Method and system for communication network configuration using virtual link monitoring

A method for facilitating operation of a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving an indication of one or more virtual links overlaid onto a backhaul network coupled to one or more access nodes, the access nodes configured to provide one or more mobile devices with access to the communication network, wherein at least one of the virtual links comprises at least two respective physical communication paths connected together by at least one respective router;
• maintaining, using one or more virtual link monitors, indications of current loading of the one or more virtual links, wherein said indications of current loading of include a total aggregate amount of data traversing one of said at least one of the virtual links;
• providing, by the one or more virtual link monitors, one or more schedulers with operational information based at least partially on said indications of current loading of the one or more virtual links,
• wherein the one or more schedulers are configured to direct communication between the one or more mobile devices and the one or more access nodes, and
• wherein the virtual links are defined and managed by a Traffic Engineering (TE) controller separate from the one or more schedulers,
• wherein the TE controller provides, to the one or more schedulers, information indicative of data rate upper limits for at least one of the one or more virtual links, the one or more schedulers scheduling associations between at least one of the one or more mobile devices and the one or more access nodes such that a set of demands for network access are accommodated while respecting the data rate upper limits,
• the method further comprising maintaining, using the one or more virtual link monitors, the indications of current loading of the one or more virtual links and providing the operational information based on the indications of current loading to the scheduler, and wherein scheduling associations between the at least one of the one or more mobile devices and the one or more access nodes is based at least partially on the operational information.

A scheduler for a communication network, the scheduler including a processor and configured to:

• receive indications of a demand for network access by a mobile device;
• transmit, to a Traffic Engineering (TE) controller separate from the scheduler, an indication of service requirements to be accommodated by virtual links overlaid onto a backhaul network coupled to one or more access nodes, the access nodes configured to provide the mobile device with access to the communication network, wherein at least one of the virtual links comprises at least two respective physical communication paths connected together by at least one respective router;
• receive indications of current loading of the one or more virtual links, wherein said indications of current loading include a total aggregate amount of data traversing one of said at least one of the virtual links;
• receive, from the TE controller, information indicative of data rate upper limits for at least one of the virtual links;
• and
• schedule associations between a set of mobile devices, including the mobile device, and the access nodes such that a set of demands for network access, including the demand by the mobile device, are accommodated while respecting the data rate upper limits,
• the scheduler further comprising one or more virtual link monitors configured to maintain indications of current loading of the virtual links and provide operational information based on the indications of current loading to the scheduler, wherein scheduling associations between the set of mobile devices and the access nodes is based at least partially on the operational information,
• wherein the scheduler is configured to direct communication between the mobile device and the one or more access nodes based at least in part on said indications of current loading, and
• wherein the TE controller is configured to manage allocation of resources in the backhaul network to provide the virtual links.

An apparatus for operation in a communication network, the apparatus comprising:

• a link monitoring module including a processor and configured to:
• receive an indication of one or more virtual links overlaid onto a backhaul network coupled to one or more access nodes, the access nodes configured to provide one or more mobile devices with access to the communication network, wherein at least one of the virtual links comprises at least two respective physical communication paths connected together by at least one respective router;
• maintain indications of current loading of the one or more virtual links, wherein said indications of current loading include a total aggregate amount of data traversing one of said at least one of the virtual links;
• and
• a scheduler interface module including the processor or another processor and configured to provide one or more schedulers with operational information based at least partially on said indications of status current loading of the one or more virtual links,
• wherein the one or more schedulers are configured to direct communication between the one or more mobile devices and the one or more access nodes, and
• wherein the virtual links are defined and managed by a Traffic Engineering (TE) controller separate from the one or more schedulers;
• wherein the TE controller provides, to the one or more schedulers, information indicative of data rate upper limits for at least one of the one or more virtual links, the one or more schedulers scheduling associations between at least one of the one or more mobile devices and the one or more access nodes such that a set of demands for network access are accommodated while respecting the data rate upper limits,
• wherein the link monitoring module is further configured to maintain the indications of current loading of the one or more virtual links, the operational information provided to the one or more schedulers is based on the indications of current loading, and scheduling associations between the at least one of the one or more mobile devices and the one or more access nodes is based at least partially on the operational information.