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US 8,942,096 B2Granted
Congestion-based traffic metering
AssigneeTelefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (publ)
InventorsAke Arvidsson, Tord Westholm
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In one aspect, the invention provides apparatuses and methods for communicating, from one network node to another network node, congestion information. Advantageously, the congestion information may be communicated at a per-packet level so that the node receiving the congestion information may meter the network usage of a user based, at least in part, upon the level of network congestion experienced by each packet sent or received by the user.
Claims12
A method of metering data traffic, comprising:
- a first network node transmitting, towards a second network node via a communication network, a downstream packet comprising application data intended for a user equipment (UE) served by the second network node;
- the first network node receiving, via the communication network, an upstream packet, wherein:
- (a) the upstream packet comprises downstream congestion information indicating whether the downstream packet traversed some other network node in the communications network that detected congestion or incipient congestion, and
- (b) the upstream packet was transmitted by the second network node towards the first network node or includes a packet that was transmitted by the second network node towards the first network node;
- and
- the first network node adjusting a traffic counter associated with the UE by an amount, wherein the amount is based on, at least in part, (i) the value of the downstream congestion information and (ii) the amount of the application data that was included in the downstream packet.
3 more elements
A gateway, comprising:
- a transmit and receive circuit operable to:
- transmit towards a network node via a communication network a downstream packet comprising application data intended for a user equipment (UE) connected to the network node, and
- receive via the communication network an upstream packet that was transmitted by the network node towards the gateway or includes a packet that was transmitted by the network node towards the gateway, wherein the upstream packet comprises downstream congestion information indicating whether the downstream packet traversed a node in the communications network that detected congestion or incipient congestion;
- wherein
- the gateway further comprises:
- a data processing system that is configured such that, as a result of the gateway receiving the upstream packet, the data processing system adjusts a traffic counter associated with the UE by an amount that is based on, at least in part, (i) the value of the downstream congestion information and (ii) the amount of the application data that was included in the downstream packet.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.