Method and system for managing quantity of carriers in air interface connection based on type of content

In a base station having an established radio-link-layer connection with a user equipment device (UE) served by the base station, a method comprising:

• determining a type of content that will be transmitted between the UE and the base station, wherein determining the type of content that will be transmitted between the base station and the UE comprises determining the type of content based on data within one or more data packets flowing to or from the UE, wherein the one or more data packets includes a network address of a remote entity, wherein determining the type of content based on data within the one or more data packets flowing to or from the UE comprises determining the type of content based at least on the network address, and wherein determining the type of content based at least on the network address comprises referring to a table that maps network addresses with types of content;
• based at least on the determined type of content that will be transmitted between the UE and the base station, determining a quantity of component carriers on which to serve the UE with carrier aggregation, wherein the determined quantity is at least two;
• and
• modifying the radio-link-layer connection to encompass the determined quantity of component carriers.

A base station comprising:

• an antenna structure for communicating over a radio-frequency air interface;
• and
• a controller configured to manage communication via the antenna structure over the air interface,
• wherein the controller is configured to (i) determine a type of content that will be communicated between the base station and a user equipment device (UE) served by the base station, wherein determining the type of content that will be communicated between the base station and the UE comprises determining the type of content based on data within one or more data packets flowing to or from the UE, wherein the one or more data packets includes a network address of a remote entity, wherein determining the type of content based on data within the one or more data packets flowing to or from the UE comprises determining the type of content based at least on the network address, and wherein determining the type of content based at least on the network address comprises referring to a mapping between network addresses and types of content, (ii) make a decision based at least on the determined type of content that the base station should serve the UE with carrier aggregation, (iii) make a determination, based at least on the identified type of content, of a quantity of component carriers on which the base station should serve the UE with the carrier aggregation, and (iv) responsive to the decision and determination, modify a radio-link-layer connection between the base station and the UE to encompass the determined quantity of component carriers.