초록 ▼

An improved call admission control method and apparatus is provided in which a MAC (or equivalent) layer parameter such as the FER (frame error rate) is used as a basis for call admission control. An estimate of a FER which would result should a requested session be admitted is made, and on the basi

An improved call admission control method and apparatus is provided in which a MAC (or equivalent) layer parameter such as the FER (frame error rate) is used as a basis for call admission control. An estimate of a FER which would result should a requested session be admitted is made, and on the basis of this estimate, the session is either admitted or denied access. The estimate is made by combining a previous FER with a degradation which is expected should the session be admitted. The degradation is either determined experimentally, or can be updated in real time to reflect actual traffic patterns.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method of performing call admission control upon receipt of a request for a new session comprising:making an estimate of a new system FER which will result should the new session be admitted; anddeciding to admit or to deny the new session on the basis of the new system FER estimate;wherein mak

1. A method of performing call admission control upon receipt of a request for a new session comprising:making an estimate of a new system FER which will result should the new session be admitted; anddeciding to admit or to deny the new session on the basis of the new system FER estimate;wherein making the estimate of the new system FER comprises:making an estimate of a previous system FER at the time of the request;determining an estimate of a degradation in the system FER should the new session be admitted; andcombining the estimate of the degradation to the estimate of the previous system FER to obtain said estimate of the total system FER.2. A method according to claim 1 wherein making an estimate of a previous system FER at the time of the request comprises measuring the system FER.3. A method according to claim 1 wherein making an estimate of a previous system FER at the lime of the request comprises:starting with the previous system FER equal to an initial system FER;each time a session is admitted, adding the degradation estimated for the session to the previous system FER; andeach time a session is ended, subtracting a degradation reduction for the session from the previous system FER.4. A method according to claim 1 further comprising:maintaining an expected degradation in the system FER as a function of how many sessions have been admitted;wherein determining an estimate of a degradation in the system FER should the new session be admitted comprises:maintaining a current count of how many sessions have been admitted; andsetting the estimate of the degradation in the system FER equal to the expected degradation for the current count.5. A method according to claim 1 wherein the request for a new session identifies the session as having one of at least two different types, the method further comprising:maintaining an expected degradation in the system FER as a function of bow many sessions of each of said different types have been admitted;wherein determining an estimate of the degradation in the system FER should the new session be admitted comprises:maintaining a current count of how many sessions of each type have been admitted; andsetting the estimate of the degradation in the system FER equal to the expected degradation for the session's type and the type's current count.6. A method according to claim 5 wherein maintaining an expected degradation in the system FER as a function of how many sessions of each of said different types have been admitted comprises:generating test traffic with a predetermined ratio between numbers of sessions of each type; andadding new sessions to the test traffic and making a measurement of the degradation in FER, and using these measurements as the expected degradations.7. A method according to claim 5 further comprising:identifying an initial value for the degradation in FER for the Nth session of each type;each time an N+1th session of a particular type is admitted, making a measurement of the degradation which results; anddetermining the expected degradation for the Nth session to be an average of up to K measurements for N+1th session admissions and the initial value for the Nth session if there are fewer than K measurements, where K is an integer greater than or equal to two.8. A method according to claim 7 wherein identifying an initial value comprises:generating test traffic with a predetermined ratio between numbers of sessions of each type; andadding new sessions to the test traffic and making a measurement of the degradation in FER, and using these measurements as the initial values.9. A method according to claim 1 wherein admitting or denying the new session on the basis of the new FER estimate comprises:comparing the new FER estimate to a target FER, and if the new FER estimate exceeds the target FER denying the session, and if the new FER estimate does not exceed the target FER admitting the session.10. A method according to claim 1 further comprising:identifying an initial value for the degradation in FER for an Nth session admission;making measurements of the degradation which results due to Nth session admissions; anddetermining the expected degradation for the Nth session to be an average of up to K measurements for Nth session admissions and the initial value for the Nth session if there are fewer than K measurements, where K is an integer greater than or equal to two.11. A method according to claim 10 wherein one of said measurements of the degradation which results due to Nth session admissions is taken around the time an N+1th session admission occurs.12. A method according to claim 10 wherein one of said measurements of the degradation which results due to Nth session admissions is taken before an N+1th session admission occurs and after the Nth session has been active for long enough for a meaningful measurement to be taken.13. An article of manufacture comprising:a computer usable medium having computer readable code means embodied therein for performing call admission control, the computer readable code means in said article of manufacture comprising:computer readable code means for making an estimate of a new system FER which will result should a new session be admitted; andcomputer readable code means for deciding to admit or to deny the new session on the basis of the new system FER estimate;computer readable code means for making an estimate of a previous system FER at a time of the request;computer readable code means for determining an estimate of a degradation in the system FER should the new session be admitted; andcomputer readable code means for combining the estimate of the degradation to the estimate of the previous system FER to obtain said estimate of the total system FER.