Telecommunication networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9654357-B2
Application number	US-201113135439-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 5, 2011
Priority date	Jul 2, 2010
Publication date	May 16, 2017
Grant date	May 16, 2017

Abstract

A mobile telecommunications network includes a core and a radio access network having a radio for wireless communication with mobile terminals registered with the network. The radio access network includes a controller operable to control the use of network resources by the mobile terminals. The controller may include an application programming interface, API, which provides a consistent interface to a multiplicity of applications hosted on the control mean. The controller may be provided at an access node site and/or a gateway site.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mobile telecommunications network, comprising:
a core; and
a cellular radio access network having a radio for wireless cellular communication with mobile terminals registered with the cellular radio access network,
wherein the cellular radio access network includes a controller that controls a use of network resources by the mobile terminals, and
wherein the controller is configured to identify and compensate for malfunctioning mobile terminals by:
acquiring radio quality pattern information;
based at least partially on the radio quality pattern information, determining a probability level that indicates an extent to which a particular mobile terminal is likely to be malfunctioning;
upon a condition in which the probability level is determined to be sufficiently high, acquiring additional information that is usable to confirm whether the particular mobile terminal is actually malfunctioning; and
based on a determination that the particular mobile terminal is malfunctioning, taking action to reduce an effect of the malfunctioning on the cellular radio access network.

2. The network of claim 1 , wherein the controller is provided by at least one of: an access node site or a gateway site.

3. The network of claim 1 , wherein the malfunctioning of the particular mobile terminal potentially impacts at least one of: an ability of the cellular radio access network to control the mobile terminals or an ability of the cellular radio access network to allow user data to be transmitted.

4. The network of claim 1 , wherein the controller obtains reference characteristics that correspond to the radio quality pattern information by using one of: (i) calculations based on previously measured characteristics or (ii) previously measured characteristics obtained from one of: the core or a third party.

5. The network of claim 1 , wherein the radio quality pattern information relates to at least one of: (i) a specific one of the mobile terminals, (ii) a specific mobile terminal type, or (iii) a particular application run by one or more of the mobile terminals.

6. The network of claim 1 , wherein, based on the determination that the particular mobile terminal is malfunctioning, the controller also triggers a management event to reduce the effect of the malfunctioning on the cellular radio access network.

7. A method of operating a mobile telecommunications network, comprising:
providing a core and a cellular radio access network that includes a radio for wireless cellular communication with mobile terminals registered with the cellular radio access network, wherein the cellular radio access network includes a controller that controls use of network resources by the mobile terminals; and
operating the controller to identify and compensate for malfunctioning mobile terminals by:
acquiring radio quality pattern information;
based at least partially on the radio quality pattern information, determining a probability level that indicates an extent to which a particular mobile terminal is likely to be malfunctioning;
upon a condition in which the probability level is determined to be sufficiently high, acquiring additional information that is usable to confirm whether the particular mobile terminal is actually malfunctioning; and
based on a determination that the particular mobile terminal is malfunctioning, taking action to reduce an effect of the malfunctioning on the cellular radio access network.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the controller is provided by at least one of: an access node site or a gateway site.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the malfunctioning of the particular mobile terminal impacts at least one of: an ability of the cellular radio access network to control the mobile terminals or an ability of the cellular radio access network to allow user data to be transmitted.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the controller obtains reference characteristics that correspond to the radio quality pattern information by using one of: (i) calculations based on previously measured characteristics or (ii) previously measured characteristics obtained from one of: the core or a third party.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the radio quality pattern information relates to at least one of: (i) a specific one of the mobile terminals, (ii) a specific mobile terminal type, or (iii) a particular application run by one or more of the mobile terminals.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein, based on the determination that the particular mobile terminal is malfunctioning, the controller also triggers a management event to reduce the effect of the malfunctioning on the cellular radio access network.

13. The mobile telecommunications network of claim 1 , wherein the action taken by the controller to reduce the effect of the malfunctioning on the cellular radio access network includes at least one of the following:
allocating the particular mobile terminal to a specific network resource;
modifying reselection parameters of the particular mobile terminal to ensure a next network access attempt occurs on a specific frequency layer;
limiting network access of the particular mobile terminal to a minimum connectivity level;
initiating a disinfection process on the particular mobile terminal to remove the virus; or
using a firewall to block requests from the particular mobile terminal to specific destination port numbers and addresses.

14. The method of claim 7 , wherein the action taken by the controller to reduce the effect of the malfunctioning on the cellular radio access network includes at least one of the following:
allocating the particular mobile terminal to a specific network resource;
modifying reselection parameters of the particular mobile terminal to ensure a next network access attempt occurs on a specific frequency layer;
limiting network access of the particular mobile terminal to a minimum connectivity level;
initiating a disinfection process on the particular mobile terminal to remove the virus; or
using a firewall to block requests from the particular mobile terminal to specific destination port numbers and addresses.

15. A method of operating a mobile telecommunications network that includes a core and a cellular radio access network, the cellular radio access network including a radio for wireless cellular communication with mobile terminals registered with the cellular radio access network, the cellular radio access network including a controller that controls use of network resources by the mobile terminals, the method being performed by the controller and comprising:
acquiring radio quality pattern information;
based at least partially on the radio quality pattern information, determining a probability level that indicates an extent to which a particular mobile terminal is likely to be malfunctioning;
upon a condition in which the probability level is determined to be sufficiently high, acquiring additional information that is usable to confirm whether the particular mobile terminal is actually malfunctioning, wherein the additional information comprises mobile terminal performance measurements, and wherein the additional information is acquired at least partially in response to the controller instructing the particular mobile terminal to provide information according to a more frequent rate; and
based on a determination that the particular mobile terminal is malfunctioning, taking action to reduce an effect of the malfunctioning on the cellular radio access network.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising obtaining reference characteristi

Assignees

• Fox David Andrew
• Chami Youssef
• Holmes Neil
• Vodafone Ip Licensing Ltd

Inventors

• Fox David Andrew
• Chami Youssef
• Holmes Neil

Classifications

• H04W84/00

  Network topologies · CPC title

• H04W12/12

  Detection or prevention of fraud · CPC title

• H04W24/04 Primary

  Arrangements for maintaining operational condition · CPC title

• H04L41/5035

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04W88/18

  Service support devices; Network management devices · CPC title