Methods and devices for content delivery control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10917814-B2
Application number	US-201916521817-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 25, 2019
Priority date	Jun 22, 2011
Publication date	Feb 9, 2021
Grant date	Feb 9, 2021

Abstract

To control content delivery to plural clients of a mobile communication network, a network entity of the mobile communication network collects geo information of the plural clients and evaluates the collected geo information of the plural clients based on a rule to determine whether the content delivery is to be adapted. The network entity identifies a region for which the content delivery is to be adapted. The network entity selectively outputs a message to a controlling entity if it is determined that the content delivery is to be adapted. The controlling entity controls the content delivery in response to receiving the message, to adapt the content delivery for clients located in the identified region.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A network entity for a mobile communication network, the network entity comprising:
a receiver configured to receive geo information from each of multiple clients of a mobile communication network;
an interface configured to receive a rule from a controlling entity outside the mobile communication network controlling content delivery to a region, wherein the rule is related to monitoring a quantity of one or more clients of the multiple clients, the one or more clients located in the region;
a processing circuit configured to:
evaluate the received geo information from each of the multiple clients based on the received rule to determine whether the content delivery to the multiple clients, via a pathway of the mobile communication network, is to be adapted, wherein the network entity is not in the direct communication path between the clients and the content delivery source; and
selectively output a message to the controlling entity in response to it being determined that the content delivery via the pathway of the mobile communication network is to be adapted to one or more of the multiple clients, wherein the selectively outputting the message comprises selectively outputting based on multiple conditions, comprising:
the quantity of the one or more clients located in the region passing a threshold, the threshold set based on a pre-defined time interval, and
a rate of change of the quantity of the one or more clients located in the region.

2. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the received rule is based on:
quality reports received, by the controlling entity, from the multiple clients; and
one or more messages output from the network entity related to content delivery in the mobile communication network, wherein the one or more messages are output in response to receiving instructions for monitoring one or more regions in the mobile communication network.

3. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the output message indicates that a certain condition related to the quantity has occurred and content delivery is to be adapted responsive to the condition.

4. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the output message indicates that a certain condition related to the quantity is likely to occur and content delivery is to be adapted responsive to the condition occurring.

5. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the rule comprises content-specific information limiting monitoring to one or more clients located in a region who are receiving particular content, wherein the particular content is an audio stream or a video stream.

6. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the interface is configured to receive one or more rules indicating a plurality of regions to monitor, and the message identifies only a subset of the plurality of regions.

7. The network entity of claim 6 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
map clients in the plurality of regions to a particular one of the plurality of regions; and
update the mapping based on the geo information.

8. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the network entity continuous to monitor, according to the rule, a quantity of current clients located in the region after outputing the message.

9. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the message indicates for the controlling entity to adapt a quality of service bearer for content which is delivered to the one or more of the multiple clients.

10. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the geo information is related to tiles of a geo cast service.

11. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the region comprises multiple radio access network cells.

12. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
predict regions affected by a congestion situation in a radio access network of the mobile communication network based on the collected geo information of the multiple clients to identify the region; and
selectively output the message based on the predicted regions.

13. The network entity of claim 12 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to respectively compare, for each of a plurality of regions, an indicator to at least one threshold to predict the regions affected by the congestion situation, the indicator indicative of a number of clients located in the corresponding region.

14. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
determine addresses of the clients located in the region; and
output the message including the determined addresses.

15. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the message includes an identifier of the region.

16. A method of controlling content delivery by a network entity of a mobile communication network, the method comprising:
receiving geo information from each of multiple clients of the mobile communication network;
receiving a rule from a controlling entity outside the mobile communication network controlling content delivery to a region, wherein the rule is related to monitoring a quantity of one or more clients of the multiple clients, the one or more clients located in the region;
evaluating the received geo information from each of the multiple clients based on the received rule to determine whether the content delivery via a pathway of the mobile communication network is to be adapted to the multiple clients, wherein the network entity is not in the direct communication path between the clients and the content delivery source; and
selectively outputting a message to the controlling entity in response to it being determined that the content delivery via the pathway of the mobile communication network is to be adapted to one or more of the multiple clients, wherein the selectively outputting the message comprises selectively outputting based on multiple conditions comprising:
the quantity of the one or more clients located in the region passing a threshold, the threshold set based on a pre-defined time interval; and
a rate of change of the quantity of the one or more clients located in the region.

17. A method of controlling content delivery by a controlling entity to multiple clients of a mobile communication network, the method comprising:
receiving quality reports from the multiple clients, wherein the controlling entity modifies a rule based on the received quality reports;
outputting the rule for evaluating geo information of the multiple clients to a network entity;
receiving a message from the network entity, the message containing information on a location-dependent adaptation of the content delivery; and
adapting the content delivery in a location-dependent manner for clients located in a region based on the received message, the region determined based on the information.

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M
• Telefonakiebolaget Lm Ericsson Publ

Inventors

• Perkuhn Heiko
• Kampmann Markus
• Rembarz Rene

Classifications

• H04W28/0289 Primary

  Congestion control (load shedding arrangements in network planning H04W16/08; performing reselection for handling the traffic H04W36/22; wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12) · CPC title

• H04W4/18 Primary

  Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals · CPC title

• H04L67/61

  taking into account QoS or priority requirements · CPC title

• H04W4/021

  Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences · CPC title

• H04W4/06

  Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services · CPC title