Dynamic adjustment of TDD configuration in response to uplink voice muting

A computing system configured to control air interface communication of an air interface between an access node and at least one user equipment device (UE), wherein the air interface is divided over time into frames and the frames are further divided at least into subframes, wherein the air interface operates in accordance with a time-division-duplex (TDD) configuration that defines at least a number of uplink subframes per frame for communication over the air interface, the computing system comprising:

• at least one processor;
• 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 at least a threshold high rate of uplink voice muting on the air interface, wherein detecting at least the threshold high rate of uplink voice muting comprises detecting one or more instances of uplink voice muting on the air interface, and determining that the one or more instances of uplink voice muting have occurred at a rate that is at least as high as a predefined threshold rate, and
• responsive to at least the detecting, changing the TDD configuration to increase the number of uplink subframes per frame over the air interface.

An access node configured to control wireless connectivity of at least one user equipment device (UE) with the access node, the access node comprising:

• a wireless communication interface including an antenna structure through which the access node provides service on an air interface, wherein the air interface is divided over time into frames and the frames are further divided at least into subframes, wherein the air interface operates in accordance with a time-division-duplex (TDD) configuration that defines at least a number of uplink subframes per frame for communication over the air interface;
• a backhaul communication interface through which to communicate with other entities;
• and
• a controller, wherein the controller is configured to cause the access node to carry out operations including:
• detecting at least a threshold high rate of uplink voice muting on the air interface, wherein detecting at least the threshold high rate of uplink voice muting comprises detecting one or more instances of uplink voice muting on the air interface, and determining that the one or more instances of uplink voice muting have occurred at a rate that is at least as high as a predefined threshold rate;
• and
• responsive to at least the detecting, changing the TDD configuration to increase the number of uplink subframes per frame over the air interface.