Reduction of TTI bundling in view of proactive imposition of air-interface resource reservation for a device class

1. A method for controlling application of transmission time interval (TTI) bundling on a radio-frequency (RF) carrier on which an access node provides wireless communication service, wherein the carrier defines air-interface resources, and wherein the access node supports application of TTI bundling on the carrier, the method comprising:

detecting that at least a predefined threshold number of devices of a predefined class are connected with the access node on the carrier; and

responsive to the detecting that at least the predefined threshold number of devices of the predefined class are connected with the access node on the carrier, (i) proactively reserving a portion of the air-interface resources for use to serve communications between the access node and the devices of the predefined class and (ii) imposing a reduction in the application of the TTI bundling by the access node on the carrier.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is carried out by the access node.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is coordinated by a computing system that is in network communication with the access node.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the devices of the predefined class are Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reduction in the application of the TTI bundling by the access node is additionally based on a determination that the carrier has at least a predefined threshold high level of load.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein imposing the reduction in the application of the TTI bundling by the access node comprises reconfiguring the access node from (i) a first mode in which the access node is configured to apply the TTI bundling in response to a TTI-bundling trigger to (ii) a second mode in which the access node is not configured to apply TTI bundling in response to the TTI-bundling trigger.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein imposing the reduction in the application of the TTI bundling by the access node comprises reconfiguring the access node from (i) a first mode in which the access node is configured to apply the TTI bundling to voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication to (ii) a second mode in which the access node is not configured to apply TTI bundling to VoIP communication.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein imposing the reduction in the application of TTI bundling by the access node comprises reconfiguring the access node from (i) a first mode in which, when the access node applies TTI bundling, the access node applies the TTI bundling with a first bundling factor defining a first quantity of repeated transmissions per block of data to (ii) a second mode in which, when the access node applies TTI bundling, the access node applies the TTI bundling with a second bundling factor that defines a second quantity of repeated transmissions per block of data, the second quantity being less than the first quantity.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising setting an extent of the reduction based on a size of the portion of the air-interfaces proactively reserved.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, responsive to a reversion trigger, undoing the imposed reduction in the application of the TTI bundling.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reversion trigger comprises detecting that fewer than the predefined threshold number of devices of the predefined class are connected with the access node on the carrier.

12. A computing system operable to control application of transmission time interval (TTI) bundling on a radio-frequency (RF) carrier on which an access node provides wireless communication service, wherein the carrier defines air-interface resources, and wherein the access node supports application of TTI bundling on the carrier, the computing system comprising:

a network communication interface;

a one processing unit;

non-transitory data storage; and

program instructions stored in the non-transitory data storage and executable by the processing unit to carry out operations including:

detecting that at least a predefined threshold number of devices of a predefined class are connected with the access node on the carrier, and

responsive to the detecting that at least the predefined threshold number of devices of a predefined class are connected with the access node on the carrier, causing the access node (i) to proactively reserve a portion of the air-interface resources for use to serve communications between the access node and the devices of the predefined class and (ii) to impose a reduction in the application of the TTI bundling by the access node on the carrier.

13. An access node operable to control application of transmission time interval (TTI) bundling on a radio-frequency (RF) carrier on which the access node provides wireless communication service, wherein the carrier defines air-interface resources, and wherein the access node supports application of TTI bundling on the carrier, the access node comprising:

a wireless communication interface including an antenna structure through which the access node is configured to communicate on the carrier; and

a controller configured to carry out operations to control the application of the TTI bundling on the carrier,

wherein the operations include detecting that at least a predefined threshold number of devices of a predefined class are connected with the access node on the carrier, and

wherein the operations include, responsive to the detecting that at least the predefined threshold number of devices of the predefined class are connected with the access node on the carrier, (i) proactively reserving a portion of the air-interface resources for use to serve communications between the access node and the devices of the predefined class and (ii) imposing a reduction in the application of the TTI bundling by the access node on the carrier.

14. The access node of claim 13 , wherein the controller comprises a processing unit, non-transitory data storage, and program instructions stored in non-transitory data storage and executable by the processing unit to carry out the operations.

15. The access node of claim 13 , wherein the reduction in the application of the TTI bundling by the access node is additionally based on a determination that the carrier has at least a predefined threshold high level of load.

16. The access node of claim 13 , wherein imposing the reduction in the application of the TTI bundling by the access node comprises reconfiguring the access node from (i) a first mode in which the access node is configured to apply the TTI bundling in response to a TTI-bundling trigger to (ii) a second mode in which the access node is not configured to apply TTI bundling in response to the TTI-bundling trigger.

17. The access node of claim 13 , wherein imposing the reduction in the application of TTI bundling by the access node comprises reconfiguring the access node from (i) a first mode in which, when the access node applies TTI bundling, the access node applies the TTI bundling with a first bundling factor defining a first quantity of repeated transmissions per block of data to (ii) a second mode in which, when the access node applies TTI bundling, the access node applies the TTI bundling with a second bundling factor that defines a second quantity of repeated transmissions per block of data, the second quantity being less than the first quantity.

18. The access node of claim 17 , wherein the operations further include setting an extent of the reduction based on a size of the portion of the air-interfaces proactively reserved.

19. The access node of claim 13 , wherein the operations further include, responsive to a reversion trigger, undoing the imposed reduction in the application of the TTI bundling.

20. The access node of claim 13 , wherein the devices of the predefined class are Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices.