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EP-4740545-A1 - THROUGHPUT PREDICTER AND FLOW LOAD BALANCER

EP4740545A1EP 4740545 A1EP4740545 A1EP 4740545A1EP-4740545-A1

Abstract

Predicting network throughput and balancing network loads may be provided. Predicting network throughput and balancing network loads can comprise receiving traffic information from a plurality of Access Points (APs). Based on the traffic information, traffic associated with the plurality of APs can be modeled. Based on the modeled traffic, a gain in AP efficiency for one or more APs of the plurality of APs can be modeled when modifying Station (STA) traffic of a STA. A recommendation can be sent to one or more recipient APs of the plurality of APs, wherein the recommendation indicates the gain in AP efficiency for the one or more APs when modifying the STA traffic.

Inventors

  • THUBERT, PASCAL
  • VASSEUR, JEAN PHILIPPE
  • HENRY, JEROME

Assignees

  • Cisco Technology, Inc.
  • Henry, Jerome

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240709

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A method comprising: receiving traffic information from a plurality of Access Points (APs); based on the traffic information, modeling traffic associated with the plurality of APs; based on the modeled traffic, modeling a gain in AP efficiency for one or more APs of the plurality of APs when modifying Station (STA) traffic of a STA; and sending a recommendation to one or more recipient APs of the plurality of APs, wherein the recommendation indicates the gain in AP efficiency for the one or more APs when modifying the STA traffic.
  2. 2. The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the STA traffic comprises any one of (i) removing the STA traffic from a current AP of the plurality of APs, (ii) moving the STA traffic to a new AP of the plurality of APs, (iii) reducing an airtime allocation for the STA traffic, or (iv) any combination of (i)-(iii).
  3. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the traffic information comprises any one of (i) information identifying associated STAs, (ii) information identifying a sender and a receiver of traffic, (iii) frame duration information, (iv) Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) information, (v) information identifying movement of STAs, (vi) information identifying Multi-Link Device (MLD) capable STAs, (vii) information identifying traffic type, or (viii) any combination of (i)-(vii).
  4. 4. The method of any preceding claim, wherein modeling the traffic associated with the plurality of APs comprises using a regressor to model the traffic based on time series data of the traffic information.
  5. 5. The method of any preceding claim, wherein modeling the traffic associated with the plurality of APs comprises any one of (i) identifying one or more STAs associated to two or more APs of the plurality of APs, (ii) identifying one or more STAs associated to a single AP and capable of associating to one or more neighboring APs, (iii) identifying one or more STAs not capable of associating to one or more neighboring APs, or (iv) any combination of (i)-(iii).
  6. 6. The method of any preceding claim, wherein: modeling the gain in AP efficiency comprises identifying the STA is an edge STA; and determining to model the gain in AP efficiency for the one or more APs of the plurality of APs when modifying the STA traffic of the STA is based on identifying the STA is an edge STA.
  7. 7. The method of any preceding claim, wherein modeling the gain in AP efficiency comprises any one of: (i) using naive Bayes to evaluate an effect of modifying the STA traffic by moving the STA traffic to a new AP of the plurality of APs; or (ii) using a regressor coupled with a booster that minimizes uncertainty resulting from modifying the STA traffic by moving the STA traffic to the new AP of the plurality of APs.
  8. 8. The method of any preceding claim, wherein an AP of the one or more recipient APs sends at least a portion of the recommendation to the STA.
  9. 9. A system comprising: a memory storage; and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage, wherein the processing unit is operative to: receive traffic information from a plurality of Access Points (APs); based on the traffic information, model traffic associated with the plurality of APs; based on the modeled traffic, model a gain in AP efficiency for one or more APs of the plurality of APs when modifying Station (STA) traffic of a STA; and send a recommendation to one or more recipient APs of the plurality of APs, wherein the recommendation indicates the gain in AP efficiency for the one or more APs when modifying the STA traffic.
  10. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein to modify the STA traffic comprises any one of (i) to remove the STA traffic from a current AP of the plurality of APs, (ii) to move the STA traffic to a new AP of the plurality of APs, (iii) to reduce an airtime allocation for the STA traffic, or (iv) any combination of (i)-(iii).
  11. 11 . The system of claim 9 or 10, wherein to model the traffic associated with the plurality of APs comprises to use a regressor to model the traffic based on time series data of the traffic information.
  12. 12. The system of any of claims 9 to 11 , wherein to model the traffic associated with the plurality of APs comprises any one of (i) to identify one or more STAs associated to two or more APs of the plurality of APs, (ii) to identify one or more STAs associated to a single AP and capable of associating to one or more neighboring APs, (iii) to identify one or more STAs not capable of associating to one or more neighboring APs, or (iv) any combination of (i)-(iii).
  13. 13. The system of any of claims 9 to 12, wherein: to model the gain in AP efficiency comprises to identify the STA is an edge STA; and to determine to model the gain in AP efficiency for the one or more APs of the plurality of APs when modifying the STA traffic of the STA is based on identifying the STA is an edge STA.
  14. 14. The system of any of claims 9 to 13, wherein to model the gain in AP efficiency comprises any one of: (i) to use naive Bayes to evaluate an effect of modifying the STA traffic by moving the STA traffic to a new AP of the plurality of APs; or (ii) to use a regressor coupled with a booster that minimizes uncertainty resulting from modifying the STA traffic by moving the STA traffic to the new AP of the plurality of APs.
  15. 15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a set of instructions which when executed perform a method executed by the set of instructions comprising: receiving traffic information from a plurality of Access Points (APs); based on the traffic information, modeling traffic associated with the plurality of APs; based on the modeled traffic, modeling a gain in AP efficiency for one or more APs of the plurality of APs when modifying Station (STA) traffic of a STA; and sending a recommendation to one or more recipient APs of the plurality of APs, wherein the recommendation indicates the gain in AP efficiency for the one or more APs when modifying the STA traffic.
  16. 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, modifying the STA traffic comprises any one of (i) removing the STA traffic from a current AP of the plurality of APs, (ii) moving the STA traffic to a new AP of the plurality of APs, (iii) reducing an airtime allocation for the STA traffic, or (iv) any combination of (i)-(iii).
  17. 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 or 16, wherein modeling the traffic associated with the plurality of APs comprises using a regressor to model the traffic based on time series data of the traffic information.
  18. 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of claims 15 to 17, wherein modeling the traffic associated with the plurality of APs comprises any one of (i) identifying one or more STAs associated to two or more APs of the plurality of APs, (ii) identifying one or more STAs associated to a single AP and capable of associating to one or more neighboring APs, (iii) identifying one or more STAs not capable of associating to one or more neighboring APs, or (iv) any combination of (i)-(iii).
  19. 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of claims 15 to 18, wherein: modeling the gain in AP efficiency comprises identifying the STA is an edge STA; and determining to model the gain in AP efficiency for the one or more APs of the plurality of APs when modifying the STA traffic of the STA is based on identifying the STA is an edge STA.
  20. 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of claims 15 to 19, wherein modeling the gain in AP efficiency comprises any one of: (i) using naive Bayes to evaluate an effect of modifying the STA traffic by moving the STA traffic to a new AP of the plurality of APs; or (ii) using a regressor coupled with a booster that minimizes uncertainty resulting from modifying the STA traffic by moving the STA traffic to the new AP of the plurality of APs.

Description

THROUGHPUT PREDICTER AND FLOW LOAD BALANCER REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001 ] This application is being filed on July 9, 2024, as a PCT International Patent Application and claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/512,651 , filed on July 9, 2023, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The present disclosure relates generally to predicting network throughput and balancing network loads. BACKGROUND [0003] In computer networking, a wireless Access Point (AP) is a networking hardware device that allows a Wi-Fi compatible client device to connect to a wired network and to other client devices. The AP usually connects to a router (directly or indirectly via a wired network) as a standalone device, but it can also be an integral component of the router itself. Several APs may also work in coordination, either through direct wired or wireless connections, or through a central system, commonly called a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) controller. An AP is differentiated from a hotspot, which is the physical location where Wi-Fi access to a WLAN is available. [0004] Prior to wireless networks, setting up a computer network in a business, home, or school often required running many cables through walls and ceilings in order to deliver network access to all of the network-enabled devices in the building. With the creation of the wireless AP, network users are able to add devices that access the network with few or no cables. An AP connects to a wired network, then provides radio frequency links for other radio devices to reach that wired network. Most APs support the connection of multiple wireless devices. APs are built to support a standard for sending and receiving data using these radio frequencies. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES [0005] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate various embodiments of the present disclosure. In the drawings: [0006] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an operating environment for predicting network throughput and balancing network loads in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [0007] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a network mapping information table in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [0008] FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for predicting network throughput and balancing network loads in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [0009] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computing device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [0010] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a wireless device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OVERVIEW [0011 ] Predicting network throughput and balancing network loads may be provided. Predicting network throughput and balancing network loads can comprise receiving traffic information from a plurality of Access Points (APs). Based on the traffic information, traffic associated with the plurality of APs can be modeled. Based on the modeled traffic, a gain in AP efficiency for one or more APs of the plurality of APs can be modeled when modifying Station (STA) traffic of a STA. A recommendation can be sent to one or more recipient APs of the plurality of APs, wherein the recommendation indicates the gain in AP efficiency for the one or more APs when modifying the STA traffic. [0012] Both the foregoing overview and the following example embodiments are examples and explanatory only and should not be considered to restrict the disclosure’s scope, as described, and claimed. Furthermore, features and/or variations may be provided in addition to those described. For example, embodiments of the disclosure may be directed to various feature combinations and sub-combinations described in the example embodiments. EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS [0013] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While embodiments of the disclosure may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the disclosure. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims. [0014] Wireless network (e.g., Wi-Fi) cells are intended to serve Stations (STAs) within each cell’s range by providing connectivity and sufficient Radio Frequency (RF) performance. However, as the density of STAs increases in a cell’s range, the efficiency of the cell can decrease as it tries to provide connectivity to many STAs. STAs in a high density environment m