Method and device for controlling data flows at communication terminals

A traffic managing method in a communication terminal having multiple data flows present in at least one transmit data buffer, each of said multiple data flows having an assigned transmission priority according to a default prioritizing scheme, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving, while said terminal is presently located in a first sub-portion of a communication network, a prioritizing switching update message generated based on information of an estimated distribution of data flows in a second sub-portion of said communication network, said prioritizing switching update message comprising information identifying a temporary prioritizing scheme;
• dynamically switching, based on said prioritizing switching update message, to said temporary prioritizing scheme and assigning temporary transmission priorities to said multiple data flows, said temporary prioritizing scheme being associated with a restoring criterion defining a reversal back to a default prioritizing scheme;
• and,
• switching back to said default prioritizing scheme when said restoring criterion is met;
• wherein each of said first and second sub-portions defines a wireless transmission region of said communication system, and wherein said second sub-portion includes at least a base station, and said first sub-portion includes said second sub-portion and at least one other base station.

A traffic manager, comprising:

• an event detector detecting a switching event based on information of an estimated distribution of data flows in a first sub-portion of a communication system comprising multiple communication terminals and generating a detection signal based on said switching event detection, wherein each of said multiple communication terminals has data flows present in at least one transmit data buffer and a respective default prioritizing scheme for assigning transmission priorities to said data flows;
• a scheme manager selecting, based on said detection signal, a temporary prioritizing scheme among multiple pre-defined temporary prioritizing schemes, each being associated with a respective restoring criterion defining a reversal back to said default prioritizing scheme;
• and,
• a message generator generating, based on said selected temporary prioritizing scheme, a prioritizing scheme update message comprising information of said temporary prioritizing scheme assigning temporary transmission priorities to data flows to obtain a temporary switch of data transmission pattern in a second sub-portion of said communication system;
• wherein each of said first and second sub-portions defines a wireless transmission region of said communication system, and wherein said second sub-portion includes at least a base station, and said first sub-portion includes said second sub-portion and at least one other base station.

A traffic manager adapted for use in a communication terminal having multiple data flows present in at least one transmit data buffer, said traffic manager comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory storing program instructions which, when executed by said processor, perform the operations comprising:
• dynamically switching, while said terminal is presently located in a first sub-portion of a communication network, and based on a received prioritizing switching update message based on information of an estimated distribution of data flows in a second sub-portion of said communication network, to a temporary prioritizing scheme assigning temporary transmission priorities to said multiple data flows, wherein each of said multiple data flows has an assigned transmission priority according to a default prioritizing scheme;
• and
• switching back to said default prioritizing scheme when a restoring criterion associated with said temporary prioritizing scheme and defining a reversal back to said default prioritizing scheme is met;
• wherein each of said first and second sub-portions defines a wireless transmission region of said communication system, and wherein said second sub-portion includes at least a base station, and said first sub-portion includes said second sub-portion and at least one other base station.