Predictive network system and method

Abstract

A proactive networking system and method is disclosed. The network anticipates the user demands in advance and utilizes this predictive ability to reduce the peak to average ratio of the wireless traffic and yield significant savings in the required resources to guarantee certain Quality of Service (QoS) metrics. The system and method focuses on the existing cellular architecture and involves the design and analysis of learning algorithms, predictive resource allocation strategies, and incentive techniques to maximize the efficiency of proactive cellular networks. The system and method further involve proactive peer-to-peer (P2P) overlaying, which leverages the spatial and social structure of the network. Machine learning techniques are applied to find the optimal tradeoff between predictions that result in content being retrieved that the user ultimately never requests, and requests that are not anticipated in a timely manner.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 obtaining, from a mobile device, a plurality of network content requests;   determining a category associated with the plurality of network content requests;   determining, using a statistical model and based on the category, a plurality of anticipated network content requests, wherein the statistical model is based at least in part on network content requests from a plurality of mobile devices; and   automatically providing, to the mobile device, content associated with the plurality of anticipated network content requests.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the content is automatically provided based on at least a comparison between a first network bandwidth at a first time associated with the plurality of network content requests and a second network bandwidth at a second time associated with the plurality of anticipated network content requests to reduce a peak to average ratio of bandwidth of a network. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 calculating an outage probability for a network; and   automatically provide the content based on the outage probability, wherein the providing reduces a capacity of the network to satisfy the outage probability.   
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the category comprises a musical genre. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein the plurality of network content requests indicate song titles. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein the plurality of network content requests indicate artists. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the content is provided to the mobile device via a cellular network. 
     
     
         8 . A computing device, comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory storing instructions that, when read by the processor, cause the computing device to:
 obtain, from a requesting device, a plurality of network content requests; 
 determine a category associated with the plurality of network content requests; 
 determine using a statistical model and based on the category, a plurality of anticipated network content requests, wherein the statistical model is based at least in part on network content requests from a plurality of user devices; and 
 automatically provide, to the requesting device, content associated with the plurality of anticipated network content requests. 
   
     
     
         9 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the content is automatically provided based on at least a comparison between a first network bandwidth at a first time associated with the plurality of network content requests and a second network bandwidth at a second time associated with the plurality of anticipated network content requests to reduce a peak to average ratio of bandwidth of a network. 
     
     
         10 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when read by the processor, further cause the computing device to:
 calculate an outage probability for a network; and   automatically provide the content based on the outage probability, wherein the providing reduces a capacity of the network to satisfy the outage probability.   
     
     
         11 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the category comprises a musical genre. 
     
     
         12 . The computing device of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of network content requests indicate song titles. 
     
     
         13 . The computing device of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of network content requests indicate artists. 
     
     
         14 . The computing device of  claim 8 , wherein the content is provided to the requesting device via a cellular network. 
     
     
         15 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 obtaining a plurality of network content requests;   determining a category associated with the plurality of network content requests;   determining, using a statistical model and based on the category, a plurality of anticipated network content requests, wherein the statistical model is based at least in part on historical network content requests;   providing, to at least one content source, the anticipated network content requests; and   automatically obtaining, from the at least one content source, content responsive to the plurality of anticipated network content requests.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , wherein the content is automatically obtained based on at least a comparison between a first network bandwidth at a first time associated with the plurality of network content requests and a second network bandwidth at a second time associated with the plurality of anticipated network content requests to reduce a peak to average ratio of bandwidth of a network. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 calculating an outage probability for a network; and   automatically obtaining the content based on the outage probability, wherein the providing reduces a capacity of the network to satisfy the outage probability.   
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , wherein the category comprises a musical genre. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 18 , wherein the plurality of network content requests indicate data selected from the group consisting of song titles and artists. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , wherein the content is obtained via a cellular network.