BANDWIDTH ADAPTION ACCORDING TO NETWORK LOAD

摘要

A mobility manager provides mobility management of mobile nodes, which have subscribed to an applications server for a communications service. The applications server is arranged to control a level of a communications session provided within the communications service in accordance with bandwidth allocated to the applications server for the mobility-managed mobile nodes by the mobility manager from an access point to which the mobility-managed mobile nodes are attached. The mobility manager receives traffic shaping report messages from a traffic shaper within an access network. The traffic shaping reports report on a current use of bandwidth for each of a plurality of different traffic types by non mobility-managed mobile nodes, which are not controlled by the mobility manager. The traffic shaping reports also report on bandwidth used by one or more mobility-managed mobile nodes, which are managed by the mobility manager. The mobility manager is operable, in response to the traffic shaping reports, to adapt the traffic pattern in accordance with the current use of bandwidth of the different traffic types by the non mobility-managed mobile node and to communicate the adapted traffic pattern to the traffic shaper for use in controlling the bandwidth of the access point in accordance with the adapted traffic pattern. The mobility manager is therefore able to control an amount of bandwidth used by mobile nodes which are not controlled by the mobility manager, to the effect that these mobile nodes do not consume a disproportionate amount of the bandwidth available from the access point to the detriment of mobile nodes, which are being managed by the mobility manager.