US-12621708-B2 - Systems and methods for detecting fixed wireless access uplink congestion with a packet probe

US12621708B2US 12621708 B2US12621708 B2US 12621708B2US-12621708-B2

Abstract

A device may receive, from a packet probe, an uplink packet flow provided to a base station by a user equipment, and may add bytes for packets of the uplink packet flow in each scheduling interval of multiple scheduling intervals. The device may group the packets into bursts based on the multiple scheduling intervals and based on adding the bytes for the packets, and may calculate a transfer speed of each of the bursts. The device may calculate a maximum transfer speed for the bursts based on the transfer speed of each of the bursts, and may calculate a congestion delay for each of the bursts based on the maximum transfer speed for the bursts. The device may perform one or more actions based on the congestion delay for each of the bursts.

Inventors

Seng Gan
Anand BHATIA
Ritul K. SHAH
Saibaba ATTELLI
Khurram ABBAS

Assignees

VERIZON PATENT AND LICENSING INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230809

Claims (20)

1 . A method, comprising: receiving, by a device and from a packet probe, an uplink packet flow provided to a base station by a user equipment; adding, by the device, bytes for packets of the uplink packet flow in each scheduling interval of multiple scheduling intervals; grouping, by the device, the packets into bursts based on the multiple scheduling intervals and based on adding the bytes for the packets; calculating, by the device, a transfer speed of each of the bursts; calculating, by the device, a maximum transfer speed for the bursts based on the transfer speed of each of the bursts; calculating, by the device, a congestion delay for each of the bursts based on the maximum transfer speed for the bursts; and performing, by the device, one or more actions based on the congestion delay for each of the bursts.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: setting an initial scheduling interval and an initial burst length for calculating the congestion delay for each of the bursts.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein calculating the congestion delay for each of the bursts based on the maximum transfer speed for the bursts comprises: calculating the congestion delay for each of the bursts based on the maximum transfer speed for the bursts and based on the initial burst length.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: updating each of the bursts with a radio frequency signal strength of each of the bursts, wherein calculating the maximum transfer speed for the bursts based on the transfer speed of each of the bursts comprises: calculating the maximum transfer speed for the bursts based on the transfer speed of each of the bursts and based on updating each of the bursts with the radio frequency signal strength.
5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising: receiving the radio frequency signal strength of each of the bursts from an element management system.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the base station is one of a fourth-generation base station or a fifth-generation base station.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the congestion delay for each of the bursts comprises: performing a transmission control protocol congestion control analysis to calculate the congestion delay for each of the bursts.
8 . A device, comprising: one or more processors configured to: set an initial burst length; receive, from a packet probe, an uplink packet flow provided to a base station by a user equipment; add bytes for packets of the uplink packet flow in each scheduling interval of multiple scheduling intervals; group the packets into bursts based on the multiple scheduling intervals and based on adding the bytes for the packets; calculate a transfer speed of each of the bursts; calculate a maximum transfer speed for the bursts based on the transfer speed of each of the bursts; calculate a congestion delay for each of the bursts based on the maximum transfer speed for the bursts and based on the initial burst length; and perform one or more actions based on the congestion delay for each of the bursts.
9 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors, to calculate the congestion delay for each of the bursts, are configured to: identify missing packets in the uplink packet flow to calculate the congestion delay for each of the bursts.
10 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the user equipment is a fixed wireless access user equipment or a mobile user equipment connected to the base station for a time period.
11 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the uplink packet flow is user plane traffic provided from the user equipment to a core network, via the base station.
12 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors, to perform the one or more actions, are configured to: generate a notification about the congestion delay; and provide the notification to a network operator.
13 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors, to perform the one or more actions, are configured to: dispatch a technician to service a network device associated with the congestion delay.
14 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors, to perform the one or more actions, are configured to: dispatch an autonomous vehicle to service a network device associated with the congestion delay.
15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions, the set of instructions comprising: one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to: receive, from a packet probe, an uplink packet flow provided to a base station by a user equipment, wherein the base station is one of a fourth-generation base station or a fifth-generation base station; add bytes for packets of the uplink packet flow in each scheduling interval of multiple scheduling intervals; group the packets into bursts based on the multiple scheduling intervals and based on adding the bytes for the packets; calculate a transfer speed of each of the bursts; calculate a maximum transfer speed for the bursts based on the transfer speed of each of the bursts; calculate a congestion delay for each of the bursts based on the maximum transfer speed for the bursts; and perform one or more actions based on the congestion delay for each of the bursts.
16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more instructions further cause the device to: update each of the bursts with a radio frequency signal strength of each of the bursts, wherein the one or more instructions, that cause the device to calculate the maximum transfer speed for the bursts based on the transfer speed of each of the bursts, cause the device to: calculate the maximum transfer speed for the bursts based on the transfer speed of each of the bursts and based on updating each of the bursts with the radio frequency signal strength.
17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the one or more instructions further cause the device to: receive the radio frequency signal strength of each of the bursts from an element management system.
18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more instructions, that cause the device to calculate the congestion delay for each of the bursts, cause the device to: perform a transmission control protocol congestion control analysis to calculate the congestion delay for each of the bursts.
19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more instructions, that cause the device to calculate the congestion delay for each of the bursts, cause the device to: identify missing packets in the uplink packet flow to calculate the congestion delay for each of the bursts.
20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the user equipment is a fixed wireless access user equipment or a mobile user equipment connected to the base station for a time period.

Description

BACKGROUND In a fifth-generation (5G) non-standalone (NSA) network, fixed wireless access (FWA) user equipment (UE) needs to be connected to a fourth-generation (4G) base station (e.g., an eNodeB or eNB) and a 5G base station (e.g., a gNodeB or gNB). In a 5G standalone (SA) network, the FWA UE need not be connected to the 4G base station and may connect to the 5G base station. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A-1F are diagrams of an example associated with detecting FWA uplink congestion with a packet probe. FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example environment in which systems and/or methods described herein may be implemented. FIG. 3 is a diagram of example components of one or more devices of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example process for detecting FWA uplink congestion with a packet probe. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS The following detailed description of example implementations refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements. A UE may be an FWA that is stationary or a mobile UE that is capable of switching locations. An FWA UE may have a fixed uplink maximum performance to a 4G base station or a 5G base station. For example, an FWA UE may have a maximum uplink speed to a 4G base station or a 5G base station of ten (10) megabits per second (Mbps). However, since a mobile UE may move, an uplink performance of the mobile UE to a 4G base station or a 5G base station may dynamically change. An uplink transmission from a UE to a 4G base station or a 5G base station is controlled by the airlink scheduler of the 4G base station or the 5G base station. The airlink scheduler may include a fixed scheduling interval (e.g., one millisecond). For every scheduling interval, the airlink scheduler may determine (e.g., for UEs that have data to send in the uplink) which UE can send data and how much data the UE can send in the scheduling interval. If only one UE has data to send, the airlink scheduler may allow the UE to use up all of the data that the UE is allowed to send (e.g., the UE is sending at a maximum uplink performance). During congestion, the FWA UE will send data at below maximum uplink performance and the airlink scheduler may spread transmissions from the FWA UE across multiple scheduling intervals until all data is sent. However, the airlink scheduler is unable to determine whether the FWA UE is facing uplink congestion from the base station, and is unable to detect an actual delay faced by the FWA UE device when congestion occurs. Thus, current techniques for scheduling uplink transmissions consume computing resources (e.g., processing resources, memory resources, communication resources, and/or the like), networking resources, and/or other resources associated with disrupting an uplink transmission for a UE during times of congestion, causing a poor user experience for a user of a UE due to disrupting the uplink transmission for the UE, delaying the uplink transmission for the UE during times of congestion, and/or the like. Some implementations described herein provide a congestion detection system that detects FWA uplink congestion with a packet probe. For example, the congestion detection system may receive, from a packet probe, an uplink packet flow of packets provided to a base station by a user equipment, and may add bytes (e.g., of data) for the packets of the uplink packet flow in each scheduling interval of multiple scheduling intervals. The congestion detection system may group the packets into bursts based on the multiple scheduling intervals and based on adding the bytes for the packets, and may calculate a transfer speed of each of the bursts. The congestion detection system may calculate a maximum transfer speed for the bursts based on the transfer speed of each of the bursts, and may calculate a congestion delay for each of the bursts based on the maximum transfer speed for the bursts. The congestion detection system may perform one or more actions based on the congestion delay for each of the bursts. In this way, the congestion detection system detects FWA uplink congestion with a packet probe. For example, the congestion detection system may process an actual uplink packet flow (e.g., provided by a packet probe) to detect a maximum uplink transfer speed with zero congestion, and may process the actual uplink packet flow and a flow analysis to detect a maximum uplink transfer speed based on radio frequency conditions experienced by the UE. The congestion detection system may utilize the maximum uplink transfer speed to calculate a congestion delay of each burst experienced by the UE. The congestion detection system may be utilized with FWA UEs, with mobile UEs that remain connected to the same base station for a significant amount of time (e.g., as compared to a scheduling interval), with network slicing models where constraints might be different for various slices, and/or the like. T