Patent ID: 8687482

Claim:
A method of communicating in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: analyzing, at a controller, at least one backhaul uplink between the controller and at least one Base Transceiver Station (BTS), and analyzing, at the at least one BTS, at least one backhaul downlink between the controller and the at least one BTS; subsequent to the analyzing, communicating at least one first spare capacity report, from the controller to the at least one BTS, including at least one result of the analyzing of the at least one backhaul uplink, utilizing unused capacity of the controller to increase a number of BTSs being handled by the controller given the first spare capacity report further includes information related to the unused capacity of the controller, and communicating at least one second spare capacity report, from the at least one BTS to the controller, including at least one result of the analyzing of the at least one backhaul downlink; and controlling traffic flow, at the at least one BTS, in the at least one backhaul uplink based on receiving the at least one first spare capacity report communicated, and controlling traffic flow, at the controller, in the at least one backhaul downlink based on receiving the at least one second spare capacity report communicated, precluding over-utilization and under-utilization of the at least one backhaul uplink and the at least one backhaul downlink.