Method and apparatus for providing congestion management for a wireless communication network

A tangible computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations for providing congestion management for a wireless communication network, the operations comprising:

• projecting dynamically a trend for a network element of the wireless communication network, using a functionality metric associated with the network element of the wireless communication network, wherein the projecting the trend comprises projecting the trend using the functionality metric of the network element as a function of a utilization level of the network element, wherein the functionality metric comprises a packet delay functionality metric, wherein the utilization level comprises a ratio between a measured number of packets transmitted and a maximum number of packets the network element is designed to transmit;
• determining if there is a potential congestion in accordance with the trend, wherein the potential congestion is detected when the trend for the network element is approaching a cut-off point, wherein the network element is still performing at an acceptable level when the potential congestion is detected;
• and
• providing a notification of the potential congestion, when there is a potential congestion for the network element of the wireless communication network.

An apparatus for providing congestion management for a wireless communication network, the apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a computer readable medium storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
• projecting dynamically a trend for a network element of the wireless communication network, using a functionality metric associated with the network element of the wireless communication network, wherein the projecting the trend comprises projecting the trend using the functionality metric of the network element as a function of a utilization level of the network element, wherein the functionality metric comprises a packet delay functionality metric, wherein the utilization level comprises a ratio between a measured number of packets transmitted and a maximum number of packets the network element is designed to transmit;
• determining if there is a potential congestion in accordance with the trend, wherein the potential congestion is detected when the trend for the network element is approaching a cut-off point, wherein the network element is still performing at an acceptable level when the potential congestion is detected;
• and
• providing a notification of the potential congestion, when there is a potential congestion for the network element of the wireless communication network.