Methods and apparatuses for rate adaptation of quality of service based application

Abstract

A method, system, and computer program product for identifying network congestion in a communication system. A connection manager identifies a number of packet delay times of a plurality of data packets within the communication system; determines whether the at least one packet delay time meets a threshold; and responsive to the at least one packet delay time meeting the threshold, adjusts a congestion indicator.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for identifying network congestion in a communication system, the method comprising:
 identifying a number of packet delay times of a plurality of data packets within the communication system;   determining whether the at least one packet delay time meets a threshold; and   responsive to the at least one packet delay time meeting the threshold, adjusting a congestion indicator.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the threshold is a high threshold and wherein the step of determining comprises:
 determining whether any of the at least one packet delay time is greater than the threshold; and wherein the step of adjusting comprises:   setting the congestion indicator to active.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the threshold is a low threshold and wherein the step of determining comprises:
 determining whether a number of consecutive packet delay times of the at least one packet delay time is less than the threshold; and wherein the step of adjusting comprises:   setting the congestion indicator to inactive.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a packet delay time of the number of packet delay times is a difference in time between a set of the plurality of packets being sent from a user equipment in the communication system, wherein the congestion indicator is a network uplink congestion indicator. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a packet delay time of the number of packet delay times is a difference in time between a set of the plurality of packets being received from a base station in the communication system, wherein the congestion indicator is a network downlink congestion indicator. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a packet delay time of the number of packet delay times is a difference in time between a packet of the plurality of packets being received from the application layer and sent to a base station of the communication system, wherein the congestion indicator is a local uplink congestion indicator. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 reporting the congestion indicator to an application layer of a user equipment.   
     
     
         8 . A system for identifying network congestion in a communication system, the system comprising:
 a user equipment of the communication system configured to identify a number of packet delay times of a plurality of data packets within the communication system; determine whether the at least one packet delay time meets a threshold; and responsive to the at least one packet delay time meeting the threshold, adjust a congestion indicator.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the threshold is a high threshold and wherein the step of determining comprises:
 determining whether any of the at least one packet delay time is greater than the threshold; and wherein the step of adjusting comprises:   setting the congestion indicator to active.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the threshold is a low threshold and wherein the step of determining comprises:
 determining whether a number of consecutive packet delay times of the at least one packet delay time is less than the threshold; and wherein the step of adjusting comprises:   setting the congestion indicator to inactive.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein a packet delay time of the number of packet delay times is a difference in time between a set of the plurality of packets being sent from a user equipment in the communication system, wherein the congestion indicator is a network uplink congestion indicator. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein a packet delay time of the number of packet delay times is a difference in time between a set of the plurality of packets being received from a base station in the communication system, wherein the congestion indicator is a network downlink congestion indicator. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein a packet delay time of the number of packet delay times is a difference in time between a packet of the plurality of packets being received from the application layer and sent to a base station of the communication system, wherein the congestion indicator is a local uplink congestion indicator. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 an application layer; and   a connection manager configured to report the congestion indicator to the application layer of the user equipment.   
     
     
         15 . A computer program product comprising logic encoded on a tangible media for identifying network congestion in a communication system, the logic comprising instructions for:
 identifying a number of packet delay times of a plurality of data packets within the communication system;   determining whether the at least one packet delay time meets a threshold; and   responsive to the at least one packet delay time meeting the threshold, adjusting a congestion indicator.   
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 16 , wherein the threshold is a high threshold and wherein the instructions for determining comprise instruction for:
 determining whether any of the at least one packet delay time is greater than the threshold; and wherein the instructions for adjusting comprise instruction for:   setting the congestion indicator to active.   
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 16 , wherein the threshold is a low threshold and wherein the instructions for determining comprise instruction for:
 determining whether a number of consecutive packet delay times of the at least one packet delay time is less than the threshold; and wherein the instructions for adjusting comprise instruction for:   setting the congestion indicator to inactive.   
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 16 , wherein a packet delay time of the number of packet delay times is a difference in time between a set of the plurality of packets being sent from a user equipment in the communication system, wherein the congestion indicator is a network uplink congestion indicator. 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 16 , wherein a packet delay time of the number of packet delay times is a difference in time between a set of the plurality of packets being received from a base station in the communication system, wherein the congestion indicator is a network downlink congestion indicator.