of congestion in the network based on evaluation of the one or more user QoE indicators in the selected set of user QoE indicators.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to perform at least one of:

generate a congestion alert based on the detected congestion condition; or

initiate, based on the detected congestion condition, a corrective action for alleviating the detected congestion condition.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the network comprises a wireless network, wherein the indication of congestion is for a cell of the wireless network, wherein the resource utilization information comprises information indicative of utilization of an air interface of the cell of the wireless network, wherein the one or more user QoE indicators are associated with the cell of the wireless network.

12. A method, comprising:

using a processor and a memory for:

detecting an indication of congestion in a network based on resource utilization information associated with the network, wherein the resource utilization information comprises a resource utilization value;

selecting, from a plurality of sets of user quality-of-experience (QoE) indicators based on evaluation of the resource utilization value with respect to a set of resource utilization thresholds, a selected set of user QoE indicators; and

determining, responsive to the detection of the indication of congestion in the network and based on evaluation of one or more user QoE indicators in the selected set of user QoE indicators, whether to detect a congestion condition for the indication of congestion in the network or whether to prevent detection of a congestion condition for the indication of congestion in the network.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein

the selected set of user QoE indicators comprises a user throughput parameter, a round trip time (RTT) parameter, and a loss parameter.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the set of resource utilization thresholds defines a set of congestion levels, wherein the set of congestion levels comprises a first congestion level and a second congestion level, wherein the first congestion level has associated therewith a first one of the sets of user QoE indicators from the plurality of sets of user QoE indicators and the second congestion level has associated therewith a second one of the sets of user QoE indicators from the plurality of sets of user QoE indicators.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein evaluation of one or more user QoE indicators of the first one of the sets of user QoE indicators for the first congestion level is different than evaluation of one or more user QoE indicators of the second one of the sets of user QoE indicators for the second congestion level.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first one of the sets of user QoE indicators and the second one of the sets of user QoE indicators are different.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein, for a common user QoE indicator that is common to the first one of the sets of user QoE indicators and the second one of the sets of user QoE indicators, a first set of thresholds is used for evaluating the common user QoE indicator for the first congestion level and a second set of thresholds is used for evaluating the common user QoE indicator for the second congestion level.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein each of the one or more user QoE indicators in the selected set of user QoE indicators has associated therewith a respective threshold level for evaluation of the respective one or more user QoE indicators.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more user QoE indicators in the selected set of user QoE indicators comprise at least one of a user throughput parameter, a round trip time (RTT) parameter, or a loss parameter.

20. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

detect a congestion condition for the indication of congestion in the network based on evaluation of the one or more user QoE indicators in the selected set of user QoE indicators.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising at least one of:

generating a congestion alert based on the detected congestion condition; or

initiating, based on the detected congestion condition, an action for alleviating the detected congestion condition.

22. The method of claim 12 , wherein the network comprises a wireless network, wherein the indication of congestion is for a cell of the wireless network, wherein the resource utilization information comprises information indicative of utilization of an air interface of the cell of the wireless network, wherein the one or more user QoE indicators are associated with the cell of the wireless network.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

detecting an indication of congestion in a network based on resource utilization information associated with the network, wherein the resource utilization information comprises a resource utilization value;

selecting, from a plurality of sets of user quality-of-experience (QoE) indicators based on evaluation of the resource utilization value with respect to a set of resource utilization thresholds, a selected set of user QoE indicators; and

determining, responsive to the detection of the indication of congestion in the network and based on evaluation of one or more user QoE indicators in the selected set of user QoE indicators, whether to detect a congestion condition for the indication of congestion in the network or whether to prevent detection of a congestion condition for the indication of congestion in the network.

24. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:

prevent detection of a congestion condition for the indication of congestion in the network based on evaluation of the one or more user QoE indicators in the selected set of user QoE indicators.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the one or more user QoE indicators in the selected set of user QoE indicators comprise a user throughput parameter, a round trip time (RTT) parameter, and a loss parameter.

Assignments (13)
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Aug 6, 2024
From: RPX CORPORATION; RPX CLEARINGHOUSE LLC
To: BARINGS FINANCE LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 068328/0674 →
RELEASE OF LIEN ON PATENTS Recorded Aug 5, 2024
From: BARINGS FINANCE LLC
To: RPX CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 068328/0278 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 22, 2023
From: RPX CORPORATION
To: BARINGS FINANCE LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 063429/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 28, 2021
From: PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP LLC
To: RPX CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 059352/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 30, 2021
From: NOKIA US HOLDINGS INC.
To: PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP HOLDINGS LLC; PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP LLC
Reel/Frame 058363/0723 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 30, 2021
From: CORTLAND CAPITAL MARKETS SERVICES LLC
To: PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP HOLDINGS LLC; PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP LLC
Reel/Frame 058983/0104 →
ASSIGNMENT AND ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 14, 2019
From: NOKIA USA INC.
To: NOKIA US HOLDINGS INC.
Reel/Frame 048370/0682 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 13, 2017
From: NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY; NOKIA SOLUTIONS AND NETWORKS BV; ALCATEL LUCENT SAS
To: PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP LLC
Reel/Frame 043877/0001 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 13, 2017
From: PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP HOLDINGS, LLC; PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP LLC
To: NOKIA USA INC.
Reel/Frame 043879/0001 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 13, 2017
From: PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP HOLDINGS, LLC; PROVENANCE ASSET GROUP, LLC
To: CORTLAND CAPITAL MARKET SERVICES, LLC
Reel/Frame 043967/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Aug 24, 2014
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG
To: ALCATEL-LUCENT USA, INC.
Reel/Frame 033625/0583 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 8, 2013
From: ALCATEL-LUCENT USA, INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG
Reel/Frame 031599/0941 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 12, 2013
From: MILLER, SCOTT COREY; SANDERS, SUSAN WU; CAO, JIN
To: ALCATEL-LUCENT USA INC.
Reel/Frame 031194/0144 →