KR20220136971A - 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. More specifically, when a response packet transmitted from a terminal to the content server is not received for a predetermined time by a timer, the base station constructs a response packet into which bandwidth information is inserted and transmits the response packet to the content server, thereby solving the problem of the bandwidth transmission interval being long and quickly providing accurate bandwidth information to the content server.

Description

Bandwidth information providing method and apparatus therefor

The present invention relates to a method in which a base station can provide bandwidth information to a content server based on radio channel information and a cell load, and more particularly, a response packet delivered from a terminal to a content server for a preset time by a timer When not received, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for providing bandwidth information in which a base station configures a response packet in which bandwidth information is inserted and transmits it to a content server.

The content described in this section merely provides background information on the present embodiment and does not constitute the prior art.

In order to efficiently transmit content from a content server to a terminal in a mobile communication system, it is necessary to maximize the available bandwidth. In order to utilize the bandwidth more efficiently, the content server also applies a method of inferring the network environment by measuring RTT (Round Trip Time) and detecting packet loss in terms of the transport layer. An inference method can be used using the information received through (report). That is, the content server can adapt to the network by adjusting the TCP window size and the send rate or changing the resolution and encoding rate of media based on the inferred network environment.

However, in the case of such a conventional method, since the content server is 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 immediately, and it is difficult to operate by maximizing the available bandwidth. There is a problem that resources are wasted because it cannot be used. In addition, the content server may transmit data packets exceeding the available bandwidth due to erroneous reasoning, which may cause problems of packet loss and performance reduction.

Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2004-0105032, published on June 16, 2006 (Title: A bandwidth broker accessing a router belonging to a network path between a server and a client and a method of providing a differential service)

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

In particular, the present invention waits until an uplink packet transmitted by the terminal to the content server is generated in order to transmit bandwidth information, and then when an uplink packet is generated, the bandwidth information is not inserted into the corresponding uplink packet. When an uplink packet transmitted from the terminal to the content server does not occur for a 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 lengthening the bandwidth transmission interval and providing accurate bandwidth information can be provided as a content server, and the content server checks bandwidth information suitable for the continuously changing wireless channel environment and cell load to provide a method and apparatus for providing bandwidth information that can use network resources more efficiently. There is 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 following description.

In order to achieve the above object, the base station according to an embodiment of the present invention stores the content packet transmitted from the content server to the terminal according to the request of the terminal and then controls to be delivered to the terminal, and the request of the bandwidth providing apparatus constructs a response packet to the content packet according to the method and transmits it to the bandwidth providing device a proxy device; and starting a timer, and after the content packet is delivered to the terminal by the proxy device, if a response packet to the content packet is not received from the terminal for a time preset by the timer, Requests the proxy device to configure a response packet, and when the response packet is configured by the proxy device, the bandwidth information measured in response to the terminal is inserted into the configured response packet, and then the response packet into which the bandwidth information is inserted. It may be configured to include; a bandwidth providing device for forwarding to the proxy device.

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

Also, when the content packet transmitted from the proxy device to the terminal is stored, the bandwidth providing apparatus may start the timer according to a preset timer value for bandwidth information transmission.

In this case, the preset timer value may be set according to the cell environment or may be set according to the radio 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 configured to correspond to the terminal, and starts a timer only when the bandwidth information is determined to be inserted. can

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

Also, the bandwidth providing apparatus may reset the timer when a response packet in which bandwidth information is inserted is transmitted to the content server.

In the method for providing bandwidth information according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object, when the base station receives the content packet delivered from the content server to the terminal according to the request of the terminal, after storing the content packet, starting a timer; composing a response packet for the content packet if no response packet to the content packet is 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 information to the content server.

In this case, after transmitting the content packet to the terminal, if a response packet to the content packet is received from the terminal within a time preset by the timer, 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 the step of starting the timer, by checking the service information corresponding to the terminal or determining whether to insert the bandwidth information according to QoS information of a bearer configured to correspond to the terminal, when it is determined that the bandwidth information is inserted You can start a timer only on .

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

In addition, the present invention can provide a computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing the method as described above is recorded.

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

In addition, according to the present invention, when an uplink packet transmitted from the terminal to the content server does not occur for a preset time, the base station constructs a response packet in which bandwidth information is inserted and transmits it to the content server, thereby increasing the bandwidth transmission interval. It is possible to solve the problem and provide accurate bandwidth information to the content server quickly.

In addition, the base station of the present invention can continuously and rapidly transmit effective bandwidth information to the content server by varying the time for providing bandwidth information according to the wireless channel environment and cell load, and the content server responds to the received bandwidth information. Therefore, it is possible to maximize the available bandwidth and minimize packet loss in advance, thereby improving the quality of the user experience.

In addition, various effects other than the above-described effects may be directly or implicitly disclosed in the detailed description 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 to 3 are data flow diagrams for explaining a bandwidth providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 and 6 are flowcharts for explaining an operation in a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment in which a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can easily practice the present invention will be described in detail. 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 gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. This is to more clearly convey the essence of the present invention by omitting unnecessary description. In addition, the present invention can make various changes and can have various embodiments, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description, which 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.

In addition, when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “connected” to another element, it means that it is logically or physically connected or can be 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, and may be indirectly connected or connected.

In addition, the terms used herein are used only to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, terms such as "comprises" or "have" described in this specification are intended to designate that the features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification exist, but one or the It should be understood that the above does not preclude the possibility of addition or existence of other features or numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Now, a method for providing bandwidth information and an apparatus therefor according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this case, 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 shown in block diagram form focusing on core functions of each structure and device.

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

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.

1, the terminal 100 of the present invention may include a browser for transmitting and receiving information, a memory for storing programs and protocols, and a microprocessor for executing and controlling various programs, such as a base station ( 200 , a process of accessing the access network 510 by receiving radio resources may be performed, and a process of connecting to the core network 520 via the access network 510 may be performed.

In addition, the terminal 100 of the present invention may be connected to the access network 510 through the base station 200 and connected 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 the content delivered from the content server 300 . have. In this case, 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, it may be implemented in the form of a mobile terminal such as a smart phone, a tablet PC, and a personal digital assistant (PDA) that the user of the terminal 100 of the present invention can carry, and is mounted on a vehicle. It may be implemented in the form of a navigation device or the like that can be

A base station (BS: Base Station, 200) is a terminal node (terminal node) of a network that directly communicates with the terminal 100, and is connected to the terminal 100 existing within a communicable distance through a radio channel, and the terminal It refers to a network fixed station that supports wireless communication of 100 and serves to be 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), which is a base station controller for controlling 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 in the form of an evolved base station.

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 set and control a process of transmitting and receiving a radio frame through a set radio channel.

At this time, the communication from the base station 200 to the terminal 100 is called downlink communication, and the communication from the terminal 100 to the base station 200 is called 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, the transmitter may be a part of the terminal 100 and the 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 from each other. 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 be continuously changed due to various factors such as the number of the connected terminals 100 . In addition, the terminal 100 can continuously move, and when moving at a high speed, handoff to an access cell can be performed quickly.

As such, the surrounding environment of the terminal 100 may be continuously changed. Therefore, the base station 200 to which the terminal 100 is currently connected should be able to quickly measure bandwidth information for the surrounding network environment of the terminal 100 and transmit the measured bandwidth information to the content server 300 . To this end, the base station 200 of the present invention, when a response packet to the content packet transmitted from the terminal 100 to the content server 300 is checked, 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 the content packet delivered from the terminal 100 to the content server 300 is not received for a time preset by the timer, After composing a response packet to the content packet and inserting bandwidth information measured corresponding to the terminal into the configured response packet, the response packet in which the bandwidth information is inserted can be transmitted to the content server 300 .

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

Meanwhile, the core network 520 of the present invention is a network system that performs a main function for a mobile communication service such as mobility control and switching, and performs circuit switching or packet switching, and a mobile network Manages and controls packet flow within In addition, the core network 520 manages inter-frequency mobility, and may perform a role for traffic in the base station 200 and the core network 520 and interworking with other networks, for example, the Internet network 530 . The core network 500 may be configured to include a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), a Home Location Register (HLR), a Mobile Mobility Entity (MME), and a Home Subscriber Server (HSS).

In such a 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, wireless communication between the terminal 100 and the base station 200 is performed. A bearer is established, and an EPC bearer may be established in the base station 200 and the core network 520 . The base station 200 of the present invention can set up and manage such bearer information, insert bandwidth information according to the set bearer into a response packet delivered to the content server 300 and transmit it 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 with the TCP session established, and transmit the 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 (window size) and the send rate (send rate) Alternatively, the adaptive communication service according to bandwidth information may be supported by adaptively changing the resolution and encoding rate of the media.

A method for providing a bandwidth according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described later, and the processor mounted on 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. Can process program commands to execute . In one implementation, the processor may be a single-threaded processor, and in another implementation, the processor may be a multi-threaded processor. Furthermore, the present processor is capable of processing instructions 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 to 3 are data flow diagrams for explaining a bandwidth providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram illustrating a method of providing a bandwidth when a content packet is 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 is 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 for registering the access location of the terminal 100 and checking the service information (QoS Profile) of the terminal 100 in connection with the HSS (not shown), etc. 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 sets the EPS bearer to be used by the terminal 100 to the P-GW (not shown). , the process of allocating in conjunction with the S-GW (not shown) may be performed. In this case, the service parameter of the allocated EPS bearer may be set based on service information confirmed in response 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), and thereafter, the core network 520 enters a state in which it can be connected to the Internet network 530 via the S-GW (not shown) and the P-GW (not shown).

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 as described above are referred to as the initial access process. let it do For convenience of explanation, although the initial access process between the terminal 100 and the base station 200 is schematically illustrated in the drawing of FIG. 2 , it should be noted that the initial access process of the present invention refers to the overall 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 well-known procedures such as a 3-way handshake and a 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 control (MAC; Medium Access Control) layer and a physical layer (L1 layer), and the communication protocol stack of the base station 200 may be composed of a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a physical layer. In addition, 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 transmits 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 the data to be transmitted wirelessly using the allocated time-frequency resource. can be transmitted to the base station 200 . 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

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

In particular, when the content packet delivered 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 bandwidth provision (S111). At this time, the base station 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention checks the service information for the terminal 100 confirmed through the authentication procedure of step S101, or the type of bearer allocated to the terminal 100, QoS parameters of the bearer, etc. It is also possible to determine whether or not to start the timer operation after checking and determining whether bandwidth information is required to be provided.

And, since the base station 200 of the present invention performing the function of 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 the content of the unit (S113) and transmitting it to the terminal 100 according to the communication protocol stack (S115) as described above.

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

At this time, when the base station 200 of the present invention monitoring the above process receives the content response packet from the terminal 00, it temporarily stores the response packet and then transmits bandwidth information (TG; Throughput Guidance) to be inserted into the content response packet. calculated (S119), and the calculated bandwidth information is added to the content response packet (S121). Here, the base station 200 of the present invention can calculate the 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 to which the terminal 100 is connected, and It is also possible to estimate the available bandwidth by continuously monitoring the cell load and the like, and to calculate bandwidth information.

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 delivered by the terminal 100 to the content server 300 and transmits it. In addition to the acknowledgment packet (ACK), various uplink packets may be applied.

After transmitting the bandwidth information to the content server 300 by including the bandwidth information in the response packet, the base station 200 of the present invention deletes data generated while performing the role of the proxy server, for example, the content packet 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 be mainly described with reference to the steps after the process of FIG. 2 . That is, the terminal 100 is connected to the core network 520 through the initial access procedure via the base station 200 , 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 checked, 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.

Thereafter, the base station 200 transmits the content packet delivered 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, if the content response packet is not received from the terminal 100 , the base station 200 may repeat the pre-stored content packet in step S205 and deliver it to the terminal 100 . Here, retransmission may mean retransmission involved in the MAC/RLC layer in the above-described communication protocol stack.

At this time, when the timer value preset by the base station 200 expires (S209), the base station 200 calculates bandwidth information as described in step S119 of FIG. 2 (S119), and any content for the content packet being transmitted After composing 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 in which the bandwidth information is inserted to the content server 300 , and transmits the content packet pre-stored in step S205 to the terminal 200 until the terminal 200 normally receives the content packet. continues to be retransmitted (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 in the base station 200 of the present invention.

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

As described above, when the base station 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention provides bandwidth information to the content server 300 in response to the terminal 100 , a packet transmitted from the terminal 100 to the content server 300 may be received. Instead of waiting until transmission, a timer set according to network conditions is applied to retransmit the content packet for a preset time, but when the timer expires, the base station 200 transmits the content to the terminal 100 . By arbitrarily constructing a response packet for a packet, inserting bandwidth information into the corresponding content response packet and transmitting it to the content server 300, the terminal 100 is continuously moving even when the terminal 100 is moving at 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 the response packet, utilize the bandwidth to the maximum, and at the same time prevent transmission exceeding the available bandwidth in advance. can be prevented in advance, and network resources can be used more efficiently.

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

4 is a block diagram illustrating a 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 can perform the function of a proxy server, and for convenience of explanation, the proxy device 200 and the bandwidth providing device 230 are 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 communication function unique to the 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 that can communicate with each other. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is assumed that the proxy device 220 and the bandwidth providing device 230 are included in the base station 200 .

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 the process to support it.

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 by the content server 300 to the terminal 100 in 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 configure a response packet for a specific content according to the 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 it, the proxy apparatus 220 responds to the request of the bandwidth providing apparatus 230 . A response packet to the content packet may be arbitrarily configured, and the configured response packet is delivered to the bandwidth providing device 230 , and after receiving a response packet with bandwidth information inserted therefrom again from the bandwidth providing device 230 , the content server 300 . ) can be transmitted.

In addition, the proxy device 220 of the present invention transmits the content response packet in which the bandwidth information is 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) can be transmitted. Thereafter, when the content response packet to the content packet is normally received from the terminal 100 , the proxy device 220 may play a role of deleting the content packet stored in the caching module 221 .

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

In more detail for each module, 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 may continuously monitor the wireless channel environment and cell load to which the terminal 100 is connected to estimate the available bandwidth, and calculate bandwidth information accordingly. At this time, the TG calculation module 231 may calculate information for bandwidth estimation corresponding to each layer constituting the communication protocol stack, and use the calculated information for bandwidth estimation, the available bandwidth of the terminal 100 . information can be calculated.

The TG insertion module 232 controls so that the bandwidth information calculated through the TG calculation module 231 is included in an uplink packet delivered by the terminal 100 to the content server 300, for example, in a response packet to the content packet. can play a 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 transmits it to the proxy device 220, 220 can transmit a response packet in which 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 to insert the bandwidth information according to QoS information of a bearer configured to correspond to the terminal 100 . may be determined, and only when it is determined to insert bandwidth information, a process of inserting bandwidth information into the response packet may be performed.

The timer management module 233 sets and manages information on a 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 for bandwidth information transmission. In this case, the time value for the timer means information about the time set in the present invention for inserting bandwidth information, and is information that can be variably set according to a cell environment or corresponding to the terminal 100 . For example, the timer management module 233 may vary and set a timer value in response to a bearer set after bearer setup is completed according to the initial access procedure of the terminal 100 . In addition, by checking the continuous cell environment of the terminal 100 , the timer value may be varied and set in response to the terminal 100 .

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

The operation 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 an operation 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 wireless channel environment and the cell load through the communication interface device 210 ( S301 ) to set a value for the timer. There is (S303). The timer may be set in units of bearers, and the operator may 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 in response to subscriber information of the terminal 100 . In addition, the base station 200 may reset the timer value when a cell environment such as a radio channel environment and a cell load is changed, and may reset the timer value in units of a predetermined period.

In a state in which the timer value is set through this process, the base station 200 of the present invention may perform the operation of FIG. 6 .

6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing bandwidth information from the viewpoint of a base station 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 ( The 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 ).

Thereafter, the base station 200 of the present invention may determine whether bandwidth information transmission is required 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 insertion is required using the checked service information (S403). In addition, the base station 200 of the present invention may check the bearer type set in the terminal 100 and determine whether bandwidth information insertion is required according to the bearer type (S403).

As a result of the determination in step S403, if it is determined that the insertion of bandwidth information is unnecessary, the base station 200 of the present invention may perform only the role of a general base station and may terminate the following process for providing bandwidth information.

Meanwhile, if it is determined as a result of step S403 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.

And, when the content packet transmitted from the content server 300 to the terminal 100 according to the request of the terminal 100 is confirmed, 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 a cell environment or bearer configuration as described with reference to FIG. 5 .

In addition, 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 process may be continuously performed until the timer started in step S407 expires.

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

Meanwhile, in step S411, if no response packet is received and the timer expires (S413), the base station 200 of the present invention constructs an arbitrary response packet (S417), calculates bandwidth information (S419), and the configured Bandwidth information is inserted into the response packet (S421). In this case, the calculated bandwidth information may be calculated by estimating the 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 in which the bandwidth information is inserted to the content server 300 (S423), and when the transmission of the response packet is completed, resets the timer (S425).

This process may be performed until the bearer set in response to the terminal 100 is released of the resource, the timer is driven in units of packets, and bandwidth information is inserted into the uplink packet delivered from the terminal 100 to the content server 300 . When delivered, the timer is reset.

As described 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 receives a content packet delivered from a content server to a terminal according to a request from a terminal, stores the content packet, starts a timer, and after delivering the content packet to the terminal , when the timer expires because a response packet to the content packet is not received from the terminal for a preset time, constructing a response packet for the content packet, and bandwidth measured in response to the terminal in the configured response packet Inserting information, transmitting the information to the content server, resetting the timer, and the like may be performed.

Such a computer-readable recording medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination, and includes all types of recording devices in which data readable by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), and optical recording media such as DVD (Digital Video Disk). Stores program instructions such as Magneto-Optical Media, ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), Flash memory, etc. and hardware devices specially configured to perform

In addition, the computer-readable recording medium is distributed in a computer system connected through a network, so that the computer-readable code 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 pertains.

Although the above has been described and illustrated in relation to a preferred embodiment for illustrating the technical idea of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the configuration and operation as shown and described as such, and without departing from the scope of the technical idea. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications to the present invention are possible. Accordingly, all such suitable alterations and modifications and equivalents are to be considered as being within the scope of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a method in which a base station can provide bandwidth information to a content server based on radio channel information and a cell load, and more particularly, a response packet delivered from a terminal to a content server for a preset time by a timer When not received, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for providing bandwidth information in which a base station configures a response packet in which bandwidth information is inserted and transmits it to a content server.

According to the present invention, when an uplink packet transmitted from the terminal to the content server does not occur for a preset time, the base station constructs a response packet in which bandwidth information is inserted and transmits it to the content server, thereby increasing the bandwidth transmission interval. Since the problem can be solved and accurate bandwidth information can be quickly provided to the content server, 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 insert module
233: timer management module
300: content server

Claims (15)

a bandwidth providing device that inserts 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 is a terminal requiring the insertion of the bandwidth information, and calculating bandwidth information corresponding to the terminal;
When the terminal is a terminal requiring the insertion of the bandwidth information, the terminal inserts the bandwidth information into a response packet transmitted from the content server and transmits the bandwidth information to the content server; base station.
According to claim 1,
The bandwidth calculation module is
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.
According to claim 1,
The bandwidth calculation module is
A base station, characterized in that by checking the service information of the terminal to determine whether the grade of the terminal is a grade requiring bandwidth information insertion, and determining whether to insert the bandwidth information.
According to claim 1,
The bandwidth calculation module is
The base station, characterized in that determining whether to insert the bandwidth information by checking a QoS (Quality of Service) type of a bearer configured to correspond to the terminal.
5. The method of claim 4,
The bandwidth insertion module is
Check whether the resource of the set bearer is released,
Base station, characterized in that it is configured to stop inserting the bandwidth information when the resource of the configured bearer is released.
According to claim 1,
The bandwidth providing device
When the content packet is transferred from the content server to the terminal, a timer management module for driving a preset timer for determining a state of not receiving a response packet from the terminal; further comprising,
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.
7. The method of 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 configured in response to the terminal.
base station,
transmitting the content packet to the terminal when a content packet transmitted from the content server to the terminal is received according to a request of the terminal;
receiving a response packet to the content packet from the terminal after the content packet is delivered; and
inserting bandwidth information measured corresponding to the terminal into the response packet received from the terminal and transmitting the information to the content server;
Bandwidth information providing method comprising a.
9. The method of claim 8,
and calculating, by the base station, the bandwidth information according to a radio channel environment and a cell load accessed by the terminal.
9. The method of claim 8,
determining, by the base station, whether to insert the bandwidth information by checking the service information of the terminal to determine whether the grade of the terminal is a grade requiring the insertion of the bandwidth information; Bandwidth information providing method further comprising a.
9. The method of claim 8,
and determining, by the base station, whether to insert the bandwidth information by checking a QoS (Quality of Service) type of a bearer configured to correspond to the terminal.
9. The method of claim 8,
checking, by the base station, whether resources of the established bearer are released;
and stopping the insertion of the bandwidth information when the resource of the established bearer is released.
9. The method of claim 8,
driving, by the base station, a preset timer for determining a state in which a response packet is not received from the terminal when the content packet is transmitted from the content server to the terminal;
resetting the timer operation when the response packet in which the bandwidth information is inserted is transmitted to the content server before the timer expires;
If the response packet is not received before the timer expires, generating an arbitrary response packet corresponding to the response packet, inserting the bandwidth information, and transmitting the response packet to the content server.
14. The method of claim 13,
and setting, by the base station, an expiration time of the timer differently in response to a bearer configured to correspond to the terminal.
A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for executing the method according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

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