KR102508923B1 - Method for providing of throughput guidance and apparatus thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for providing bandwidth information to a content server based on radio channel information and cell load in a base station, and more particularly, a response packet transmitted from a terminal to a content server for a predetermined time by a timer If not received, the base station constructs a response packet into which the bandwidth information is inserted and transmits the response packet to the content server, thereby solving the problem of a long bandwidth transmission interval and providing accurate bandwidth information to the content server quickly.

Description

Bandwidth information providing method and device therefor

The present invention relates to a method for providing bandwidth information to a content server based on radio channel information and cell load in a base station, and more particularly, a response packet transmitted from a terminal to a content server for a predetermined time by a timer If not received, a bandwidth information providing method and apparatus for constructing and transmitting a response packet into which bandwidth information is inserted by a base station to a content server, and an apparatus therefor.

The contents described in this part merely provide background information on the present embodiment and do not constitute prior art.

In order to efficiently transmit content from a content server to a terminal in a mobile communication system, available bandwidth must be maximally utilized. In order to utilize bandwidth more efficiently, the content server applies a method of inferring the network environment by measuring RTT (Round Trip Time) and detecting packet loss on the transport layer side, and reports from the terminal on the application layer side. It is possible to use the method of reasoning using the information delivered through the (report). That is, the content server may adjust the TCP window size and send rate based on the inferred network environment or change the media resolution and encoding rate to adapt to the network.

However, in this conventional method, since the content server is an inference based on received information without prior information, it is not easy to operate by immediately adapting to changes in the wireless channel environment or cell load that change instantly, and the available bandwidth is maximized. There is a problem that resources are wasted because they cannot be used properly. In addition, there are cases in which data packets are transmitted in excess of the available bandwidth due to erroneous inference in the content server, which causes problems of packet loss and performance reduction.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2004-0105032, published on June 16, 2006 (Title: Bandwidth broker accessing a router belonging to a network path between a server and a client and a method for providing differentiated services)

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above conventional problems, and in particular, a base station calculates bandwidth information (TG; Throughput Guidance) by estimating available bandwidth based on information monitored by a radio channel environment and cell load, An object of the present invention is to provide a bandwidth information providing method and apparatus for transmitting calculated bandwidth information by adding it to an option field of an uplink TCP packet header transmitted by a terminal to a content server.

In particular, the present invention is not a method of waiting until an uplink packet transmitted from a terminal to a content server is generated to transmit bandwidth information, and then inserting bandwidth information into the corresponding uplink packet when an uplink packet is generated. When the uplink packet transmitted from the terminal to the content server is not generated during the set time, the base station configures a response packet with bandwidth information inserted and transmits it to the content server, thereby solving the problem of the bandwidth transmission interval being long and providing accurate bandwidth information. can be provided as a content server, the content server checks the bandwidth information suitable for the continuously changing wireless channel environment and cell load to provide a method for providing bandwidth information that can use network resources more efficiently and a device therefor. It has a purpose.

However, the object of the present invention is not limited to the above object, and other objects not mentioned will be clearly understood from the description below.

In order to achieve the above object, a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention stores a content packet transmitted from a content server to the terminal according to a request of the terminal, controls the content packet to be transmitted to the terminal, and requests the bandwidth providing device. According to the method, a response packet for the content packet is configured and transmitted to the bandwidth providing device, and when the bandwidth information-inserted response packet is transmitted from the bandwidth providing device, the response packet with the bandwidth information inserted is transmitted to the content server. proxy device; and when a response packet to the content packet is not received from the terminal for a time set by the timer after the timer is started and the content packet is delivered to the terminal by the proxy device, the response packet for the content packet is not received. A request is made to the proxy device to configure a response packet, and when the response packet is configured by the proxy device, bandwidth information measured for the terminal is inserted into the configured response packet, and then the response packet into which the bandwidth information is inserted is inserted into the configured response packet. It may be configured to include; a bandwidth providing device for forwarding to a proxy device.

In this case, the proxy device may delete the stored content packet when a response packet for the content packet is received from the terminal.

In addition, the bandwidth providing device may start the timer according to a preset timer value for transmission of bandwidth information when the proxy device stores a content packet transmitted to the terminal.

In this case, the preset timer value may be set according to the cell environment or according to the wireless environment and mobility of the terminal.

In addition, the bandwidth providing apparatus checks service information corresponding to the terminal or determines whether to insert the bandwidth information according to QoS information of a bearer established in correspondence with the terminal, and starts a timer only when it is determined that the bandwidth information is inserted. can

In addition, the bandwidth providing device may insert the bandwidth information into a header of the response packet and control transmission of the response packet to the content server.

Also, the bandwidth providing device may reset the timer when a response packet including bandwidth information is transmitted to the content server.

In order to achieve the above object, in the method for providing bandwidth information according to an embodiment of the present invention, when a base station receives a content packet transmitted from a content server to a terminal according to a request of a terminal, after storing the content packet, starting a timer; constructing a response packet for the content packet when a response packet for the content packet is not received from the terminal for a time preset by the timer after delivering the content packet to the terminal; and inserting bandwidth information measured corresponding to the terminal into the configured response packet and transmitting the same to the content server.

At this time, if a response packet for the content packet is received from the terminal within a predetermined time by the timer after delivering the content packet to the terminal, bandwidth information is inserted into the response packet received from the terminal to transmitting to a content server; and resetting the timer and deleting the stored content packet.

In addition, before starting the timer, if service information corresponding to the terminal is checked or whether to insert the bandwidth information is determined according to QoS information of a bearer established in correspondence with the terminal, and it is determined that the bandwidth information is inserted. The timer can only be started on

In addition, after the step of transmitting to the content server, continuously transmitting the previously stored content packet to the terminal; and deleting the stored content packet when a response packet to the content packet is received from the terminal.

Additionally, the present invention may provide a computer readable recording medium recording a program for executing the method as described above.

According to the method and apparatus for providing bandwidth information of the present invention, the present invention calculates the bandwidth information by estimating the usable bandwidth of the terminal based on the information that the base station monitors the radio channel environment and the cell load, and calculates the bandwidth information by adding to the option field of the header of the uplink packet transmitted by the terminal to the content server, the content server can more quickly check the bandwidth information suitable for the instantly changing wireless channel environment and cell load, and through this, network resource can be used more efficiently.

In addition, according to the present invention, when an uplink packet transmitted from a terminal to a content server is not generated for a predetermined time, the base station constructs a response packet into which bandwidth information is inserted and transmits it to the content server, thereby increasing the bandwidth transmission interval. Problems can be solved and accurate bandwidth information can be quickly provided to the content server.

In addition, the base station of the present invention can continuously and quickly transmit effective bandwidth information to the content server by applying a variable time for providing bandwidth information according to the radio channel environment and cell load, and the content server can respond to the received bandwidth information. Accordingly, the user experience quality can be improved by maximizing the available bandwidth and minimizing packet loss in advance.

In addition, various effects other than the above effects may be disclosed directly or implicitly in detailed descriptions according to embodiments of the present invention to be described later.

1 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a network system to which a method for providing bandwidth information according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.
2 and 3 are data flow diagrams illustrating a method for providing bandwidth according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 and 6 are flowcharts for explaining operations in a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment in which a person skilled in the art can easily practice the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, in the detailed description of the operating principle of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted. This is to more clearly convey the core of the present invention without obscuring it by omitting unnecessary description. In addition, since the present invention can make various changes and have various embodiments, specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description, but this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, It should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Additionally, when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “connected” to another element, it means that it is logically or physically connected or capable of being connected. In other words, it should be understood that a component may be directly connected or connected to another component, but another component may exist in the middle, or may be indirectly connected or connected.

In addition, terms used in this specification are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, terms such as "include" or "having" described in this specification are intended to designate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, but one or the other It should be understood that the above does not preclude the possibility of the presence or addition of other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Now, a method for providing bandwidth information according to an embodiment of the present invention and an apparatus therefor will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. At this time, the same reference numerals are used for parts having similar functions and actions throughout the drawings, and overlapping descriptions thereof will be omitted. In addition, in order to avoid obscuring the concept of the present invention, well-known structures and devices may be omitted or may be shown in block diagram form centering on core functions of each structure and device.

Hereinafter, a network system to which a method for providing bandwidth information according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described first.

1 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a network system to which a method for providing bandwidth information according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 1, the terminal 100 of the present invention may include a browser for transmitting and receiving information, a memory for storing programs and protocols, a microprocessor for calculating and controlling by executing various programs, and a base station ( 200), a process of receiving radio resource allocation and access to the access network 510 may be performed, and a process of being connected to the core network 520 via the access network 510 may be performed.

In addition, the terminal 100 of the present invention may connect to the access network 510 through the base station 200 and connect to the core network 520, and then establish a TCP session with the content server 300 via the Internet network 530. this can be established. In addition, the terminal 100 may request content from the content server 300 via the access network 510, the core network 520, and the Internet network 530, and may receive and use content delivered from the content server 300. there is. At this time, the terminal 100 may receive content from the content server 300 in packet units, and may generate a response packet for each content packet and transmit it to the content server 300 .

The terminal 100 of the present invention may be replaced with terms such as user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile subscriber station (MSS), and subscriber station (SS). In addition, the terminal 100 of the present invention can be implemented in the form of a mobile terminal such as a smart phone, a tablet PC, and a personal digital assistant (PDA) that a user can carry, and is mounted on a vehicle. It may also be implemented in the form of a navigation device that may be used.

A base station (BS: Base Station, 200) is a terminal node of a network that directly communicates with the terminal 100, and is connected to the terminal 100 existing within a communication available distance through a radio channel, and the terminal It means a network fixed station that supports wireless communication of (100) and plays a role of being connected to the access network (510). The base station 200 of the present invention may be implemented as a base station transmission system (BTS) in a synchronous (CDMA) network, and may include a base station controller (BSC) that controls the base station. Also, in an asynchronous (WCDMA) network, the BTS may be replaced by a NodeB, and the BSC may be replaced by a Radio Network Controller (RNC). In addition, in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, it may be implemented as an eNodeB, which is an evolved base station type.

In addition, the base station 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes one or more cells, and controls the radio channel of the terminal 100 according to a control protocol such as a radio resource control protocol related to radio resource management. It is possible to configure and control the process of transmitting and receiving radio frames through the set radio channel.

At this time, communication from the base station 200 to the terminal 100 is referred to as downlink communication, and communication from the terminal 100 to the base station 200 is referred to as uplink communication. In addition, in the downlink, the transmitter may be a part of the base station 200 and the receiver may be a part of the terminal 100. In the uplink, a transmitter may be a part of the terminal 100 and a receiver may be a part of the base station 200 . In addition, multiple access schemes for downlink and uplink transmission may be the same or different. For example, the downlink may use Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), and the uplink may use Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA).

In addition, the radio channel environment of the base station 200 to which the terminal 100 accesses may continuously change due to various factors such as the number of terminals 100 connected. In addition, the terminal 100 can continuously move, and when it moves at a high speed, handoff for an access cell can be rapidly performed.

As such, the surrounding environment of the terminal 100 may continuously change. Therefore, the base station 200 to which the terminal 100 is currently accessing must be able to quickly measure bandwidth information about the network environment around the terminal 100 and transmit the measured bandwidth information to the content server 300 . To this end, when the base station 200 of the present invention confirms the response packet for the content packet transmitted from the terminal 100 to the content server 300, it inserts bandwidth information into the header of the response packet and transmits it to the content server 300. will do At this time, the base station 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention sets a timer, and if a response packet to a content packet transmitted from the terminal 100 to the content server 300 is not received for a predetermined time by the timer, After composing a response packet for the content packet and inserting bandwidth information measured in correspondence with the terminal into the composed response packet, the response packet with the bandwidth information inserted therein can be transmitted to the content server 300 .

A more detailed operation of the base station 200 will be described later.

On the other hand, the core network 520 of the present invention is a network system that performs major functions for mobile communication services such as mobility control and switching, and performs circuit switching or packet switching. It manages and controls the flow of packets within it. In addition, the core network 520 may perform a role for managing inter-frequency mobility and interworking with traffic within the base station 200 and the core network 520 and with other networks, for example, the Internet network 530 . The core network 500 may include a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Home Location Register (HLR), Mobile Mobility Entity (MME), and Home Subscriber Server (HSS).

In this network system, the terminal 100 may be connected to the access network 510 and the core network 520 through the base station 200, and as the initial access procedure is completed, a wireless communication between the terminal 100 and the base station 200 occurs. A bearer is established, and an EPC bearer may be established between the base station 200 and the core network 520. The base station 200 of the present invention can set and manage such bearer information, insert bandwidth information into a response packet delivered to the content server 300 according to the established bearer, and transmit the information to the content server 300.

In addition, the content server 300 may establish a TCP session with the terminal 100, receive a content request from the terminal 100 to which the TCP session is established, and transmit content to the terminal 100 in packet units in response thereto. . In addition, the content server 300 of the present invention may receive a response packet including bandwidth information, check the bandwidth information of the received response packet, and adjust the TCP window size and send rate. Alternatively, an adaptive communication service according to bandwidth information may be supported by adaptively changing media resolution and encoding rate.

A method for providing bandwidth according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described later, and a processor mounted in the terminal 100, the base station 200, and the content server 300 according to the embodiment of the present invention is a method according to the present invention. It can process program commands to execute. In one implementation example, this processor may be a single-threaded processor, and in another implementation example, the processor may be a multi-threaded processor. Furthermore, the present processor is capable of processing commands stored in a memory or storage device.

Hereinafter, a method for providing bandwidth information according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail.

2 and 3 are data flow diagrams illustrating a method for providing bandwidth according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram for explaining a method of providing bandwidth when content packets are normally delivered to the terminal 100 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , the terminal 100 and the base station 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention may perform an initial attach process (S101). For example, when the terminal 100 transmits an attach request message to the core network 520 through the access network 510 via the base station 200 as described with reference to FIG. 1, the base station 200 Cell ID and TAI information accessed by the terminal 100 may be transmitted to the MME (not shown) of the core network 520 . In addition, the MME (not shown) in the core network 520 performs an authentication procedure of registering the access location of the terminal 100 and checking the service information (QoS Profile) of the terminal 100 in association with the HSS (not shown). can be done Thereafter, the MME (not shown) of the core network 520 allocates the IP address allocated by the P-GW (not shown) to the terminal 100, and the EPS bearer to be used by the terminal 100 is assigned to the P-GW (not shown). , an allocation process may be performed in association with the S-GW (not shown). At this time, the service parameter of the EPS bearer to be allocated may be set based on the checked service information corresponding to the terminal 100. After the EPS bearer between the base station 200 and the core network 520 is allocated through this process, a radio bearer between the terminal 100 and the base station 200 may be allocated, and the terminal 100 is the base station ( 200) to access the access network 510, and then connect to the Internet network 530 via the S-GW (not shown) and P-GW (not shown) of the core network 520.

In the specification of the present invention, all communication procedures for the terminal 100 to access the content server 300 via the access network 510, the core network 520, and the Internet network 530 are referred to as the initial access process. let it do For convenience of description, the drawing of FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the initial access process between the terminal 100 and the base station 200, but it should be noted that the initial access process of the present invention means the entire process described above.

Thereafter, the terminal 100 is in a state in which it can access the content server 300 through the Internet network 530, and can establish a TCP session between the terminal 100 and the content server 300 (S103). Here, the TCP session establishment process may be performed according to various known procedures such as 3-way handshake and 4-way handshake.

In addition, communication between the terminal 100, the base station 200, and the content server 300 in which the TCP session is established may be performed according to a protocol stack composed of a plurality of layers. For example, the communication protocol stack of the terminal 100 includes an application layer, a TCP/IP layer, a Packet Data Control Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a medium access layer. It is composed of a medium access control (MAC) layer and a physical layer (L1 layer), and the communication protocol stack of the base station 200 may consist of a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a physical layer. Also, the communication protocol stack of the content server 300 may be composed of an application layer, a TCP/IP layer, and an L2/L1 layer.

According to this protocol stack, the terminal 100 may request content from the content server 300 (S105). For example, when the terminal 100 transfers the user's content request generated through the application layer to the physical layer via each layer of the protocol stack, the physical layer transmits data to the radio using the allocated time-frequency resources. It can be transmitted to the base station 200 as. The base station 200 transmits the content request to the content server 300 (S107), and the content server 300 transmits the content request transmitted by the terminal 100 through the L2/L1 layer, the TCP/IP layer, and the application layer. can receive

Then, the content server 300 transmits content to the terminal 100 in response to the request of the terminal 100 . Even at this time, it can be transmitted according to the communication protocol stack as described above. At this time, the content transmitted by the content server 300 to the terminal 100 can be sequentially transmitted in packet units, and the sequentially transmitted content packets are transmitted to the base station It can be transmitted to the terminal 100 via (200) (S109).

In particular, when the content packet transmitted from the content server 300 to the terminal 100 is confirmed, the base station 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention starts driving a timer for providing bandwidth (S111). At this time, the base station 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention checks the service information for the terminal 100 identified through the authentication procedure in step S101, the bearer type assigned to the terminal 100, the QoS parameter of the bearer, etc. After confirming whether bandwidth information needs to be provided, whether or not to start the timer may be determined.

In addition, since the base station 200 of the present invention, which functions as a proxy server, can store all packets transmitted and received between the terminal 100 and the content server 300, packets transmitted from the content server 300 to the terminal 100 It is possible to control the process of copying and storing unit contents (S113) and transmitting them to the terminal 100 (S115) according to the communication protocol stack as described above.

At this time, when the terminal 100 normally receives the content packet, it constructs a response packet indicating that the reception has been completed normally and transmits it to the content server 300 through the base station 200 (S117).

At this time, when the content response packet is received from the terminal 00, the base station 200 of the present invention monitoring the process temporarily stores the response packet and transmits bandwidth information (TG; Throughput Guidance) to be inserted into the content response packet. It is calculated (S119), and the calculated bandwidth information is added to the content response packet (S121). Here, the base station 200 of the present invention may calculate bandwidth information at the time when the content response packet is received as in step S119, and after driving the timer (S111), the wireless channel environment and The available bandwidth may be estimated by continuously monitoring the cell load and the like, and bandwidth information may be calculated.

In addition, the base station 200 of the present invention may insert bandwidth information into the content response packet header transmitted from the terminal 100 to the content server 300, but is not necessarily limited to the content response packet. That is, the base station 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention inserts bandwidth information into an uplink packet transmitted from the terminal 100 to the content server 300 and transmits the uplink packet. In addition to the response packet (ACK), various uplink packets may be applied.

After including the bandwidth information in the response packet and transmitting it to the content server 300, the base station 200 of the present invention deletes the data generated while performing the role of the proxy server, for example, the content packet being cached in step S113. After (S125), the timer is reset (S127).

Hereinafter, a method of providing bandwidth information when content is not normally delivered to the terminal 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 .

For convenience of description, FIG. 3 will focus on steps subsequent to the process of FIG. 2 . That is, the terminal 100 is connected to the core network 520 through the base station 200 through an initial access procedure, and a TCP session with the content server 300 is established.

In this state, the base station 200 checks the content packet transmitted from the content server 300 to the terminal 100 according to the request of the terminal 100 (S201). As the content packet delivered to the terminal 100 is confirmed, the base station 200 starts driving the timer as described with reference to FIG. 2 (S203) and stores the delivered content packet (S205). Here, the base station 200 of the present invention may start driving the timer after storing the content packet.

Then, the base station 200 transmits the content packet transmitted from the content server 300 to the terminal 100 and waits for a response packet to be received from the terminal 100 . At this time, when the content response packet is not received from the terminal 100, the base station 200 may repeat and deliver the pre-stored content packet to the terminal 100 in step S205. Retransmission here may mean retransmission involved in the MAC/RLC layer in the aforementioned communication protocol stack.

At this time, when the timer value preset by the base station 200 expires (S209), the base station 200 calculates the bandwidth information as described in step S119 of FIG. 2 (S119), and any content for the content packet being transmitted. After configuring the response packet, the calculated bandwidth information is inserted and added to the configured response packet (S121).

Thereafter, the base station 200 transmits the content response packet with the bandwidth information inserted to the content server 300, and transmits the previously stored content packet to the terminal 200 in step S205 until the terminal 200 normally receives the content packet. It is continuously retransmitted as (S217). Unlike the retransmission performed in step S207, the retransmission in step S217 may be a retransmission in the TCP/IP layer related to the proxy operation performed by the base station 200 of the present invention.

Thereafter, when the terminal 100 normally receives the content packet transmitted from the base station 200 to the terminal 100, the terminal 100 transmits a content response packet to the base station 200 in response (S219). , When the content response packet is received from the terminal 100, the base station 200 may delete the previously stored content packet (S221) and reset the timer (S223).

In this way, when the base station 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention provides bandwidth information to the content server 300 in correspondence with the terminal 100, a packet transmitted from the terminal 100 to the content server 300 may be received. Instead of waiting until the transmission is complete, try retransmitting the content packet for a preset time by applying a timer set according to the network conditions, but when the timer expires, the content being transmitted from the base station 200 to the terminal 100 By randomly configuring a response packet for the packet, inserting bandwidth information into the corresponding content response packet, and transmitting the content server 300, the terminal 100 is continuously moving even when the terminal 100 is moving at a high speed or the communication environment of the terminal 100 is poor. As a result, bandwidth information can be quickly provided to the content server 300 . In addition, the content server 300 of the present invention can more easily check the bandwidth information generated by the base station 200 through a response packet, maximizing the bandwidth and at the same time preventing transmission exceeding the available bandwidth in advance. can be prevented in advance, making it possible to use network resources more efficiently.

Hereinafter, the main configuration and operation of the base station 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention performing the above-described process will be described.

4 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , a base station 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a communication interface device 210 , a proxy device 220 and a bandwidth providing device 230 . For reference, the base station 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention is capable of performing the function of a proxy server, and for convenience of description, the proxy device 200 and the bandwidth providing device 230 are part of the base station 200. Existing in the form of a module will be described as an example. However, it is not necessarily limited to the above device configuration. In other words, the base station 200 of the present invention performs only a unique communication function in a wireless communication system, and the proxy device 220 and the bandwidth providing device 230 of the present invention are adjacent to the base station 200 and the base station 200 ) and may be implemented in the form of a separate server capable of communicating. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the base station 200 includes the proxy device 220 and the bandwidth providing device 230.

First, the communication interface device 210 of the present invention controls the connection process with the terminal 100, allocates radio resources to the terminal 100, and controls the process of accessing the terminal 100 to the core network 520. will do In addition, the communication interface device 200 of the present invention monitors information transmitted and received between the terminal 100 and the content server 300, and forwards and caches information transmitted and received to the proxy device 200 performing a proxy function. You can control it to support the process.

The proxy device 220 serves to forward and temporarily store packets transmitted and received between the terminal 100 and the content server 300 . For example, the proxy device 200 may store content transmitted from the content server 300 to the terminal 100 in units of packets, and may store packets transmitted from the terminal 100 to the content server 300 .

In addition, the proxy device 220 of the present invention may construct a response packet for specific content according to a request of the bandwidth providing device 230 . For example, after the content server 300 transmits the content packet to the terminal 100, when the terminal 100 does not normally receive the content packet, the proxy device 220 responds to the request of the bandwidth providing device 230. A response packet for the content packet may be configured arbitrarily, the configured response packet is delivered to the bandwidth providing device 230, and the bandwidth providing device 230 receives a response packet with bandwidth information inserted therein, and then the content server 300 ) can be transmitted.

In addition, the proxy device 220 of the present invention transmits the content response packet with bandwidth information inserted to the content server 300, and then continuously transmits the stored content packet to the terminal until a normal content response packet is received from the terminal 100. (100). Thereafter, when the content response packet for the content packet is normally received from the terminal 100, the proxy device 220 can play a role of deleting the content packet stored in the caching module 221.

The bandwidth providing device 230 according to an embodiment of the present invention serves to calculate the bandwidth information defined in this specification and deliver it to the content server 300, and includes a TG calculation module 231 and a TG insertion module ( 231) and a timer management module 233.

To describe each module in more detail, the TG calculation module 231 of the present invention calculates bandwidth information corresponding to the terminal 100. The TG calculation module 231 of the present invention continuously monitors the radio channel environment and cell load to which the terminal 100 is connected to estimate an available bandwidth and calculate bandwidth information accordingly. At this time, the TG calculation module 231 may calculate information for estimating the bandwidth in correspondence to each layer constituting the communication protocol stack, and use the information for estimating the bandwidth to calculate the bandwidth available for the terminal 100 information can be derived.

The TG insertion module 232 includes the bandwidth information calculated through the TG calculation module 231 in an uplink packet transmitted from the terminal 100 to the content server 300, for example, a response packet to the content packet, and controls the transmission. can fulfill its role. In particular, the TG insertion module 232 of the present invention inserts the bandwidth information into the header of a response packet corresponding to a specific content packet delivered to the content server 300, and then transfers it to the proxy device 220, and the proxy device ( 220) can transmit the response packet into which the bandwidth information is inserted to the content server 300.

In addition, the TG insertion module 232 according to an embodiment of the present invention checks service information corresponding to the terminal 100 or determines whether the bandwidth information is inserted according to the QoS information of the bearer configured in correspondence with the terminal 100. and only when it is determined to insert the bandwidth information, a process of inserting the bandwidth information into the response packet may be performed.

The timer management module 233 serves to set and manage information on the timer according to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, the timer management module 233 of the present invention may set and manage a time value for a timer to transmit bandwidth information. At this time, the time value for the timer means information about the time set in the present invention for inserting the bandwidth information, and is information that can be set variably according to the cell environment or corresponding to the terminal 100. For example, the timer management module 233 may change and set a timer value corresponding to a bearer established after bearer establishment is completed according to an initial access procedure of the terminal 100 . In addition, a timer value may be varied and set corresponding to the terminal 100 by checking the cell environment where the terminal 100 continues.

In addition, the timer management module 233 of the present invention may start a corresponding timer when it is confirmed that the content packet transmitted from the content server 300 to the terminal 100 has arrived at the proxy device 220 . In this case, when the TG insertion module 232 determines to insert bandwidth information, the timer management module 233 may start a timer according to a request of the TG insertion module 232 . In addition, the timer management module 233 may check whether the timer has expired, and if it is confirmed that the timer has expired, it may notify the TG insertion module 232 that the timer has expired in order to insert the bandwidth information.

Operations in the base station 200 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 .

5 and 6 are flowcharts for explaining operations in a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 5, the bandwidth providing device 230 of the base station 200 continuously monitors the radio channel environment and cell load through the communication interface device 210 (S301), and sets a value for the timer. Yes (S303). The timer can be set per bearer, and the operator can directly set a value according to the cell environment or set it according to the monitoring result in step S301. Also, the timer may be set corresponding to subscriber information of the terminal 100 . In addition, the base station 200 may reset the timer value when the cell environment such as the radio channel environment and the cell load is changed, and may reset the timer value in units of a predetermined period.

With the timer value set through this process, the base station 200 of the present invention can perform the operation of FIG. 6 .

6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing bandwidth information from a base station point of view according to an embodiment of the present invention.

At this time, the base station 200 of the present invention may support the initial access procedure of the terminal 100 as described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, and as the initial access procedure of the terminal 100 is completed, the communication interface device ( 210) may establish a radio bearer between the terminal 100 and the base station 200, and may establish an EPC bearer between the base station 200 and the core network 520 (S401).

Then, the base station 200 of the present invention can determine whether transmission of bandwidth information is necessary in response to the terminal 100. For example, the base station 200 of the present invention can check the service information of the terminal 100 in the bearer setup process, and can check whether the bandwidth information needs to be inserted using the checked service information (S403). In addition, the base station 200 of the present invention may check the bearer type configured in the terminal 100 and determine whether bandwidth information insertion is necessary or not according to the bearer type (S403).

As a result of the determination in step S403, if it is determined that the insertion of the bandwidth information is unnecessary, the base station 200 of the present invention performs only a role of a general base station and may end without performing the following process for providing bandwidth information.

Meanwhile, as a result of the determination in step S403, if it is determined that bandwidth information insertion is necessary, the base station 200 of the present invention may perform a proxy operation and a bandwidth information insertion operation. That is, the base station 200 of the present invention checks whether there is a content packet transmitted from the content server 300 to the terminal 100 (S405). Here, step S405 of the present invention may be performed before step S403.

When the base station 200 confirms the content packet transmitted from the content server 300 to the terminal 100 according to the request of the terminal 100, the base station 200 starts a preset timer (S407).

Here, the timer is information that can be set according to service information subscribed to by the terminal 100 or information that can be changed according to cell environment or bearer setup as described with reference to FIG. 5 .

And, the base station 200 of the present invention capable of performing a proxy function mirrors and stores the content packet transmitted from the content server 300 to the terminal 100 (S409). Thereafter, the base station 200 may check a response packet corresponding to the content packet transmitted from the terminal 100 (S410), and check whether the response packet is received (S411). The above process may continue until the timer started in step S407 expires.

And as a result of the check in step S411, if it is confirmed that the response packet transmitted from the terminal 100 to the content server 300 has been received (S411), the base station 200 of the present invention calculates bandwidth information (S419), After the bandwidth information is inserted into the response packet (S421), the response packet with the bandwidth information inserted is transmitted to the content server 300 (S423).

Meanwhile, in step S411, if the response packet is not received and the timer expires (S413), the base station 200 of the present invention configures an arbitrary response packet (S417), calculates bandwidth information (S419), and configures the configured Bandwidth information is inserted into the response packet (S421). In this case, the calculated bandwidth information may be calculated by estimating an available bandwidth according to a result of monitoring a radio channel environment and a cell load. In addition, the base station 200 of the present invention inserts the calculated bandwidth information into the header of the configured response packet.

Then, the base station 200 transmits the response packet including the bandwidth information to the content server 300 (S423), and when the transmission of the response packet is completed, resets the timer (S425).

This process can be performed until the bearer established in correspondence with the terminal 100 is released, the timer is driven in packet units, and the bandwidth information is inserted into the uplink packet transmitted from the terminal 100 to the content server 300. When delivered, the timer will be reset.

In the above, a method for providing bandwidth information according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described.

In particular, the bandwidth information providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention may be provided in the form of a computer readable medium suitable for storing computer program instructions and data.

In particular, the computer program of the present invention, when receiving a content packet transmitted from a content server to a terminal according to a request of a terminal, stores the content packet, starts a timer, and transmits the content packet to the terminal If a response packet to the content packet is not received from the terminal for a predetermined time and the timer expires, constructing a response packet to the content packet and a bandwidth measured in response to the configured response packet to the terminal Inserting and transmitting information to the content server and resetting the timer may be executed.

Such a computer-readable recording medium may include program commands, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination, and includes all types of recording devices storing data that can be read by a computer system. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) and DVDs (Digital Video Disks). Optical media), magneto-optical media such as floptical disks, and program instructions such as ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (RAM, Random Access Memory), flash memory, etc. and a hardware device specially configured to do so.

In addition, the computer-readable recording medium is distributed in computer systems connected through a network, so that computer-readable codes can be stored and executed in a distributed manner. In addition, functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the present invention can be easily inferred by programmers in the technical field to which the present invention belongs.

Although the above has been described and illustrated in relation to preferred embodiments for illustrating the technical idea of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the configuration and operation as shown and described in this way, without departing from the scope of the technical idea. It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications can be made to the present invention. Accordingly, all such appropriate changes and modifications and equivalents should be regarded as falling within the scope of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a method for providing bandwidth information to a content server based on radio channel information and cell load in a base station, and more particularly, a response packet transmitted from a terminal to a content server for a predetermined time by a timer If not received, a bandwidth information providing method and apparatus for constructing and transmitting a response packet into which bandwidth information is inserted by a base station to a content server, and an apparatus therefor.

According to the present invention, when an uplink packet transmitted from a terminal to a content server is not generated for a predetermined time, the base station constructs a response packet into which bandwidth information is inserted and transmits the response packet to the content server, thereby increasing the bandwidth transmission interval. Problems can be solved and accurate bandwidth information can be quickly provided to the content server, so the content server can use network resources more efficiently. It has industrial applicability.

100: terminal
200: base station
210: communication interface device
220: proxy device
230: bandwidth providing device
231: TG calculation module
232: TG insertion module
233: timer management module
300: content server

Claims (15)

A bandwidth providing device for inserting bandwidth information into a response packet transmitted from the terminal to the content server when the content packet transmitted from the content server to the terminal is confirmed according to the request of the terminal;
The bandwidth providing device,
a bandwidth calculation module for determining whether the terminal has a class that requires insertion of the bandwidth information, determining whether to insert the bandwidth information, and calculating bandwidth information corresponding to the terminal;
and a bandwidth insertion module for controlling the terminal to insert the bandwidth information into a response packet transmitted from the content server and transmit the bandwidth information to the content server when the terminal is a terminal requiring insertion of the bandwidth information. base station.
According to claim 1,
The bandwidth calculation module
The base station, characterized in that for calculating the bandwidth information according to the radio channel environment and cell load to which the terminal is connected.
delete According to claim 1,
The bandwidth calculation module
The base station, characterized in that determining whether to insert the bandwidth information by checking the QoS (Quality of Service) type of the bearer established in response to the terminal.
According to claim 4,
The bandwidth insertion module
Checking whether or not the resource of the established bearer is released;
The base station characterized in that it is set to stop inserting the bandwidth information when the resource of the configured bearer is released.
According to claim 1,
The bandwidth providing device
When a content packet is transmitted from the content server to the terminal, a timer management module for driving a preset timer for determining a non-received state of a response packet from the terminal;
The timer management module,
If the response packet in which the bandwidth information is inserted is transmitted to the content server before the timer expires, the timer operation is reset,
If the response packet is not received before the timer expires, the base station requests generation of an arbitrary response packet into which the bandwidth information is inserted.
According to claim 6,
The timer management module,
The base station characterized in that the expiration time of the timer is set differently in response to the bearer established in response to the terminal.
base station,
When a content packet transmitted to the terminal is received from a content server according to a request of the terminal, forwarding the contents packet to the terminal;
After delivering the content packet, receiving a response packet for the content packet from the terminal;
determining whether or not to insert the bandwidth information by checking whether the terminal has a class requiring insertion of the bandwidth information; and
inserting bandwidth information measured corresponding to the terminal into a response packet received from the terminal and transmitting the same to the content server;
Bandwidth information providing method comprising a.
According to claim 8,
The method of providing bandwidth information, further comprising calculating, by the base station, the bandwidth information according to a radio channel environment and a cell load accessed by the terminal.
delete According to claim 8,
The method of providing bandwidth information, further comprising determining, by the base station, whether to insert the bandwidth information by checking a quality of service (QoS) type of a bearer established for the terminal.
According to claim 11,
checking, by the base station, whether or not resources of the configured bearer are released;
and stopping the insertion of the bandwidth information when the resource of the configured bearer is released.
According to claim 8,
driving, by the base station, a preset timer for determining a non-received state of a response packet from the terminal when a content packet is transmitted from the content server to the terminal;
resetting the driving of the timer when the response packet into which the bandwidth information is inserted is transmitted to the content server before the timer expires;
and generating an arbitrary response packet corresponding to the response packet when the response packet is not received before the timer expires, inserting the bandwidth information, and transmitting the response packet to the content server.
According to claim 13,
The method of providing bandwidth information further comprising the step of setting, by the base station, an expiration time of the timer differently according to a bearer established for the terminal.
Claims 8, 9, 11 to 14, a computer-readable recording medium recording a program for executing the method according to any one of claims.

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