Patent ID: 8155074

Claim:
A method for improving the performance of a radio access network (RAN), wherein the RAN radiates to define a wireless coverage area, wherein the wireless coverage area comprises a forward link and a reverse link, wherein the wireless coverage area serves a first wireless communication device (WCD), and wherein the RAN contains a forward link buffer that queues packets to the first WCD, and a reverse link buffer that queues packets from the first WCD, wherein the forward link buffer is also associated with a first high threshold and a first low threshold, and wherein the reverse link buffer is also associated with a second high threshold and a second low threshold, the method comprising: the RAN detecting a recurrence of a pattern of buffer occupancy, wherein the pattern includes: (i) a first state in which the forward link buffer is above the first high threshold and the reverse link buffer is below the second low threshold, (ii) then a second state in which the forward link buffer is below the first low threshold and the reverse link buffer is above the second high threshold, wherein the pattern occurs within a given duration of time; and based on at least the detection of the recurrence, the RAN allocating additional capacity on the forward link to the first WCD.