Adaptive call admission control for use in a wireless communication system

A process for controlling connections between a base station and a customer premise equipment (CPE) in a wireless communication system, wherein the base station and the CPE each are configured to adaptively adjust a PHY mode for an uplink which includes one or more connections, wherein a planned PHY mode is selected for the uplink based on, for example, the wireless communication system's geographic region, and wherein a current PHY mode corresponds to the modulation technique used by the CPE to transmit data, the method comprising:

• receiving an uplink that is modulated by a CPE using a current PHY mode;
• determining a quality for a channel parameter for the uplink;
• comparing the quality with a current PHY mode lower threshold;
• comparing the quality with a current PHY mode upper threshold;
• if either the current PHY mode upper or lower threshold has been crossed, determining a normalized hard bandwidth commitments for the uplink based on a second current PHY mode to be used by the CPE;
• if the air link line rate exceeds the normalized hard bandwidth commitments between the CPE and the base station, applying the second current PHY mode to the uplink, else suspending a connection between the CPE and the base station.

A process for controlling connections between a base station and a customer premise equipment (CPE) in a wireless communication system, wherein the base station and the CPE each are configured to adaptively adjust channel characteristics, for example a PHY mode, for a downlink which includes one or more connections, wherein a planned PHY mode is selected for the downlink based on, for example, the wireless communication system's geographic region, and wherein a current PHY mode corresponds to the modulation technique used by the base station to transmit data, the method comprising:

• receiving a downlink that is modulated by a base station using a current PHY mode;
• determining a quality for a channel parameter for the downlink;
• comparing the quality with a current PHY mode lower threshold;
• comparing the quality with a current PHY mode upper threshold;
• if either the current PHY mode upper or lower threshold has been crossed, determining a normalized hard bandwidth commitments for the downlink based on a second current PHY mode to be used by the base station;
• if the air link line rate exceeds the normalized hard bandwidth commitments between the CPE and the base station, applying the second current PHY mode to the downlink, else suspending a connection between the CPE and the base station.

A communication system that is configured to control the admission of new connections and the suspension of existing connections between a base station and customer premise equipments (CPEs), wherein the base station and the CPEs are each configured to increase or decrease the robustness of their transmission modulation technique by adapting channel characteristics, for example, their PHY mode, the system comprising:

• a first CPE having a first modem configured to modulate data in a communication link using a first current PHY mode and a first planned PHY mode;
• a second CPE having a second modem configured to modulate data in a communication link using a second current PHY mode and a second planned PHY mode;
• a base station having a third modem configured to transmit and receive data to and from the first and second CPEs;
• and
• a call admission control (CAC) module configured to determine whether to allow a new connection between the first CPE and the base station or between the second CPE and the base station based on a comparison of a total air link line rate between the first and second CPEs and the base station, wherein the total air link line rate is based on a reference PHY mode, with a bandwidth commitment value between the base station and the first and second CPEs, wherein the bandwidth commitment value is based on the first and second planned PHY modes.

A method of performing call admission control in a communication system that supports subscriber level adaptive PHY modes, the system including a base station and at least one customer premise equipment (CPE), the method comprising:

• determining planned PHY modes for the CPEs based on their planned modulation techniques and quality of service requirements;
• determining a reference line rate for the communication system when using a reference PHY mode;
• determining multiplicative rates for normalizing CPEs planned PHY modes to the reference PHY mode;
• comparing the reference line rate to bandwidth requirements using the normalized planned PHY modes;
• and
• allowing or denying a new connection between the base station and the CPEs based on the comparison.

A system for performing call admission control in a communication system that supports subscriber level adaptive PHY modes, the system comprising:

• terminals with associated current and planned PHY modes, wherein each terminals modulates connections using the current PHY mode, and wherein the planned PHY mode is selected for each terminal based on system level characteristics;
• a base station configured to transmit and receive data to and from the terminals via the connections;
• and
• a call admission control module configured to determine whether to allow a new connection between the terminals and the base station by comparing an air link line rate with a total hard bandwidth commitment between the terminals and the base station.

A method for controlling bandwidth in a communication system that is configured for adaptive modulation where new and existing connections between customer premises equipments (CPEs) and a base station can be suspended and unsuspended depending on planned and current bandwidth utilization for the communication system, the method comprising:

• determining a first planned PHY mode for a first connection between a base station and a first CPE;
• receiving data which is modulated using a first current PHY mode via the first connection;
• determining a signal quality for the received data;
• comparing the signal quality with either an upper threshold value or a lower threshold value;
• if the signal quality has increased across the upper threshold value, selecting a less robust PHY mode to replace the first current PHY mode for the first connection;
• if the signal quality has decreased across the lower threshold value, selecting a more robust PHY mode to replace the first current PHY mode for the first connection;
• if the more robust PHY mode is selected, comparing an air link line rate which is based on a reference PHY mode with a hard bandwidth commitment value for connections between the CPEs and base station which is base on a current PHY mode for each CPE's connections;
• and
• if the air link line rate does not exceed the hard bandwidth commitment value, suspending a second connection.

A method for selecting connections to suspend between a base station and associated terminals in a wireless communication system, wherein the base station and the associated terminals each are configured to adaptively adjust channel characteristics, for example a PHY mode, for each of their connections, wherein a current PHY mode corresponds to the modulation technique used by the terminals and base station to transmit data, the method comprising:

• changing a current PHY mode for a selected connection between a base station and associated terminals;
• summing the hard bandwidth commitments between the base station and the associated terminals based on the current PHY mode for each connection;
• determining an air link line rate for all connections between the base station and the associated terminals based on a reference PHY mode;
• if the air link line rate exceeds the hard bandwidth commitments, allocating air link resources to the selected connection, else suspending at least one of the connections between the base station and the associated terminals.