Patent ID: 8494539

Claim:
A method for managing congestion in a network comprising an RNC (radio network controller) and a plurality of base stations over links comprising at least one respective link that is remote from the RNC for each base station, the method comprising: measuring incoming traffic for each base station at the RNC of a plurality of traffic classes to produce traffic measurements; for each base station, determining a total bandwidth available on the at least one respective link to the base station that is remote from the RNC and is along a signal path between the RNC and base station, said signal path including at least one other link having different characteristics from said respective link, and a transport component coupling said respective link and said at least one other link; for each base station, detecting presence or absence of a congestion condition using the traffic measurements for the base station and the determined total bandwidth available on the at least one respective link to that base station; and upon detecting the congestion condition, performing congestion avoidance at the RNC.