Apparatuses and methods for network resource dimensioning in accordance with differentiated quality of service

Abstract

Aspects include determining whether a utilization of wireless spectrum associated with a guaranteed class of traffic in a network is greater than a first threshold, responsive to the determining indicating that the utilization of the wireless spectrum associated with the guaranteed class of traffic is greater than the first threshold, causing an upgrade of a capacity in the network, and responsive to the determining indicating that the utilization of the wireless spectrum associated with the guaranteed class of traffic is not greater than the first threshold: determining a throughput for a non-guaranteed class of traffic for each cell of a plurality of cells of the network, and responsive to determining that the throughput for the non-guaranteed class of traffic for at least one cell of the plurality of cells is less than a second threshold, causing the upgrade of the capacity in the network. Other embodiments are disclosed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device, comprising:
 a processing system including a processor; and   a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:   computing a capacity for each cell of a plurality of cells associated with a network;   computing a capacity for a plurality of classes of traffic for each cell of the plurality of cells in accordance with the capacity for each cell;   determining a throughput for each of the plurality of classes of traffic for each cell of the plurality of cells in accordance with the computing of the capacity for the plurality of classes of traffic; and   responsive to determining that the throughput for at least one of the plurality of classes of traffic for at least one cell of the plurality of cells is less than a first threshold, upgrading a capacity in the network,   wherein the upgrading of the capacity in the network comprises at least one of:
 deploying a new cell at a predetermined level of wireless spectrum, wherein the new cell is not included in the plurality of cells; or 
 increasing a wireless spectrum allocation of a first cell of the plurality of cells. 
   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of classes of traffic includes buffered video traffic, email traffic, text traffic, file transfer traffic, peer-to-peer file sharing traffic, progressive video traffic, interactive gaming traffic, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the computing of the capacity for the plurality of classes of traffic for each cell of the plurality of cells is further in accordance with a plurality of projections associated with a demand for a second plurality of classes of traffic and a plurality of bandwidths occupied by each session of the second plurality of classes of traffic. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the upgrading of the capacity in the network comprises the increasing of the wireless spectrum allocation of the first cell. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the upgrading of the capacity in the network further comprises:
 determining that the wireless spectrum allocation of the first cell is less than a second threshold.   
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 5 , wherein the upgrading of the capacity in the network further comprises:
 responsive to the determining that the wireless spectrum allocation of the first cell is less than the second threshold, performing the increasing of the wireless spectrum allocation of the first cell.   
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the upgrading of the capacity in the network further comprises:
 determining that the wireless spectrum allocation of the first cell is greater than a second threshold.   
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein the upgrading of the capacity in the network further comprises:
 responsive to the determining that the wireless spectrum allocation of the first cell is greater than the second threshold, performing the deploying of the new cell at the predetermined level of wireless spectrum.   
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein the predetermined level of wireless spectrum is less than the second threshold. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the determining of the throughput for each of the plurality of classes of traffic for each cell of the plurality of cells is based on modeling. 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein the modeling is based on an apportionment of a volume of the plurality of classes of traffic in proportion to a ratio of the capacity for each cell relative to a total capacity for all of the plurality of cells. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the determining of the throughput for each of the plurality of classes of traffic for each cell of the plurality of cells is based on an engaging of a simulation. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 12 , wherein the engaging of the simulation comprises:
 detecting an event corresponding to an arrival of first traffic associated with a second plurality of classes of traffic, an arrival of second traffic associated with the plurality of classes of traffic, a departure of third traffic associated with the second plurality of classes of traffic, a departure of fourth traffic associated with the plurality of classes of traffic, or any combination thereof; and   responsive to the detecting of the event, recording samples of throughput.   
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 13 , wherein the engaging of the simulation further comprises:
 processing the samples by applying weights to the samples to generate the throughput for each of the plurality of classes of traffic for each cell of the plurality of cells.   
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 13 , wherein the event includes the arrival of the first traffic, and wherein the engaging of the simulation further comprises:
 determining that blocking is not implemented with respect to the first traffic,   wherein the recording of the samples of throughput is further responsive to the determining that blocking is not implemented with respect to the first traffic.   
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the upgrading of the capacity in the network comprises the deploying of the new cell at the predetermined level of wireless spectrum. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
 computing a capacity for a class of traffic for each cell of a plurality of cells of a network;   determining a throughput for the class of traffic for each cell of the plurality of cells in accordance with the computing of the capacity for the class of traffic; and   responsive to determining that the throughput for the class of traffic for at least one cell of the plurality of cells is less than a threshold, performing an upgrade of a capacity in the network,   wherein the performing of the upgrade of the capacity in the network comprises at least one of:
 deploying a new cell at a predetermined level of wireless spectrum, wherein the new cell is not included in the plurality of cells; or 
 increasing a wireless spectrum allocation of a first cell of the plurality of cells. 
   
     
     
         18 . A method, comprising:
 determining, by a processing system including a processor, a throughput for a non-guaranteed class of traffic for each cell of a plurality of cells of a network; and   responsive to determining, by the processing system, that the throughput for the non-guaranteed class of traffic for at least one cell of the plurality of cells is less than a threshold, causing an upgrade of a capacity in the network,   wherein the causing of the upgrade of the capacity in the network comprises one or both of:
 deploying a new cell at a predetermined level of wireless spectrum, wherein the new cell is not included in the plurality of cells, and 
 increasing a wireless spectrum allocation of a first cell of the plurality of cells. 
   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the causing of the upgrade of the capacity in the network comprises the deploying of the new cell at the predetermined level of wireless spectrum. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the predetermined level corresponds to a minimum discrete level within the new cell.