Optimized and selective management of policy deployment to mobile clients in a congested network to prevent further aggravation of network congestion

Abstract

A method of managing deployment of policies in a mobile network is provided. The method includes sending, by a proxy server, a stability notification including a stability interval for delivery to mobile devices in a mobile network, receiving location notifications initiated by one or more of the mobile devices, wherein each location notification indicates a stable location of a corresponding mobile device initiating the location notification, and processing the location notifications to maintain a congested area list indicating congested areas within the mobile network. A related server is also disclosed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of managing deployment of policies in a mobile network, the method comprising:
 sending, by a proxy server, a stability notification including a stability interval for delivery to mobile devices in a mobile network;   receiving location notifications initiated by one or more of the mobile devices, wherein each location notification indicates a stable location of a corresponding mobile device initiating the location notification; and   processing the location notifications to maintain a congested area list indicating congested areas within the mobile network.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the stability interval indicates a period time during which a location of a mobile device must remain in a particular area for the location of the mobile device to be considered a stable location.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating one or more congestion area notifications indicating the congested areas in the congested area list or updates to the congested areas in the congested area list; and   sending the one or more congestion area notifications for delivery to the mobile devices.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein processing the location notifications to maintain the congested area list further comprises:
 processing the location notifications to determine the corresponding stable locations;   determining areas corresponding to the stable locations;   accessing congestion settings associated with the areas corresponding to the stable locations; and   determining if the areas corresponding to the stable locations are congested areas based on the corresponding congestion settings.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein congestion settings indicate that an area corresponding to a stable location is congested if a quantity of mobile devices in the area exceeds a first threshold. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein determining if the areas corresponding to the stable locations are congested further comprises:
 determining a type of congestion associated with the areas based on the corresponding congestion settings.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein processing the location notifications to maintain the congested area list further comprises:
 processing the location notifications to determine corresponding timestamps; and   determining a relevancy of the location notifications based on corresponding timestamps,   wherein each location notification includes a timestamp indicating a time that the stable location was determined by a mobile device.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating a congestion policy notification indicating one or more network management policies; and   sending the congestion policy notification for delivery to the mobile devices.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein each of the one or more network management policies is associated with a type of congestion. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the proxy server, an operator input for configuring the one or more congestion policies; and   configuring the one or more network management policies based on the operator input.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more network management policies include at least one global congestion policy and various region-specific congestion policies. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the stable location indicates a particular cellular coverage area or sector that is served by one or more transceivers of a cellular tower. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the stable location indicates a particular location indicated by a geographic coordinate system. 
     
     
         14 . A proxy server comprising:
 an interface configured to communicate with a plurality of mobile devices in a mobile network; and   one or more processors configured to:
 direct the interface to send one or more traffic management policies for delivery to at least some of the plurality of mobile devices; 
 process received location notifications initiated by one or more of the mobile devices to maintain a congested area list indicating one or more congested areas within the mobile network, the one or more congested areas determined based on the location notifications and preconfigured congestion settings. 
   
     
     
         15 . The proxy server of  claim 14 ,
 wherein each location notification indicates a stable location of a corresponding mobile device initiating the location notification, the stable location determined based on a stability interval; and   direct the interface to send the congested area list or updates to the congested list to the mobile devices.