Prediction of mobile bandwidth and usage requirements

A cellular network comprising:

• a cell including at least one cell tower;
• and
• a central processing repository computing system communicatively coupled to the cell tower, the central processing repository computing system including:
• a database having stored thereon usage profile information that specifies historical data usage within the cell for a given geographical location and time, the historical data usage including an amount of data used within the cell for the given geographical location and time;
• and
• a processor configured to use the usage profile information to determine a current mode of operation for a cellular phone user and a probability that the current mode of operation will change and to provide the current mode of operation and the probability to the cell tower to determine current and predicted future bandwidth needs for the cellular phone user while in the cell for use in managing predicted bandwidth resource needs based on the current mode of operation and the probability;
• and
• wherein the current mode of operation specifies an expected amount of data usage of the cellular phone user.

In a communications system including one or more cells of a cellular network and a central processing repository communicatively coupled to the one or more cells, a method for a cell tower of a cell of the one or more cells to manage bandwidth resources for cellular phone users in the cell, the method comprising:

• determining user information of a cellular phone user when the cellular phone user first enters the cell;
• providing the user information to the central processing repository for use by the central processing repository in determining a current mode of operation of the cellular phone user and a probability that the current mode of operation will change to a second mode of operation, the determination of the current mode of operation and the probability that the current mode of operation will change being based on usage profile information that specifies historical data usage of the cellular phone user within the cell for a given location and time, the historical data usage including an amount of data used within the cell for the given location and time;
• receiving information from the central processing repository indicating the current mode of operation and the probability that the current mode of operation will change, the current mode of operation specifying an expected amount of data usage of the cellular phone user;
• approximating by the cell tower the location and data usage needs of the cellular phone user associated only with maintaining the current mode of operation;
• approximating by the cell tower the location and data usage needs of the cellular phone user associated only with changing the current mode of operation;
• and
• allocating bandwidth resources based on the approximated location and data usage needs of the cellular phone user, including allocating a communication channel and beam and ensuring that an antenna of the cell tower is oriented in an efficient manner all based on the approximated location and data usage needs of the cellular phone user.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer instructions stored thereon that are executable by a computing device to perform operations in a communication system including one or more cells of a cellular network and a central processing repository, the operations comprising:

• receiving from at least one cell of a cellular network user information identifying a cellular phone user within the at least one cell;
• accessing at the central processing repository usage profile information that specifies historical data usage within the at least one cell for a given location and time including an amount of data used within the at least one cell for the given location and time;
• determining, based on the usage profile information, a current mode of operation for the cellular phone user and a probability that the current mode of operation will change, the current mode of operation specifying an expected amount of data usage of the cellular phone user;
• and
• providing the current mode of operation and probability that the current mode of operation will change to a cell tower of the at least one cell, the cell tower being configured to use the current mode of operation and the probability to determine current and predicted future bandwidth needs of the user while in the at least one cell for managing a bandwidth of the at least one cell.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer instructions stored thereon that are executable by a processing device to perform operations in a communications system including one or more cells of a cellular network and a central processing repository communicatively coupled to the one or more cells, the operations comprising:

• determining user information of a cellular phone user when the cellular phone user first enters the cell;
• providing the user information to the central processing repository for use by the central processing repository in determining a current mode of operation of the cellular phone user and a probability that the current mode of operation will change to a second mode of operation, the determination of the current mode of operation and the probability that the current mode of operation will change being based on usage profile information that specifies historical data usage of the cellular phone user within the cell for a given location and time, the historical data usage including an amount of data used within the cell for the give location and time;
• receiving information from the central processing repository indicating the current mode of operation and the probability that the current mode of operation will change, the current mode of operation specifying an expected amount of data usage of the cellular phone user;
• approximating by the cell tower the location and data usage needs of the cellular phone user associated only with maintaining the current mode of operation;
• approximating by the cell tower the location and data usage needs of the cellular phone user associated only with changing the current mode of operation;
• and
• allocating bandwidth resources based on the approximated location and data usage needs of the cellular phone user, including allocating a communication channel and beam and ensuring that an antenna of the cell tower is oriented in an efficient manner all based on the approximated location and data usage needs of the cellular phone user.