| Sonstiges: |
- Nachgewiesen in: USPTO Patent Applications
- Sprachen: English
- Document Number: 20200205174
- Publication Date: June 25, 2020
- Appl. No: 16/722095
- Application Filed: December 20, 2019
- Claim: 1. An access node for a radio access network, the access node comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the access node to perform: receiving a plurality of data packets associated with one or more radio bearers for scheduling to a plurality of terminal devices served by the access node; and determining an over-the-air transmission mode of each radio bearer of the one or more radio bearers; wherein the access node is further configured to perform: in response to determining that the one or more radio bearers comprise one or more first explicit multi-unicast, Xcast, radio bearers using a multicast transmission mode and one or more second radio bearers using a unicast transmission mode, scheduling the one or more radio bearers according to a first scheduling mechanism, wherein the first scheduling mechanism prioritizes the one or more first Xcast radio bearers over the one or more second radio bearers to maximize a system throughput associated with the access node by throttling each of the one or more first Xcast radio bearers according to a first throttling rate and each of the one or more second radio bearers according to a second throttling rate larger than the first throttling rate, wherein the first throttling rate is defined separately for each first Xcast radio bearer based on the number of terminal devices served by said first Xcast radio bearer and the first throttling rate and the second throttling rate are defined to depend at least on the amount of congestion in the access node; or throttling each of the one or more second radio bearers according to a third throttling rate, wherein the third throttling rate is defined to depend at least on the amount of congestion in the access node.
- Claim: 2. The access node of claim 1, wherein the first throttling rate is defined separately for each first Xcast radio bearer further based on one or more of the amount of congestion, radio resource utilization of the first Xcast radio bearer and traffic volume of associated with the first Xcast radio bearer and the second throttling rate is defined separately for each radio bearer of the one or more second radio bearers based on one or more of the amount of congestion, radio resource utilization of the radio bearer and traffic volume associated with the radio bearer.
- Claim: 3. The access node of claim 1, wherein the first throttling rate is defined to be inversely proportional to the number of terminal devices served by each first Xcast radio bearer or directly proportional to the second throttling rate.
- Claim: 4. The access node according to claim 1, wherein the access node is configured to perform the scheduling according to the first scheduling mechanism by throttling each of the one or more first Xcast radio bearers according to the first throttling rate and each of the one or more second radio bearers according to the second throttling rate while limiting the first throttling rate so as not to exceed a second pre-defined threshold.
- Claim: 5. The access node according to claim 1, wherein the access node is further configured to perform the scheduling according to the first scheduling mechanism by: determining a reduction in a total data rate associated with the access node needed for overcoming congestion; determining whether the needed reduction in the total data rate exceeds a third pre-defined threshold; performing said throttling of each of the one or more first Xcast radio bearers according to the first throttling rate and each of the one or more second radio bearers according to the second throttling rate only in response to the needed reduction in the total data rate exceeding the third pre-defined threshold; and in response to the needed reduction in the total data rate failing to exceed the third pre-defined threshold, throttling each of the one or more second radio bearers according to a third throttling rate.
- Claim: 6. An access node for a radio access network, wherein the access node is further configured to perform: receiving a plurality of data packets associated with one or more radio bearers for scheduling to a plurality of terminal devices served by the access node; determining an over-the-air transmission mode of each radio bearer of the one or more radio bearers; and in response to determining that the one or more radio bearers comprise one or more first explicit multi-unicast, Xcast, radio bearers using a multicast transmission mode and one or more second radio bearers using a unicast transmission mode, scheduling the one or more radio bearers according to a first scheduling mechanism, wherein the first scheduling mechanism prioritizes the one or more first Xcast radio bearers over the one or more second radio bearers to maximize a system throughput associated with the access node by throttling each of the one or more second radio bearers according to a third throttling rate.
- Claim: 7. The access node of claim 5, wherein the third throttling rate is defined separately for each radio bearer of the one or more second radio bearers based on one or more of the amount of congestion in the access node, radio resource utilization of the radio bearer and traffic volume associated with the radio bearer.
- Claim: 8. The access node according to claim 1, wherein the access node is further configured to perform: in response to the determining that the one or more radio bearers comprise the one or more first Xcast radio bearers using the multicast transmission mode and the one or more second radio bearers using the unicast transmission mode, performing the scheduling of the one or more radio bearers according to the first scheduling mechanism so as to further prioritize the one or more first Xcast radio bearers individually based on the number of terminal devices served by each first Xcast radio bearer, a higher number of terminal devices served by a first Xcast radio bearer corresponding to higher priority.
- Claim: 9. The access node according to claim 1, wherein the access node is further configured to perform: in response to the determining that the one or more radio bearers comprise the one or more first Xcast radio bearers using the multicast transmission mode but no second radio bearers using the unicast transmission mode, scheduling the one or more radio bearers according to the first scheduling mechanism by prioritizing the one or more first Xcast radio bearers individually based on the number of terminal devices served by each first Xcast radio bearer, a higher number of terminal devices served by a first Xcast radio bearer corresponding to higher priority.
- Claim: 10. The access node according to claim 1, wherein the access node is further configured to perform: in response to determining that the one or more radio bearers comprise no first Xcast radio bearers using the multicast transmission mode, scheduling the one or more radio bearers according to a second scheduling mechanism to maximize the system throughput associated with the access node by throttling the one or more radio bearers equally.
- Claim: 11. The access node according to claim 1, wherein the access node is further configured to perform: determining, in response to the receiving, whether the access node is currently experiencing congestion based on one or more pre-defined congestion criteria; and performing the determining of the over-the-air transmission mode of each radio bearer of the one or more radio bearers only in response to determining that the access node is experiencing congestion.
- Claim: 12. The access node of claim 11, wherein the one or more pre-defined congestion criteria comprise at least one or more first pre-defined thresholds for one or more congestion metrics associated with the access node and the determining whether the access node is currently experiencing congestion based on the one or more pre-defined congestion criteria comprises comparing one or more current values of one or more congestion metrics of the access node to the one or more first pre-defined thresholds, the access node being determined to experience congestion in response to the one or more current values exceeding the one or more first pre-defined thresholds.
- Claim: 13. The access node according to claim 12, wherein the one or more congestion metrics comprise one or more of a total data rate associated with the access node or a cell served by the access node, the number of terminal devices served by the access node, total resource utilization of the access node, packet loss for data packets transmitted by the access node, transmission delay in the access node and total traffic volume of the access node.
- Claim: 14. The access node according to claim 12, wherein the access node is further configured to perform, in response to determining that the access node is experiencing congestion and that the one or more radio bearers comprise at least the one or more first explicit multi-unicast, Xcast, radio bearers using the multicast transmission mode, the scheduling of the one or more radio bearers according to the first scheduling mechanism so as to reduce each of the one or more congestion metrics of the access node to a respective pre-defined maximum acceptable level smaller or equal to a respective first pre-defined threshold or so as to raise the system throughput associated with the access node to a pre-defined minimum acceptable level.
- Claim: 15. The access node according to claim 12, wherein the access node is further configured to perform: in response to determining that the radio access network is not experiencing congestion, scheduling the one or more radio bearers according to a third scheduling mechanism being one of a round-robin scheduling mechanism, a weighted fair queue scheduling mechanism and a proportional fair scheduling mechanism.
- Claim: 16. The access node according to claim 12, wherein the access node is further configured to perform: determining, in response to the receiving, whether the one or more radio bearers associated with the plurality of data packets are default bearers providing best-effort quality of service or dedicated bearers each of which provides a pre-determined quality of service level; in response to the one or more radio bearers being dedicated bearers, scheduling the one or more radio bearers based on one or more dedicated bearer handling mechanisms; and performing the determining whether the radio access network is currently experiencing the congestion only in response to the one or more radio bearers being standard bearers providing best-effort quality of service.
- Claim: 17. The access node according to claim 1, wherein the access node comprises a gNodeB, gNB, for a fully distributed deployment scenario of a 5G wireless communications network or a gNodeB-distributed unit, gNB-DU, configured for a centralized deployment scenario of a 5G wireless communications network.
- Claim: 18. The access node according to claim 1, wherein the access node comprises a first gNodeB-distributed unit, gNB-DU in a centralized deployment scenario of a 5G wireless communications network, the first gNB-DU being a part of a first gNB further comprising one or more second gNB-DUs and a first gNodeB-centralized unit, gNB-CU, which is connected via an F1 interface to each gNB-DU, and wherein the access node is further configured perform: causing transmitting a request for information on the one or more second gNB-DUs to the first gNB-CU, wherein the information on the one or more second gNB-DUs comprises at least radio bearer information on each radio bearer used by each of the one or more second gNB-DUs; receiving requested information from the first gNB-CU; and in response to determining that the one or more radio bearers in the first gNB-DU or radio bearers in the one or more second gNB-DUs comprise the one or more first Xcast radio bearers using the multicast transmission mode and the one or more other second radio bearers using the unicast transmission mode, performing the scheduling of the one or more radio bearers according to the first scheduling mechanism, wherein the first scheduling mechanism further takes into account the information on the one or more second gNB-DUs by prioritizing one or more second Xcast radio bearers using a unicast transmission mode in the first gNB-DU over other unicast radio bearers in the first gNB-DU in response to the one or more second Xcast radio bearers using the multicast transmission mode in at least one of the one or more second gNB-DUs.
- Claim: 19. A method, comprising: receiving a plurality of data packets associated with one or more radio bearers for scheduling from an access node to a plurality of terminal devices served by the access node; and determining an over-the-air transmission mode of each radio bearer of the one or more radio bearers; in response to determining that the one or more radio bearers comprise one or more first explicit multi-unicast, Xcast, radio bearers using a multicast transmission mode and one or more second radio bearers using a unicast transmission mode, scheduling the one or more radio bearers according to a first scheduling mechanism, wherein the first scheduling mechanism prioritizes the one or more first Xcast radio bearers over the one or more second radio bearers to maximize a system throughput associated with the access node by performing one of: throttling each of the one or more first Xcast radio bearers according to a first throttling rate and each of the one or more second radio bearers according to a second throttling rate larger than the first throttling rate, wherein the first throttling rate is defined separately for each first Xcast radio bearer based on the number of terminal devices served by said first Xcast radio bearer and the first throttling rate and the second throttling rate are defined to depend at least on the amount of congestion in the access node, and throttling each of the one or more second radio bearers according to a third throttling rate, wherein the third throttling rate is defined to depend at least on the amount of congestion in the access node.
- Claim: 20. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing, when executed in hardware, at least the following: receiving a plurality of data packets associated with one or more radio bearers for scheduling from an access node to a plurality of terminal devices served by the access node; and determining an over-the-air transmission mode of each radio bearer of the one or more radio bearers; in response to determining that the one or more radio bearers comprise one or more first explicit multi-unicast, Xcast, radio bearers using a multicast transmission mode and one or more second radio bearers using a unicast transmission mode, scheduling the one or more radio bearers according to a first scheduling mechanism, wherein the first scheduling mechanism prioritizes the one or more first Xcast radio bearers over the one or more second radio bearers to maximize a system throughput associated with the access node by performing one of: throttling each of the one or more first Xcast radio bearers according to a first throttling rate and each of the one or more second radio bearers according to a second throttling rate larger than the first throttling rate, wherein the first throttling rate is defined separately for each first Xcast radio bearer based on the number of terminal devices served by said first Xcast radio bearer, and the first throttling rate and the second throttling rate are defined to depend at least on the amount of congestion in the access node, and throttling each of the one or more second radio bearers according to a third throttling rate, wherein the third throttling rate is defined to depend at least on the amount of congestion in the access node.
- Current International Class: 04; 04; 04
|
